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September 29, 2021, 8:30 AM
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| Matthew Gault / VICE: |
Internal docs detail Amazon's Astro, including its use of facial recognition and “Sentry” mode; sources who worked on Astro say it is a “privacy nightmare” — Leaked meetings show the robot will heavily rely on facial recognition and user behavior, but sources who worked on Astro say the robot is flawed.
More:
CNET, XDA Developers, Bloomberg, Silicon Republic, Android Police, About Amazon, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, CNBC, Engadget, Gizmodo, New York Times, SlashGear, The Verge, PC Gamer, and The Register
Tweets: @beccacaddy, @mjgault, and @bigblackjacobin
| Dan Seifert / The Verge: |
Amazon debuts Astro, a $1K short robot with an Echo Show-like 10" display on top, meant to roam around the home; invite-only program is open for applications — In the fall of 1962, TV-watching audiences were invited to meet the Jetsons, a space-dwelling, flying-car-driving family from the future and their dog, Astro.
Source:
About Amazon. More:
The Ambient, Telegraph, Fast Company, The Verge, BuzzFeed News, Mashable, Telecoms.com, Bloomberg, Amazon Science, Music Ally, YouTube, TechCircle, Coinspeaker, TNW, Slate, Patently Apple, VICE, Wired, PYMNTS.com, Techaeris, CNET, IGN, The Robot Report, Ars Technica, USA Today, TechHive, techadvisor.com, Tom's Guide, SlashGear, t3.com, and Gizmodo
| Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: |
Netflix acquires its first game studio, Night School Studio, which was founded by Sean Krankel and Adam Hines in 2014 and is best known for the game Oxenfree — Netflix has acquired its first game studio with the acquisition of Oxenfree creator Night School Studio. The purchase price wasn't disclosed.
Source:
Night School Studio. More:
About Netflix, TechCrunch, FinSMEs, Laptop Mag, Agence France-Presse, Cord Cutters News, GamesIndustry.biz, iPhone in Canada Blog, Benzinga, Video Games Chronicle, Memeburn, Twinfinite, Kotaku, TechRadar, Engadget, Deadline, GameSpot, Windows Central, Game Developer, Variety, and Destructoid
Tweets: @nightschoolers, @wario64, @mrsambarlow, @jmdornbush, @cade_onder, @loudmouthjulia, @carnage4life, and @ruelpascualart
| Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica: |
Apple says the “jelly scroll” issue on the 6th-gen iPad mini is normal for LCD screens; the issue isn't noticeable on other latest iPad models with LCD screens — Apple says the issue is caused by normal LCD screen behavior. — Update, 9/28/2021: In response to our inquiry … | Wall Street Journal: |
Internal docs: Facebook was “exploring playdates as a growth lever”, including engaging tweens as they hung out together — It has investigated how to engage young users in response to competition from Snapchat, TikTok; ‘Exploring playdates as a growth lever’
More:
CNET, Insider, About Facebook, Slashdot, New York Post, SiliconANGLE, Gizmodo, and The Verge
Tweets: @alexstamos, @mosseri, @jeffhorwitz, @alexstamos, @jeffhorwitz, @andymstone, @yaeleisenstat, @timmarchman, @kevinroose, @jeffhorwitz, @jeffhorwitz, @carnage4life, @andymstone, @repcasten, @andymstone, @shalini, @oren_cass, @jeffhorwitz, @jeffhorwitz, @rmac18, @joannastern, @ceciliakang, @w7voa, @blackamazon, @meghanbobrowsky, @jeffhorwitz, @newley, @dnvolz, @brooklynmarie, @gregbensinger, @mattnavarra, @rmac18, @caseynewton, @amescg, @dezuanni, and @khushitavasant
| Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch: |
AngelList launches AngelList Stack, a set of tools to help founders start and run their companies, including end-to-end incorporation and banking services — AngelList Stack is a new suite of workflow products for founders — AngelList this week launched AngelList Stack …
Source:
AngelList Venture and AngelList Venture
Tweets: @angellist, @nmasc_, @nickabouzeid, @roblalka, @alanb, @nmasc_, @apompliano, @_damarioj, @jess, @abrams, @shanemac, @semil, @thisiskp_, @nmasc_, @sugupta, @benwerd, @nmasc_, and @clementc
| Reuters: |
Russia arrests Ilya Sachkov, the CEO of cybersecurity company Group-IB, on suspicion of treason and will hold him in custody for two months — Russia has arrested Ilya Sachkov, the chief executive of top Russian cybersecurity company Group IB, on suspicion of state treason and will hold …
More:
Forbes, The Record, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Cyberwar Liveuamap, TASS, and The Moscow Times
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft opens the Windows app store to third-party app stores; Amazon and Epic Games will add the first storefront apps in the coming months — Amazon and Epic Games Store will be the first to integrate into the Microsoft Store — Microsoft is opening up its own app store in Windows even further today …
Source:
Windows Developer Blog. More:
Protocol, GamesIndustry.biz, The Register, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Gamereactor UK, Microsoft Docs, fossbytes.com, SlashGear, Engadget, BleepingComputer, MobileSyrup, CNET, Tom's Guide, TechSpot, TechRadar, and Liliputing
Tweets: @timsweeneyepic, @lamarrwilson, @tomwarren, and @domenic
| Krebs on Security: |
Researcher discloses AirTag Lost Mode vulnerability that enables a phishing attack, and says Apple spent three months investigating and refused basic questions — The new $30 Airtag tracking device from Apple has a feature that allows anyone who finds one of these tiny location beacons …
More:
Bobbyr, 9to5Mac, PCMag, SlashGear, The Overspill, Security Boulevard, BGR, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, MacRumors, and Tom's Guide
Tweets: @briankrebs, @rralstonagile, @briankrebs, @kurtseifried, and @metacurity
| Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge: |
Amazon opens an invite-only program for its previously-announced $250 home surveillance drone, the Always Home Cam — Ring's $250 Always Home Cam is real and ready to fly into your living room — First announced at last year's Amazon hardware event, the Ring Always Home Cam is now ready for take-off.
More:
The Ambient, Ubergizmo, Ars Technica, Android Police, XDA Developers, Engadget, Axios, TalkAndroid.com, Liliputing, techadvisor.com, Gizmodo, and CNET. Tweets: @nyanotech
| Richard Lawler / The Verge: |
More:
TechHive, Android Police, XDA Developers, HotHardware.com News, Livemint, and AFTVnews. Tweets: @dcseifert
| Turner Wright / Cointelegraph: |
CFTC fines Kraken $1.25M for illegally offering margined crypto products from June 2020 to July 2021 and not registering as a futures commission merchant — “Margined, leveraged or financed digital asset trading offered to retail U.S. customers must occur on properly registered …
More:
CFTC, cryptonews.com, Coinspeaker, Forkast, NewsBTC, cryptodaily.co.uk, Crypto Briefing, Blockworks, CoinDesk, Reuters, and Bloomberg
| Jennifer Surane / Bloomberg: |
Affirm plans to debut a debit card and allow its customers to buy and sell crypto directly from Affirm savings accounts — - Customers will be able to buy, sell crypto including Bitcoin — 'We won't let you do crazy things,' Affirm's Levchin says — Affirm Holdings Inc. is planning …
More:
Affirm, CoinDesk, blockchain.news, and The Information
| Reuters: |
Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal say a Facebook whistleblower will testify at an October 5 Senate hearing on child safety — Two U.S. senators said on Tuesday a Facebook Inc (FB.O) whistleblower will testify at a Senate hearing next week about what one of them called the social media company's “toxic effects” on young users.
Source:
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn …. More:
Protocol
Tweets: @senblumenthal, @viacristiano, @ceciliakang, @jason_kint, @viacristiano, and @mshannahmurphy
| TechCrunch: |
Andela, which trains African programmers to work remotely for US companies, raises $200M Series E led by Vision Fund 2 at a $1.5B valuation — Andela, a fully remote company that helps tech companies build remote engineering teams (initially from Africa but now a global market) …
More:
TechCabal, Wall Street Journal, Rest of World, Andela, and StreetInsider.com
| Gene Park / Washington Post: |
Tim Sweeney and Epic execs discuss Epic's metaverse plans, contrasting it with Facebook's “manicured” feed and emphasizing the role of creators — Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and other executives detail their plan for the metaverse and how it differs from Facebook's vision
Tweets: @minimaxir, @genepark, @genepark, @genepark, @andresegers, @genepark, @genepark, @launcherwp, and @karinagrotz
| Christine Hall / TechCrunch: |
Totango, which offers subscription tools to track and improve customer engagement, raises $100M Series D led by Great Hill Partners — Totango, a company that helps SaaS companies track customer engagement to find and fix user flow errors and friction, announced Wednesday that it has raised $100 million …
More:
Globes Online and CTech
| Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal: |
CNN restricts access to its Facebook Pages in Australia after a ruling that makes news organizations legally liable for comments on their Facebook posts — Company said it wants to avoid liability for user comments following Australian court ruling — CNN said it has restricted access …
More:
Engadget and Reuters
| Meagan Simpson / BetaKit: |
Vancouver-based Semios, which develops real-time crop data and pest management tools connected to IoT sensors, raises $100M CAD, after a $100M CAD raise in 2020 — Vancouver startup Semios has secured $100 million CAD in its pursuit to become the leading independent AgTech company globally.
More:
FinSMEs and PR Newswire
| Financial Times: |
As sanctions derail Huawei's traditional business, it is turning to areas less dependent on foreign chips, such as cloud services and software for smart cars — When Meng Wanzhou returned home to China at the weekend, the presumed heiress of technology group Huawei pledged to harness …
Tweets: @financialtimes
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Amazon details Amazon Glow, a family-oriented $300 device with an 8" display and projector that creates a 19" touch-sensitive area on a surface in front of it — Amazon today introduced Amazon Glow, a new, interactive device aimed at families that allows kids to interact with family members …
Source:
About Amazon. More:
PCMag, AFTVnews, Liliputing, KnowTechie, TechHive, and CNET. Tweets: @hilzfuld
| The Economic Times: |
Bangalore-based Vedantu, which offers an online tutoring service, raises $100M led by ABC World Asia at a $1B valuation, up from $600M last year — Bengaluru: Edtech startup Vedantu has raised $100 million in a new funding round led by Temasek-backed impact investing fund ABC World Asia.
More:
TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Moneycontrol, and Forbes India
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