Techmeme: Q&A with Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke on her content acquisition strategy, potentially broadcasting a ceremony such as the Oscars one day, and more (Rebecca Keegan/Hollywood Reporter)

Top News

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:

YouTube updates community guidelines with a new system for rule-breaking channels, which now get a consequence-free, one-time warning for their first violation — Channels will now get a consequence-free, one-time warning for their first violation — YouTube is overhauling its community guidelines …

More: YouTube Creator Blog, Digital Trends, CNET, Gizmodo, Tubefilter, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Mac Observer, Android Police, BetaNews, SlashGear, Marketing Land, 9to5Google, Adweek, Mashable, hypebot, YouTube Blog, and KnowTechie

Tweets: @mattnavarra, @nealmohan, and @davelafontaine

Kevin Roose / New York Times:

For YouTube, curbing misinformation on its platform may mean punishing some of its stars, a step it's not shown it can broadly take, despite recent policy shift — Last month, the YouTube star Shane Dawson uploaded his new project: a 104-minute documentary, “Conspiracy Theories With Shane Dawson.”

More: TechCrunch, Engadget, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, and AOL

Tweets: @kevinroose, @nytimesbusiness, @nytimestech, @frankpasquale, @jwherrman, @beccalew, and @waltmossberg

See also Mediagazer

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon X55, its second generation 5G modem, with a maximum download speed of 7 Gbps, up 40% from the X50's 5 Gbps — The Snapdragon X55 adds support for more 5G technologies — Even before most phone makers have launched their first 5G handsets, Qualcomm …

More: Qualcomm, TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, Engadget, Mashable, Digital Trends, BGR, TalkAndroid.com, SemiAccurate, Inquirer, AnandTech, Thurrott, Bloomberg, Android Police, MSPoweruser, Windows Central, CNET, ZDNet, XDA Developers, and VentureBeat

Tweets: @neiltwitz and @patrickmoorhead

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Coinbase buys Neutrino, which helps monitor, analyze, and track cryptocurrency flows, for an undisclosed sum — Coinbase, the world's most valuable crypto company, is gearing up to add more cryptocurrencies to its exchange thanks to its latest acquisition.

More: The Coinbase Blog, Bitcoin Magazine, CoinDesk, Bitcoinist.com, SludgeFeed, CryptoNinjas, The Block, Crunchbase News, Cointelegraph, Ethereum World News, and Crowdfund Insider

Tweets: @coinbase, @melt_dem, and @neerajka

Peter Bright / Ars Technica:

Hands-on with Varjo VR-1 headset, out now for $6K with $995/year service fee, which uses 3,000 pixel/inch resolution and dual screens to fix “screen door” issue — Clever dual-display tech means you really can't see the pixels. — Current virtual reality headsets are pretty good at the …

More: TechCrunch and The Verge

Rebecca Keegan / Hollywood Reporter:

Q&A with Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke on her content acquisition strategy, potentially broadcasting a ceremony such as the Oscars one day, and more — The studio head opened up about her Sundance buying spree, blockbuster ambitions and the secret room where Amazon's 'Lord …

More: Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Business Insider, Digital Trends, GeekWire, CNBC, Notes from Silicon Valley, Variety, and Engadget

Tweets: @thrmattbelloni, @thatrebecca, @thr, and @thr

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:

Uber and GM's Cruise open source their self-driving car visualization software, a rare move in the hyper-competitive autonomous world — ‘See’ the world of a self-driving car with these free web portals — By now you've probably seen those top-down graphical images of a self-driving car …

More: The Information and VentureBeat

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Strategy Analytics: in Q4 2018, shipments of smart speakers grew 95% from 22.6M units in Q3 to 38.5M units, with Amazon shipping 13.7M units and Google 11.5M — Smart speakers continue to sell like hotcakes. That's according to Strategy Analytics, which today reported that in the fourth quarter of 2018 …

More: Strategy Analytics …, CNET, 9to5Mac, and MacRumors

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google publishes 30-page paper on how it combats disinformation across YouTube, Search, News, Ads: product improvements, experience with spam, context for users — Over the weekend, Google presented a white paper at the Munich Security Conference detailing how it fights disinformation across its largest services.

More: Engadget, The Keyword, Google, Search Engine Land, Geek News Central, Search Engine Roundtable, TechSpot, and Search Engine Journal

Tweets: @carnage4life, @kevinroose, @lewisshepherd, @miles_brundage, @jeremybmerrill, @carnage4life, and @mattnavarra

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Google announces plans to acquire cloud migration startup Alooma, which has raised around $15M to date — - Google announces plans to acquire cloud migration company Alooma, marking its next play in the competitive space. — Google's new cloud chief said earlier this month that people …

More: Google Cloud Blog and Modern data plumbing

Tweets: @ymatias, @aloomainc, and @sallyshin

Dami Lee / The Verge:

As emoji become a critical part of communication, unprepared courts are increasingly having to interpret their myriad meanings in criminal cases — What does a crown emoji really mean? — Bay Area prosecutors were trying to prove that a man arrested during a prostitution sting was guilty …

More: One Degree, Gizmodo, and 9to5Mac. Tweets: @tommighell

Eduard Kovacs / SecurityWeek:

CrowdStrike: Russian state-sponsored hackers take less than 20 minutes to start moving laterally in a targeted organization's network after an initial breach — It takes Russian state-sponsored hackers less than 20 minutes to start moving laterally within a targeted organization's network …

More: Threatpost, Crowdstrike, and MIT Technology Review

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

A deep dive on the widespread and ongoing DNS hijacking attacks, which the DHS issued an emergency directive about last month — The U.S. government — along with a number of leading security companies — recently warned about a series of highly complex and widespread attacks …

More: New York Times, CSO, Ars Technica, and Telegraph

Tweets: @briankrebs, @nicoleperlroth, @cglyer, and @mikko

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Walmart reports US e-commerce sales rose 43% YoY in Q4, thanks to its growing online grocery business, including the expansion of grocery pickups and deliveries — Walmart this morning posted strong holiday sales growth for its holiday quarter, with U.S. sales up 4.2 percent over the same time last year …

More: news.walmart.com, ZDNet, and GeekWire

Tweets: @walmartinc and @walmartinc

BBC:

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei says there is “no way the US can crush us” and that “our company will never undertake any spying activities” — The founder of Huawei has said there is “no way the US can crush” the company, in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

More: Wall Street Journal, The Register, CBS News, Android Authority, Reuters, New York Times, ZDNet, TechCrunch, FierceWireless, Phandroid, TechSpot, Fortune, Gizmodo, Thurrott, Light Reading, VentureBeat, The Mac Observer, CNBC, BBC, CNET, IT PRO, Telecoms.com, BetaNews, The Hill, Inquirer, Fortune, Engadget, The Next Web, Silicon Republic, iPhone in Canada Blog, Forbes, CNN, BBC, The Verge, Mashable, Bloomberg, The Loop, and Firstpost. Tweets: @cnni

Mitchel Broussard / MacRumors:

Report details Huawei's efforts to steal Apple's IP, including pressing suppliers for Apple Watch details, copying a MacBook Pro component, debriefing new hires

More: The Information, Android Authority, Business Insider, Cult of Mac, Firstpost, Fortune, Redmond Pie, Tech in Asia, TechNode, BGR, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, The Mac Observer, Neowin, iPhone in Canada Blog, and iPhone Hacks

Tweets: @theinformation and @tomlasseter

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

GitHub expands its bug bounty program by upping reward amounts, removing a maximum reward limit, adding Legal Safe Harbor terms; GitHub paid out $250K+ in 2018 — GitHub today beefed up its bug bounty program. The Microsoft-owned company has expanded the program's scope, increased its reward amounts …

More: The GitHub Blog, BleepingComputer, GeekWire, and The Register. Tweets: @github

Twitter:

Twitter expands its policy for political ad transparency to the EU, India, and Australia, will show billing information, ad spend, impressions per tweet, more — We continue to be committed to enforcing stricter policies for political advertisers and providing clear, transparent disclosure for all ads on Twitter.

More: Twitter, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Neowin, RTÉ, 9to5Mac, VentureBeat, The Hill, Adweek, Engadget, and Fortune

Tweets: @luca, @karenwhite, and @policy

Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:

London-based Entrepreneur First, a “talent investor” backing people pre-team and pre-idea so they can found startups, raises $115M fund to keep scaling globally — Entrepreneur First (EF), the London-headquartered “talent investor” that recruits and backs individuals pre-team …

Thanks:@sohear

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