Techmeme
October 13, 2022, 9:20 PM

Top News

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
Netflix says Basic with Ads will cost $6.99/month in the US and debut on November 3 in 12 countries, offering most titles, at up to 720p, and without downloads  —  Starting in November, Netflix will finally roll out its new ad-supported tier for just a few bucks a month …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:
Meta adviser and ex-Oculus CTO John Carmack expresses heavy skepticism at pushing for avatar fidelity, focusing on the Quest Pro to drive VR adoption, and more  —  Lonely lecture as a VR avatar is a far cry from last year's “thousands of people” goal  —  Last year, former Oculus CTO …
Stratechery:
Q&A with Zuckerberg about selling the Quest 3 at a break-even or a loss, from $300-$500, to grow the ecosystem, missing the shift to TikTok-like feeds, and more  —  This interview was conducted yesterday morning as Meta was broadcasting its pre-recorded Connect keynote.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg touting an “open, interoperable metaverse” is at odds with Meta using corporate partnerships and case-by-case permissions to build its version  —  Mark Zuckerberg wants to own the future of computing — but not alone.  That's the intended takeaway from this year's Meta …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple plans to offer Apple Card users a “high-yield” Goldman Sachs savings account in the coming months and automatically deposit their Daily Cash with no fees  —  Apple today announced that Apple Card users will be able to open a new “high-yield” savings account from Goldman Sachs …
Nelson Wang / CoinDesk:
New York Times:
Sources: Biden's crackdown on Chinese tech exports was driven by fears of China using supercomputers and AI to develop weapons and crack US encrypted messaging  —  U.S. officials pushed to choke off China's access to critical semiconductor technology after internal debates and tough negotiations with allies.
Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
Internal Pentagon docs: 80%+ of US soldiers using Microsoft HoloLens experienced “mission-affecting physical impairments”, like headaches, eyestrain, and nausea  —  US soldiers using Microsoft Corp.'s new goggles in their latest field test suffered “mission-affecting physical impairments” …
Tom Giles / Bloomberg:
Filing: Twitter says Elon Musk is under a federal investigation related to his bid to acquire the company and asks for access to documents he gave authorities  —  Billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities related to his attempted acquisition of Twitter Inc. …
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
DeFi startup Uniswap Labs, which runs a decentralized crypto exchange, raised a $165M Series B led by Polychain Capital, and plans to build an NFT aggregator  —  Uniswap Labs on Thursday announced a $165 million Series B funding round, led by Polychain Capital, that values the company at $1.66 billion.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
A look at Google's Project Starline 3D video chat booths, as Google plans to install them for some enterprise partners, such as Salesforce, WeWork, and T-Mobile  —  Project Starline is the real deal.  It makes a virtual call feel like a one-on-one conversation.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft rebrands Office to Microsoft 365 after 30+ years; Office.com will get a new logo and design in November, followed by the Office apps in January 2023  —  Microsoft is making a major change to its Microsoft Office branding.  After more than 30 years, Microsoft Office is being renamed …
Ashley Gold / Axios:
Meta files to dismiss the FTC's attempt to block its acquisition of Within, arguing the FTC's claims rely on “pure speculation of a hypothetical future state”  —  Meta filed to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block its acquisition of virtual reality fitness startup Within …
Washington Post:
A look at efforts by Google, Signal, Tor, and others to help Iranian protestors evade censorship; the White House prodded tech companies and relaxed sanctions  —  Though Yasmin Green fled Iran with her parents at 3 years old, she has never been more involved in the struggles of its people.
Axios:
Sources: the FCC plans to ban selling new Huawei and ZTE telecommunications devices in the US over national security concerns; the order needs to be voted on  —  The Federal Communications Commission plans to ban all sales of new Huawei and ZTE telecommunications devices in the U.S. …
Alex Marquardt / CNN:
Documents: SpaceX told the Pentagon it can't donate more Starlink terminals to Ukraine or keep funding the service there, asking the Pentagon to provide funding  —  Since they first started arriving in Ukraine last spring, the Starlink satellite internet terminals made by Elon Musk's SpaceX …
More: Financial Times and DCD
Chris Baraniuk / BBC:
How cosmic rays can alter computers' memory, a phenomenon understood since at least the 1970s, and why it is hard to tie specific errors to ionizing radiation  —  The Earth is subjected to a hail of subatomic particles from the Sun and beyond our solar system which could be the cause of glitches that afflict our phones and computers.
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: the EU could file antitrust charges against Google over its ad business in early 2023, putting the company at risk of its fourth €1B+ fine  —  Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google could face antitrust charges next year over its digital advertising business, with EU regulators frustrated …

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
Security update: Retiring weak TLS cipher suites  —  At Zoho Corp, we are dedicated to maintaining the highest security and compliance standards.  As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Jensen On The Ropes, Sam Altman's Conflicts, Allbirds' GPU Pivot
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.
Hard Fork:
A.I. Backlash Turns Violent + Kara Swisher on Healthmaxxing + The Zuck Bot Is Coming
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Max Mullen from Instacart
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Access:
Canva's CEO on what happens when AI does the design
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Cohere's Aidan Gomez: The Canadian Founder Taking AI Models To The World, Not Just Big Tech
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:20 PM ET, October 13, 2022.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks

@bitech: