Techmeme
April 29, 2021, 3:10 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it will reduce its cut for PC games in Windows store from 30% to 12% from August 1, in a bid to compete with Steam  —  Microsoft puts the pressure on Valve's Steam store  —  Microsoft is shaking up the world of PC gaming today with a big cut to the amount of revenue it takes from games on Windows.
Tonya Riley / Washington Post:
A task force of 60+ experts from industry, government, nonprofits, and academia calls on the US and allies to take steps to fight a surge in ransomware attacks  —  A task force of more than 60 experts from industry, government, nonprofits and academia is urging the U.S. government and global allies …
Nandita Bose / Reuters:
US Labor Secretary says most gig workers should be classified as employees deserving of related benefits; shares of Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are down sharply  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's top labor official said most gig workers in the United States should be classified as …
Reuters:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
OpenSignal: 5G-capable devices access mmWave 5G less than 1% of the time across all US carriers; Verizon leads with just 0.8% availability  —  Phones capable of using mmWave 5G access it less than 1% of the time.  —  US mobile customers are almost never able to connect to millimeter-wave networks …
Arielle Pardes / Wired:
Founders and VCs are flocking to Miami for “Miami Tech Week”, an impromptu event kicked off by a tweet from Delian Asparouhov, a principal at Founders Fund  —  Founders and funders are flocking to the beach for an impromptu event that some are calling “South by Southeast.”
Canalys.com:
Global smartphone shipments in Q1 reached 347M, up 27% YoY; Samsung took first place, shipping 76.5M for a 22% share, while Apple shipped 52.4M for a 15% share  —  Shanghai (China), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Reading (UK) and Portland (US) - Thursday, 29 April 2021
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google finally gives users a way to search through Stadia's 172 games, 526 days after the service's launch  —  If only Google knew anyone with experience building search engines  —  Stadia is an online game streaming service from Google, a company that is practically synonymous with search engines …
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Facebook says Q1 ad revenue was $25.4B, up 46% YoY, expects continued growth in Q2, with headwinds in H2 due to regulatory changes and Apple's iOS 14.5 update  —  The average price per ad in Q1 increased by 30 percent year-over-year, driving up Facebook ad revenue growth.
Investor Relations:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Tim Cook says supply shortages will likely impact the Mac and iPad lineups in Q3 due to “legacy node” chip production that uses older manufacturing methods  —  Apple just reported record earnings for Q2 2021, but the company is also warning of supply shortages affecting the Mac and iPad lineups.
Apple:
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
During his first speech to a joint session of Congress, Biden announced that Kamala Harris will lead the administration's rural broadband initiative  —  Vice President Harris will lead the Biden administration's unprecedented effort to ensure every American has access to affordable, high-speed Internet.
Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Q&A: Evelyn Douek, a lecturer and Ph.D. student at Harvard studying online speech regulation, on why a “proportional” approach to online speech is a good thing  —  Major platforms' policies aren't actually inspired by the First Amendment.  This legal scholar says that's a good thing.
James Vincent / The Verge:
EU adopts controversial law forcing internet companies to remove flagged terrorist content within one hour after being notified by national authorities  —  Critics say the legislation could hinder free speech  —  The European Parliament has formally adopted a law requiring internet companies to …
The Markup:
Financial services use Facebook's ad targeting to block people in certain age groups from seeing their ads, violating Facebook's anti-discrimination policies  —  Such ads, along with other age-targeted financial product ads, may violate civil rights laws, attorneys say

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
ETL tool evaluation checklist: 6 things to look for before you choose  —  Your data is only as valuable as your ability to move, prepare, and access it efficiently.  Choosing the wrong ETL tool can lead to months of rework …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Apple After Tim Cook, OpenAI's New Mojo, Meta's Internal Tracking Escapade
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Tim Cook's Legacy + The Future of U.B.I. With Andrew Yang + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Lenny's Podcast:
How Anthropic's product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Access:
Silicon Valley finally has its "Succession"
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:10 PM ET, April 29, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Sheila Dang / Reuters:
Natalia Drozdiak / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Josef Adalian / Vulture: