Techmeme
May 6, 2020, 1:20 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils Surface Go 2 with a bigger 10.5-inch display and more powerful Intel processors in higher-end models, coming May 12, starting at $400  —  The smaller Surface gets a big hardware bump  —  Microsoft's smallest Surface tablet is getting some important hardware upgrades today in the form of the Surface Go 2.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Microsoft debuts 13.5-inch and 15-inch Surface Book 3 laptops with 10th-gen quad-core Intel CPUs, new NVIDIA GPUs, available May 21 from $1,600 and $2,300  —  With the Surface Book 2, Microsoft proved it could take on the MacBook Pro directly with a powerful and genuinely innovative PC notebook.
Microsoft Devices Blog:
Microsoft announces $250 Surface Headphones 2 with better sound and battery, arriving on May 12, and says its Surface Buds will ship on the same day for $200  —  Available for preorder today, new Surface devices and accessories are designed to help you work, learn, connect and play from anywhere
New York Times:
Facebook's Oversight Board co-chairs announce its first 16 members, out of a total of 20 members, who will oversee challenging content issues  —  Introducing the company's independent oversight board.  —  The authors are co-chairs of Facebook's oversight board.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Uber says it will lay off 3,700 employees, or ~14% of its workforce, as it has been hit hard by the pandemic; CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will forgo his base salary  —  Uber announced Wednesday that it will lay off 3,700 employees.  The cuts to its customer support and recruiting teams represent …
Ellen Hammett / Marketing Week:
Study: half of the money brands invest in programmatic advertising never reaches online publishers; 15% of the money is unattributable to supply chain players  —  A new study by ISBA has found that half the money advertisers invest in programmatic advertising never reaches online publishers …
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Sources: Google to release a Fire TV-like Android TV dongle with a new content-centric UI in the coming months, likely extending its Nest brand to the product  —  Google is set to introduce an Android TV streaming device in the coming months, a reimagined dongle with a new user interface …
Ivan Mehta / The Next Web:
Facebook tries again to offer “free” mobile web access with data limits, partnering with telecoms in Peru to offer a Discover app that lets users visit any site  —  Remember Free Basics?  Facebook's ambitious program to bring people to the internet for the first time.
Hyunjoo Jin / Reuters:
Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee makes a rare apology, saying he will not hand over management of the company to his children, and vows to protect labor rights  —  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, embroiled in a bribery scandal, on Wednesday made a rare apology …
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Q&A with Steven Sinofsky on his upcoming memoir that chronicles his time at Microsoft, as he reflects on how the company fought the ILOVEYOU virus 20 years ago  —  On the 20th anniversary of the unleashing of the ILOVEYOU virus—which infected millions of PCs worldwide …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Interview with Apple SVP Craig Federighi about the iPadOS cursor, a significant change to the pointer paradigm, and the decisions Apple made to get there  —  Apple SVP Craig Federighi talks about the iPad's new cursor and Magic Keyboard  —  Even though Apple did not invent the mouse pointer …
Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Letter from Brian Chesky to Airbnb employees says the company is laying off 1,900, or ~25% of its workforce, and expects a 2020 revenue decline of 50% YoY  —  Airbnb is laying off a quarter of its staff.  —  Airbnb, seen until recently as one of Silicon Valley's most financially secure unicorns, is laying off a quarter of its staff.
Hugh Langley / Business Insider:
Sources: Magic Leap is in talks to raise $100M in funding from a major health company after laying off around half of its workforce  —  - Magic Leap is turning to a “major” health care company to raise money, according to an internal memo obtained by The Information.
Bloomberg:
Spotify CEO expects Apple to “open up” its platform more to 3rd-party apps, after Spotify's antitrust complaint with the EU, but sees it as a long-term process  —  - Apple plans to let other music services integrate with HomePod  — Ek says ‘steps to go before’ Apple is open and fair platform
Shannon Liao / CNN:
Activision Blizzard CEO says people may turn to free mobile games during the pandemic, after the company beat Q1 expectations with sales of $1.52B, up 21% YoY  —  New York (CNN Business)While much of the economy is hurting during the pandemic, video games are thriving.
Divya Balji / Bloomberg:
Shopify tops estimates with Q1 revenue of $470M, up 47% YoY, and gross merchandise volume of $17.4B, up 46% YoY  —  - First-quarter revenue jumped 47% to $470 million from 2019  — Gross merchandise volume soared 46% to $17.4 billion  —  Shopify Inc. reported first-quarter revenue …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Match says Tinder will launch in-app one-on-one video chats later this year, as growth falls during the pandemic, although most details are TBA  —  A big undertaking for one of the world's largest dating apps  —  Tinder is going to launch its own in-app, one-on-one video chats later this year.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Is AI just hype?  —  Find out how top enterprises use Tribe to get real business results.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Zoho:
All new Zoho Workerly 2024  —  Staffing businesses around the world face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their temporary workforce.  With a constantly shifting job market and changing staffing needs …
Comprehensive.io:
Browse salary data from 3,000 startups for free  —  Click for FREE, immediate access to real-time compensation benchmarking data.  Paid version helps HR automate comp reviews and communicate total compensation to employees.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Henry Shukman, Lessons from an Authentic Zen Master
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 03/28 - Claude 3 Opus Surpasses GPT-4 For The First Time
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:20 PM ET, May 6, 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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Angela Lashbrook / OneZero :
Brooke Auxier / Pew Research Center:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: