Techmeme: Wordle Archive, a website that lets users play hundreds of previous daily Wordle puzzles, says it was taken down last week at the request of The New York Times (Kyle Orland/Ars Technica)

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March 17, 2022, 12:05 AM

Top News

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix will test an “add an extra member” feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, letting primary account holders pay a fee for users not in their household — Netflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households …

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Google schedules a virtual I/O 2022 for May 11 to May 12 with a limited live audience of Google employees and some partners; free registration opens this month — Registration opens this month — Google's big annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place May 11th and 12th, the company announced Wednesday.

More: 9to5Google, Android Authority, TechCrunch, CNET, MacRumors, Digit, ZDNet, Ubergizmo, Pocketnow, Tom's Guide, MobileSyrup, Droid Life, Pocket-lint, Digital Trends, Android Headlines, Phandroid, 9to5Google, Mashable, iMore, Android Central, XDA Developers, Phandroid, and Android Police

Tweets: @sundarpichai, @inafried, @rdrv3, and @lanceulanoff

The Information:

Tech execs may face criminal prosecution or jail time for not complying with Ofcom within two months after the UK's Online Safety Bill passes and takes effect — Executives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms, TikTok and other big tech companies would face the prospect of jail time under sweeping …

Annabelle Dickson / Politico:

A profile of Nadine Dorries, who in her first six months as the UK's DCMS Secretary resurrected long-stalled tech legislation such as the Online Safety Bill

More: Windows Central and Insider. Tweets: @newsannabelle

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft unveils the Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, which uses AI for automatic reframing, image correction, lighting, and more, available for $799 on May 31 — Microsoft's latest camera has a lot of smarts — Microsoft is launching its first AI-powered camera for the Surface Hub 2.

More: Windows Blog, YouTube, The Official Microsoft Blog, MobileSyrup, Thurrott, Thurrott, Digital Trends, XDA Developers, OnMSFT.com, Windows Central, and Windows Central

Tweets: @tomwarren, @panos_panay, @benbajarin, @caro_milanesi, and @brandonleblanc

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

Meta says it removed a deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking Ukrainians to surrender, citing its misleading manipulated media policy — In the fake video, Zelenskyy surrenders to Russian invasion — On Wednesday, Facebook's parent company, Meta …

More: VICE, BleepingComputer, CNN, NPR, Security Affairs, The Daily Dot, Sky News, euronews, Insider, Snopes.com, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Times of Israel, WFTS, CNET, and The Daily Beast

Tweets: @ngleicher, @hannaliubakova, @c_c_krebs, @ngleicher, @c_c_krebs, @reichenstein, @jsrailton, @cameronwilson, @jsrailton, @digiphile, @runasand, @c_c_krebs, @jsrailton, @samidh, @jsrailton, and @shanehuntley

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Meta adds basic parental controls for Quest VR, almost three years after launching the headset, starting with an unlock pattern for specific apps in April — Despite releasing its first virtual reality headsets in May 2019, Meta is only now adding parental supervision tools to its Meta Quest VR headset.

More: Oculus, Meta, Input, Social Media Today, iPhone in Canada Blog, Android Central, Windows Central, and UploadVR

Tweets: @boztank, @_andyburrows, and @gemisisdev

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Meta launches Family Center, a suite of parental supervision tools for its apps, starting with Instagram in the US and rolling out globally in the coming months

More: Meta, PhoneArena, SlashGear, Engadget, Reuters, Protocol, and TechCrunch. Tweets: @mosseri

Eliza Gkritsi / CoinDesk:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a law legalizing cryptocurrencies in the country, after parliament passed the virtual asset bill on February 17 — Ukraine has received $100 million in crypto donations during its war with Russia. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy legalized crypto …

More: The Block, TechCrunch, Cointelegraph, Protocol, Decrypt, Engadget, Benzinga, New World Same Humans, Crypto Briefing, BeInCrypto, CryptoGlobe, Bitcoin Magazine, Ethereum World News, CryptoPotato, Waivly, and Forkast

Tweets: @mintsyfra and @gladstein

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:

Bored Ape Yacht Club launches ApeCoin, or $APE, with 1B in total supply, and forms the ApeCoin DAO, whose council members include Alexis Ohanian and Amy Wu — Even among the fastest-growing crypto startups, Yuga Labs has had a particularly explosive year. — The startup is behind …

More: The Information, Benzinga, PYMNTS.com, The Block, Decrypt, CoinDesk, and Crypto Briefing

Tweets: @apecoin, @boredapeyc, @animocabrands, @alexisohanian, @yugalabs, @bradydale, and @amytongwu. Thanks:@colegarry2

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

iPad Air (2022) review: fast with the M1 chip and great display but Touch ID is not as convenient as Face ID and the front camera is awkward in landscape mode — The new iPad Air is a blend of familiar features with predictable results — Much of the new iPad Air from Apple is a known quantity.

Sam Byford / The Verge:

Hands-on with Universal Control: Apple's most impressive new feature in years that bridges the gap between macOS and iPadOS without requiring Apple peripherals

More: ZDNet, MacDailyNews, 9to5Mac, and Computerworld

Tweets: @jeffseibert, @parkerortolani, @bengeskin, @jbrooksuk, @mcsquared96, @ijustine, @briantong, @dsilverman, @simonbs, @aricohn, @dcseifert, and @jeffnolan

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Interview with Automattic CEO on the company's growth, the future of open-source WordPress, Tumblr and Apple's App Store rules, Web3, Bitcoin, Ethereum, more — Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, which he co-founded, and Tumblr …

More: Newslit Daily

See also Mediagazer

The Information:

Sources: Google has struck a deal to acquire Raxium, a five-year-old startup that makes microLED components for AR and VR displays — Google has struck a deal to buy Raxium, a five-year-old startup that develops tiny light-emitting diodes for displays used in augmented and mixed reality devices …

More: Ars Technica, SiliconANGLE, Silicon Valley Business …, Protocol, Seeking Alpha, and 9to5Google

Tweets: @joshua_sisco, @stephennellis, @amir, and @matthewstoller

TechCrunch:

Sources: Yandex is in negotiations to sell its media unit, including aggregator Yandex News and recommendation engine Yandex Zen, possibly to social network VK — Sources say the company is seeking a media exit as top exec hit with sanctions over propaganda charge

See also Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:

French cloud service OVHcloud files an antitrust complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission; sources say the complaint is about Microsoft licenses — France's OVHcloud has filed a complaint that Microsoft is abusing its position to hurt competition

More: PYMNTS.com and Protocol

Eva Mathews / Reuters:

Qualcomm says it has stopped selling its products to Russian companies in compliance with US-imposed sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine — Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) said on Wednesday it has stopped selling its products to Russian companies in compliance with U.S.-imposed sanctions after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

More: Washington Post. Tweets: @donnymac, @qualcomm, @fedorovmykhailo, @fedorovmykhailo, and @natetibbits

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From Mediagazer

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

AG Todd Blanche defends the White House ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, saying access is “a privilege” and Trump is “sick and tired” of inaccurate reporting

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Paramount and 12 state AGs defend their antitrust settlement after a judge held off on approving the settlement citing concerns raised by Senator Cory Booker

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

The BBC plans to cut ~90 jobs from BBC Local, aiming to save ~£9.1M, as part of a plan to eliminate ~250 full-time jobs in its Nations division by 2027/28

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More News

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Wordle Archive, a website that lets users play hundreds of previous daily Wordle puzzles, says it was taken down last week at the request of The New York Times

More: NME, Laptop Mag, TheGamer, Game Rant, Stuff, GameRevolution, Boing Boing, Eurogamer.net, Destructoid, Kotaku, Shacknews, Polygon, GameSpot, The Verge, TechRadar, PC Gamer, Macworld, and Dot Esports. Tweets: @campuscodi

See also Mediagazer

Kenrick Cai / Forbes:

Webflow, which offers a no-code website building tool, raises a $120M Series C led by YC Continuity at a $4B valuation, bringing its total funding to $335M

More: VentureBeat, PR Newswire, and SiliconANGLE

Kerry Flynn / Axios:

New Delhi-based Amagi, which provides ad software for broadcast and streaming TV, raises $95M led by Accel at a $1B+ valuation, bringing total funding to $245M

More: Moneycontrol, Entrackr, The Hindu BusinessLine, Moneycontrol, Business Standard, Livemint, and Bloomberg

See also Mediagazer

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

TruEra, which offers AI quality management tools to optimize and monitor ML models, raises a $25M Series B led by Menlo, bringing its total funding to $42.3M

More: SiliconANGLE

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:

Sam Altman's Worldcoin recently halted operations in at least seven countries due to problems like uneven smartphone access, confused users, and fraud attempts

Tweets: @chris_skinner, @mhbergen, and @ldrogen

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Linktree, which makes “link in bio” landing pages for people and companies, raises a $110M Series B extension led by Index and Coatue at a $1.3B valuation

More: Protocol, Pixel Envy, and FinSMEs

Tweets: @johnkoetsier, @sarthakgh, @carnage4life, @jherskowitz, and @asilbwrites

Andrés Engler / CoinDesk:

OXIO, a “carrier-as-a-service” company that lets brands launch mobile services by turning data into blockchain-based digital assets, raises a $40M Series B

Tweets: @coindesk

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

RISC-V chip designer SiFive raises a $175M Series F at a $2.5B valuation led by Coatue Management, bringing its total funding to $350M+

More: TechPowerUp, Forbes, HPCwire, Bloomberg, SiliconANGLE, Protocol, San Francisco Business Journal, The Register, and Reuters

Earlier Picks

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

iUNU, whose LUNA robot moves on greenhouse roofs and uses AI to detect problems with plants and find spots that are ready to harvest, raises a $24M Series B

More: GeekWire

Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:

Wasoko, formerly Sokowatch, a Kenya-based B2B marketplace that offers a BNPL service to retailers, raises a $125M Series B, source says at a $625M valuation

More: LinkedIn, PYMNTS.com, Disrupt Africa, TechCabal, and FinSMEs

Tweets: @mrstephendeng, @4dicapital, @sheilahbirgen, and @kiruti

Jamie Crawley / CoinDesk:

Treehouse, which provides DeFi data analytics, raises an $18M seed led by an “undisclosed large fintech investor”, with Binance and others participating

More: Crowdfund Insider and SiliconANGLE

Bloomberg:

Foxconn resumes partial operations at two Shenzhen campuses closed on Monday, one of which makes iPhones, after authorities approved its “closed loop” process

Yadarisa Shabong / Reuters:

The UK's CMA says NortonLifeLock's $8.6B Avast acquisition could result in customers getting a worse deal and asks the companies to submit remedy proposals

More: SC Media, GOV.UK, SiliconANGLE, PCMag, infosecurity-magazine.com, Financial Times, The Register, and City A.M.

Clive Thompson / Wired:

An in-depth look at GitHub and OpenAI's Copilot, which writes 35% of its users' code, and how AI tools can make developers more efficient and democratize coding

Tweets: @sama. Thanks:@colegarry2

Thomas Brewster / Forbes:

A look at Ukraine's “invisible heroes”, internet technicians who are risking their lives avoiding bombs and thwarting Russian hackers to keep Ukraine online

More: The Mac Observer and 9to5Mac

Tweets: @schmmuck, @x0rz, @a_picazo, @iblametom, @netblocks, @davemaasland, @iblametom, @iblametom, and @kimzetter

Rest of World:

Six months after El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, dozens of citizens, economists, and developers detail cracks in the country's crypto revolution

More: Crypto Daily, Common Sense, The Overspill, The Daily Hodl, Blockworks, and Emerging World

Tweets: @terencehuynh, @vickiturk, @skinosian, @ricardovalp, @leomschwartz, @restofworld, @somospostpc, @counternotions, and @smdiehl