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February 7, 2019, 6:50 PM
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Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| BBC: |
Germany orders Facebook to stop combining data from WhatsApp, Instagram, and third-party sites with data in a user's main Facebook account without their consent — Germany's competition authority has told Facebook it can only continue gathering so much data about users from beyond its app and website if it gets individuals' consent.
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Facebook, Bundeskartellamt, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Verge, SiliconANGLE, The Hill, The Guardian, BetaNews, TechCrunch, Recode, CNBC, euronews, Wired, Financial Times, The Register, ZDNet, Adweek, FutureSin, BuzzFeed News, Telegraph, TechCo, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Engadget, Forbes, Bloomberg, Silicon Republic, VentureBeat, Fortune, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Axios, Inquirer, iPhone in Canada Blog, Reuters, and Boing Boing
Tweets: @henryfarrell, @zeynep, @hadas_gold, @dorait, @orariccardo, @ceciliakang, @matthewstoller, @johnnyryan, @ashk4n, and @mattnavarra
| Jeff Bezos: |
Jeff Bezos publishes letters from AMI that he says show threats to publish his nude photos unless he backs off from criticizing AMI's coverage — Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn't just unusual—it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.
More:
GeekWire, The Verge, New York Times, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Engadget, and HuffPost
| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Apple says it has notified app developers to remove code that lets them record how a user interacts with their apps without explicit user consent — Apple is telling app developers to remove code that allows them to effectively record how a user interacts with their iPhone apps …
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9to5Mac, The Verge, MacRumors, The Mac Observer, Mashable, iPhone Hacks, Wired, ExtremeTech, BGR, TechSpot, Inquirer, MSPoweruser, Tom's Guide, CNET, Cult of Mac, Softpedia News, Firstpost, and Engadget
Tweets: @panzer, @zackwhittaker, @steved3, and @stevekopack
| Jason Hiner / CNET: |
Google Fiber to shut down in Louisville on April 15 after an experimental “nanotrenching” technique to deploy fiber in trenches only two inches deep, failed — Google's trick to more rapidly and cheaply deploy its super-speedy Google Fiber project has hit a wall …
More:
Google Fiber Blog, The Verge, Android Authority, Android Police, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Engadget, TechRepublic, TechSpot, SlashGear, Droid Life, TechCrunch, CNBC, and Kansas City Star
Tweets: @uncleramrod, @marcusgreenwdrb, @lcburch, @snicklefritz35, @chetfaliszek, @ryson, @karlbode, @ocdtrekkie, @markennis, and @christopherotts. Thanks:@rogerwcheng
| Zac Hall / 9to5Mac: |
Apple releases iOS 12.1.4 with a fix for the Group FaceTime bug, says a security audit of FaceTime revealed a bug in Live Photos on FaceTime, which it has fixed — Apple has turned its Group FaceTime feature back on following the release of iOS 12.1.4 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
More:
Apple Support, The Verge, TechCrunch, CNBC, The Verge, MacRumors, BuzzFeed News, AppleInsider, The Register, MacRumors, Engadget, Threatpost, ABC News, CNET, Macworld, Business Insider, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, BleepingComputer, and MacRumors
Tweets: @jacknicas and @robotodd
| Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times: |
Investigation finds that Amazon at times uses tips earned by contracted drivers of its Flex program to cover their promised base pay — Amazon at times dips into the tips earned by contracted delivery drivers to cover their promised pay, a Times review of emails and receipts reveals.
More:
New York Times, The Instacart Checkout, BuzzFeed News, KTLA, Engadget, Mashable, Eater, and Recode
Tweets: @buzzfeednews and @ceodonovan
| Manish Singh / VentureBeat: |
News aggregator Nuzzel sold to Scroll, which is building a news subscription service; Nuzzel founder Jonathan Abrams and COO Kent Lindstrom to leave the company — News aggregator Nuzzel has found a new home and leadership and is undergoing some product changes.
More:
Scroll Blog, TechCrunch, Nieman Lab, 9to5Mac, and Silicon Florist
Tweets: @alexeheath, @arctictony, @annehelen, and @mattmcgee
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Twitter reports Q4 revenue of $909M, up 24% YoY, ad revenue of $791M, up 23% YoY, net income of $244M, and MAUs of 321M, down by 9M YoY; stock closes down 9%+ — After strong results from Facebook and Snap this quarter, all eyes were on Twitter to see if the other big …
More:
Recode, CNBC, The Verge, New York Times, Android Authority, Twitter, Bloomberg, Twitter, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Fortune, AdExchanger, VentureBeat, ZDNet, PYMNTS.com, Wall Street Journal, and hypebot
| Stephen Nellis / Reuters: |
Sources: Apple has moved its modem engineering unit to its in-house hardware technology group led by Johny Srouji, Apple's SVP of hardware technologies — Apple Inc has moved its modem chip engineering effort into its in-house hardware technology group from its supply chain unit …
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Amazon joins Microsoft in expressing support for regulating facial recognition tech, offers guidelines for the “responsible use” of the technology — Amazon supports the creation of a “legislative framework” covering facial recognition technology.
More:
Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Vox, GeekWire, The Hill, BiometricUpdate, PYMNTS.com, CNET, and Reuters
| Dana Hull / Bloomberg: |
Self-driving car startup Aurora raises $530M, led by Sequoia, with Amazon, T. Rowe Price, and others participating, valuing the company at more than $2.5B — The self-driving startup Aurora Innovation Inc. has raised $530 million from a group of investors led by Sequoia Capital …
More:
Aurora Blog, SiliconANGLE, The Verge, Telegraph, USA Today, CNBC, Mashable, CNET, Index Ventures, and Business Insider
| Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: |
Google unveils Adiantum, a new form of encryption for data on lower-end smartphones and other devices with insufficient processing power — Google officially unveiled a new form of encryption today, designed to secure data stored on lower-end smartphones and other devices with insufficient processing power.| Kurt Wagner / Recode: |
Facebook says it has restructured its “youth team” of 100+, will increase its investment in Messenger Kids, and that the meme app LOL will be shuttered — Facebook is restructuring its “youth team,” shutting down its new teen meme app LOL, and doubling down on Messenger Kids.| Olivia Zaleski / Bloomberg: |
Sources: on-demand delivery startup Postmates has confidentially filed for an IPO and could be valued at more than $1.85B — - Company could be valued at more than $1.85 billion in IPO — Postmates working with JPMorgan and Bank of America on listing
More:
SiliconANGLE, Reuters, TechCrunch, Postmates, and Business Insider
| Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet: |
Microsoft rolls out Healthcare Bot Service, letting users create chatbots and AI-powered health assistants, adds health record integration to Azure and Teams — Microsoft is continuing to focus heavily on the healthcare vertical with new healthcare-related bot service … | Julia Boorstin / CNBC: |
Tim Armstrong is launching a new firm, the dtx company, to invest in and showcase direct-to-consumer startups via large scale real world pop-up events around US — - It's called “the dtx company” and will invest in direct-to-consumer product companies and launch “experiences” in parts of the U.S. that are underserved.
More:
Business Insider, VentureBeat, and PYMNTS.com
Tweets: @yoda, @davegershgorn, @backlon, and @pkafka
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
T-Mobile President says the company won't develop its own streaming TV bundle, will instead help with discovery and billing for existing subscriptions — T-Mobile doesn't want to compete with other carriers or teleco's by developing its own “skinny bundle” of streaming TV channels …
More:
YouTube, AppleInsider, Android Police, 9to5Mac, The Streamable, TmoNews, and AFTVnews
| Dami Lee / The Verge: |
Spotify's new Terms of Service, which go into effect on March 1, will give Spotify the authority to immediately terminate accounts that use ad blockers — Cracking down on ad blockers — Spotify is now explicitly banning ad blockers, as stated in an updated Terms of Service policy sent out today.
More:
iPhone Hacks
| Victoria Song / Gizmodo: |
Microsoft introduces background blur feature to Skype, which uses AI to detect the user's hair, hands, and arms, and blur distracting objects in the background — Slobs of the world, don't work too hard KonMari-ing your apartment or office ahead of your next important Skype call.| New York Times: |
Facebook's revenue from China-based advertisers reached an estimated $5B in 2018, or about 10% of its total sales, helped by its local advertising resellers — SHENZHEN — Facebook's apps and websites have been blocked in China for years. The company has no office in the country that supports its social networking services.
Tweets: @paulmozur, @rj_gallagher, and @dorianelau
| Ryan Whitwam / Android Police: |
Opera says it has started testing a free, unlimited VPN feature in its Android browser, available now for beta users worldwide — ISPs are generally not trustworthy, so many internet users have turned to VPNs. Opera used to offer a popular free VPN on Android, but it retired the service last year.
More:
Opera Mobile, Android Authority, and Lifehacker
| Ashley Carman / The Verge: |
For Spotify to succeed as a podcast app, it needs to clearly separate podcasts from music, help users discover podcasts better, and allow creators to monetize — Some suggestions for improvement — Spotify announced today that the company plans to spend up to $500 million on podcast-related acquisitions.
More:
Stratechery, Recode, TechCrunch, Open Markets Institute, CNN, Spotify, The Verge, Anchor, Slate, PE Hub Blog, TechSpot, Silicon Republic, New York Times, 500ish Words, Techmeme Ride Home Podcast, and KnowTechie
Tweets: @replyall, @stevekovach, @dcseifert, @pkafka, @dcseifert, @panzer, @joshelman, @geoffwood, @ashleymayer, @sallyshin, @anchor, @lucas_shaw, @jonfortt, @harrysiegel, @tomgara, @austindarbo, @thestalwart, @markcwebster, and @eldsjal
| Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE: |
Microsoft joins Google, Facebook, and Arm as a member of the OpenChain Project, which aims to standardize open-source software licensing — Microsoft Corp. wants to support more standardization of open-source software licensing, so today it's putting its weight behind the OpenChain Project as its latest platinum member.
More:
OpenChain, The Register, Open Source Initiative, Open Source blog, WinBuzzer, ZDNet, MSPoweruser, OnMSFT.com, Business Insider, and GeekWire
Tweets: @opensourceorg, @creativecommons, and @linuxfoundation
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From Mediagazer
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:Todd Spangler / Variety:
Josh Gerstein / Politico: