Techmeme
January 21, 2020, 5:05 PM

Top News

Joseph Menn / Reuters:
Sources: Apple dropped plan to encrypt backups of devices in iCloud about two years ago, after the FBI complained that the move would harm investigations  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) dropped plans to let iPhone users fully encrypt backups of their devices …
Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:
Sources: analysis shows a message from Saudi Crown Prince MbS' WhatsApp account to Jeff Bezos in 2018 included file “highly” likely to have hacked Bezos' phone  —  Exclusive: investigation suggests Washington Post owner was targeted five months before murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Preetika Rana / Wall Street Journal:
Source: Uber is testing a feature letting drivers in three California cities set fares on rides from the airport; drivers can charge up to 5x the Uber fare  —  Move gives drivers more control in response to state's gig-economy law  —  SAN FRANCISCO— Uber Technologies Inc. UBER 1.30% …
New York Times:
Uber has agreed to sell Uber Eats in India to Zomato for 9.99% share in the company; all delivery drivers and basic customer information to be transferred over  —  The ride-hailing giant agreed to sell Uber Eats in India to rival Zomato, continuing its recent efforts to exit money-losing businesses.
Reuters:
France has agreed to suspend this year's digital tax until the end of 2020 as part of trade negotiations with the US  —  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he had a “great discussion” with U.S. President Donald Trump over a digital tax planned by Paris …
Emily Birnbaum / The Hill:
SCOTUS declines to review Facebook facial recognition case, meaning FB will likely face a class-action suit alleging its photo-tagging feature violated IL law  —  The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a high-profile court battle over whether users can sue Facebook …
More: Input and Bloomberg Law
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Massachusetts-based startup Berkshire Grey, which develops AI-powered pick-and-place retail and warehouse robots, raises $263M Series B led by SoftBank  —  In recent years, the retail category has become one of the biggest and best-funded robotics categories — particularly when coupled …
BBC:
Disney+ to launch on 24 March in the UK and other parts of Europe, a week earlier than originally planned, for £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year  —  The new streaming service Disney+ is to launch on 24 March in the UK, a week earlier than originally planned.
Sumukh Rao / Technology Personalized:
Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 720G, 662, and 460 chipsets with support for Wi-Fi 6 and NavIC, India's homegrown GPS  —  Qualcomm has introduced three new Mobile Platforms today for smartphones at an event in New Delhi, India, and the new chipsets cater to three different segments right …

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Earlier Picks

Hannah Kuchler / Financial Times:
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
Sundar Pichai / Financial Times: