Techmeme
June 18, 2019, 2:20 PM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook announces plans to launch Libra, a new cryptocurrency, and Calibra, a newly formed Facebook subsidiary to oversee financial services for Libra  —  A New Digital Wallet for a New Digital Currency  —  Today we're sharing plans for Calibra, a newly formed Facebook subsidiary whose goal …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook says user Libra transaction data will not be shared with Facebook and will not be used for ad targeting or ranking users' News Feed  —  The use cases, technology, and motive behind the new digital money  —  Facebook has finally revealed the details of its cryptocurrency Libra …
CoinDesk:
Facebook announces an independent consortium, Libra Association, with 28 founding members including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Uber, Lyft, Coinbase, and others  —  You don't have to have a Facebook account to use Libra.  —  That's the hands-off approach the social media giant is working toward …
Alastair Marsh / Bloomberg:
French Finance Minister calls on the Group of Seven central bank governors to review Facebook's Libra, citing concerns it may become a “sovereign currency”  —  - French finance chief says it can't be a ‘sovereign currency’  — Germany's Ferber sees Facebook becoming a shadow bank
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Facebook's Calibra subsidiary will launch a digital wallet for Libra, as a standalone iOS and Android app and within WhatsApp and Messenger  —  It's called Calibra, and it's a new subsidiary of Facebook the company is launching to build financial services and software on top of the Libra blockchain.
Binance Info:
An in-depth first look at Facebook's new Libra cryptocurrency, due to be rolled out in the next 18 months, and its impact on the broader crypto ecosystem  —  On June 18th 2019, Facebook released details about Libra, a stable cryptocurrency backed by a basket of financial assets, which runs on its own blockchain.
The Keyword:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Twitch has acquired social networking platform Bebo, source says for $25M, to bolster its esports business  —  While Facebook makes a bold move into cryptocurrency to capitalise on its multi-billion user base, a social network that was once a credible competitor to it has quietly been snapped up by a subsidiary of Amazon.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Apple adds a feature in iOS 13 beta 2 that tells users about ongoing subscriptions for apps they are about to delete  —  ‘Do you want to keep your subscription for this app?’  —  Apple has added a warning in iOS 13 beta 2 that appears when you try to uninstall an app which still has an active subscription.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Palm opens preorders for an unlocked version of its tiny $350 3.2-inch smartphone with Snapdragon 435, expected to ship in the next six to eight weeks  —  As much as Palm's tiny phone has improved over the past several months, there's still been one glaring limitation: you've had to use it on Verizon …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Top500: China has 219 of the world's fastest supercomputers, with the US still lagging behind at 116; Lenovo edged out IBM and Cray as the top vendor  —  To kick off the festivities at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Frankfurt, Germany this morning, the Top500 …
Biz Carson / Forbes:
CEO of parenting support app Cleo, which raised its $27.5M Series B in May, has resigned after it came to light that her resume contained falsehoods  —  On a Monday in April, Shannon Spanhake stood at the front of Cleo's office as her executive team lined up beside her.
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
London-based Zego, which offers flexible insurance policies with pricing based on usage data from vehicles, raises $42M Series B led by Target Global  —  A couple of years ago London-based startup Zego realised gig-economy workers would need insurance, and went on to raise a very healthy £6 million …
More: Tech.eu and FinSMEs
Bloomberg:
YouTube Kids, intended as a haven from the dangers of the main YouTube site, is used by just 20M+ people a week, compared to the main site's 2B+ monthly users  —  There's a safer version of YouTube, but the company knows most children don't watch it  —  In late May, the advocacy group …
Benedict Carey / New York Times:
California has teamed up with startups Mindstrong and 7 Cups to help mentally ill patients before and during crises, putting $100M over 5 years toward the cause  —  The state is teaming up with Silicon Valley to make mental health services more available.  Promises abound, and so do potential problems.
More: Axios

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
We can build it.  Can we judge it?  —  As agentic AI shortens the path from idea to shipped code, journey evaluation becomes a critical design skill.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: Map My Client Location for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Google's Potential, AI Money Spigot Shutting?, PHP Bug & Cybersecurity's "Black October"
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Machine Gods:
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Parking Startup That Swallowed A 100-Year-Old Giant | Metropolis CEO Alex Israel
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:20 PM ET, June 18, 2019.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge: