Techmeme
August 18, 2020, 10:45 PM

Top News

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Oculus will soon require all of its VR headset users to sign up with a Facebook account, removing support for new separate Oculus accounts in October  —  Support for separate Oculus accounts will end in 2023  —  Oculus will soon require all of its virtual reality headset users to sign up with a Facebook account.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Google Maps says it's rolling out more detailed maps with improved street designs for SF, NYC, and London, and with more accurate natural features worldwide  —  Making natural features easier to see and streets easier to navigate  —  Google Maps is being redesigned to make it easier …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Samsung Note20 Ultra review: has fast performance, multiday battery life, big display is great for streaming games, but camera bump is huge, and it's expensive  —  A refinement of the formula  —  Samsung has settled into a new routine for its Galaxy Note line of smartphones …
Michael Simon / PCWorld:
Samsung promises three generations of Android updates for many Galaxy S, Note, foldable, and A series devices, rivaling Google's three-year promise for Pixel  —  When Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 20 earlier this month, the biggest surprise wasn't the faster screen, smoother S Pen, or more powerful processor.
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Senate Intelligence Committee concludes Putin ordered the 2016 hacking of Democratic Party accounts and the release of emails to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign  —  - Manafort described as a ‘grave counterintelligence threat’  — Report details plan to hurt Clinton, finds no Trump collusion
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Report: a look at the narrowing regulatory exemptions Apple has been operating under in China, such as running an App Store without a local partner  —  Amid continued tension between the United States and China, a new report from The Information details how Apple could be impacted by Chinese retaliation.
Apple:
Apple renames Beats 1, its streaming radio station, Apple Music 1, and launches two new radio stations: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country  —  Apple Music 1 and two new stations, Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, feature exclusive original shows from the world's top music hosts and artists
The New Indian Express:
India's main opposition party asks Facebook to look into reports of favorable treatment towards BJP by Facebook's India team, replace it while investigating  —  The Congress and other opposition parties have attacked the social media giant after a US media report alleged that Facebook did not apply its hate speech rules on BJP leaders.
Matthew Handrahan / GamesIndustry.biz:
Take-Two Interactive has agreed to acquire NYC-based mobile game developer Playdots for $192M in cash and stock; Playdots had raised $10M Series A in 2014  —  New York-based studio's entire team will join Take-Two in cash and stock deal  —  Take-Two Interactive has acquired the mobile developer Playdots in a deal worth $192 million.
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon says it is expanding physical offices and adding 3,500 corporate employees in six major cities, including 2,000 jobs in New York City  —  The e-commerce giant says it is adding 3,500 employees in six major cities, including 2,000 jobs in New York City
Matthew Smith / TIME:
After saying it was committed to justice in Myanmar, Facebook is fighting The Gambia's suit in US court seeking info from FB for Rohingya genocide case at ICJ  —  Just when it seemed like Facebook's controversies might have peaked, the company now appears to be obstructing a genocide investigation, and it's using U.S. law to do it.
Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Inside the work of the DNC and RNC digital teams for the conventions: building a robust network, ensuring a livestream, producing a broadcast, and more  —  Making sure livestreams don't lag.  Sending out remote video kits.  Showing speakers how to avoid microphone mishaps.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Sources: Uber and Lyft are considering a franchise-like model in California where they would license their brands to operators of vehicle fleets  —  Under pressure to classify their freelance drivers as full-time employees, the ride-hailing companies are discussing another option.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Reliance Retail, India's largest retail chain, has acquired a 60% stake in online pharmacy Netmeds' parent firm Vitalic for about $83.2M  —  Reliance Retail has bought a 60% stake in pharma marketplace Netmeds' parent firm Vitalic for about $83.2 million, it said today …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Instagram starts rolling out QR codes for user profiles globally, a feature that it had first launched in Japan last year; Instagram is deprecating Nametags  —  Don't open Instagram to find a profile  —  Instagram is bringing QR codes to the app.  Users can now generate QR codes that'll …
More: 9to5Mac
Sam Shead / CNBC:
Pandemic-battered travel companies like GetYourGuide, Trivago, and HomeToGo say they have been feuding with Google for weeks over outstanding ad payments  —  - Google has been locked in a debate for weeks with the likes of GetYourGuide, Trivago and HomeToGo over outstanding ad payments.

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Bringing local models and sandboxed tools to Windows and GitHub Copilot  —  GitHub Copilot will soon determine when a task is best handled by on-device AI and when it needs cloud-scale models.
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Zoho Books now supports CT600 & Final Accounts Filing as an add-on in the FREE plan  —  Managing end-of-year filing for limited companies in the UK is often expensive and multi-layered.
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

Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Bringing Back Mammoths And Building Noah's Ark 2.0 | Colossal's Ben Lamm
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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Great Chat:
The launch industrial complex
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Can AI Keep Growing Exponentially? Let's Ask SemiAnalysis — With Dylan Patel and Jordan Nanos
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
Larry Ellison's Media Ambitions & Kevin Roose on AI's Biggest Gamble
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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Training Data:
Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
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James Vincent / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Sam Byford / The Verge:
Financial Times: