Techmeme
July 21, 2021, 8:30 AM

Top News

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q2 revenue of $7.34B vs. $7.32B est., up 19% YoY, global paid net additions of 1.54M vs. 1.19M expected; US and Canada region lost 433K subs QoQ  —  - Netflix reported earnings that missed on the bottom line.  — The company's revenue and global paid net subscriber additions beat estimates.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Netflix says its expansion into gaming will start with mobile games, which will be included with a subscription at no additional cost  —  Games will be included at no added cost with a Netflix subscription  —  Netflix revealed that its initial efforts in gaming will be focused on mobile games …
Washington Post:
Phone numbers belonging to ten prime ministers, three presidents, and a king were among the list of 50K potential NSO targets, leaked to Amnesty International  —  Spies for centuries have trained their sights on those who shape destinies of nations: presidents, prime ministers, kings.
Matthew Green / A Few Thoughts …:
Mehul Srivastava / Financial Times:
CTech:
Washington Post:
Top US Catholic Church official resigns after a Catholic media site obtained his alleged Grindr app and phone location data from an undisclosed data broker  —  The top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned after a Catholic media site told the conference it had access …
Kris Holt / Engadget:
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Researchers detail two new local privilege escalation vulnerabilities, one in recent builds of Windows 10 and the preview of Windows 11, and the other in Linux  —  Both OSes have flaws that allow attackers with a toehold to elevate access.  —  The world woke up on Tuesday to two new vulnerabilities …
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event will be held virtually on August 11, where it is expected to unveil new foldables  —  Samsung just sent out invites for its next Unpacked event.  There are those companies that like to sneak hints into their invites — and then there's Samsung.
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:
Crypto derivatives exchange FTX raises $900M from SoftBank, Sequoia, and others, valuing it at $18B; CryptoCompare: FTX handles $10B+/day in trades on average  —  Investors include SoftBank, Sequoia Capital and Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund  —  Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has raised money …
The Information:
Sources: Bolt, which offers a one-click checkout service, is raising a $333M Series D at a post-money valuation of $4B, nearly five times its December valuation  —  Bolt, a San Francisco-based startup that offers software for online shopping, is raising $333 million in Series D funding …
Bloomberg:
Biden nominates Jonathan Kanter, a long-time foe of Google, to become the DOJ's antitrust chief  —  - Kanter has represented Microsoft, Yelp in anti-Google push  — Biden's appointments signal aggressive antitrust agenda  —  President Joe Biden plans to nominate Jonathan Kanter as head …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Twitter begins rolling out a preview of a revamped TweetDeck in the US, Canada, and Australia, featuring an option for wider columns, an Explore column, more  —  Twitter is beginning to test a completely redesigned version of TweetDeck, the company announced today.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
YouTube debuts Super Thanks, which lets users tip creators for individual uploaded videos rather than livestreams and have their message highlighted in comments  —  YouTube announced its latest feature, Super Thanks, on Tuesday.  This is YouTube's fourth Paid Digital Good …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Verizon joins AT&T and T-Mobile in switching Android Messages default to RCS, raising questions about when or if Apple will swap its SMS default with RCS  —  That's all three big US carriers, is Apple next?  —  Beginning next year, Verizon will join AT&T and T-Mobile in preloading Android Messages …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
HBO Max partners with Snapchat to let users in the US co-watch pilots of select series with up to 63 other users for free via a Snap Mini  —  In a bid to boost sign-ups to its streaming service, HBO Max is partnering with Snap to bring free episodes from its original programing to Snapchat users …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Ethos, which integrates with third-party insurance underwriters to offer life insurance, raises $100M from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $2.7B+  —  More than half of the U.S. population has stayed away from considering life insurance because they believe it's probably too expensive …
Jennifer Surane / Bloomberg:
Venmo says it is ditching its global social feed, making it so users can no longer see payments between people they don't know  —  - App, owned by PayPal, is removing its global transactions feed  — For years, Venmo has faced criticism for its privacy controls
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Mexico City-based Valoreo, which acquires e-commerce brands across Latin America, raises $50M Series A, over five months after raising a $50M seed round  —  Just over five months after securing $50 million in debt & equity, Valoreo has closed on a $30 million Series A funding round.
Packy McCormick / Not Boring:
A look at Axie Infinity, a Pokémon-like blockchain-based game in which people buy digital pets as NFTs; the game generated $12.2M revenue in June, $79M+ in July  —  Welcome to the 1,267 newly Not Boring people who have joined us since last Monday!  Join 61,505 smart, curious folks by subscribing here:
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Product Hunt's Josh Buckley and others launch Hyper, a $60M early-stage fund offering $300K fixed checks, a mentorship network, and Product Hunt distribution  —  Hyper is a $60M early-stage fund co-founded by Josh Buckley, Product Hunt's current CEO along with writer, founder and designer Dustin Curtis.

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More News

Paul Benjamin Osterlund / Rest of World:

Earlier Picks

Keith Barry / Consumer Reports:
Dave Gershgorn / The Verge: