Techmeme
September 20, 2018, 2:55 PM

Top News

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Amazon unveils $34.99 Echo Input that can plug into any speaker to turn it into a smart speaker; coming later this year to US, UK, and Germany  —  Amazon is introducing a small new device that you can plug into any existing speaker to turn it into an Echo.  It's called the Echo Input …
Natt Garun / The Verge:
Amazon is holding a surprise event in Seattle at 1pm ET today to announce new hardware  —  Remember when Amazon held a “surprise” event last September and introduced a bunch of new Echo devices?  Well, it's doing it again this year in what looks to become an annual hardware event.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
A look at Facebook Dating, which launches today in Colombia as a test and limits users to expressing their interest in a maximum of 100 people per day  —  Does deeper data produce perfect matches?  Facebook is finally ready to find out, starting today with a country-wide test in Colombia of its Dating feature.
Sean O'Kane / The Verge:
GoPro launches Hero 7 Black with live-streaming, super slow motion, smooth stabilization, and 4K video at 60 fps for $399, going on sale September 27  —  With new cheaper options at $199 and $299  —  Just a few hours after a last-minute leak, GoPro has officially announced the new Hero 7 line of cameras …
Wall Street Journal:
A look at how Google decides on suggestions for Gmail's Smart Reply, which is being rolled out to its 1.4B accounts, and make up 10% of all Gmail responses  —  Google's automated email replies, which are being rolled to its 1.4 billion accounts, have baffled users with some peculiar suggestions
Noam Cohen / New Yorker:
Reporter says Linus Torvalds' decision to temporarily step away from Linux maintenance came after he was asked a series of questions about his conduct  —  The e-mails of the celebrated programmer Linus Torvalds land like thunderbolts from on high onto public lists, full of invective, insults, and demeaning language.
Dani Deahl / The Verge:
Spotify says it will now allow indie artists to directly upload their music to the service; the upload feature is debuting in beta on an invite-only basis in US  —  The beta program is still invite-only  —  Spotify has announced a new beta feature that will allow independent artists to upload …
Suzanne Barlyn / Reuters:
John Hancock, one of the largest life insurers in the US, will now only sell policies that track fitness and health data via wearable devices and smartphones  —  (Reuters) - John Hancock, one of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, will stop underwriting traditional life insurance …
BBC:
Equifax fined the maximum £500,000 by UK's Information Commissioner's Office for failing to protect the personal data of ~15M Britons in 2017 breach  —  Credit rating agency Equifax is to be fined £500,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it failed to protect the personal data of 15 million Britons.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Study: online ad sales will increase 16% this year to $106.6B accounting for more than half of all US ad sales  —  - With new video services, their next phase of growth targets TV  — Politics bolster local, national TV, Magna Global report says  —  Online advertising will account …
More: Bloomberg and Axios
Wolfie Zhao / CoinDesk:
Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Zaif says it was hacked and ~$60M worth of cryptocurrency, including 6,000 bitcoin, were stolen from exchange's hot wallets  —  Yet another Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked with a loss of total 6.7 billion yen, or $60 million worth of cryptocurrency, including 6,000 bitcoin.
Mallory Locklear / Engadget:
Amazon updates the $180 Ring Stick Up camera and adds a wired version with an ethernet cable, available later in the year  —  Amazon is rolling out a bunch of new gadgets today, a few of which are focused on home security.  Among those is a new Ring Stick Up Cam, which will come in both wired and battery-powered versions.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Threat researcher: hackers stole customer credit cards in a month-long data breach at online retailer Newegg, between August 14 and September 18  —  Newegg is clearing up its website after a month-long data breach.  —  Hackers injected 15 lines of card skimming code on the online retailer's payments page …

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Is AI just hype?  —  Find out how top enterprises use Tribe to get real business results.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Zoho:
All new Zoho Workerly 2024  —  Staffing businesses around the world face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their temporary workforce.  With a constantly shifting job market and changing staffing needs …
Comprehensive.io:
Browse salary data from 3,000 startups for free  —  Click for FREE, immediate access to real-time compensation benchmarking data.  Paid version helps HR automate comp reviews and communicate total compensation to employees.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Henry Shukman, Lessons from an Authentic Zen Master
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 03/28 - Claude 3 Opus Surpasses GPT-4 For The First Time
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 2:55 PM ET, September 20, 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

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge: