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January 18, 2022, 2:50 PM
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| Microsoft: |
Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7B in cash, or $95/share, in FY 2023; Activision's stock, which closed last week at $65.39, jumps 25%+ — Legendary games, immersive interactive entertainment and publishing expertise accelerate growth in Microsoft's Gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud.
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Wall Street Journal, Xbox Wire, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Information, The Verge, Insider, Bloomberg, CNBC, TheStreet, Insider, Financial Times, Gizmodo, Benzinga, VentureBeat, Windows Central, The Verge, Microsoft, New York Times, Seattle Business Journal, Computerworld, Variety, Bloomberg, TechRadar, The Register, GeekWire, Activision Publishing, Protocol, Forbes, Engadget, PCWorld, PYMNTS.com, GamesIndustry.biz, Vox, HotHardware.com News, Tom's Hardware, appadvice.com, Softpedia News, Dexerto, The Economic Times, PC Gamer, PR Newswire, Financial Times, Neowin, Thurrott, thegamer.com, Kotaku, CNBC, BGR India, Microsoft, Android Authority, USA Today, Polygon, Gizmodo, Thurrott, NBC News, MacRumors, Associated Press, ZDNet, CNN, OnMSFT.com, Axios, IGN, Windows Central, TouchArcade, CNET, OnMSFT.com, The Hollywood Reporter, LinkedIn, Axios, VentureBeat, Engadget, Protocol, Washington Post, GamesIndustry.biz, and OnMSFT.com
Tweets: @dinabass, @gregisenberg, @jasonschreier, @xbox, @charlieintel, @pucknorris, @xbox, @satyanadella, @zhugeex, @jonerlichman, @microsoft, @jasonschreier, @edzitron, @adriennelaw, @anildash, @wsj, @andrewrsorkin, @jasonschreier, @alexeheath, @atvi_ab, @jasonschreier, @quantian1, @ibogost, @carnage4life, @varunmayya, @sarafischer, @9_volt_, @kcoxdc, @mrpointyhead, @hownottodraw, @damianburns, @turnernovak, @zhugeex, @tomwarren, @gw_alec, @martinsfp, @mattophobia, @reckless, @silvermanjacob, @charlieintel, @eric_seufert, @byadamfitch, @tomwarren, @eric_seufert, @alexhern, @swiftonsecurity, @mealoneinmymind, @sarafischer, @jasonschreier, @laurakbuzz, @tomwarren, @silvermanjacob, @mckkirk, @eric_seufert, @shonaghosh, @stroughtonsmith, @modestproposal1, @jonporty, @laurakbuzz, @laurakbuzz, @realbengilbert, @laurakbuzz, @pkafka, @neontaster, @webbemotional, @bdsams, @dlberes, @sonalibasak, @nibellion, @zhugeex, @pmaka1991, @eliastoufexis, @nickstatt, @benedictevans, @kyleorl, @timthetatman, @benedictevans, @serkantoto, @vengeful_vadam, @donreborn2, @geoffkeighley, @jasonschreier, @xboxwire, @paultassi, @jasonschreier, @austinnotduncan, @edzitron, @danprimack, @shakeelhashim, @studioanisa, @swiftonsecurity, @jimsterling, @loopifyyy, @laurakbuzz, @tha_rami, @kylebrussell, @nytimes, and @chris_dring
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft says Xbox Game Pass has 25M subscribers, up from 18M in January 2021 — Microsoft's all-you-can-eat catalog of games is getting bigger, and now it's adding Activision Blizzard — Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service now has 25 million subscribers.
More:
SiliconANGLE, Insider, Windows Central, Game Developer, Decrypt, DCD, Silicon Republic, Protocol, BetaNews, PC Gamer, MobileSyrup, Club386, The Economic Times, VideoCardz.com, thegamer.com, Neowin, Digital Trends, purexbox.com, and MSPoweruser
Tweets: @kiruti, @swiftonsecurity, @penllawen, @kylebrussell, and @tomwarren
| Andrew Asmakov / Decrypt: |
Crypto.com halted withdrawals on Monday and required users to sign back in and reset 2FA; research shows it lost 4,600+ ETH, worth ~$15M, in a presumed hack — The crypto exchange has reportedly lost at least $15 million in Ethereum, and security experts believe the true losses could be much higher.
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The Hill, VICE, CryptoPotato, Crypto Daily, TechSpot, New York Post, Security Boulevard, Gizmodo, BeInCrypto, The Block, Tech in Asia, Candid.Technology, Cryptonews, and Blockchain News
Tweets: @cryptocom, @peckshield, @cryptocom, @cryptocom, @billym2k, @cryptocom, @jeffnolan, @calbucci, @joshbutler, @campuscodi, @ben_mckenzie, @kris_hk, @kris_hk, and @kris_hk
| Stephen Graves / Decrypt: |
Coinbase partners with Mastercard to let users pay with a credit card in its upcoming NFT marketplace, solve “pain points”, and classify NFTs as “digital goods” — Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced a partnership with Mastercard to simplify the process …
More:
The Coinbase Blog, Mastercard USA, Blockworks, PYMNTS.com, Finextra, The Verge, Bloomberg, Crypto Daily, Cointelegraph, The Block, and Crypto Briefing. Tweets: @mastercardnews
| Jeffrey Knockel / The Citizen Lab: |
China's MY2022 Olympics app, mandatory for attendees to report travel and health data, has serious encryption flaws and contains a censorship keyword list — Key Findings — MY2022, an app mandated for use by all attendees of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, has a simple but devastating flaw …
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New York Times, BBC, Protocol, Axios, Toronto Star, BleepingComputer, 9to5Mac, Tech Xplore, and iPhone in Canada Blog
Tweets: @rondeibert, @info_activism, @rondeibert, @niubi, @rondeibert, @rondeibert, @oliverlinow, and @rondeibert
| Canalys: |
Apple shipped an estimated 22% of global smartphones in Q4 2021, down from 23% in Q4 2020, followed by Samsung at 20%, Xiaomi at 12%, Oppo at 9%, and Vivo at 8% — Shanghai (China), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Reading (UK) and Portland (US) - Tuesday, 18 January 2022
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The Register, 9to5Mac, Computerworld, ZDNet, TechCrunch, CNET, PhoneArena, Redmond Pie, Pocketnow, AppleInsider, TechSpot, MobileSyrup, iPhone in Canada Blog, Wccftech, Apple Must, iThinkDifferent, mobilenewscwp.co.uk, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, iMore, and MacRumors. Tweets: @canalys
| Joanna Ossinger / Bloomberg: |
Animoca Brands, which publishes NFTs and games tied to blockchain platforms, raises $359M led by Liberty City at a $5B valuation, up from $2.2B in October 2021 — Soros Fund Management and the Winklevoss twins' venture capital firm are among investors in a funding round that's more than doubled …
More:
Animoca Brands, CoinDesk, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, VentureBeat, CryptoSlate, DealStreetAsia, Cointelegraph, Nikkei Asia, CryptoPotato, and South China Morning Post. Tweets: @ahcastor
| Cho Mu-Hyun / ZDNet: |
Samsung unveils its 4nm Exynos 2200 SoC with an Xclipse GPU using AMD's RDNA 2 architecture, offering hardware-accelerated ray tracing and variable rate shading — The processor packs Samsung's own Xclipse GPU based on AMD RDNA 2 architecture that the South Korean company says will offer … | Tomer Ganon / CTech: |
Source: Israeli police used NSO's Pegasus to monitor citizens, mayors, political protesters, and former government employees without warrants or court oversight — Mayors, leaders of political protests against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former governmental employees …
More:
The Guardian, 9to5Mac, NPR, Engadget, Washington Post, AppleInsider, Associated Press, Reuters, Haaretz, and cybernews.com
| Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: |
Analysis: Meta has filed dozens of patents to monetize its metaverse, including a virtual store with sponsored items, eye and face tracking in headsets, more — Meta hopes to use tiny human expressions to create virtual world of personalised ads — Pupil movements, body poses and nose scrunching …
More:
TheStreet, Fortune, Protocol, KnowTechie, TechRadar, and Benzinga
Tweets: @mattnavarra, @muradahmed, @1br0wn, @muradahmed, @juliapowles, and @atbwebb
| Lucy Harley-Mckeown / The Block: |
The UK government will increase scrutiny of crypto ads, bringing the marketing in line with other financial promotions, citing risk to buyers — Quick Take — HM Treasury said it would ramp up scrutiny of crypto advertising in the UK. — The move will bring crypto marketing within …
Source:
GOV.UK. More:
Blockworks, ZDNet, CNBC, Crypto Daily, Cryptopolitan, Financial Times, Finextra, Engadget, BetaNews, Bankless Times, and CryptoPotato
Tweets: @rishisunak, @faisalislam, @paullewismoney, @johnglenuk, @hmtreasury, and @alihussainst
| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
YouTube says it's winding down YouTube Originals after six years and will only fund programs that are part of its Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds — YouTube is getting out of the business of originals: The Google-owned video giant said it is winding down its original productions team after more than six years.| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
The FTC and DOJ are seeking public comment on rewriting merger guidelines, signaling a potentially tougher stance toward Big Tech deals — - The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division kicked off a process to rewrite merger guidelines for businesses on Tuesday.| Omkar Godbole / CoinDesk: |
Binance conducted its first Binance Coin (BNB) auto-burn last quarter, removing over 1.6M BNB tokens worth $750M from circulation — Cryptocurrency exchange Binance implemented its first-ever binance token (BNB) auto-burn program last quarter, removing over 1.6 million BNB tokens worth $750 million from circulation.| Alexandra Alper / Reuters: |
Sources: the US government is reviewing Alibaba's cloud business to determine potential national security risks, including how it stores US clients' data — The Biden administration is reviewing e-commerce giant Alibaba's cloud business to determine whether it poses a risk to U.S. national security … | Frank Chaparro / The Block: |
OpenSea acquires crypto lending APIs startup Dharma Labs, which will shutter its wallet in 30 days; source says the deal was valued between $110M and $130M — Quick Take — OpenSea confirms acquisition of Dharma Labs — Dharma Lab's Hollander picked for CTO role| Ashley Rodriguez / Insider: |
Social Capital founder and CEO Chamath Palihapitiya says the “ugly truth” is “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghurs in China, himself included — - Chamath Palihapitiya said “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghur Muslims in China.
More:
CNBC, New York Post, and Washington Post
Tweets: @chamath, @warriorspr, @timopg, @mittromney, @gaberivera, @jason, @senrickscott, @guypbenson, @candersonmo, @arrington, @kloeffler, @hughhewitt, @rmac18, @jason, @rayhanasat, @_jack_poulson, @jason, @matthewstoller, @cokedupoptions, @ianbremmer, @fmbutt, @badiucao, @cvpayne, @etexilegov, @chuckrossdc, and @udiwertheimer
| Arjun Kharpal / CNBC: |
Shopify partners with JD.com to help US merchants sell goods in China; merchants can set up shops in 3-4 weeks, well below the current 12-month process — - Shopify has partnered with e-commerce giant JD.com to help U.S. merchants sell their goods in China.
More:
JD Corporate Blog, Finbold, The Economic Times, PYMNTS.com, TechCrunch, WRAL TechWire, and Tech in Asia
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Clockwise, which offers enterprise time tracking and scheduling tools, raises $45M Series C led by Coatue and says teams at 10K orgs are paying subscribers — To state the obvious, the shift from in-office to remote and hybrid work hasn't been easy for organizations.
More:
FinSMEs, Apollo Technical LLC, and TechCrunch
| Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch: |
Pinwheel, which offers APIs to fintechs for payroll, income, and other data, raises a $50M Series B at a $500M valuation, following a $20M Series A in June 2021 — Six months after its $20 million Series A, payroll connectivity platform Pinwheel just announced that it has nabbed another $50 million …
More:
PYMNTS.com and PR Newswire
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