Techmeme: Google's head of quantum computing hardware John Martinis resigned from his position this month after disagreements with Hartmut Neven, its quantum AI director (Tom Simonite/Wired)

Top News

Google will let merchants list their products for free in Shopping search results, as part of an effort to better compete against Amazon in product search — After 8 years, Google will bring free listings into its Shopping results as part of an evolution to better compete against Amazon in product search.

More: The Keyword, The Verge, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, XDA Developers, The Next Web, Axios, Search Engine Journal, Neowin, MSPoweruser, and Android Central

Tweets: @lutherlowe, @ginnymarvin, @joshelman, @mdudas, @craigmillr, @ppckirk, @bigalittlea, @mblumenthal, @juokaz, and @williamready. Thanks:@ginnymarvin

Apple:

Apple launches App Store, iCloud, Apple Arcade, and Apple Podcasts in 20 new countries; Apple Music expands to 52 new countries — Cupertino, California — Apple announced that starting today, even more customers around the world can enjoy many of Apple's most popular Services.

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Sonos launches Sonos Radio, a free streaming radio service preloaded in the Sonos app, with 60K+ stations from multiple partners alongside original programming — Sonos Radio will now be the default service available for the company's speakers — Sonos has always been the neutral manager …

More: TechCrunch, The Next Web, Android Police, Wired, Thurrott, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, TechHive, Protocol, CNET, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, Sonos, Mashable, RAIN News, The Independent, Yahoo Finance, Ausdroid, UPROXX, MSPoweruser, MobileSyrup, Pitchfork, and SlashGear

Tweets: @dcseifert, @backlon, @reckless, @chriswelch, and @journeydan

See also Mediagazer

Tom Simonite / Wired:

Google's head of quantum computing hardware John Martinis resigned from his position this month after disagreements with Hartmut Neven, its quantum AI director — John Martinis brought a long record of quantum computing breakthroughs when he joined Google in 2014. He quit after being reassigned to an advisory role.

More: Fortune and HPCwire

Tweets: @charlesarthur, @brianroemmele, @tsimonite, @skdh, @benjaderberg, and @wired

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Confluent, the company behind open source streaming data project Apache Kafka, raises $250M Series E at a $4.5B valuation, following last year's $125M Series D — The pandemic may feel all-encompassing at the moment, but Confluent announced a $250 million Series E today …

More: FinSMEs and Confluent. Tweets: @ron_miller

Jeff Grubb / VentureBeat:

NPD Group: Nintendo Switch sales doubled YoY in March, while PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sales each grew by over 25%; March hardware spending rose 63% to $461M — Let's say a global pandemic forces you to spend almost all of your time inside at home. Sure, this means you have a chance to catch up on Netflix and reading.

More: Nikkei Asian Review, The Verge, NPD Group, GeekWire, Digital Trends, GamingBolt, Mashable, Slashdot, and Wall Street Journal

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Security researcher discloses four 0-days affecting an IBM enterprise security tool after IBM refused to accept the bug disclosures through its official program — Zero-days impact the IBM Data Risk Manager (IDRM), one of IBM's enterprise security tools. — A security researcher …

More: GitHub, SecurityWeek, and The Hacker News

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:

Security firm buys a database, first seen last month, with info on 267M+ mostly US Facebook users, including full names and phone numbers, for £500 on dark web — Threat actors are selling over 267 million Facebook profiles for £500 ($623) on dark web sites and hacker forums.

More: Tom's Guide, TechRadar.com, and Forbes. Tweets: @piccadillycrown

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Nvidia's GeForce Now loses more titles from developers including Xbox Game Studios and Warner Bros. even as it works to bring in more games ahead of June launch — But it's gaining more Ubisoft titles — Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service is losing access to more titles later this month, the company announced on Monday.

More: The Official NVIDIA Blog, Windows Central, Kotaku, OnMSFT.com, TechRadar.com, Liliputing, bit-tech.net, Seeking Alpha, Thurrott, Neowin, Wccftech, MSPoweruser, TechSpot, Pocket-lint, Softpedia News, VG247, Gamasutra, GameSpot, PC Games Insider, and Slashdot. Tweets: @zhugeex

Hollywood Reporter:

HBO Max to launch on May 27 for $15 per month with 10,000 hours of programming — The streaming service is set to debut amid the shutdown brought about by the novel coronavirus outbreaking, bringing with it 10,000 hours of library programming from across the WarnerMedia catalog.

More: AT&T, CNET, YouTube, The Daily Dot, 9to5Mac, Engadget, and Tom's Guide

Tweets: @jakestakes, @thr, and @evanwolf

See also Mediagazer

Cho Mu-Hyun / ZDNet:

Samsung says its blood pressure monitoring app for Galaxy Watch has been approved by a South Korean regulator and will be available in Q3 — The app measures blood pressure when paired with a smartwatch. — Samsung's app that measures blood pressure on its smartwatch has been approved …

More: Samsung Mobile Press, CNET, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, SamMobile, TalkAndroid.com, Android Central, 9to5Google, SlashGear, Wareable, MSPoweruser, Pocketnow, BGR India, Neowin, XDA Developers, and Android Police

Tweets: @samsungmobile, @maxwinebach, and @jackycwong

Helene Fouquet / Bloomberg:

France says its contact-tracing application, which would likely send tracking data to a state-run server, won't work with iOS Bluetooth privacy protections — - Minister says Apple protocol slows government's app deployment — Government developing app without using Google-Apple platform

More: Gizmodo, CNET, ZDNet, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, The Guardian, Engadget, Cult of Mac, Ubergizmo, Telecoms.com, MacDailyNews, The Mac Observer, 9to5Mac, and iMore

Tweets: @ansip_eu, @helenefouquet, @a_bacci, @1br0wn, @kaepora, @bloombergasia, @carnage4life, @abirghattas, and @markscott82

Wolfie Zhao / CoinDesk:

The hacker that stole ~$25M worth of cryptocurrency from dForce-based Lendf.Me returns ~$24M through a series of transactions involving different token types — The hacker that drained $25 million in cryptocurrency from decentralized finance protocol dForce over the weekend has sent back almost all the stolen assets.

More: BBC, Crowdfund Insider, and Crypto Briefing

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

ForgeRock, which provides digital identity management services, raises $93.5M Series E led by Riverwood Capital and Accenture Ventures — For better or worse, digital identity management services — the process of identifying and authenticating users on networks to access services …

More: FinSMEs, Business Insider, VentureBeat, Tech.eu, and Database Trends …. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

SAP names Christian Klein as sole CEO effective April 30, as co-CEO Jennifer Morgan departs; both were named co-CEOs in Oct. after Bill McDermott stepped down — SAP's move to co-CEOs didn't last long as Jennifer Morgan departs and Christian Klein becomes sole CEO.

More: SAP News Center, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, Silicon Valley Business …, Bloomberg, IT Management, and The Register

Tweets: @jillpopelka, @sarahmsyed, @ldignan, @dahowlett, @gscott16, @jackieghalpin, and @jacksgatorssap

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Internal memo: Kickstarter announced it will likely lay off employees and restructure the business as projects are down ~35% YoY with “no clear sign of rebound” — Talks are starting with the union — Kickstarter announced in an internal memo today that it's likely going to lay off employees.

More: TechSpot, Engadget, and PC Games Insider

Tweets: @ksr_united and @joshconstine

Rachel Abrams / New York Times:

New York's AG says it's investigating Charter Communications' handling of COVID-19, requiring thousands to work in offices; source: 230+ workers tested positive — More than 230 workers at Charter Communications, the cable and internet giant known as Spectrum, have tested positive for Covid-19 …

More: CNBC. Tweets: @nytmedia, @zackwhittaker, and @rachelabramsny

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:

Fast, affordable law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

F5:

Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit — Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23. Register now to save your spot.

Zoho:

We're supercharging Zoho Payroll with an AI upgrade - helping employees get answers instantly — Employees have always had questions about their payslips. That much is inevitable. Why is my tax different this month?

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Training Data:

Simulating Humans at Scale: Simile's Joon Sung Park

Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.

Subscribe to Training Data.

Invest Like the Best:

Kareem Amin - Re-Enchanting the World

The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.

Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.

Grit:

Why 80% of the Fortune 100 Chose Qualtrics | Ryan Smith

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Lenny's Podcast:

The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War

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.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:30 PM ET, April 21, 2020.

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.