Techmeme
October 29, 2021, 11:50 AM

Top News

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.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Facebook's Meta renaming is a bet on the power of founder control, and is about a future that doesn't yet exist, but one that Zuckerberg believes needs to  —  The obvious analogy to Facebook's announcement that it is renaming itself Meta and re-organizing its financials to separate …
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Facebook's metaverse is designed to solve several problems: an ageing userbase, dependence on Google and Apple, regulatory risk, and reputational damage  —  If his new strategy works — a big if — it could help address several of Facebook's biggest problems.
Andrew Bosworth:
Andrew Bosworth says Facebook Reality Labs will become Reality Labs, Oculus brand will shift to Meta for hardware and Oculus Quest app starting in early 2022  —  Well the cat's (officially) out of the bag: Our company is now Meta to better reflect who we are and our ambitions to help build the metaverse.
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
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
The Facebook View app on iOS contains an image of a potential Meta smartwatch, with a front-facing camera notch, rounded screen, and a detachable wrist strap  —  - Device has front-facing camera, possibly for videoconferencing  — Image of watch is found inside of Facebook View iPhone app
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  —  this upcoming November 9-10.  Learn more about what comes next.  —  Facebook has turned its social media battleship toward the metaverse …
YouTube:
Apple:
Apple misses with Q4 revenue of $83.4B, up 29% YoY, vs $84.85B est., iPhone revenue of $38.87B, up 47% YoY, services revenue of $18.3B, up 25.6%; stock down 3%+  —  New September quarter record with revenue up 29 percent  —  Services and Mac revenue reach new all-time highs
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft acquires Two Hat, a content moderation provider that it has been working with for the past few years to improve Xbox communities  —  The deal will help Microsoft's consumer services push  —  Microsoft has acquired Two Hat, a content moderation provider that's helped keep harmful content off Xbox.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Europol says it has detained 12 suspects that were orchestrating ransomware attacks that hit 1,800+ victims across 71 countries since 2019  —  Europol said it detained 12 suspects this week it believes were part of a professional criminal group that orchestrated a long string of ransomware attacks …
About Amazon:
Amazon misses with Q3 revenue of $110.8B, up 15% YoY, vs $111.6B est., net income of $3.2B, down from $6.3B YoY, AWS net sales of $16.1B, up 39%; stock down 4%+  —  SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2021.
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Google releases a Chrome update that fixes seven vulnerabilities, including two zero-days exploited in the wild  —  Google has released Chrome 95.0.4638.69 for Windows, Mac, and Linux to fix two zero-day vulnerabilities that attackers have actively exploited.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Google and Jio debut $87 JioPhone Next with a 5.45-inch HD+ display and Qualcomm's quad-core QM-215 chipset, available November 4 in India  —  Google and Indian telecom network Jio Platforms said on Friday that their much-anticipated budget smartphone, JioPhone Next, will go on sale …

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More News

The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors: