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July 29, 2021, 4:00 AM
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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.
| 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, AdExchanger, The Economic Times, BBC, New York Times, Financial Times, Silicon Valley Business …, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Axios, and iMore
| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
Tweets: @anthonyquintano, @turnernovak, @jason_kint, @joshgnosis, @pt, @niinegames, @finchstrife, @codepo8, @seldo, @amcmanus, and @tprstly
| 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| 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:
Deadline, TechCrunch, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, Insider, Protocol, Gizmodo, Vox, Mashable, and The Register
| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Twitter closes its NY and SF offices, two weeks after reopening, and pauses further office reopenings, after “consideration of the CDC's updated guidelines” — Just two weeks after reopening its New York and San Francisco offices, social media giant Twitter said Wednesday …
More:
Bloomberg. Tweets: @carnage4life, @sarthakgh, @migueldeicaza, @kateclarktweets, @seldo, and @carnage4life
| 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, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed News, NPR, Blizzard Watch, Axios, Game Rant, The Guardian, BBC, World of Warcraft, The Verge, dexerto.com, Washington Post, mobilesyrup.com, SiliconANGLE, PC Gamer, thegamer.com, Video Games Chronicle, and Gamasutra
Tweets: @warcraft, @megan_nicolett, @stephentotilo, @stephentotilo, @bmkibler, @leslee_annsh, @jasonschreier, @megan_nicolett, @laurenkgurley, @jonnypeltz, @atvi_ab, @karinewindy, @cydereal, @teamcoworker, @zoeschiffer, @lizshuler, @stevesaylor, @crashwong, @msminotaur, @chrissyxchi, @automaticzen, @megan_nicolett, @braydonbeaulieu, @alexandraerin, @luceobrien, @toadsanime, @davidgaider, @kossuel, @madqueenshow, @megan_nicolett, @megan_nicolett, @genepark, @notdollie, @shannon_liao, @shannon_liao, @normality, and @starfire2258
| Tiernan Ray / ZDNet: |
OpenAI introduces Triton 1.0, an open-source programming language for writing GPU code for neural networks, and claims it is easier to write than Nvidia's CUDA — SEO: Python-like language promises to be easier to write than native CUDA and specialized GPU code but has performance comparable …
Source:
OpenAI and GitHub. More:
SiliconANGLE, MarkTechPost, and VentureBeat
Tweets: @openai, @copyconstruct, @davidfowl, and @gdb
| 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:
Input, New York Times, phonearena.com, iDownloadBlog.com, CNBC, The Hill, iMore, MacDailyNews, FrontPageTech.com, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Barron's Online, and The Verge
Tweets: @zoeschiffer, @nsags, @michaelsteeber, and @michaelsteeber
| 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, Fortune, NBC News, Social Media Today, chainstoreage.com, PYMNTS.com, and MarTech
Tweets: @twittersupport, @44, @carnage4life, @martinsfp, @kiruti, @hamburger, @wongmjane, @kayvz, @richlightshed, @modestproposal1, @dangrover, and @sep
| 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:
AppleInsider, iTnews, and VICE
| 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, Barron's Online, SiliconANGLE, and Android Central
Tweets: @samifathi_, @stephennellis, @stephennellis, and @samifathi_
| 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, Android Developers, XDA Developers, iTnews, and Android Police
| Steven Musil / CNET: |
Samsung Q2: profit of $10.8B, up 54% YoY, on $55.2B revenue; its chips business accounted for nearly half the profit; mobile division revenue declined QoQ — Revenue from its mobile division declined due to the pandemic and ongoing component shortages. — Samsung's operating profit showed …
Source:
Samsung Global Newsroom. More:
Nikkei Asia, Engadget, SiliconANGLE, SamMobile, Reuters, Bloomberg, and ZDNet
| Jeff Benson / Decrypt: |
US Marshals Service has given a $6.6M+ contract to crypto startup Anchorage to manage seized crypto assets; BitGo had won a similar $4.5M contract in April — Anchorage sells institutional custody solutions for nearly 60 digital assets, including everything from Bitcoin to Zcash. — Bitcoin
More:
Anchorage Digital, The Block, Cointelegraph, and CoinDesk
| 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 … | 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, and Android Central
Tweets: @androiddev and @davey_burke
| 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:
Reuters, PR Newswire, Pittsburgh Business Journal, and MarketWatch
| Reuters: |
Robinhood raises $2.1B in its IPO after selling 55M shares at the low end of its $38 to $42 range, giving it a valuation of $31.8B — Robinhood Markets Inc, the owner of the trading app which emerged as the go-to destination for retail investors speculating on this year's “meme' stock trading frenzy …
More:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GlobeNewswire News Room, CNBC, Silicon Valley Business …, Bloomberg, Axios, CoinDesk, and Insider. Tweets: @bgurley
| Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch: |
Cairo and Dubai-based Swvl, a bus-hailing and ridesharing provider in emerging markets, plans to go public in the US in a SPAC merger at a valuation of ~$1.5B — Cairo and Dubai-based ride-sharing company Swvl plans to go public in a merger with special purpose acquisition company Queen's Gambit Growth Capital, Swvl said Tuesday.
More:
PR Newswire, Reuters, and CNBC
| 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:
SIE.COM, Reuters, Engadget, Destructoid, Trusted Reviews, GamesIndustry.biz, and Android Headlines
Tweets: @playstation, @hasanthehun, @nextgenplayer, @zhugeex, @fr0st, @matthewacherry, @genepark, @champchong, @chris_dring, and @tomwarren
| Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: |
New bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress aims to raise ~$30B by imposing new taxes on exchanges trading digital assets including crypto — The draft language could mean a number of individuals interacting with crypto may have to start reporting their transactions.
Tweets: @basedkarbon, @rleshner, @smtrades_, @ledgerstatus, and @rulexrp
| The Economic Times: |
Filing: Ixigo, an Indian online travel app with 250M+ users, raises $53M led by Singapore's GIC; source: Ixigo is targeting a $750M+ valuation for its IPO in Q4 — Online travel app Ixigo has raised $53 million (Rs 395 crore) from investors led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC …
More:
PhocusWire, TechStory, DealStreetAsia, and Inc42 Media
| 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:
NBC News, Ars Technica, The Hill, and FierceTelecom
Tweets: @markwarner, @yfreemark, @govpritzker, and @quinnypig
| 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:
PYMNTS.com, Forkast, s1.q4cdn.com, CoinDesk, and Barron's Online
| 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:
Business Wire and Insider
| 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:
TechCrunch, Spotify, Engadget, and CNBC
Tweets: @kerrymflynn, @pt, @counternotions, @xpangler, @lucas_shaw, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @xpangler, @spotifynews, @mark_mulligan, and @eldsjal
| 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:
Adobe Blog, TechCrunch, PYMNTS.com, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @walmartinc, @walmarttech, and @mhiggins
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Social Media Today, PYMNTS.com, SlashGear, Neowin, and KnowTechie
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