Techmeme
August 8, 2018, 8:55 PM

Top News

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Magic Leap headset first look: functional and thoughtfully designed, with some advantages over competitors, but not a radical step forward nor a magical advance  —  When you write about augmented reality headsets, you're supposed to start by describing something impossible …
Scott Stein / CNET:
Magic Leap's One Creator Edition AR headset launches for select users for $2,295+ online; each device must be set up in person via white glove service Enjoy  —  The Magic Leap One AR headset is out now for $2,295, but not everywhere  —  Surprise!  But there's a good chance you still may not be able to buy it.
Jessi Hempel / Wired:
Interview with Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz as its AR headset launches, on the company's over-hyped marketing, developing for the headset, and more  —  Over the past few years, onetime supporters have grown skeptical of Magic Leap's mythical augmented-reality product.
Ryan Gallagher / The Intercept:
Docs show how Google's building its censored search engine for China, codenamed Dragonfly, using subsidiary 265.com to compile a list of sites China's blocking  —  Google analyzed search terms entered into a Beijing-based website to help develop blacklists for a censored search engine …
Wall Street Journal:
New York City Council votes to cap Uber and Lyft, becoming the first US city to do so, imposing a 12-month freeze on new licenses  —  New York plans to cap ride-hailing services including Uber and Lyft, becoming the first U.S. city to take such a step.
Scott Scrivens / Android Police:
Images and video of alleged Google Pixel 3 XL production unit leak, showing a large notch on the top of the display and USB-C earbuds in the box  —  We're now just a couple of months out from the reveal of Google's latest Pixel phones, so we expected that leaks and rumors would start to intensify.
Justin Lynch / Fifth Domain:
DHS official says at BlackHat that DHS-funded researchers found major vulnerabilities in phones sold by all four major US carriers, doesn't list manufacturers  —  Research funded by the Department of Homeland Security has found a “slew” of vulnerabilities in mobile devices offered …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches two AR games for Messenger video chat that can be played with up to six people  —  Facebook is diving deeper into in-house game development with the launch of its own version of Snapchat's multiplayer augmented reality video chat games.  Today, Facebook Messenger globally launches …
Karl Bode / Motherboard:
Study shows how millions of customers in the US with very slow broadband speeds are paying the same price as those with much faster speeds  —  Most Americans pay roughly the same price for their internet connection, even if their service is painfully slow.  —  Despite the ample hype …
More: reddit.com
Dara Kerr / CNET:
Uber Eats says it's switching from flat $5 delivery fees to variable fees based on distance, usually between $2 and $8; the new pricing is rolling out today  —  When you order food with Uber Eats, you pay for a few different line items.  —  First, there's the cost of the pizza, sushi, ice cream or whatever it is you're ordering.
More: The Verge
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Snap reports Q2 revenue of $262.3M, up 44% YoY, vs. $249.8M est., and 188M DAUs, up 8% YoY but down from 191M in Q1; stock down 6%+  —  The Stories War has officially killed Snapchat's growth.  In Q2 2018 earnings today, Snapchat's daily user count shrank 1.5 percent to 188 million this quarter …
Troy Wolverton / Business Insider:
David French / New York Times:
Given the malleability of the “hate speech” label, tech companies should use libel and slander legal standards when removing content like Infowars  —  “Hate speech” is extraordinarily vague and subjective.  Libel and slander are not.  —  Mr. French is a First Amendment litigator and senior writer for National Review.

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
Introducing Zoho Sign MCP: AI-powered digital signature workflows for business  —  Ever wish you could have your AI agent send a document for signatures and track its progress for you?
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Tony Xu from DoorDash
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
Ex-Twitter CEO on Why AI Needs a New Internet | Parag Agrawal
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Anthropic's first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in the future | Dianne Penn
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
What Happens If AI Fails?, Subprime Data Center Crisis, How Bad Can SpaceX Get?
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:55 PM ET, August 8, 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

Gizmodo:
Marrian Zhou / CNET: