Techmeme
July 28, 2021, 1:35 PM

Top News

Patrick Klepek / VICE:
Activision Blizzard staff are staging a walk out today, demanding fairer treatment for underrepresented staff and ending arbitration clauses in staff contracts  —  “This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees.”  —  Patrick Klepek
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Twitter says it is testing Shop Module, a new shopping section that brands can add to the top of their profiles, launching in the US today on iOS  —  Starting with a pilot of around a dozen brands  —  Twitter is piloting a new feature that allows businesses to add a shopping section …
Tripp Mickle / Wall Street Journal:
Google says anyone coming to work at its campuses must be vaccinated, starting in the US, and will delay the return to offices from September until mid-October  —  Tech giant postpones planned return to offices until mid-October after earlier targeting late September
Apple:
Apple reports Q3 revenue of $81.4B, up 36% YoY, net income of $21.7B, up from $11.2B YoY, Services sales of $17.4B, up from $13.2B YoY, iPhone sales of $39.6B  —  Revenue up 36 percent to new June quarter record  —  Services revenue reaches new all-time high
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify Q2: revenue of €2.3B, up 23% YoY, ad revenue up 110% YoY to €275M; paying subscribers reached 165M, up 20% YoY, total MAUs reached 365M; stock down 6%+  —  Spotify, citing ongoing headwinds from the COVID pandemic, fell short of its total monthly user growth goal in the second quarter of 2021.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sony says it has now sold over 10M PS5 consoles, up from the 7.8M announced in April, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation ever  —  PS5 is the fastest-selling PlayStation  —  Sony has now sold more than 10 million PS5 consoles.  That's up more than 2 million sales …
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Biden instructs federal agencies to develop voluntary cybersecurity goals for companies operating critical infrastructure, as officials consider mandatory rules  —  Though voluntary, officials said the new step could be a prelude to a push for cybersecurity mandates
Jonathan Greig / ZDNet:
Google announces a new bug bounty program, called Bug Hunter University, and says the existing program found 11,055 bugs from 2,022 researchers, paying ~$30M  —  The platform includes a new “Bug Hunter University.”  —  Google announced a new bug bounty platform as it celebrated …
Bloomberg:
PowerSchool, which develops software used by 70% of K-12 students in the US and Canada, raises $711M in its IPO, selling shares at $18, valuing it at $3.5B  —  Education software provider PowerSchool Holdings Inc. raised $711 million in an initial public offering priced at the bottom of a marketed range.
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
QuotaPath, which offers tools to track commissions for sales and revenue teams, raises $21.3M Series A led by Insight Partners  —  QuotaPath, which has developed a commission-tracking solution for sales and revenue teams, has raised $21.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Insight Partners.
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, raises $105M led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $804M post-money valuation  —  Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, announced today that it has raised $105 million in a financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund II.
More: Reuters
Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:
Lithic, previously Privacy.com, which offers APIs to help businesses issue virtual credit cards, raises $60M, sources say at an $800M valuation  —  - Bessemer, Index Ventures, Exor also part of fundraising round  — Firm's goal is to make issuing cards faster and easier
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Creators of PunkSpider say they're relaunching their search engine for hackable sites at Defcon next week to spur web admins to fix thousands of unpatched bugs  —  PunkSpider is back, and crawling hundreds of millions of sites for vulnerabilities.  —  THE WEB HAS long been a playground for hackers …
Bloomberg:
Duolingo raises $521M in its IPO after pricing shares at $102, valuing the company at $3.66B  —  Language learning app Duolingo Inc. and its investors raised $521 million in an initial public offering priced above the marketed range.  —  The company priced 5.1 million shares at $102 each Tuesday …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 1:35 PM ET, July 28, 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

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:

Earlier Picks

Alphabet - Investor Relations:
Microsoft - Investor Relations:
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge: