Techmeme
August 11, 2020, 1:30 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google is partnering with USGS and creating a worldwide, Android phone-powered opt-in earthquake alert system using phone accelerometers  —  Google is creating a worldwide, Android phone-powered earthquake alert system.  The first part of that system is rolling out today.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Mozilla says it plans to lay off around 250 employees and is closing the company's current operations in Taipei, Taiwan  —  The changes come as the Mozilla Corporation looks to invest in more revenue-generating projects like its recently announced VPN.  —  Joseph Cox
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Clearview AI has hired pre-eminent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who plans to assert a free-speech right to disseminate publicly available photos  —  Clearview AI has hired Floyd Abrams, a top lawyer, to help fight claims that selling its data to law enforcement agencies violates privacy laws.
NBC News:
Sources: an internal Facebook probe into QAnon shows the size of the conspiracy theory's community: millions of members and followers across thousands of Groups  —  An internal investigation by Facebook has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers …
Bloomberg Law:
US appeals court throws out a 2019 antitrust ruling against Qualcomm and its licensing practices in a case brought by the FTC  —  Listen  —  Qualcomm Inc. persuaded a U.S. appeals court to set aside a 2019 ruling that cast a pall over its licensing business and threatened to upend the smartphone industry.
More: 9to5Mac and VentureBeatTweets: @benbajarin
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
MicroStrategy buys ~$250M in bitcoin, becoming the first publicly traded company to buy the currency as part of its capital allocation strategy  —  MicroStrategy, the Nasdaq-listed business intelligence company, has become the first publicly-traded company to buy bitcoin as part of its capital allocation strategy.
Lauren Clark / Official Google India Blog:
Google rolls out virtual business cards in Google Search in India with links to user's website and social media profiles and optionally, phone number and email  —  If you search for famous people on Google, it's easy to find information about well-known personalities: search their names …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Walmart partners with Instacart to test offering same-day delivery, starting in four markets across California and Oklahoma  —  - The partnership is currently in a pilot phase in four markets across California and Oklahoma.  — The move cements Instacart's hold over the online grocery delivery market.
More: The Verge and Reuters
Samuel Axon / Ars Technica:
Parallels Desktop 16 adds support for Big Sur, 3D in Metal, and zoom and rotate gestures on multitouch trackpads, and claims 20% faster DirectX performance  —  Windows on Apple Silicon is still a question mark, though.  —  Parallels Desktop 16 launched on the Mac today.
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
According to an email sent to podcast producers, Amazon says it will add free podcasts in Amazon Music, for both free and paid tiers, and on Audible  —  Amazon will incorporate free podcasts into its Amazon Music and Audible products, according to a confidential email distributed to podcast producers on Monday.
Bloomberg:
In a lawsuit by CA's AG, judge issues a preliminary injunction ordering Uber and Lyft to classify their drivers as employees, paused for 10 days for appeals  —  - Ride-hailing companies ordered to comply with state law  — San Francisco judge pauses preliminary injunction for appeal
Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
Pattern, a Utah-based reseller that offers brands a way to optimize their sales on marketplaces like Amazon, has raised $52M from Ainge Advisory and KSV Global  —  Pattern, a Lehi, Utah-based reseller that offers large and small brands a way to optimize their sales on marketplaces like Amazon …

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More News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Earlier Picks

Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat:
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Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Cade Metz / New York Times: