Techmeme
August 17, 2018, 11:45 AM

Top News

Nikkei:
Sources: Google is preparing to launch its own smart speaker with a display for the holiday season; 3M units are planned for first batch  —  Taiwan suppliers told to prepare for hardware blitz to challenge Amazon  —  TAIPEI — Google is preparing to release a smart speaker equipped …
Ryan Nakashima / Associated Press:
Google revises help page that describes how its “Location History” setting works, clarifying that it still tracks location even if the setting is turned off  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has revised a help page that erroneously described how its “Location History” setting works …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Intel buys deep-learning startup Vertex.AI to join its Movidius unit; Vertex says Intel will continue to develop its PlaidML engine as an open source project  —  Intel wants to bring more artificial intelligence technology into all aspects of its business, and today it is stepping up its game a little in the area with an acquisition.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Nvidia reports Q2 revenues of $3.12B, up 40% YoY, vs. $3.1B est., net income of $1.1B, gaming business revenue of $1.81B, and data center revenue of $760M  —  Nvidia stock fell by 6 percent on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and lower-than-expected revenue guidance.
New York Times:
Sources: about 1,000 Google employees have signed a letter demanding more transparency following reports of Google developing a censored search engine for China  —  Hundreds of Google employees, upset at the company's decision to secretly build a censored version of its search engine for China …
Jeremy Kahn / Bloomberg:
A look at Europe's struggle to build a truly global tech giant and some of the challenges facing its startup ecosystem  —  This is the best moment in decades for the continent to battle its way back to relevance.  Its startups need to act like it.  —  Jeez, Europe, what more do you need?
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter says it's ending legacy API support, used by third-party apps like Tweetbot, due to “technical and business constraints”  —  It's hard to be a fan of Twitter right now.  The company is sticking up for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, when nearly all other platforms …
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Facebook faces continuing calls for regulation of microtargeted ads in US and Europe after probes of Internet Research Agency and Cambridge Analytica data use  —  Facebook has made a mint by enabling advertisers to identify and reach the very people most likely to react to their messages.
More: Recode
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
comScore: pure play streaming services like Sling TV and DirecTV Now reach 5% of US Wi-Fi households, up 58% since last year  —  The number of U.S. households watching streaming TV services - those that deliver cable TV-like programming over the internet - has grown a remarkable 58% over last year, according to new data from comScore.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it's begun removing content violating its drug policies and has blocked hundreds of search terms and search suggestions associated with drug sales  —  Facebook's role in the opioid crisis could become another scandal following yesterday's release of harrowing new statistics from the Center for Disease Control.

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More News

Dan Primack / Axios:

Earlier Picks

Marguerite Reardon / CNET: