Techmeme
August 22, 2017, 8:00 AM

Top News

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google's Android O is named Oreo, rolls out soon to Nexus/Pixel devices; update includes background activity limits, picture-in-picture, notification channels  —  Timed with the total solar eclipse today, Google revealed Android O stands for Android 8.0 Oreo.
David Ruddock / Android Police:
Source: Google plans to launch a new Pixel-branded Chromebook and a mini version of the Google Home alongside new phones this fall  —  According to a source familiar with the company's plans, Google will launch not just two new Google Pixel phones at a hardware event this fall …
Thuy Ong / The Verge:
Samsung's Bixby launches in more than 200 countries including the UK, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, is currently available in US English and Korean  —  But it only recognizes English and Korean  —  Samsung's voice assistant Bixby is now accessible in more than 200 countries worldwide …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Facebook launches a dedicated tab for Safety Check, where it lists crises from around world, rolling out over the coming weeks  —  Facebook has made a permanent page for Safety Check, its feature for letting others know that you're safe during an emergency.  —  The results are pretty eerie.
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
WhatsApp adds colorful text status updates, just like Facebook  —  WhatsApp today began to roll out Status updates you can make by writing text on a colorful image background, a company spokesperson has informed VentureBeat.  While Status debuted as a text-only feature, it grew to include photos and videos.
John Herrman / New York Times:
After wave of neo-Nazi bans, tech firms' censorship policies were shown again to be arbitrary, not derived from moral awakening or newfound sense of civic duty  —  White supremacist marchers had not yet lit their torches when the deletions began.  The “Unite the Right” Facebook page …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Intel unveils first 8th gen processors, dubbed “Kaby Lake refresh”, based on an updated Kaby Lake architecture, claims 40% performance increase over 7th gen  —  No Coffee Lake or Cannonlake here; these are doubled up Kaby Lake parts.  —  The first “8th generation” …
Ashley Cowburn / The Independent:
UK's Crown Prosecution Service says it will pursue online hate crime as diligently as offline offenses, expects rise in prosecutions for social media attacks  —  Changes 'will remind the trolling brigade that there are real consequences for hitting the button' and will ‘undoubtedly lead to an increase in prosecutions’
TechCrunch:
Y Combinator Summer 2017 Demo Day 1: 50 startups, with AI emerging as a top startup trend  —  Biotech and artificial intelligence have emerged as the top startup trends at Y Combinator's 25th Demo Day.  The 124 companies presenting at the entrepreneur school's twice-yearly graduation event …
More: BBC and Y Combinator
Tweets: @joshconstine and @chr1sa

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Earlier Picks

Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Ellen Pao / The Cut: