Techmeme
April 4, 2019, 11:40 AM

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple cuts the price of HomePod worldwide, dropping it from $349 to $299 in the US Apple Store  —  Apple has officially lowered the price of the HomePod worldwide.  In the price has fallen from $349 to $299, breaking the $300 level.  HomePod has seen promotional discounts at many third party retailers …
Michelle Toh / CNN:
MIT suspends ties with Huawei and ZTE over US investigations and says any projects working with China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia will merit additional review  —  Hong Kong (CNN Business)The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is hitting pause on its relationships with Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE.
UpGuard:
Third-party Facebook app by Cultura Colectiva left 540M+ records of users' info exposed on AWS; Amazon was notified in Jan., but data was online until recently  —  The UpGuard Cyber Risk team can now report that two more third-party developed Facebook app datasets have been found exposed to the public internet.
Paul Karp / The Guardian:
Australia passes law penalizing social media platforms for failing to expeditiously remove abhorrent violent content, despite strong opposition from tech firms  —  Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies' concerns
James Vincent / The Verge:
Critics say big tech companies are formulating AI ethics boards and principles as a strategy for avoiding the possibility of government regulation  —  Researchers from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and top universities objected to the board's inclusion of Kay Coles James, the president of right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation.
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
Amazon confirms Project Kuiper, its new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to provide broadband around the world  —  Amazon is joining the race to provide broadband internet access around the globe via thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, newly uncovered filings show.
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Researchers find that Facebook appears to deliver certain ads, despite neutral targeting parameters, in a way that aligns with race and gender stereotypes  —  How exactly Facebook decides who sees what is one of the great pieces of forbidden knowledge in the information age …
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Source: Intel has missed deadlines for the development of a 5G modem for the 2020 iPhones; Apple has 1,000-1,200 engineers working on modems for future iPhones  —  [Updated with Intel comment Wednesday 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time]  —  As of now Apple plans to release a 5G iPhone in 2020.
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
As more seniors go online, they are largely being left out of digital literacy efforts, making them targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric  —  Older people play an outsized role in civic life.  They also are more likely to be online targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Tesla starts rolling out an update to Navigate on Autopilot in the US that will give drivers an option to use the system without having to confirm lane changes  —  Tesla has long asked you to flick the turn stalk to confirm Autopilot's lane changes, but you won't have to do that for much longer.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Alienware Area-51m review: desktop-class performance with upgradable CPU and GPU, but requires two large power adapters, isn't portable, and is very expensive  —  The Area-51m has plenty of brawn, but IT comes with a high price  —  If you've been looking at the field of gaming laptops …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google debuts Android Q Beta 2 with multitasking overlay elements called Bubbles, foldables emulator, and precise audio recordings with zoomable microphone API  —  Google today launched the second Android Q beta with multitasking Bubbles, a foldables emulator, zoomable microphones, and more.
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
Tonal, maker of a $2,995 in-home workout system that uses machine learning to personalize workouts, raises $45M Series C, bringing the total raised to $90M  —  Fitness startup Tonal today announced it has raised $45 million as it prepares to scale its smart in-home workout system and fend off …
More: TechCrunch
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio acquires an 87% stake in Haptik, a startup that develops “conversational” platforms and virtual assistants, for $100M  —  Reliance Jio, the telecom operator that has revolutionized India with its generous data plans, has its eye on the next generation …
Tom Roston / OneZero:
Current and former TiVo insiders on how the first DVR came to be, going up against cable companies, how IP licensing has kept the company relevant, and more  —  ‘They Thought It Was Black Magic’: An Oral History of TiVo  —  How the original DVR paved the way for Netflix and the cord-cutter movement
Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat:
Verizon launches its mobile 5G network in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis, with a 5G-enabled Moto Z3  —  Though South Korea's government expected its three cellular carriers to be the world's first to offer commercial 5G services with smartphones based on the 3GPP's official 5G standard …

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