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Techmeme
June 17, 2021, 8:55 PM
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Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Researchers: encryption algorithm GEA-1, used in GPRS data in 2G networks, was deliberately weakened by its designers; ETSI blames export regulations  —  A new paper shows that two old encryption algorithms still used in mobile networks can be exploited to spy on phones' internet traffic.
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Snap eliminates Snapchat's speed filter, which let users show how fast they were moving, after a US court ruled that Snap could be sued for a fatal car crash  —  The maker of the Snapchat app is eliminating a feature known as the “speed filter” that lets users capture how fast they are moving …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
By acquiring promising VR games and software companies, Facebook seems to be cornering the VR market, reminiscent of its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions  —  A recent shopping spree is giving some folks Instagram-in-2012 vibes  —  Imagine that, over the past year, Facebook had managed …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Facebook says it will begin testing ads on Oculus headsets, starting with the shooter game Blaston, and won't use data stored on devices to target ads
Bloomberg:
Wise, previously known as TransferWise, plans to go public on the LSE via a direct listing, the first company to choose an alternative listing in the UK  —  - Founders, employees get extra voting rights for limited time  — Direct listings are becoming more popular among U.S. startups
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Profile of Doug Guthrie, an advocate for doing business in China who advised Apple from 2014-2019, as he now warns of the risks of China's nationalist turn  —  Doug Guthrie, once one of America's leading China bulls, rang the alarm on doing business there.  He spoke about his time at Apple.
Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times:
Emails from 2016 show Ring provided ~100 LAPD officers with free devices or discount codes and encouraged them to promote its devices to fellow LAPD, the public  —  In a bid to bolster its claims as a crime-fighting tool, Ring deployed a tactic popular in the business world: influencer marketing.
Joe Weisenthal / Bloomberg:
Mark Cuban calls for stablecoin regulation, after trading Iron Finance's algorithmic stablecoin DeFi Titanium, which then crashed from $60 to $0 in a day  —  Here's a chart you never want to see.  It's of the DeFi Titanium token, which in one day went from being valued around $60 to $0.
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Unit, which helps companies build financial and banking products, raises $51M Series B led by Accel, bringing its total raises to ~$70M  —  We've all heard the phrase, “Every company is a fintech.”  —  But these days, that's becoming more and more true as an increasing number of companies …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram launches ads in Reels worldwide; the ads can be up to 30 seconds and vertical in format  —  Instagram Reels are getting ads.  The company announced today it's launching ads in its short-form video platform and TikTok rival, Reels, to businesses and advertisers worldwide.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Spotify has acquired Podz, a podcast discovery startup whose tech helps podcasters promote their show using ML to select 60-second clips of key moments  —  Podcasts are all the rage, but podcast discovery is a challenge.  Today, Spotify announced its acquisition of Podz …
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Google says it is funding a project to increase Linux security by writing parts of the operating system's core in Rust  —  Google said Thursday it's funding a project to increase Linux security by writing parts of the operating system's core in the Rust programming language …
More: Phoronix, OSnews, and TechRadar
Tweets: @stshank, @jeskillings, @stshank, and @stshank.  Thanks:@stshank
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
Neo4j, which offers a graph-centric database and related products, raises $325M Series F led by Eurazeo at a $2B+ valuation  —  Databases run the world, but database products are often some of the most mature and venerable software in the modern tech stack.
John Koblin / New York Times:
Nielsen announces a new metric, The Gauge, to measure streaming viewing in ~14,000 US homes via hardware that watches internet traffic passing through a router  —  The company known for measuring television ratings said Netflix and YouTube are far ahead of their digital competitors in time watched on TVs …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Transform, which develops tools for businesses to query and build metrics from data troves, comes out of stealth with $20M Series A, after $4.5M seed in 2020  —  The biggest tech companies have put a lot of time and money into building tools and platforms for their data science teams …
More: FinSMEs
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Adobe beats in Q2 with revenue of $3.84B, up 23% YoY, vs est. of $3.73B, with YoY revenues of Digital Media up 25%, Creative up 24%, and Document Cloud up 30%  —  Adobe beat top and bottom-line expectations for the quarter, with cash flows from operations hitting a record $1.99 billion.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
UserLeap, which builds AI tools to give product managers user insights in real time, raises $38M Series B from a16z and others  —  UserLeap, a platform for AI-powered, continuous research for product teams, today announced that it raised $38 million in a series B round contributed by a16z.
Strategy Analytics:
In Q1 2021, global 5G smartphone shipments grew 6% QoQ, with Samsung up 79% QoQ and Vivo up 62% QoQ, while Apple maintained its lead despite a 23% dip  —  BOSTON—(BUSINESS WIRE)— According to new research from Strategy Analytics, Samsung and Vivo were the world's fastest growing 5G smartphone vendors in the first quarter of 2021.

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From Mediagazer

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney's Zootopia 2 surpasses $1B at the global box office, the fastest PG-rated film to do so after just 17 days in release

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
R. Bruce Dold, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune, where he became editor-in-chief and publisher, is dead at 70

More News

Earlier Picks

Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Leaked memo: ByteDance says its annual revenue in 2020 grew 111% YoY to $34.3B, while gross profit rose 93% YoY to $19B
Nilesh Christopher / Rest of World:
Experts say India's courts, not India's government, have power to decide whether Twitter should keep its safe harbor protections in India under new IT rules
Elias Saba / AFTVnews:
Amazon Appstore unveils a new program that reduces its share of developer revenue from 30% to 20% for developers earning less than $1M per year, starting in Q4
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Microsoft has named CEO Satya Nadella as chair of its board, replacing independent director John Thompson, who succeeded Bill Gates as chair in 2014
James Vincent / The Verge:
Facebook launches a new suite of tools for admins of Groups, including AI-powered Conflict Alerts that identify “contentious or unhealthy conversations”
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
After years of pop-up experiments, Google says its first retail store, located in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, will open on June 17
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