Techmeme
January 9, 2018, 1:25 PM

Top News

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.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft on Spectre updates' speed impact: “single-digit slowdowns” on new PCs, big effect on PCs with Haswell/older chips and servers with I/O-intensive work  —  It's bad news for older Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines  —  Microsoft is taking the surprise step of detailing …
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” …
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,” …
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.
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 …
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 …
Reuters:
Trump signs executive order that lets companies more easily build broadband infrastructure on federal land and buildings, in effort to improve rural broadband  —  U.S. President Donald Trump was expected on Monday to sign an executive order to make it easier for the private sector …
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.
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 …
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
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.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI that works  —  Tribe builds tech for top AI companies.  Get in touch to learn how our bench of 500+ engineers and researchers can accelerate your roadmap.
Kulkan Security:
Hire Kulkan as your penetration testing partner  —  Kulkan prioritizes deep-dive manual security reviews, dissecting your software and infrastructure to find issues that once remediated can truly reduce security risk.
Zoho:
Stay alert: Zoho Cliq keeps you in the Checkout loop  —  Payment pages are becoming increasingly significant for various organizations.  For instance, consider an NGO committed to helping those in need.
Mastodon:
Donate to Mastodon  —  Mastodon gGmbH, the non-profit behind the open-source software powering the social web, relies entirely on support from users like you.  Donate directly with a credit card or through Patreon.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Magatte Wade, Unlocking Prosperity in Africa (#53)
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 04/22 - TikTok Back On The Chopping Block?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:25 PM ET, January 9, 2018.

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

Earlier Picks

Janko Rottgers / Variety:
Wall Street Journal:
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch: