Techmeme
January 4, 2017, 4:40 PM

Top News

Ev Williams / Medium:
Medium says it's laying off 50 employees, about a third of its staff, and closing its NY and DC offices, as it refocuses on a “less proven” means to pay writers  —  We've decided to make some major changes at Medium.  —  I'll start with the hard part: As of today …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
With Alexa, Amazon is building the operating system of the home, a strategy that's more evident with each new Alexa-integrated device announcement  —  The concept of an operating system is pretty straightforward: it is a piece of software that manages a computer, making said computer's …
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
James Vincent / The Verge:
ASUS unveils 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Zoom with dual-cameras, 5,000 mAh battery, on sale in February with pricing TBD  —  The phone has less optical zoom than its predecessor, but a a new, impressive 5,000 mAh battery  —  Asus has unveiled the ZenFone 3 Zoom — a successor to the ZenFone Zoom …
More: 9to5Google
New York Times:
Apple removed news apps made by The New York Times from its App Store in China, complying with what it vaguely described as a request from Chinese authorities  —  Apple, complying with what it said was a request from Chinese authorities, removed news apps created by The New York Times from its app store in China late last month.
Tripp Mickle / Wall Street Journal:
Apple confirms $1B investment in SoftBank's $100B technology-focused Vision Fund; SoftBank is investing $25B, and Saudi Arabia's government is investing $45B  —  Apple says fund will support ‘strategically important technologies’  —  Apple Inc. confirmed Wednesday that it plans …
Chuq Von Rospach:
Apple's sloppiness became evident in 2016 with missed ship dates, lack of significant updates, and long delays on refreshes; company needs to realign in 2017  —  This has been the winter of our discontent.  2016 was the year the tone changed.  There's always been a lot of criticism and griping …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Steve Dent / Engadget:
AT&T will conduct 5G technology trials by streaming DirecTV Now service over fixed wireless to some customers in Austin, Texas later this year  —  In a simultaneous test of wireless broadband and net neutrality, AT&T will test its upcoming 5G tech with DirecTV Now video streaming.
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News:
Garmin announces new inReach satellite communications devices, three Fenix 5 smartwatches, and addition of many apps, including Uber, to its Connect IQ Store  —  LAS VEGAS (BRAIN) — Garmin announced several new products in features as the Consumer Electronics Show prepared to open here this week.
Bloomberg:
BMW, Intel, and Mobileye partner to test 40 autonomous vehicles in urban areas starting in second half of 2017, with aim of fully autonomous cars by 2021  —  40 test sedans to operate in cities in U.S. and Europe  —  BMW, Mobileye urge industry alignment on common architecture

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
SubQ Snap 1.1: the first long-context decision model for real enterprise work  —  Tied for #1 on the AA Decision Index, Snap is a multimodal model with a 384k-token context window for fast reasoning and agentic decisions.
Zoho:
Introducing Zoho TouchPoint: Every handshake deserves a next step  —  Here's a scene you've probably experienced.  You spend a day at an event, talk to dozens of people, and come home with a stack of business cards.
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.
WebBrain:
WebBrain: an open-source AI agent for your browser  —  Read pages, fill forms and automate tasks in Chrome or Firefox.  Use local models or your preferred AI provider.  Get started free.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Special Report: The Fall Of Jensen Huang & What Comes Next
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.
Machine Gods:
The 10 Biggest Losers from Jensen Huang's Fall + The METR Report That Scared Us
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The $1.4B Startup Deciding What You See When You Shop Online | Sequen's Zoë Weil
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.
Great Chat:
Too soon to call it a vibe shift?
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Encore: Chuck Klosterman on Why Football Owns TV (and Why It Won't Forever)
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:
Zach Reitano - Building Ro and Why Healthcare Should Be 50% of GDP
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:40 PM ET, January 4, 2017.

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

Heather Caygle / Politico:

Earlier Picks

Dong Ngo / CNET:
Shawn Knight / TechSpot: