Techmeme
January 31, 2023, 11:50 AM

Top News

Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony halves its Q1 PlayStation VR2 shipment forecast to around 1M units after disappointing early preorders; the headset launches on February 22  —  Sony Group Corp. reduced projections for the initial launch of its PlayStation VR2 headset dramatically after early pre-orders disappointed …
Jack Schickler / CoinDesk:
Independent examiner: Celsius misled investors and sometimes used new customer funds to pay for withdrawals, CEO Alex Mashinsky made false claims, and more  —  Shoba Pillay was appointed by a New York bankruptcy court to look at whether the crypto lender operated as a Ponzi scheme
The Verge:
Apple HomePod (second-gen) review: great sound quality, useful sensors, speedy Siri, and deep Apple integration, but pricey and best experience needs two units  —  Apple's second take on the HomePod doesn't stray far from the original, but it's better all around.
Kat Bailey / IGN:
Sources: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony do not plan to attend E3 2023, to be held in-person from June 13 to June 16; E3 2022 was canceled due to the pandemic  —  All three of gaming's first-party console manufacturers appear poised to skip E3's big return.  —  E3's first physical event …
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 18% YoY to €3.2B and a €270M loss, up from €39M YoY, as operating costs rose 44% YoY; paying subscribers were up 10M to 205M  —  Music streaming group adds subscribers but is hit by rise in operating expenses  —  Spotify's losses ballooned …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announce a venture to explore social apps, the first being Artifact, a TikTok-like app for news articles  —  EXCLUSIVE: Meet Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text  —  Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are back.
Sharon Goldman / VentureBeat:
More: The EconomistTweets: @shashj, @shashj, @hardmaru, and @shashj
Kim Jaewon / Nikkei Asia:
Samsung reports Q4 operating profit down 69% YoY to ~$3.5B, its lowest since Q3 2014, and revenue down 8% YoY to ~$57.3B, citing weak chip and smartphone demand  —  South Korean tech giant's slump expected to continue in first half of this year  —  SEOUL — Samsung Electronics said Tuesday …
Reuters:
Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
A draft EU proposal details plans to ask Netflix, Alphabet, and other “large traffic generators” to help pay for next-generation internet infrastructure  —  The European Union is weighing a proposal to make technology companies that use the most bandwidth, like Netflix Inc. and Alphabet Inc. …
Parmy Olson / Bloomberg:
EU Commission changes, triggered by human rights group ICCL, mean regulators in Ireland and elsewhere will report six times a year on GDPR, violations, and more  —  It's well established that the European Union has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world, threatening fines of up to 4% of a company's annual turnover.
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A US judge allows the names of the two people who posted SBF's $250M bail to be made public, but stays the ruling until at least February 7, expecting an appeal  —  A U.S. judge on Monday said the names of two people who helped guarantee bail for indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried …
New York Times:
Sources: Stripe is aiming to raise ~$2.5B at a $55B to $60B valuation, led by Thrive Capital, which has committed $1B; Stripe was valued at ~$95B in March 2021  —  Thrive has committed $1 billion, which would value the payments provider Stripe at about $55 billion to $60 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Matt Tamanini / The Streamable:
Paramount Global plans to merge its Showtime streaming service with Paramount+'s ad-free tier later in 2023 and call the new offering Paramount+ with SHOWTIME  —  It's been a long time coming, but later this year, Paramount Global will finally fully integrate the streaming arm …
AJ Vicens / CyberScoop:
Kaspersky: from January 2020 to June 2022, hacker groups offered salaries from six figures to $1.2M, bonuses, and paid leave to attract talent on the dark web  —  Despite the obvious risks, tech jobs with hacking groups can be alluring for those who need the money or want to do the work.

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
3 lessons from 1,000+ teams running sales on WhatsApp  —  This is a guest post by Orkhan Jafarli, Growth PM at TimelinesAI.Sales teams of businesses across the world have one thing in common: a meaningful chunk of their pipeline now happens on WhatsApp.
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:
AI Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton: AI Is Conscious, Superintelligence is Coming, And We Should Be Worried
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
How Dhar Mann Turned After-School Specials Into A Billion-View Business
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Invest Like the Best:
Dara Khosrowshahi - Uber's Bet on AVs, AI, and Building a Super-App
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Training Data:
Knowing What Your Customers Want, All the Time: Listen Labs' Alfred Wahlforss
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
Grit:
What It Takes to Build Software for 171,000+ Restaurants | Aman Narang
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:50 AM ET, January 31, 2023.

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

Michael King / Search Engine Land:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
John Herrman / New York Magazine:
Vox:

Earlier Picks

Stephanie Murray / The Block:
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Jon Porter / The Verge: