Techmeme
October 28, 2021, 2:40 PM

Top News

YouTube:
Video of Facebook Connect 2021, where VR updates, Project Cambria, and a new Meta brand name were announced  —  Tune in at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET on Thurs.  Oct. 28 when Facebook holds its annual Facebook Connect.  The company is expected to announce Oculus updates and o...
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Facebook unveils Horizon Home social VR spaces, Messenger VR calls, fitness VR, Quest for Business, including Work Accounts support on Quest 2, and more  —  Join gaming leaders online at GamesBeat Summit Next this upcoming November 9-10.  Learn more about what comes next.
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Facebook to allow 2D PWAs into the Oculus Store, the first time 2D apps have been permitted, starting with Dropbox, Slack, Smartsheet, Pluto TV, Instagram, more  —  Facebook wants to make its Quest 2 headset a productivity device for a new generation of remote workers, but in order to pull that off, it needs apps.
Mark Zuckerberg / About Facebook:
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook the company is now Meta, to better encompass all of its products  —  We are at the beginning of the next chapter for the internet, and it's the next chapter for our company too.  —  In recent decades, technology has given people the power to connect and express ourselves more naturally.
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Interview with Mark Zuckerberg on rebranding the company to Meta to avoid the awkwardness of sharing the name of its main app, building the metaverse, and more  —  The company wants to move past the ‘confusion and awkwardness’ of sharing a name with its main app
K.G Orphanides / Wired UK:
Review of Raspberry Pi's new $15 Zero 2 W, featuring a 64-bit CPU, 512MB RAM, and WiFi 4: surprisingly powerful and ideal for emulation and automation projects  —  The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is powerful for a computer the size of a matchbox, but get a Pi 4 or Pi 400 if you want a better desktop experience
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple support document says 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro users can turn on “scale to fit below built-in camera” to avoid notch app compatibility issues  —  Apple today shared a new support document that explains how users can ensure that an app's menu bar items do not appear hidden behind …
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Microsoft launches a campaign to help fill 250,000 cybersecurity jobs in the US by 2025, offering scholarships and free curriculum for community colleges  —  Microsoft announced Thursday that it's launching a national campaign to help fill 250,000 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. by 2025 …
Jennifer Ryan / Bloomberg:
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who earned $154.6M last year, will take a pay cut to $62,500 and forego equity grants until diversity goals are met  —  - Compensation included paying CEO $154.6 million last year  — Company facing sexual harassment and discrimination case
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Apple joins Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems, a program by Belgium-based R&D organization Imec to help reduce environmental impact of chips  —  Apple today announced that it has joined Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS), a new research program launched …
Jacob Silverman / New York Magazine:
While whistleblowing and accountability journalism are useful, only sweeping political changes can limit Facebook's power, which has proven enduring  —  Amid years of ongoing crisis, Facebook in recent weeks has faced the public-relations equivalent of nuclear annihilation.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Google says it will roll out e2e encrypted phone calls on Google Fi over the coming weeks  —  But only for calls between two Android phones on Fi  —  In the coming weeks, Google is rolling out end-to-end encrypted phone calls on its Google Fi MVNO, the search giant announced today.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter launches the Spaces Recording feature that was announced last month, to a limited number of Spaces hosts on iOS and all listeners on iOS and Android  —  Twitter announced last month it would soon introduce an option that allows hosts to record their live audio sessions in Twitter Spaces to make them available for replay.
More: The Verge
Washington Post:
NYU research suggests Twitter's algorithms promote conservative politicians because they are more likely to be “ratioed”, which Twitter may count as engagement  —  Our research suggests conservative politicians are ‘ratioed’ more often.  That may explain why they're in your timeline.
Bloomberg:
Google, Apple, Twitter, Snap, Microsoft, and others form the Catalyze Tech coalition, committing to improve DEI, share demographic data, and more  —  New report underscores importance of sharing data and supporting K-12 computer science education.  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Twitter Inc. …
Bloomberg:
GlobalFoundries raises $2.6B in an IPO, selling shares for $47, valuing the company at over $25B, the third biggest US listing in 2021 behind Coupang and Didi  —  - Chipmaker's shares price at top of $42-$47 marketed range  — Mubadala's portion of share sale increased from earlier plan

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Ali Breland / Mother Jones: