Techmeme
May 7, 2020, 2:55 PM

Top News

Ari Levy / CNBC:
Zoom is acquiring Keybase, a 25-person startup, to add end-to-end encryption to video calls, the first acquisition in the company's nine-year history  —  - Zoom is acquiring Keybase, a 25-person start-up in New York, to add end-to-end encryption to video calls.
Isabelle Kirkwood / BetaKit:
Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs says it will no longer pursue its smart city project at Quayside in Toronto due to “unprecedented economic uncertainty”  —  Sidewalk Labs has announced it will no longer pursue its project at Quayside in Toronto.  The company noted the decision was due to the current …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
A Facebook SDK crash caused iOS apps like TikTok and Venmo to crash on Wednesday, showing the need for Apple to sandbox third-party SDKs from an app's own code  —  Facebook's near-ubiquitous SDK broke yesterday, taking major mobile apps with it  —  Sometime around 6:30PM ET on May 6th …
Dana Wollman / Engadget:
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review: nice display, lovely keyboard, and great performance, but models with 10th-gen Intel CPUs are pricey and it can get hot  —  I had a feeling I'd be reviewing a new 13-inch MacBook Pro sooner rather than later.  When Apple refreshed the MacBook Air back in March …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Uber leads a $170M investment in Lime, with Bain Capital Ventures, Alphabet, and GV participating, and will transfer its Jump scooter division to Lime  —  - Uber is leading a $170 million investment round in Lime, the companies announced Thursday.  — Uber will transfer its own electric bike …
Matt Brian / Engadget:
UK broadband provider Virgin Media and telecom operator O2 announce a £31B merger in an effort to take on BT, Sky, and Vodafone in the country  —  The rumors were true: UK broadband provider Virgin Media and telecoms operator O2 are to merge, their parent companies confirmed today.
David Kaye / Just Security:
Facebook's efforts are laudable, but the Oversight Board does not end debates over online speech or legitimize content moderation choices by other platforms  —  With the Naming of Oversight Board Members, What Kind of Institution Will This Become?  —  With Facebook's unveiling of the first 20 …
Brittany A. Roston / SlashGear:
Smart home company Wink to require users pay a $4.99 monthly subscription fee starting May 13, or device automations and accessibility via app will be disabled  —  Smart home company Wink has made a surprising and heavily criticized announcement: it will soon charge a monthly subscription fee.
Apple:
Apple awards $10M from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to COPAN Diagnostics, a leader in COVID-19 sample collection kit production  —  Cupertino, California — Apple today announced it is awarding $10 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to COPAN Diagnostics, a market leader …
Owen Churchill / South China Morning Post:
Citizen Lab: WeChat screens overseas users for sensitive content, which it then bars from being viewed by Chinese accounts  —  Research group Citizen Lab finds WeChat screens overseas users for sensitive content, which it then bars from being received by Chinese accounts Findings are likely …
New York Times:
Israeli security company says hackers linked to the Chinese military have used Aria-body, a cyberattack tool, on governments and firms in Australia and SE Asia  —  An Israeli security company said the hacking software, called Aria-body, had been deployed against governments and state-owned companies in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Square launches Online Checkout to let sellers accept card payments without having to build an online store  —  Square is introducing a new payment tool designed for small businesses looking to rapidly transition to ecommerce.  —  With billions of people around the world forced to adhere …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Nintendo reports FY 2019 net profit of $2.43B, up 33.5% YoY, on sales of $12.31B, up 9% YoY; to date, 55.7M Nintendo Switch and Lite consoles have been sold  —  Nintendo reported that its full-year sales for the fiscal year ended March 31 were $12.31 billion, up 9% from $11.30 billion a year earlier.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Epic Games says Fortnite has 350M registered players, up from 250M in March 2019; in April, players logged 3.2B hours in the game  —  More than 3.2 billion hours played in April alone  —  Epic's Fortnite has more than 350 million registered players, the game developer announced on Wednesday.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Groove, which provides customer service software for SMBs, raises $12M Series A led by Level Equity  —  Sales engagement solutions provider Groove today announced that it raised $12 million, which CEO Chris Rothstein says will be used to expand awareness and acceleration adoption of the company's platform.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Internal document reveals Twitch is looking to fund a slate of original, unscripted series that would be live and interactive on dating, sports, music, and more  —  - Amazon unit will bankroll slate of unscripted series this year  — Use of Twitch has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic

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:
Simplifying MTD for accountants with Zoho Practice  —  Making Tax Digital (MTD) is redefining how accountants and bookkeepers manage their work.  With the new Income Tax mandate, the surge of sole traders …
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.

Featured Podcasts

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
All about Interest Rates
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Training Data:
Google DeepMind's Logan Kilpatrick: Why the Model Eats the Harness
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
What Should An AI Device Look Like? — With Alex Himel
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.
Great Chat:
Founders dish on VC bad behavior (and bring receipts)
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Mike Volpi from Hanabi Capital
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:55 PM ET, May 7, 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

Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Brady Dale / CoinDesk: