Techmeme
February 13, 2018, 12:15 PM

Top News

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Google launches AMP stories developer preview for publishers today with Snapchat-like swipeable text, photos, videos, considers integrating stories into search  —  The format doesn't support advertising yet, which could slow its adoption among publishers  —  Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGL .79% Google unveiled …
Aakash Sahney / The Keyword:
Google brings AMP to email with the Gmail Developer Preview, to make emails more interactive with content like appointments, questionnaires, and more  —  For the past few years, we've worked to make mobile pages load faster through an open-source framework called Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
Dave Lee / BBC:
UK government spent £600K on an AI tool that can algorithmically block extremist content, claims it's capable of detecting 94% of IS's online activity  —  The UK government has unveiled a tool it says can accurately detect jihadist content and block it from being viewed.
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
IDC data shows Google sold 3.9M Pixel devices in 2017  —  Less than a week's worth of iPhone sales  —  In the 16 months since its initial release in October 2016, Google's Pixel family of phones has earned plenty of acclaim and scrutiny, but not very many sales.
Kyle Torpey / Forbes:
Microsoft says it will embrace decentralized identity systems based on Bitcoin and other public blockchains through the Microsoft Authenticator app  —  In a new post today, Microsoft announced their embrace of public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, for use in decentralized identity systems.
AnandTech:
Snapdragon 845 performance preview: small improvements to CPU, decent boost to web workloads, GPU sees 30% better performance, 30% improvement in power vs. 835  —  In what has become an annual tradition for Qualcomm, the company has once again opened the doors of their San Diego headquarters …
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Harvard, MIT, NYU among growing crop of US universities offering computer science ethics courses on AI, autonomous vehicles, privacy and civil rights in tech  —  PALO ALTO, Calif. — The medical profession has an ethic: First, do no harm.  —  Silicon Valley has an ethos: Build it first and ask for forgiveness later.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook to allow publisher paywalls in its iOS app starting 3/1; users get five articles before being asked to pay, publishers get 100% subscription revenue  —  Apple is allowing Facebook to bend the subscription rules.  Starting March 1st, news publishers will be able to use their paywalls inside Facebook's iOS app.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
IDC research director says Essential shipped 88,000 smartphones in the first six months after its May 2017 launch  —  Andy Rubin's Essential Phone faces a harsh reality in the high-end market  —  Essential, Android co-founder Andy Rubin's new smartphone venture, had a rough go of it last year trying …
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
San Francisco-based customer support software startup UJET raises $25M Series B led by GV with participation from Kleiner Perkins and others  —  UJET, a startup that makes software to improve customer support, said today that it's raised a $25 million Series B led by GV (formerly known as Google Ventures).
Egill Bjarnason / Associated Press:
Iceland is expected to use more energy “mining” bitcoin and other digital currencies this year than it uses to power its homes, says a local energy expert  —  KEFLAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland is expected to use more energy “mining” bitcoins and other virtual currencies this year than it uses to power its homes.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:
Taylor Lorenz / The Daily Beast:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Fitz Tepper / TechCrunch:
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: