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February 16, 2019, 12:40 AM
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| Axios: |
Sources: Apple buys Pullstring, an SF-based enterprise voice app developer, for up to $40M; Pullstring has raised around $44M in venture capital — Apple has agreed to buy Pullstring, a San Francisco-based startup that enables the design and publishing of voice apps, Axios has learned.
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CNET, iPhone Hacks, Patently Apple, MacRumors, Business Insider, SlashGear, Cult of Mac, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Mac Observer, 9to5Mac, Fortune, and iDownloadBlog.com
Tweets: @danprimack, @stephennellis, @chrismessina, @inafried, @techcrunch, @thekenyeung, @rrhoover, and @joshconstine
| Matthew Gardner / ITEP: |
Amazon has made $11.2B in profits in 2018 but will pay no federal income tax and will receive a rebate of $129M due to unspecified tax credits — Amazon, the ubiquitous purveyor of two-day delivery of just about everything, nearly doubled its profits to $11.2 billion in 2018 from $5.6 billion …
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Fortune, The Guardian, USA Today, CNN, The Seattle Times, The Week, Business Insider, Bloomberg, The Register, HuffPost India, The Week, The Hill, Business Insider, Xconomy, and The Seattle Times
Tweets: @fortunemagazine, @sensanders, @forbes, @aoc, @bbgvisualdata, @benhowe, @sensanders, @juddlegum, @jafurtado, @sensanders, @shaig, @harryh, @mrapptech, @evgenymorozov, @mdudas, and @alexeheath
| Jason Del Rey / Recode: |
HQ2 PR began before Bernie and Ocasio-Cortez made Amazon a corporate villain, then Amazon overreached in NYC by extracting huge tax breaks behind closed doors — The HQ2 contest was very Amazonian. So was its refusal to back down. — No one looks good in the wake of Amazon's decision …
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The Verge, CNN, New York Times, Business Insider, Vox, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @delrey, @nytopinion, @delrey, @delrey, @nytopinion, @karaswisher, @tsgiles, and @nattgarun
| Brad Stone / Bloomberg: |
After Amazon misread New York's politics, pulling out was a typical Bezos power play of belligerently confronting opposition he views as unfair or unjust — In retrospect, the helipad was probably a bad idea. — The proposed transportation hub for senior Amazon executives was supposed …
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Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, CNBC, Wired, New York Post, and Business Insider
| J. David Goodman / New York Times: |
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New York Times, The Guardian, CNET, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Continuations, Recode, The Atlantic, New York Times, Reuters, GeekWire, PYMNTS.com, Forbes, CityLab, Gothamist, Business Insider, The Digital Reader, Curbed NY, VentureBeat, Financial Times, TechCrunch, The Intercept, Axios, AOL, Bloomberg, Hit & Run, Fortune, Washington Post, Fox News, Mashable, New York Times, Telecoms.com, Axios, Silicon Republic, Inquirer, Geek.com, and Haystack.vc
Tweets: @aoc, @jdavidgoodman, @lloydblankfein, @delrey, @nycmayor, @techledes, @aoc, @dylanbyers, @gaberivera, @danprimack, @albertwenger, @aoc, @reformedbroker, @tomgara, @kylecyuan, @caseynewton, @kyweise, @gilbertjasono, @pkafka, @johnstossel, @danlinden, @kevinroose, @technyc, @anandwrites, @alexeheath, @obrien, @alexburnsnyt, @ashleyfeinberg, @lmatsakis, @petersterne, @davewiner, @mikiebarb, @shiraovide, @evgenymorozov, @mchenryjd, @ddayen, @mgsiegler, @tcarmody, @prisonculture, @davidmackau, @natemcdermott, and @llsethj
| Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios: |
Uber reports Q4 revenue of $3B, up 24% YoY, gross bookings of $14.2B, up 37% YoY, and adjusted EBITDA losses of $842M, up 88% YoY and 60% QoQ — Uber on Friday released its latest quarterly financials, likely its last before formally filing to go public. showing continued growth and investment in areas like UberEats.
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New York Times, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, CNBC, and Crunchbase News
Tweets: @shiraovide, @eliotwb, @alex, @ericnewcomer, @jonerlichman, @shiraovide, @markets, and @ericnewcomer
| Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed: |
Twitter hides a tweet, reportedly from Iran's head of state, for pointing out that a previous leader's verdict to murder novelist Salman Rushdie is still valid — Twitter has previously used a newsworthiness standard to defend its refusal to apply abuse and harassment rules to President Donald Trump's account.| Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter: |
Pokémon Go creator Niantic agrees to settle class action with property owners for unsanctioned PokéStop and Gym placements; monetary damages up for mediation — After fighting over the meaning of “trespass” in the digital age, Niantic agrees to a system for resolving nuisance complaints …
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Variety, AppleInsider, Engadget, GamesIndustry.biz, Android Authority, Comic Book, 9to5Mac, New York Law Journal, The Verge, and SlashGear
Tweets: @eriqgardner, @ammonmiller, @tsimonite, and @appleinsider
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
Google rolls out ARCore 1.7 with a new Augmented Faces API for the front-facing camera that can overlay effects on a user's face even without a depth sensor — ARCore is Google's platform for mobile augmented reality which does not require specialized hardware.
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Google Developers Blog, Android Police, Engadget, VentureBeat, and Google Developers
Tweets: @claybavor, @danmillerdev, @9to5google, @googledevs, and @thevrara
| Stefan Etienne / The Verge: |
Samsung unveils 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S5e, its lightest and thinnest tablet and the first with Bixby built-in, starting at $399, launching in the second quarter — It's $399 and comes in three “millennial friendly” colors — There isn't a single Android tablet we can currently wholeheartedly recommend …
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Samsung US Newsroom, ZDNet, Engadget, Android Authority, AnandTech, Gotta Be Mobile, Softpedia News, BGR, Greenbot, Ars Technica, MSPoweruser, Patently Apple, 9to5Google, Liliputing, Thurrott, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @dangrabham, @dcseifert, and @tomwarren
| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
SEC filing: Spotify paid ~$337M to buy Gimlet Media and Anchor; Spotify told investors it expects to spend $400M-$500M in total on podcast acquisitions in 2019 — Streaming-audio giant Spotify shelled out around €300 million, or about $337 million, to buy podcasting companies … | TechCrunch: |
Security researcher says Twitter retains direct messages for years, including messages users have deleted, which may be illegal under the EU's new GDPR laws — When does “delete” really mean delete? Not always or even at all if you're Twitter . — Twitter retains direct messages for years … | Josh Horwitz / Reuters: |
Source: Didi to lay off ~2,000 people, or 15% of its workforce, from non-essential business units this year, as it focuses on its core ride-hailing services — SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Didi Chuxing will lay off 15 percent of its staff or about 2,000 people this year, a source said …
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Reuters, Forbes, The Star Online, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, CNBC, and Agence France-Presse
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