Techmeme
February 17, 2017, 2:40 PM

Top News

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:
Open letter outlining Facebook's attempts to build a more inclusive community, including improving tools for reporting abuse, squashing misleading stories, more  —  On our journey to connect the world, we often discuss products we're building and updates on our business.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Facebook just changed its mission, because the old one was broken  —  With great power comes long letters  —  Facebook used to repeat its mission statement so often that most tech reporters could recite it from memory: “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
Jungah Lee / Bloomberg:
Samsung Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee arrested on charges of bribery, perjury, and embezzlement, after last month's arrest warrant request failed  —  Court accepts prosecutor's second request of Lee's arrest  —  Lee faces allegations of bribery, perjury and embezzlement
Recode:
Alphabet reduces the number of balloons needed to test Loon from 200-400 to 10-30 using AI and an improved system for altitude control and navigation  —  The Loon project says these advancements shorten their timeline for deployment.  —  Loon, the balloon project that aims to deliver internet …
The Economic Times:
Sources: Apple will start assembling iPhone SE in India at contract manufacturer Wistron's plant in Bengaluru starting April  —  NEW DELHI: Apple will kick off its India manufacturing plans by initially assembling 3-4 lakh units of its iPhone SE model at the Karnataka plant being set …
Brian Fung / Washington Post:
AT&T debuts $100/mo “unlimited” data plan that doesn't require DirecTV subscription, but speed is throttled after 22GB usage; additional lines cost $40/mo each  —  AT&T on Thursday announced an expanded version of its unlimited data plan that does not require an additional subscription to a pay-TV service.
Olivia Zaleski / Bloomberg:
Airbnb buys Canadian company Luxury Retreats; sources say the price was about $300M in cash and stock, and Luxury Retreats rebuffed Expedia and Accor bids  —  Airbnb said to have been in talks to offer $300 million  —  High-end rentals encroach on Expedia and Priceline's turf
Eric M. Zeman / Phone Scoop:
HTC to exit entry-level phone market this year but will continue to support current models; its focus is shifting to high-end, high-margin devices  —  HTC plans to exit the entry-level phone market moving forward and will instead focus its handset portfolio on high-margin devices.

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More News

John Herrman / New York Times: