Techmeme
April 10, 2020, 3:40 AM

Top News

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Google rebrands its business-focused teleconferencing app Hangouts Meet to Google Meet and Hangouts Chat to Google Chat, leaving Hangouts brand for consumers  —  Following the official change from Hangouts Meet to Google Meet  —  Google has officially removed the Hangouts brand …
Bani Sapra / Business Insider:
Facebook files lawsuit against Basant Gajjar, founder of LeadCloak, alleging its software helped scammers run deceptive ads on Facebook and Instagram  —  - Facebook announced that it filed a lawsuit against the founder of a company called LeadCloak on Thursday, alleging that it was helping …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
iOS 14 code shows that Apple is working on a “Clips” feature letting users experience parts of an app's functionality in Safari via a link or scanning a QR code  —  Apple is working on a new way to offer specific parts of third-party apps across the system without needing to have them installed …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Google launches a braille keyboard for Android that requires no extra hardware, letting users tap a standard 6-key layout to type letters and words  —  Google today announced the launch of a virtual braille keyboard for Android that's designed to enable those with low vision or blindness …
David Canellis / The Next Web:
Report: Travelex paid hackers 285 BTC, worth around $2.3M, to regain access to its systems after a ransomware attack on New Year's Eve  —  Travelex paid hackers $2.3 million worth of Bitcoin to regain access to its computer systems after a devastating ransomware attack on New Year's Eve, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Jay Greene / Washington Post:
Amazon says it has begun assembling equipment to build a lab to screen its workers for COVID-19, may be working on antigen testing  —  With workers in at least 64 warehouses and shipping facilities testing positive, the e-commerce giant says it hopes to start testing a small numbers of employees ‘soon’
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft has seen a new daily record of 2.7B meeting minutes in Teams, up 200% from 900M minutes in mid-March, and video call usage grew by 1,000%+ in March  —  Microsoft is revealing more about how people are using its Teams app, and it predicts the novel coronavirus pandemic will be a turning point …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
TikTok pledges $375M to support COVID-19 relief efforts around the world: $250M in funds, $100M in ad credits, and $25M in public health ads  —  Including direct funding and ad credits  —  TikTok has announced a series of relief funds and initiatives to support those fighting the COVID-19 pandemic …
Dave Gershgorn / OneZero :
Analysis of efforts by 25 governments to track the COVID-19 pandemic using new surveillance programs, such as using location data or releasing an app  —  At least 28 countries are ramping up surveillance to combat the coronavirus  —  an attempt to stem the tide of the coronavirus pandemic …
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Researcher Jane Manchun Wong: Facebook may be working on a new “Campus” feature, with Groups and Events for college students with .edu addresses  —  Facebook is apparently hoping to go back to its roots as a service that connects college students with each other.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google creates an application portal to help New York State with the recent surge of unemployment filings, says it could bring a similar service to more states  —  - The state of New York announced a partnership with Google for an online unemployment application system.
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Starship Technologies expands its autonomous food delivery robot service to Tempe, AZ, following launches in Washington, D.C., and Irvine, citing rising demand  —  Starship Technologies has launched a robot food delivery service in Tempe, Arizona, as part of the autonomous delivery startup's …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
The Unicode Consortium says it's delaying emoji planned for 2021 but the emoji announced earlier this year will still be available in the fall  —  An emoji delay  —  The pandemic is even affecting emoji.  The Unicode Consortium, the group behind emoji releases, announced today that it's delaying …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Facebook begins rolling out “Quiet Mode” app feature that mutes most notifications and helps schedule breaks; coming to iOS in April and Android in May  —  Facebook is rolling out a new feature today that allows users to mute all notifications from the social network.
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Twitch expands Watch Parties beta to all US creators, allowing streamers to broadcast Prime Video content with their viewers; global rollout in following months  —  Now, you can watch stuff on Amazon Prime with your favorite streamers  —  Twitch announced today that it's bringing …
Ina Fried / Axios:
Yelp says it is cutting 1,000 jobs and furloughing another 1,100 workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic  —  Yelp told employees Thursday that it is cutting 1,000 jobs and furloughing another 1,100 workers amid a massive  —  Why it matters: It's just the latest company that caters to small businesses …
Hayden Field / Protocol:
DARPA selects 17 orgs for its AI defense program, with Intel leading efforts to defend against physical attacks like use of stickers to trick self-driving cars  —  The Pentagon is teaming up with some of the biggest names in tech to combat hacks designed to mess with the automated systems we'll rely on in the near future.
Bloomberg:
In a filing, DOJ and other federal agencies urge the FCC to revoke China Telecom's permission to operate in the United States, which it has held since 2007  —  - Defense and Justice departments cite national security threat  — Security agencies file at Federal Communications Commission
More: Reuters
Reuters:
FCC grants Google permission to operate a portion of the 8,000-mile Pacific Light Cable Network System between the US and Taiwan, but blocks access to Hong Kong  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday approved Alphabet Inc unit Google's (GOOGL.O) …

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