Techmeme
January 7, 2019, 8:20 PM

Top News

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Kroger partners with Microsoft, rolls out a pilot project in two stores with digital shelves, guided shopping, personalized ads, and “pick-to-light” shelf tech  —  Microsoft and Kroger are taking a leaf out of Amazon's book by building futuristic “connected” grocery stores.
CoinDesk:
Coinbase says it's halted Ethereum Classic transactions, withdrawals, and deposits, after a 51% attack on the cryptocurrency led to coin double-spending  —  Crypto exchange Coinbase has halted all ethereum classic transactions, withdrawals and deposits due to a series of blockchain history reorganizations on the network.
Financial Times:
Sources: SoftBank has radically scaled back plans for fresh investment in WeWork, is now planning a $2B investment, down from $16B considered late last year  —  Japan's SoftBank has radically scaled back plans for fresh investment in WeWork, the lossmaking shared-office provider …
Roger Cheng / CNET:
HTC unveils Vive Pro Eye, a new VR headset with eye-tracking capabilities, coming in April, and teases the Vive Cosmos, a new consumer-friendly headset  —  HTC wants to make it easier for everyone to get into virtual reality.  And it hopes to do it through the Vive Cosmos.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Samsung announces Notebook Odyssey gaming laptop with Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics and a 15.6-inch 1080p display at 144Hz with G-Sync support  —  Almost every PC maker has tried their hands at gaming laptops, but what's surprising about Samsung is that it's never quite gotten it right.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google expects Assistant to be on 1B devices by end of Jan., up from 500M last May, says global active users up 4X YoY, and feature phones will get Assistant  —  Active users have quadrupled since last year, but Google won't disclose a concrete number  —  As CES kicks off …
Matthew Hughes / The Next Web:
GitHub now gives users of its free plan access to unlimited private repositories, but those repos are limited to three collaborators apiece  —  Due to a scheduling error, we published this story one day before the embargo lifted.  This feature isn't live yet, but Github will formally unveil it tomorrow.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Vizio says it is adding support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its SmartCast-enabled TVs, which can now be controlled using Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant  —  Apple is reportedly gearing up for a new streaming TV service to rival Netflix, Amazon and Google this year, but in the meantime …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A federal appeals court said, in a 3-0 decision, that a Virginia politician violated the Constitution by temporarily blocking a critic from her Facebook page  —  (Reuters) - A federal appeals court said on Monday a Virginia politician violated the Constitution by temporarily blocking a critic …
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Key By Amazon, formerly Amazon Key, adds garage and business delivery, new locks, and Ring compatibility  —  Alexa may be front and center for Amazon's play this CES, but the just unloaded a whole bunch of news about Amazon Key.  The list includes a name change to the more passive Key By Amazon …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Nvidia launches Drive AutoPilot, an automated driving system for Level 2+ autonomous cars, says partners will start shipping cars using the system in 2020  —  Nvidia announced that its Drive AutoPilot is the first automated driving system that meets standards for Level 2-plus autonomous cars.
More: TechCrunch
Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE:
Akamai acquires Portland-based identity management provider Janrain to boost its security portfolio and complement its Bot Manager service  —  A week into 2019, Akamai Technologies Inc. has already made its first acquisition of the year.  —  The cybersecurity and content delivery heavyweight today announced …
Henry T. Casey / Laptop Mag:
HP announces Chromebook 14, its first AMD-based Chromebook with a 14" screen, AMD A4/A6 CPU, integrated Radeon R4/R5 GPU, and 4GB of RAM, starting at $269  —  HP's new Chromebooks for CES 2019 include the first-ever AMD processor powered model, the HP Chromebook 14 (db0020nr).

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Say hello to Zia Answer Bot: Your organization's knowledge, on-demand in every Zoho Lens session.  —  Imagine your technician is halfway through a live remote assistance session.
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

Big Technology Podcast:
Are AI Glasses Over?, Big Technology Audience Questions, Alex Stamos on AI Cybersecurity
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Mutiny's Jaleh Rezaei: Walking Away From Millions In Software To Grow Even Faster With Sales AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 3: Differing Visions of an A.I. Future
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
The Race to the Middle
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 8:20 PM ET, January 7, 2019.

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

Amy Nordrum / IEEE Spectrum:
Valentina Palladino / Ars Technica: