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July 28, 2021, 10:45 PM
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| Facebook: |
Facebook reports Q2 revenue of $29.08B, up 56% YoY, MAUs of 2.9B, up 7% YoY, headcount of 63,404, up 21% YoY; stock down ~3% on warning of revenue slowdown — “We had a strong quarter as we continue to help businesses grow and people stay connected,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.
More:
Reuters, CNBC, CNET, Forbes, Bloomberg, AppleInsider, Barron's Online, CNN, The Guardian, Ubergizmo, MarketWatch, TheStreet, iMore, TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, Investor's Business Daily, and MacDailyNews
| Stephanie Condon / ZDNet: |
Facebook says Q2 ad revenue was $28.58B, up 56% YoY, with average price per ad up 47% YoY and a 6% YoY increase in ads delivered — The rising price for ads delivered strong top and bottom-line results for Facebook, even as the social media giant continued to warn of “increased ad targeting headwinds.”
More:
The Verge, 9to5Mac, Silicon Valley Business …, BBC, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Axios, Variety, Deadline, Financial Times, and Deadline
Tweets: @matthewstoller, @munster_gene, @alexeheath, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @pinboard, @jason_kint, and @benedictevans
| Patrick Klepek / VICE: |
Activision Blizzard staffers stage a walkout, demanding fairer treatment for underrepresented staff and an end to arbitration clauses in staff contracts — “This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees.” — Patrick Klepek
More:
Kotaku, Axios, Kotaku, Activision Blizzard, Polygon, Blizzard Watch, Axios, The Guardian, BuzzFeed News, SiliconANGLE, NPR, World of Warcraft, Game Rant, BBC, The Verge, Washington Post, dexerto.com, Game Informer, PC Gamer, Gamasutra, Video Games Chronicle, Insider, mobilesyrup.com, Engadget, CNBC, thegamer.com, Destructoid, Bloomberg, Destructoid, and Ars Technica
Tweets: @warcraft, @stephentotilo, @stephentotilo, @megan_nicolett, @bmkibler, @leslee_annsh, @jasonschreier, @megan_nicolett, @cydereal, @laurenkgurley, @jonnypeltz, @atvi_ab, @karinewindy, @shannon_liao, @teamcoworker, @megan_nicolett, @normality, @feliciaday, @megan_nicolett, @braydonbeaulieu, @alexandraerin, @luceobrien, @starfire2258, @notpatrick, @toadsanime, @megturney, @kossuel, @madqueenshow, @boogie2988, @shannon_liao, @zoeschiffer, @lizshuler, @stevesaylor, @crashwong, @msminotaur, @chrissyxchi, @automaticzen, @kellen_browning, and @davidgaider
| 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 — Google delays planned return to offices until mid-October as U.S. companies take new precautions against Delta variant's spread
More:
The Keyword, New York Times, CNBC, The Verge, Engadget, The Verge, PYMNTS.com, Vox, Protocol, NBC News, TechCrunch, NPR, Axios, CNN, MacRumors, GeekWire, New York Business Journal, The Hill, Android Central, Tech Xplore, 9to5Google, Neowin, Bloomberg, Fast Company, 9to5Mac, Washington Post, TechCrunch, and Insider
| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Twitter closes its NY and SF offices, two weeks after reopening, and pauses further office reopenings, after carefully considering the CDC's updated guidelines — Just two weeks after reopening its New York and San Francisco offices, social media giant Twitter said Wednesday that it will be closing those offices “immediately.”| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
Facebook says it will require its US staff be vaccinated before returning to offices this fall, and will work around medical or other vaccine exemptions — Facebook will require U.S. workers returning to its offices to be vaccinated, the company said on Wednesday. — This is breaking news.
More:
The Register, Gizmodo, and San Francisco Chronicle
| 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 …
More:
Twitter, Mashable, PYMNTS.com, NBC News, Search Engine Land, Social Media Today, iPhone Hacks, 9to5Mac, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @twittersupport, @martinsfp, @richlightshed, @modestproposal1, @44, @carnage4life, @kiruti, @hamburger, and @wongmjane
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
In a memo, Apple says it plans to restore a mask requirement for staff and customers at most of its US retail stores on Thursday, due to rising COVID cases — - Company to make change Thursday in areas with rising cases — Company asks, but doesn't require, retail staff to get vaccine
More:
Barron's Online, FrontPageTech.com, New York Times, iDownloadBlog.com, CNBC, phonearena.com, Input, MacDailyNews, MacRumors, CNET, The Hill, and 9to5Mac
Tweets: @zoeschiffer, @michaelsteeber, @michaelsteeber, and @nsags
| Wall Street Journal: |
Robinhood sets IPO price at $38 per share, at the low end of its targeted range, which would give it a valuation of about $32B — Investing platform's IPO is expected to start trading Thursday in highly anticipated deal — Robinhood Markets Inc. priced its initial public offering at $38 a share … | Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review: |
NSO Group confirms that Israeli government officials opened an investigation and visited NSO's Tel Aviv office on Wednesday to assess Pegasus abuse allegations — ‘We want them to check everything,’ says CEO of cybersecurity company implicated in campaigns against politicians, activists and other notable figures.
More:
iTnews, calcalist, AppleInsider, and Financial Times
| 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
More:
The White House, Reuters, The White House, CyberScoop, Bloomberg, and ZDNet
Tweets: @ericgeller, @ericgeller, @malwarejake, @hexadecim8, @cisajen, @ericgeller, @webjedi, @dalperovitch, and @b_fung
| Omkar Godbole / CoinDesk: |
Coinbase report: in H1 2021, the market for ether was 3x busier than bitcoin, as ETH trading grew 1,461% to $1.4T, compared to BTC's 489% rise to $2.1T — Ether outperformed bitcoin in terms of volume growth and price performance. — The ether market was almost three times busier … | Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: |
Researchers: Google Play Protect, Android's built-in malware detection tool, identified only 68.8% of 20K+ malicious apps, ranking last out of 15 security apps — Google Play Protect, the Android built-in malware defense system, has failed the real-world tests of antivirus testing lab AV-TEST …
More:
AV-TEST, iTnews, Android Developers, XDA Developers, Android Police, and Finbold
| Mariella Moon / Engadget: |
| 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 …
Source:
SIE Blog - English. More:
GamesIndustry.biz, SIE.COM, Reuters, Engadget, GamesIndustry.biz, IndieWire, Trusted Reviews, XDA Developers, Tom's Hardware, and Laptop Mag
Tweets: @playstation, @nextgenplayer, @matthewacherry, @champchong, @chris_dring, @zhugeex, @fr0st, and @genepark
| Cody Toombs / Android Police: |
Google releases the first stable build of Jetpack Compose, a UI framework for Android, after two years in public development — Since its introduction during I/O 2019, Jetpack Compose was obviously destined to become the prescribed method of Android UI development.
More:
Android Developers Blog, Android Developers, Android Central, SiliconANGLE, 9to5Google, XDA Developers, and 9to5Google. Tweets: @androiddev
| Riley de León / CNBC: |
Duolingo closes up 36% in its Nasdaq trading debut, giving it a market valuation of nearly $5B, after raising $521M in its IPO — - Language-learning company Duolingo made its market debut Wednesday on the Nasdaq and is now trading under the ticker symbol “DUOL.”
More:
PR Newswire, Reuters, Pittsburgh Business Journal, MarketWatch, and Bloomberg
| Makena Kelly / The Verge: |
Senate reaches a deal on an infrastructure plan including $65B for broadband investments, $35B less than Biden's original plan; final vote still yet to happen — That's less than the original $100 billion plan — On Wednesday, bipartisan Senate negotiators reached a deal on an infrastructure package after weeks of tense discussion.
More:
The White House, NBC News, iTnews, Ars Technica, The Block, The Hill, and FierceTelecom
Tweets: @markwarner, @quinnypig, and @yfreemark
| Kif Leswing / CNBC: |
Qualcomm Q3: revenue of $8B, up 63% YoY, net income of $2.2B, up 124% YoY, chip segment revenue of $6.47B, up 70% YoY, and a strong Q4 revenue forecast — - Qualcomm revenue was up 63% from the same period last year, and earnings per share more than doubled annually in the quarter that ended on June 27.
More:
Qualcomm, MacRumors, Thurrott, SiliconANGLE, and Barron's Online
Tweets: @samifathi_, @samifathi_, @stephennellis, and @stephennellis
| Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac: |
Code and animation files in iOS 15 beta 4 show the process for validating ID cards in the Wallet app will likely include a verification system with selfies — Apple announced at WWDC 2021 that iOS 15 will add support for ID cards in the Wallet app, but details are unknown as this feature is not available in the beta version of iOS 15.
More:
iMore, iPhone Hacks, Wccftech, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, phonearena.com, iDownloadBlog.com, and PCMag
| 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.
More:
Spotify, CNBC, TechCrunch, Engadget, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @kerrymflynn, @pt, @counternotions, @xpangler, @xpangler, @spotifynews, @eldsjal, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @lucas_shaw, @mark_mulligan, and @kerrymflynn
| Taylor Soper / GeekWire: |
Microsoft says it has acquired Seattle-based Suplari, which uses AI to identify cost savings in the software procurement process; Suplari has raised $18M — Microsoft has acquired Suplari, a Seattle startup that uses artificial intelligence to help companies understand and get a handle on their spending.| Courtney Reagan / CNBC: |
Walmart announces it will sell its e-commerce tech to small and medium-size retailers, and it partners with Adobe to sell the software as a subscription — - Walmart said it will sell the technology it developed to allow shoppers to buy items online and pick up the purchases at the store.
More:
PYMNTS.com, Adobe Blog, Walmart Inc., TechCrunch, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @walmartinc, @mhiggins, and @walmarttech
| Leah Nylen / Politico: |
In a court filing, AGs from 45 states, DC, and Guam say they will appeal the dismissal of their Facebook antitrust case — Attorneys general from 45 states, D.C. and Guam said they would appeal a June decision that threw out their suit. — A federal judge ruled that the states had waited … | Nikkei Asia: |
TSMC receives final approval for a 2nm chip plant in Taiwan; sources say construction will begin in 2022 and equipment will be installed in 2023 — Environmental approval could help chip giant stay ahead of Intel — TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has received final approval …
More:
iThinkDifferent, Gizmodo, Ubergizmo, iMore, SemiAnalysis, Patently Apple, MacDailyNews, and TechSpot
Tweets: @benlovejoy, @dylan522p, and @nikkeiasia
| Sarah McBride / Bloomberg: |
New York-based Synchron says it received FDA approval to test its brain-computer interface, beating Elon Musk's Neuralink and others — A brain-computer interface company is entering clinical trials for its implants in the U.S., a big step toward getting the futuristic devices into more skulls to help treat conditions like paralysis.| Jonathan Greig / ZDNet: |
PayPal beats with Q2 revenue of $6.24B, up 17% YoY, total payments volume of $311B, up 40% YoY, and 11.4M new active accounts for 403M total; stock down ~5% — PayPal reported a net revenue of $6.24 billion for Q2 while also surpassing 400 million total active accounts.
More:
Barron's Online, PayPal, CoinDesk, and CNBC
| 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.| AlleyWatch: |
Suzy, a SaaS provider for companies to conduct on-demand DTC market research, raises $50M Series D led by H.I.G. Capital, bringing its total raised to $104.1M — Market research has been driving strategic decisions for companies for decades. However, the tools and models …
More:
Insider and Business Wire
| Reuters: |
After Twitter's refusal to block content related to farmer protests, some Indian government ministers and departments are shifting to home-grown rival Koo — Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is fast losing its sheen as a favoured communications tool for many Indian government departments and ministers keen …
Tweets: @adityakalra
| Catalin Cimpanu / The Record: |
CISA and FBI, UK's NCSC, and Australia's ACSC issue a joint advisory detailing the most exploited vulnerabilities in 2020 and 2021 — Cyber-security agencies from Australia, the UK, and the US have published a joint advisory today listing the most exploited security flaws throughout 2020 and 2021.
More:
us-cert.cisa.gov, Qualys Security Blog, Dark Reading, and Security Affairs
Tweets: @fbi and @uscert_gov
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