Techmeme
August 5, 2020, 11:25 AM

Top News

YouTube:
Livestream of Samsung's Galaxy “Unpacked” event  —  Witness power like never before.  The #SamsungEvent is LIVE.  Learn more: http://smsng.co/GalaxyNote20 To view the YouTube streams on a desktop or laptop computer you'll need:  • Most recent version of Google Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge or Safari
The Verge:
Live blog of Samsung's “Unpacked” event, where new Note devices, Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Watch, Tab S7 and S7 Plus, and more were announced  —  There are going to be a lot of devices  —  Samsung is holding an online-only “Unpacked” event to announce its latest products.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Samsung announces 6.7" Galaxy Note 20 and 6.9" Note 20 Ultra with Android 10, Snapdragon 865+, and more, starting at $999 and $1,299  —  Samsung's Galaxy Note lineup has evolved over the years, but always remained a series for power users.  Today, Samsung is launching the Galaxy Note 20 series …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung announces the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with an upgraded camera system, larger 7.6-inch main display, and hole-punch cameras; release date and price TBA  —  The Fold is back  —  Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 at its Unpacked event, the successor to last year's Galaxy Fold …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches Instagram Reels, its TikTok competitor that lets users create and publish 15-second videos, in 50+ countries, including the US, UK, and Japan  —  Instagram Reels, the company's significant effort in challenging TikTok on short-form creative content, is launching globally, starting today.
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Source: Microsoft could buy TikTok for as much as $30B, or as low as $10B, and plans to finish acquisition talks within the next three weeks  —  - Microsoft and TikTok plan to finish acquisition talks within the next three weeks, ahead of the Sept. 15 deadline, CNBC's David Faber reported Wednesday.
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Dan Primack / Axios:
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Disney says Disney+ has grown to 60.5M subscribers, up from 54M in May, and it has 100M+ paid subs for streaming services including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+  —  Disney+ had more than 60.5 million paying subscribers as of yesterday, according to The Walt Disney Company's CEO Bob Chapek.
Kate Clark / The Information:
HeadSpin to return ~$95M to investors and has replaced its CEO after an internal review of financial irregularities; its valuation now down from $1.16B to $250M  —  HeadSpin, a mobile app testing company recently valued at $1.16 billion, plans to return up to $95 million in funding to investors …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google says Google Play Music shutdown starts this month, global streaming will shut down in October, and music collections will be deleted in December  —  August begins the four-month Google Music shutdown.  —  Google Play Music has been given the death sentence by Google …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Files by Google adds a PIN-encrypted folder to protect sensitive files on Android  —  It's aimed at users who share devices, Google says  —  The Files by Google app, which primarily gives Android users an easy way to manage files and free up space on their phone, is getting a new PIN-protected “Safe Folder” feature.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
A hacker has posted a list of usernames, passwords, IP addresses and SSH keys of 900+ Pulse Secure VPN enterprise servers on a Russian-speaking hacker forum  —  EXCLUSIVE: The list has been shared on a Russian-speaking hacker forum frequented by multiple ransomware gangs.
Bill Kisliuk / UCLA:
UCLA and Apple launch a study to see whether iPhones, Watches, and Beddit sleep monitors can help in understanding how daily routines impact depression symptoms  —  Researchers from the Depression Grand Challenge collaborate with Apple  —  Researchers from the Depression Grand Challenge collaborate with Apple
Bloomberg:
Square reports Q2 total net revenue of $1.92B, up 64% YoY, with Cash App generating $875M in bitcoin revenue, gross profit up 167% YoY; stock up 13%  —  - Online payment volume jumped more than 50% year over year  — Square's Cash App has more than 30 million monthly customers
Arianne Cohen / Fast Company:
Harris survey of 1,020 US adults two days after House antitrust hearing: 41% say a breakup is necessary in some cases, while 30% are unsure and 29% disagree  —  Last week's dramatic Big Tech hearing by the House Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee gave a surprising PR boost to the companies that took part.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:

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