Techmeme
October 30, 2019, 2:20 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Will Cathcart / Washington Post:
WhatsApp sues NSO Group after investigating an attack from last year that sent malware to 1,400 devices and targeted 100+ human rights defenders and journalists  —  Will Cathcart is head of WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.  —  In May, WhatsApp announced that we had detected and blocked …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Legal experts analyze WhatsApp's options in its case against NSO Group, over sending malware to WhatsApp users, which they say will be an uphill battle  —  The Facebook-owned messaging company is taking on a notorious malware vendor in what could be an uphill battle.
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Report: Apple will use Qualcomm's X55 5G modem in all three 2020 iPhones  —  Apple's 2020 iPhones will all use Qualcomm's newest and fastest 5G-capable modem chip, claims a new report out of Asia today.  —  Apple is expected to launch three iPhones next year in 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch sizes.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify launches a dedicated Spotify Kids app available in a beta test period in Ireland for its Spotify Premium Family plan subscribers  —  Spotify is trying to sell more multi-account family-plan subscriptions — by setting up a special “playground of sound” just for kids.
BBC:
Facebook agrees to pay a £500K fine to the UK for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal but makes no admission of liability  —  Facebook has agreed to pay a £500,000 fine imposed by the UK's data protection watchdog for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Peter Kafka / Vox:
HBO Max to launch in May and cost $15 a month, same as the existing HBO; AT&T plans to bundle free subscriptions for some customers of its other services  —  HBOMax, WarnerMedia's new streaming service, will feature all of HBO's shows, like Game of Thrones, plus new programing.  HBO
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Student subscribers to Apple Music, which costs $4.99 per month, will get Apple TV+ at no extra charge  —  In a surprise announcement, Apple has announced its first bundle deal for Apple TV+.  For subscribers to Apple Music on the student plan, $4.99 per month, Apple will giveaway Apple TV+ at no additional charge.
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Facebook says it won't remove Pages promoting Daily Wire content because they're “run by real people”, but at least two are owned by Daily Wire's parent company  —  This is the online version of the Popular Information newsletter.  You can get independent accountability journalism in your inbox every week.
Stan Schroeder / Mashable:
Xiaomi's first high end smartwatch looks a lot like the Apple Watch, with a button and twisting control knob on the right side  —  Xiaomi's November 5 event is shaping up to be a pretty big one.  —  On Monday we wrote about the company's upcoming 108-megapixel phone, but now the company …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Two men plead guilty in federal court to hacks in 2016 of Uber and Lynda.com and subsequent extortion, saying they used employee AWS accounts to gain access  —  Guilty pleas to charges of hacking and an extortion conspiracy cap a legal saga that ensnared the tech companies in data breach scandals.
Chris Krycho:
The current state of Apple's developer documentation, in which many parts of the ecosystem are entirely undocumented, is shocking  —  If you want developers to love your platform, then you need to take this seriously.  If it isn't documented, it isn't done.

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