Techmeme
January 9, 2018, 12:55 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google Assistant is coming to smart speakers from a variety of companies this summer, including speakers with displays from JBL, Lenovo, LG, and Sony  —  Google Assistant is coming to a ton of speakers, some with their own screens  —  If Google's gigantic “Hey Google” …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft halts AMD Meltdown and Spectre patches after reports of some AMD PCs becoming unbootable after installing recent updates  —  Microsoft blames AMD's documentation  —  Microsoft has paused distributing its Meltdown and Spectre security updates for AMD machines after reports of PCs not booting.
Alex Heath / Cheddar:
Sources: Facebook plans to unveil Portal, an Echo Show-like video chat device with a screen and camera, at F8 in May and ship it in second half of 2018 for $499  —  Facebook is about to jump into the consumer hardware business in a big way with a video chat device named “Portal,” …
Zack Whittaker / ZDNet:
Wi-Fi Alliance unveils WPA3, a new set of security standards to address weak points of open Wi-Fi networks, expects it in devices this year  —  Finally, a security reprieve for open Wi-Fi hotspot users.  —  At last, Wi-Fi security — or lack of — is about to get its day in the sun.
Corinne Reichert / ZDNet:
At CES keynote, Intel CEO claims major breakthrough with new 49-qubit quantum computing chip, showcases Loihi “neuromorphic” chip, reveals VR partnerships, more  —  Intel's CES 2018 keynote focused on its 49-qubit quantum computing chip, VR applications for content …
Taylor Lorenz / The Daily Beast:
Leaked Snapchat DAU metrics from April to September 2017 show Snapchat is used mainly as a chat app, with Snap Maps' usage trailing off to ~19M since launch  —  Snapchat takes its secrecy seriously.  Very, very seriously.  —  Take the case of one former Snapchat employee.
Michelle Robbins / Search Engine Land:
Google announces that Google AMP cache will display publisher URLs and drop the Google AMP URL prefix in search results, starting in the second half of 2018  —  Google announced today that it is well on its way to solving one of the most annoying (to publishers) “features” of AMP …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Data governance startup Collibra raises $58M Series D led by Iconiq and Battery Ventures, a year after its $50M Series C round  —  Collibra, a company that wants to help firms understand data governance, announced a $58 million Series D funding round today led by Iconiq Capital and Battery Ventures.
Thuy Ong / The Verge:
PMA/Airfuel developer Powermat joins rival and Qi developer Wireless Power Consortium; Powermat CEO says Qi is now the dominant wireless charging standard  —  Powermat was pushing its own wireless charging standard, but has now signed on with the competition
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Oculus to launch the Mi VR in China, which will be similar to Oculus Go but with partner Xiaomi providing software for the headset instead of Facebook  —  The new headset comes thanks to a partnership with Chinese tech giant Xiaomi.  —  Facebook is taking a major step toward its goal …
Reuters:
Source: French consumer fraud watchdog launches probe into Apple's “alleged deception and planned obsolescence” of its products  —  A French prosecutor has launched an investigation of U.S. tech giant Apple <AAPL.O> over alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products following …
Alex Cranz / Gizmodo:
Qualcomm unveils Bluetooth chip that the company claims will reduce power consumption by 65% and give wireless headphones nearly 3X the playback time  —  There are currently two major annoyances with wireless headphones: the Bluetooth can cut out in areas with a lot of signal noise, and battery life is mostly terrible.
Janko Rottgers / Variety:
HTC unveils Vive Pro VR headset with 2880x1600 resolution, a 78% increase over current Vive, and wireless adapter, so customers can lose the wired PC connection  —  HTC used its virtual reality (VR) keynote at CES in Las Vegas Monday to unveil an updated version of its Vive virtual reality headset …

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Wall Street Journal:
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
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