Techmeme
February 15, 2017, 12:15 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Sources: Verizon is close to negotiating a new deal with Yahoo which reduces the price tag by around $250M  —  Verizon has tentatively reached a revised Yahoo deal that would lower the price by about $250 million, Bloomberg News reports.
Facebook:
Facebook debuts video playback changes, including autoplaying with sound unless device is muted, picture-in-picture video, and rollout of vertical video format  —  People are watching and sharing more video on Facebook than ever, and we're focused on continuously improving the video experience.
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
David Katzmaier / CNET:
Caavo unveils eight-port device that connects streaming boxes to TV and gives apps one interface with voice control; coming this fall for $399  —  Imagine saying, “Alexa, ask Caavo to show ‘The Young Pope.’”  —  Your TV turns on and after a few moments, the show picks up where you left off.
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Security researchers uncover new macOS malware Xagent, a modular backdoor from the Russian group APT28 that's been linked to last year's DNC hacks  —  Xagent for Macs steals passwords, grabs screenshots, and exfiltrates iPhone backups.  —  APT28, the Russian hacking group tied …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon and Google are considering adding voice calls to Echo and Home smart speakers, amid concerns about privacy and telecom regulations  —  Amazon's Echo or the Google Home could be used to make or receive calls, people familiar with the matter said, a functionality that would give …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
SoftBank to acquire Fortress Investment Group for $3.3B; Fortress has holdings in Lyft, Xapo, Jawbone and other tech companies  —  Japan's SoftBank has made another acquisition to widen both its business strategy and its portfolio of investments.  Today the company announced it would pay $3.3 billion …
Eugene Kim / Business Insider:
Filing: Amazon reported sales of ~$6.4B for retail subscription services, which includes Prime, in 2016, up 43% YoY  —  Amazon has finally shared more financial details around its Prime user base, giving a clue to just how popular its membership service really is.
Dustin Volz / Reuters:
Microsoft President Brad Smith calls for a “Digital Geneva Convention” between nation states to prevent hacking and cybercrime  —  Microsoft President Brad Smith on Tuesday pressed the world's governments to form an international body to protect against nation-state hacking …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google launches Cloud Spanner in beta, a globally distributed relational database service that the company's used internally for years, promises 99.9999% uptime  —  Google today announced the beta launch of Cloud Spanner, a new globally distributed database service for mission-critical applications.

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Earlier Picks

Paul Thurrott / Thurrott.com: