Techmeme
August 3, 2020, 2:30 PM

Top News

The Official Microsoft Blog:
After Satya Nadella and Trump spoke, Microsoft says it will continue discussions to explore a TikTok acquisition in US, ending on Sept. 15 if no deal is reached  —  Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions …
More: New York Times, Financial Times, Reuters, TechCrunch, New York Times, The Sun, 9to5Mac, South China Morning Post, GeekWire, New York Times, Ars Technica, South China Morning Post, CNBC, Telecoms.com, FinSMEs, Wall Street Journal, PingWest, TheStreet, New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, Android Headlines, CNBC, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Tubefilter, Fortune, MSPoweruser, CCN.com, MacRumors, BBC, globaltimes.cn, Mashable, 500ish, Axios, Reuters, IT Management, WRAL TechWire, Tech.co, WinBuzzer, Redmond Pie, Gizchina, Ubergizmo, Tom's Guide, Protocol, MacDailyNews, TechNode, Data Driven Investor, ComputerWeekly.com, Pandaily, The Irish Times, Computer Business Review, iPhone Hacks, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Android Police, Micky, Android Authority, Coinspeaker, OnMSFT.com, Sputnik News, The Hindu BusinessLine, The Daily Dot, Digital Trends, Light Reading, PYMNTS.com, Game Rant, TechRadar, Input, ABC, KnowTechie, Pocketnow, Adweek, PCWorld, Reuters, SlashGear, ZDNet, Neowin, The Hill, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, Thurrott, The Information, and The Verge
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft acquiring TikTok lets it access younger users growing up with iOS and Android, expand AR and Xbox offerings, and collect data  —  At first glance, a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok seems a little unusual.  Microsoft has spent years walking back consumer plays like the Groove Music service …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: behind TikTok's progress toward making a Microsoft deal, with weeks of talks that included US officials, nearly derailed by Trump's public opposition  —  Covert talks began weeks ago.  After the software giant's CEO and Trump spoke Sunday, Microsoft said an agreement could include …
Bloomberg:
Aime Williams / Financial Times:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google announces the $349 Pixel 4A, available for pre-order on August 20, $499 Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 5, coming later in fall  —  If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.  See our ethics statement.  —  Google is officially announcing three Pixel phones today.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Pixel 4A review: for $349, it sports 128GB storage, decent battery life, 5.8" 1080p screen, and a flagship-tier camera, great at photos but mediocre for video  —  Stripped to just the phone essentials, but it gets them right  —  If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Google says it will invest $450M in smart home security company ADT, which will sell and install Nest smart home products, for a 6.6% stake  —  Google is investing $450 million in ADT to acquire a 6.6% stake in the Florida-headquartered firm that provides security and smart home solutions, the two said today.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces partnerships with six more banks to offer digital checking and savings accounts to Google Pay users in the US, starting next year  —  Google is expanding its plans to offer digital banking services in the U.S. The company announced today it's partnering with half a dozen …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Snap says it's working on a feature that will let users set their Snaps to music, similar to TikTok's app, coming to English-language markets this fall  —  Snapchat is taking aim at TikTok.  The company announced today it will begin testing a new feature that lets Snapchat users set their Snaps to music, similar to TikTok's app.
New York Times:
Profile of Twitter hack mastermind Graham Clark, a troubled teen who allegedly went from scamming on Minecraft to joining hacker forum OGUsers and SIM swapping  —  The teenage “mastermind” of the recent Twitter breach, who had a difficult family life, poured his energy into video games and cryptocurrency.
Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Apple faces a $1.4B lawsuit from Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology, a Chinese AI firm that was recently awarded a patent for a voice assistant similar to Siri  —  Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology's suit could prevent Apple from selling many of its products in China
Reuters:
Report: Apple removed 26K+ games from its Chinese app store on Saturday, about a month after a deadline for developers to have a government-issued game license  —  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Apple Inc AAPL.N removed 29,800 apps from its Chinese app store on Saturday, including more than 26,000 games …

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
Introducing qualified electronic signatures via SIGN8 for the EU  —  Every document carries a different level of risk, and the type of electronic signature you choose should reflect that.
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

Training Data:
Rich Sutton and Khurram Javed: Why AI Models Stop Learning, and How to Start It Again
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:
Ben Thompson on Big Tech, China, and the AI Boom Running Out of Money
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI's Head of Design: This is the best time in history to be a designer | Ian Silber
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:
Best of Big Technology: How Ozempic Changes Our Bodies, Minds, and Economy — With Johann Hari
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.
Hard Fork:
Zuckerberg's Anti-Doom Fantasy + Finally an A.I. Detector That Works + A.I. Math
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
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 2:30 PM ET, August 3, 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

David Shepardson / Reuters:

Earlier Picks

David Roberts / Vox:
Michael Bruck / LinkedIn:
Ben Smith / New York Times: