Techmeme: A look at how Spotify plans to crack the podcast market: making it easier to find podcasts, investing in creation tools, exclusive original content, and more (Ashley Carman/The Verge)

Top News

Brian Barrett / Wired:

How Corning is working to create truly bendable, ultra-thin glass, as Samsung and others announce folding phones with plastic polymer screens — Foldable phones like Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huwaei's Mate X are coming, whether you're ready or not. In fact, they're coming whether they're ready or not.

More: The Verge, Engadget, Android Authority, Gizmodo, MSPoweruser, MacRumors, XDA Developers, iPhone in Canada Blog, Redmond Pie, BGR, iPhone Hacks, CNBC, VentureBeat, AppleInsider, TechSpot, Gizchina, and Mashable

Tweets: @wired, @wired, and @laurengoode

Whitson Gordon / iFixit:

2018 MacBook Pros include a longer screen cable, a part prone to fail on earlier models, requiring screen replacements, an issue Apple never acknowledged — In 2018, a number of MacBook Pro users—with models from 2016 onwards—discovered a serious design flaw that causes the screen to fail …

More: ZDNet, Digital Trends, VentureBeat, The Verge, Patently Apple, iPhone Hacks, Neowin, AppleInsider, Thurrott, iPhone in Canada Blog, CNET, iMore, SlashGear, Cult of Mac, Inquirer, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, MacRumors, and MacDailyNews

Bloomberg:

Russia is pushing “Sovereign Internet”, a draft law designed to create a single command post from which data flows can be managed across Russian cyberspace — When anti-government protests erupted on Russia's side of the Caucasus Mountains in October, authorities did something …

More: Axios and Engadget

Tweets: @business, @jenniferjjacobs, @neerajka, and @sarafischer

Washington Post:

T-Mobile acknowledges that its executives' patronage of Trump's Washington hotel, spending ~$195K, increased sharply after announcement of merger with Sprint — T-Mobile's patronage of President Trump's Washington hotel increased sharply after the announcement of its merger with its Sprint last April …

More: CNET, The Verge, Reuters, GeekWire, Ars Technica, The Hill, TmoNews, and Fortune

Tweets: @senwarren, @robertmaguire_, @fahrenthold, @fahrenthold, @vgescobar, @fahrenthold, and @fahrenthold

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Echo owners can now ask Alexa to control their Roku devices via a new skill, months after a similar capability came to Google Assistant-powered devices — Roku this morning announced its devices will now be compatible with Amazon's Alexa. Through a new Roku skill for Alexa …

More: Roku Online Newsroom, The Verge, CNET, Digital Trends, KnowTechie, TechRadar.com, PCMag, Voicebot, Variety, USA Today, TechnoBuffalo, Mashable, and Engadget

Aliya Ram / Financial Times:

Report: 40% of 2,830 AI startups in Europe do not use AI programs in their products; ~8% of EU startups were AI companies in 2018, up from ~3% in 2015 — Two-fifths of Europe's artificial intelligence start-ups do not use any AI programs in their products, according to a report that highlights the hype around the technology.

More: The Register, Forbes, MIT Technology Review, and The Verge

Tweets: @parmy, @josephmosby, and @went1955

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

A look at how Spotify plans to crack the podcast market: making it easier to find podcasts, investing in creation tools, exclusive original content, and more — Spotify has been on a media blitz to hype up its plans. Most everyone involved in the deals, including Spotify CEO Daniel Ek …

More: Nieman Lab and MacRumors

Tweets: @mikeduncan, @overcastfm, @joshsternberg, @dansinker, @nicktheandersen, and @letsgoayo

See also Mediagazer

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Apple acquired the patent portfolio of failed smart home security startup Lighthouse AI, including those related to visual authentication, late last year — Apple has recently acquired a handful of patents from Lighthouse AI, a defunct home security camera company.

More: IAM, Patently Apple, The Verge, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, Engadget, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, The Mac Observer, Fortune, iPhone Hacks, and BGR

Megan Wollerton / CNET:

August View wireless video doorbell unveiled with 1440p recording, 24/7 live video streaming, and rechargeable battery, available for $230 from March 28 — August just introduced a new device to its lineup — the $230 August View. Available in the United States beginning March 28 …

More: TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Android Authority, SlashGear, TechHive, Digital Trends, AppleInsider, Engadget, MacRumors, and VentureBeat

Tweets: @cnetnews and @reckless

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:

Researchers find that ~400 servers running unpatched Docker instances are also cryptojacked, after a flaw was found last month in runC, a command line utility — Hundreds of vulnerable and exposed Docker hosts are being abused in cryptojacking campaigns after being compromised with the help …

More: Just another Imperva …, The Block, and ZDNet

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Comedian Miel Bredouw's fight with Barstool Sports after they posted her video without credit shows how Twitter's copyright system can hurt creators — “It's insane to me that the platform is allowing them to do this.” — Earlier today, Los Angeles-based writer and comedian Miel Bredouw claims …

More: Techdirt, TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Daily Dot, and Mashable

Tweets: @miel, @miel, @miel, @nickstatt, @kerrymflynn, @jasonabbruzzese, @jason_kint, @draglikepull, @mikedarnay, @anildash, @ketanj0, @gossithedog, @megh_wright, and @mmasnick

See also Mediagazer

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

The servers running social robot Jibo, which had raised ~$76M in total and shipped to the public in 2017 for $899, are being shut down forever — RIP, Jibo — The servers running Jibo, a connected home robot, are about to be shut down, and the robot has started informing its owners with a bittersweet message.

More: Boing Boing, KnowTechie, CNET, BBC, Digital Trends, TechCrunch, Pocket-lint, Engadget, Mashable, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @dylanljmartin, @joannastern, @eringriffith, @pulpfictionaly, @jennyenicholson, and @neerajka

Jessica Davies / Digiday:

The Financial Times has acquired a majority stake in Amsterdam-based tech blog and events company The Next Web — The Financial Times has bought a controlling stake in consumer publisher The Next Web, marking its first acquisition in continental Europe. — The FT didn't disclose the terms …

More: Financial Times and Inside TNW press releases

Tweets: @ftpressoffice, @rafat, @mattnavarra, @bryanclark, @thenextweb, @robinwauters, @martinsfp, and @emilybell

See also Mediagazer

New York Times:

Amazon's hard bargaining helps it squeeze as much as possible out of cities, but the NYC pullout exposed its limited experience building community relationships — SEATTLE — When Texas officials pushed Amazon to pay nearly $270 million in back sales taxes in 2010, Amazon responded by closing …

Tweets: @alinaselyukh, @nickconfessore, and @ron_miller

Tom Cardoso / Globe and Mail:

Google to ban political ads in Canada ahead of federal election, says complying with new ad transparency rules required by Bill C-76 would be too challenging — Google is banning political advertising on its platforms ahead of the Canadian federal election because of new ad transparency rules …

More: Engadget, Beyond Search, TechSpot, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Reuters

Tweets: @annemariebridy, @tonyromm, @daphnehk, @baekdal, and @colettod

See also Mediagazer

Kate Clark / TechCrunch:

Eargo, a direct-to-consumer smart hearing aid manufacturer, raises $52M Series D, bringing total raised to $135M, and says it has 20,000 users — Eargo wants to become the ultimate consumer hearing brand. — The company's small and virtually invisible direct-to-consumer hearing aids …

More: Business Wire and FinSMEs

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

SoundCloud now offers SoundCloud Go+ subscriptions to students for $5/mo., a discount of 50%; it's the last major streaming service to offer student pricing — SoundCloud wants to make its streaming music service more affordable to a key demographic: younger users who generally spend …

More: SoundCloud, Digital Trends, The Verge, and MacRumors

Tweets: @soundcloud and @caro_milanesi

Jack Ellis / Tech in Asia:

Chinese social network YY has acquired Singapore-based social media startup Bigo in a deal worth US$1.45B; YY was lead investor in Bigo's $272M round last June — Chinese social network YY has acquired Singapore-based social media startup Bigo in a deal worth US$1.45 billion.

More: YY Inc. - IR Site, DealStreetAsia, TechNode, China Money Network, and TechCrunch

Stefanie Eschenbacher / Reuters:

Exclusive: Mexican central bank in talks with Amazon about new mobile payments — MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's central bank is in talks with Amazon.com Inc to launch a new government-backed mobile payment system that would allow consumers to pay for online purchases using QR codes, the bank's head of payments said.

More: PYMNTS.com

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

SurveyMonkey acquires Amsterdam-based website and app survey company Usabilla for $80M in cash and stock — SurveyMonkey announced today that it has acquired Usabilla, an Amsterdam-based website and app survey company, for $80 million in cash and stock. — Zander Lurie, CEO at SurveyMonkey …

More: SiliconANGLE and Silicon Valley Business …

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

San Jose-based Functionize raises $16M Series A from Canvas Ventures to automate software testing with AI — Functionize, a San Jose, California-based startup developing a cloud-based platform that autonomously susses out software bugs, today announced that it has raised $16 million in series …

More: FinSMEs and PE Hub Blog

Josh Horwitz / Reuters:

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com launches Joybuy, a store offering simple consumer electronics, on Alphabet's Google Express shopping site — SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company JD.Com Inc has launched a store on Google Express, the online shopping site owned by the search engine of Alphabet Inc.

Nate Lanxon / Bloomberg:

Barclays to merge its bPay and Pingit mobile payments products after bPay struggled to gain users — - BPay launched wearable band, key fob in 2014 for payments — U.K. banks are having to defend competition from Apple, Monzo — Barclays Plc is preparing to merge …

More: Patently Apple, PYMNTS.com, and Finextra Research Headlines

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