Techmeme
August 19, 2021, 1:25 PM

Top News

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
FTC files a new antitrust complaint against Facebook, after a judge dismissed the first complaint in June; Facebook has until October 4 to respond  —  - The Federal Trade Commission filed a new antitrust complaint against Facebook on Thursday.  — A federal judge dismissed …
The Verge:
FTC's new suit says Facebook has a monopoly in “US personal social networking services”, distinguishing it from TikTok, and Lina Khan will not recuse herself  —  FTC chair Lina Khan will not recuse herself from the case  —  The Federal Trade Commission has filed …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Facebook announces Horizon Workrooms, a virtual meeting space with avatars, spatial audio, a whiteboard, and more, in beta on Oculus Quest 2  —  It wasn't long into a recent press briefing I attended in virtual reality when Mark Zuckerberg showed up to talk about the metaverse.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon plans to open several large physical stores across the US, starting in Ohio and California, to extend its reach in clothing and other areas  —  Online shopping pioneer wants a larger retail presence to sell clothing and household items and facilitate exchanges
Ethan Zuckerman:
Facebook's new report reinforces its narrative that most content on the News Feed is not news, but doesn't provide enough data to make meaningful conclusions  —  What content is popular on Facebook?  —  This is a surprisingly difficult - and very important - question to answer.
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
An overview of the most interesting internal emails from the Apple v. Epic trial, including discussions about an “iPhone nano” and lowering App Store fees  —  In May, the world watched as Epic Games dragged Apple to court, challenging the most profitable company in the world …
Wolfie Zhao / The Block:
Coinbase launches Coinbase Japan in partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, initially supporting the five highest-trading cryptocurrencies  —  Crypto exchange Coinbase is entering the Japanese market through its partnership with Japanese financial giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Intel details its Alder Lake lineup, coming this fall, which uses a 10nm process and offers hybrid performance and efficiency x86 cores  —  Coming this fall  —  Intel has spent much of 2021 announcing plans for its future: a new IDM 2.0 strategy, new naming schemes for its process nodes, and new desktop GPUs.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: OnlyFans is struggling to find investors, possibly due to hosting adult content; Pitch Deck shows it predicts $5.9B GMV in 2021 and $1.2B net revenue  —  OnlyFans, the online creator platform known for its adult content, is struggling to find outside investors, according to multiple sources.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it is testing Reels in the News Feed and Groups in the US, after launching the feature in India, Mexico, and Canada earlier this year  —  Reels are coming to Facebook in the U.S. The company this morning announced it will begin testing a new feature, Facebook Reels …
More: The Verge and 9to5Mac
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Robinhood reports Q2 revenue of $565M, up 131% YoY, net loss of $502M, down from $58M net income in Q2 2020, and crypto revenue of $233M; stock down 5%+  —  Robinhood's revenue more than doubled in the second quarter to $565 million, bolstered by a massive surge in crypto trading …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Apple says NeuralHash flaw found by researchers in CSAM detection system was in a generic version of the software and not in the final version it plans to use  —  Apple said the version of NeuralHash analyzed by researchers is not the final version that will be used for iCloud Photos CSAM detection.
David Jeans / Forbes:
How Big Tech companies use shell corporations to get massive tax breaks from US cities for data centers that create few jobs and consume a lot of power  —  Local governments are dangling hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to persuade companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft to build server farms in their backyards.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Netflix says it is now rolling out support for Spatial Audio on iPhones and iPads  —  Netflix has confirmed that it is now rolling out Spatial Audio support to its iPhone and iPad applications.  This enables an immersive experience using directional audio filters, and it has been a long time coming to Netflix users.
Pew Research Center:
Survey of 11,178 US adults: 48% say the government should restrict false info online, up from 39% in 2018; 59% think tech companies should, up from 56% in 2018  —  Amid rising concerns over misinformation online - including surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, especially vaccines …

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More News

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Karissa Bell / Engadget: