Techmeme: Gurman: Apple is still working on a multi-device charger, other short and long-distance wireless chargers, and reverse wireless charging for its devices (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

November 29, 2021, 9:35 AM

Top News

Financial Times:

Sources: UK's CMA is expected to block Meta's proposed acquisition of Giphy in the coming days — Move would be the first time the competition watchdog has reversed a Big Tech acquisition — The UK competition regulator is expected to block Meta's acquisition of online gif platform Giphy …

More: Reuters, Protocol, Insider, Coinspeaker, equalocean.com, City A.M., and The Economic Times

Tweets: @bergmayer, @mdudas, @ldignan, and @martinsfp

David Faber / CNBC:

Sources: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is expected to step down; Twitter stock rises 10%+ — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is expected to step down from his executive role, sources tell CNBC's David Faber. Twitter stock jumped more than 11% on the news.

More: Insider. Tweets: @jack, @ritholtz, @sam_l_shead, @sam_l_shead, @triketora, @ivanthek, @danprimack, @matt_levine, @yoda, @thestalwart, @ryan_browne_, and @jyarow

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

How “neo-conglomerates” like Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta replaced and outgrew industrial conglomerates like GE, Toshiba, and Johnson & Johnson — As General Electric and other old-school behemoths break up, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta are taking …

More: 9to5Mac and Philip Elmer‑DeWitt

Tweets: @pkafka, @fmbutt, @brian_callaci, @sub8u, @halsinger, and @mims

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Gurman: Apple is still working on a multi-device charger, other short and long-distance wireless chargers, and reverse wireless charging for its devices — Despite its failed AirPower experiment a few years ago, Apple is reportedly still working on a multi-device charger for its products.

Source: Bloomberg. More: MacRumors, Wccftech, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, iMore, Pocket-lint, Gizchina, iThinkDifferent, AppleTrack, Forbes, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, and AppleInsider

Tweets: @markgurman and @joshuaswingle

Tom Lowrey / ABC:

Australian PM Scott Morrison proposes new defamation legislation mandating social media companies reveal the identities of anonymous online trolls or face fines — Social media companies could be forced to reveal the identities of anonymous users in an effort to crack down on online trolling …

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Bangalore-based Slice, which lets its 5M+ credit card users pay bills in instalments, raises $220M Series B led by Tiger and Insight at a $1B+ valuation — Rajan Bajaj, founder of fintech Slice, chimed in on a Twitter thread earlier this year and wondered aloud what he needs to do to turn his startup into a unicorn before he turns 30.

More: International Business Times, Tech News, Entrackr, Bloomberg, Tech in Asia, The Economic Times, DealStreetAsia, and PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @refsrc

Warren P. Strobel / Wall Street Journal:

A look at the challenges spies face with biometrics, smartphones, and surveillance cameras, and how AI sifting through data changes espionage — U.S., rivals seek ways to adapt spycraft to a changing world; being on the grid can blow your cover, but so can staying off

More: 9to5Mac. Tweets: @tuomorusila, @evanselinger, @jayshams, @vmsalama, @jessmarindavis, and @niubi

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Thought Machine, which helps banks launch cloud-based services, raises a $200M Series C led by Nyca Partners at a $1B+ valuation — Thought Machine, a 2014 (Xoogler) founded startup that sells cloud-based b2b banking services, has closed a $200 million Series C round and announced …

More: Thought Machine, FinSMEs, PYMNTS.com, altfi.com, The Block, Crowdfund Insider, Crunchbase News, Tech.eu, and CNBC. Tweets: @disruptionbank

Les Pounder / Tom's Hardware:

Report: Raspberry Pi Trading hired investment banks Stifel and Liberum to advise on a London IPO planned for this spring that would value it at ~$500M — The listing could see Raspberry Pi valued at $500m — According to a report in The Telegraph, Raspberry Pi Trading …

Source: Telegraph. More: CNX Software and Slashdot

Tweets: @sub8u, @recantha, @frankcatalano, and @rob_kimbell

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNet:

Nextcloud and ~30 other EU companies file an antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft for bundling OneDrive and Teams with Windows — Nextcloud and almost 30 other European companies have filed a complaint about Microsoft's anti-competitive behavior with its OneDrive cloud storage offering.

Source: Nextcloud and Nextcloud. More: European DIGITAL SME Alliance, TechSpot, SiliconANGLE, Slashdot, Politico, PCMag, Reclaim The Net, MSPoweruser, and Neowin

Tweets: @simonvandorpe, @carnage4life, and @carnage4life

New York Times:

Recent cyberattacks on Iran's fuel distribution system and an Israeli LGBTQ dating site show that Iran-Israel cyberwar is impacting civilians on a large scale — Iranians couldn't buy gas. Israelis found their intimate dating details posted online. The Iran-Israel shadow war is now hitting ordinary citizens.

More: infosecurity-magazine.com and The Overspill

Tweets: @snlyngaas, @kylieatwood, @alexgibneyfilm, @ebkania, @loumariehsd, @seanmcfate, @kevincollier, @nytimes, @jonathanmtweet, @int_rec_day, @kenroth, @jasonmbrodsky, @jasonmbrodsky, @chris_sactoca, @zachsdorfman, @sangernyt, and @farnazfassihi

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:

UK-based Motorway, a second-hand car auction site used by 4K+ car dealers, raises a $190M Series C at a $1B+ valuation after raising a $67.7M Series B in June — It was only in June that Motorway - a U.K. platform on which professional car dealers can bid in an auction for privately owned cars for sale …

More: Tech.eu and Sifted

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.

Zoho:

Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

BG2 Pod:

AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

Great Chat:

The stories we told ourselves in 2025

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Grit:

How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Lenny's Podcast:

The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:35 AM ET, November 29, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD's board says it will “carefully review and consider” Paramount's revised offer, which includes a full backstop personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison

Upcoming Tech Events

Jan 4

Samsung "The First Look" media event

Game Developers Conference

More News

Kyle Alspach / VentureBeat:

Armis, which provides enterprise IT and IoT security tools, raises $300M at a $3.4B post-money valuation, up from $2B in February 2021

More: SiliconANGLE, PR Newswire, and SecurityWeek

Gleb Stolyarov / Reuters:

Russia's Roskomnadzor regulator says its slowdown of Twitter on mobile, in force since March, will continue until all content deemed illegal is removed

James Rundle / Wall Street Journal:

Intel is stockpiling around 3,000 legacy pieces of its hardware and software, going back about a decade, for security research at a warehouse in Costa Rica

Tweets: @campuscodi

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Q&A with Forte founder and CEO Josh Williams on Forte's $725M Series B, adding “real purpose” to speculation-fueled tokens via games, potential regulation, more

Miriam Gottfried / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Clearlake Capital will buy Quest Software, which makes tools for IT departments, from Francisco Partners for $5.4B including debt

More: Quest Software Acquired, Reuters, and iTnews

Dennis Schaal / skift.com:

Booking.com plans to acquire its Sweden-based flight-booking partner Etraveli Group from CVC Capital Partners for ~$1.83B

Financial Times:

Sky Mavis says its crypto-based game Axie Infinity quadrupled DAUs in under 3 months to 2M in October, as some analysts question Axie's economic sustainability

Tweets: @smdiehl, @financialtimes, and @saemin4655

Earlier Picks

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:

Vestager asks the EU Parliament and Council to approve the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act as a matter of urgency, even if they are imperfect

More: PYMNTS.com and Reuters

Tweets: @thierrybreton, @javierespft, @vestager, @andreas_schwab, @samuelstolton, @chrismessina, @vestager, and @charanzova

Adam Rogers / Wired:

A look at efforts to develop brain-computer interfaces, including Musk's Neuralink and a DARPA program to build a 64,000-electrode array for brain implants

Tweets: @hankgreelylsju, @rossdawson, @sub8u, @condenast, and @jetjocko

Lauren Thomas / CNBC:

Adobe: US consumers spent $8.9B online on Black Friday, down from the record $9B in 2020, the first ever YoY decline

More: Engadget, TechRadar, New York Post, ABC News, The Verge, Forbes, Engadget, Axios, CNET, and Benzinga

Tweets: @laurenthomas, @ericjhonsa, @thinking_panda, @hytrekprosiecka, @itsreapagain, and @darjohn25

Arol Wright / Android Police:

Spotify confirms it is retiring the Car View mode in its mobile apps, offering no replacement, but says it is working to improve how users listen while driving

More: Android Headlines, Pocket-lint, PYMNTS.com, Thurrott, The Verge, Gizmodo, Engadget, 9to5Google, Mashable, PhoneArena, PCMag, TechRadar, Android Central, Pocketnow, MobileSyrup, and Gizchina

Tweets: @stephanievasko and @jak1192

Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:

Now that most video game platforms have a digital-only purchasing option, paying separately for the same video game on each is indefensible

More: Philip Elmer‑DeWitt. Tweets: @reksveks, @alangebhardtsba, @steuph, @gruber, @reneritchie, @stroughtonsmith, and @daringfireball

Stephen Diehl:

Crypto tokens allow venture capitalists to dump their investments on an enthusiastic public without regulation, in the midst of a speculative mania

Reuters:

Indian government tells Starlink to stop “booking/rendering the satellite internet service” as it does not have a license to operate in the country

More: pib.gov.in, The Hindu, Gizmodo, Techaeris, The Verge, PCMag, Engadget, and Insider

Tweets: @jeffnolan, @gyude_moore, and @gojomo