Techmeme
December 3, 2019, 6:40 PM

Top News

The Keyword:
Larry Page steps down as Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai to lead both Alphabet and Google  —  Our very first founders' letter in our 2004 S-1 began: … We believe those central tenets are still true today.  The company is not conventional and continues to make ambitious bets on new technology, especially with our Alphabet structure.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google adds a chat feature to Google Photos, rolling out over the next week to iOS, Android, and the web  —  An argument could be made that Google has over-indulged in its creation of way too many messaging apps in years past.  But today's launch of a new messaging service …
Shirin Ghaffary / Vox:
A group of four former Google employees who say they were fired for organizing are filing unfair labor practice charges against the company  —  Three of the four former Google engineers who were recently fired from the company and alleging Google retaliated against them for workplace organizing.
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Alfred Ng / CNET:
For over a year, Ring let police access a heat map of installed Ring video doorbells that let users zoom in very close to street level; it was removed in July  —  The company once offered a map, now withdrawn, that allowed police to zoom in to see the specific location of Ring customers.
Tom Krazit / Mostly Cloudy:
Amazon unveils Local Zones, small data centers far from main AWS regions, general availability of Outposts, and a Verizon partnership for low latency 5G gear  —  THE AWS TAKE ON EDGE COMPUTING  —  AWS CEO Andy Jassy (left) and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg (right) introduce AWS Wavelength Tuesday at re:Invent 2019.
New York Times:
Chinese officials are gathering blood samples from Uighurs in a mass DNA collection effort for use by scientists researching using DNA to map facial images  —  Beijing's pursuit of control over a Muslim ethnic group pushes the rules of science and raises questions about consent.
Shara Tibken / CNET:
Qualcomm debuts a new in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor with a much larger input area, after mixed results from its last attempt found in the Galaxy S10  —  A year ago, Qualcomm introduced a new fingerprint sensor that uses sound waves to map the ridges on your finger and unlock your phone.
Dani Deahl / The Verge:
Genius sues Google and LyricFind alleging anticompetitive behavior and that song lyrics on its service were stolen, asking for over $400M in damages  —  It's asking for more than $400 million from Google and LyricFind  —  Lyrics website Genius is suing Google, saying the company continues …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 865, a new flagship processor that lacks integrated 5G, and unveils a less powerful Snapdragon 765 processor with integrated 5G  —  The new Snapdragon 865 and 765 will force phone makers to choose between flagship specs and integrated 5G
David Gilbert / VICE:
A Facebook employee and content moderators working for subcontractor CPL Resources are suing Facebook for trauma in Ireland's High Court  —  DUBLIN — Sean Burke spent years working for big tech like Cisco and SAP.  But nothing could prepare him for the work he did for Facebook.
Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News:
London-based Hastee, which lets employees access up to 50% of earned pay at any point in the month, raises $20M in equity led by Umbra Capital and $250M in debt  —  Hastee, a London-based on-demand wages app, announced this morning it has secured about $270 million in equity and debt financing.

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Earlier Picks

Jeremy Bogaisky / Forbes:
James Politi / Financial Times:
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: