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Techmeme
August 25, 2020, 11:30 AM
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The Verge:
Judge denies Epic's motion to restore Fortnite to the App Store but orders Apple to not block Unreal Engine; full hearing scheduled for September 28  —  Epic Games won a temporary restraining order against Apple, at least in part  —  Epic Games just won a temporary restraining order against Apple — at least in part.
The Verge:
In a new filing, Epic says revocation of its developer tools by Apple will harm the developer ecosystem and adds a declaration of support from Microsoft
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo plans to debut an upgraded model of its Switch console in 2021, possibly with 4K graphics, more computing power, and a lineup of new games  —  - Strong lineup of Nintendo games set to accompany new hardware  — Update would make the Switch Nintendo's most enduring console
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to open an online store in India next month and is planning two retail stores in India next year, first in Mumbai and then in Bangalore  —  - Online store comes a year after India eases rules on retail  — IPhone maker also plans a second physical outlet in India
Bill Gurley / Above the Crowd:
The rise in SPACs is leading to improved terms for targeted companies and an overall lower cost of capital, as company underpricing in traditional IPOs worsens  —  If you are looking past or through Covid — and why not, all of Wall Street is — the topic du jour in Silicon Valley is Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Fitbit unveils $330 Sense smartwatch with ECG and a sensor for detecting stress, and $230 Versa 3 with GPS and Google Assistant, both shipping in late September  —  Even as Google's $2.1 billion acquisition hangs over Fitbit, the wearables company today announced three new devices.
James Vincent / The Verge:
iRobot is updating its Roomba vacuum cleaners with AI-based software that will add specific spot-cleaning, event-based automation, and more  —  To help Roombas know when and where to clean  —  iRobot is announcing what it's calling the biggest software upgrade to its robot vacuum cleaners since …
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Apple acquires Spaces, a location-based VR startup that recently pivoted to videoconferencing  —  Spaces, a VR startup that got its start as a DreamWorks Animation project, has been acquired by Apple, Protocol has learned.  —  Apple confirmed the acquisition after this story was first published.
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
TSMC says its 3nm process will hit volume production in 2022, and 5nm N5 chips, which should ship in products to customers this year, use 30% less power than N7  —  At TSMC's annual Technology Symposium, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer detailed characteristics of its future 3nm process node …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, two top investors in ByteDance, are key drivers in Oracle's bid for TikTok; Twitter's bid has made little headway  —  Investment firms with large existing stakes in ByteDance pursue deal for app's U.S. operations, as potential alternative to Microsoft
New York Times:
TikTok sues the Trump administration in federal court, arguing Trump's EO deprived it of due process
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
In its lawsuit with the US, TikTok says in the US it had 11.3M MAUs in January 2018, 91.9M in June 2020, and now has 100M+; globally it had ~700M MAUs in July
Paul Mozur / New York Times:
Emboldened by Hong Kong's new security law, police are targeting the social media accounts of media executives, pro-democracy politicians, and activists  —  Under a new national security law, the police are targeting the social media accounts of executives, politicians and activists.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Level Home unveils Level Touch, a $329 HomeKit-enabled smart lock that can be unlocked with a touch or included NFC access cards  —  The new Level Touch builds on the work started by the Bolt  —  Level is a relatively new company in the smart home scene, but today it's announcing its second product of the year: the Level Touch.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Mozilla rolls out Firefox 79 for Android with Enhanced Tracking Protection, a new UI, its own mobile browser engine GeckoView, improved privacy mode, and more  —  After more than a year of development, Mozilla today launched Firefox 79 for Android, branded Firefox Daylight.
Rishi Iyengar / CNN:
Facebook says it is planning legal action to challenge a recent Thai government request to block a 1M+ member Facebook group critical of the Thai monarchy  —  (CNN Business)Facebook said it is planning legal action against Thailand's demand that forced the company to block a group deemed critical of the country's monarchy.
Pranob Mehrotra / XDA Developers:
Samsung adds ability, off by default, to find offline devices with its Find My Mobile feature, using other people's nearby Galaxy devices to help locate them  —  Samsung's Find My Mobile app is designed to help you remotely locate your device, back up data to Samsung Cloud, delete local data …
CNBC:
Ant Group files for IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai, reporting $3.2B profit in H1 2020, up 1,000% YoY, and revenue of $10.48B, up 38% YoY  —  - Ant Group, which is still controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, reported a more than 1,000% jump in profits in the first half of 2020 from the same period last year.
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Mural, which offers a whiteboard-like digital environment for users to collaborate and brainstorm, raises $118M Series B led by Insight Partners  —  This morning MURAL announced that it has raised $118 million in an outsized Series B. The visual collaboration startup provides a whiteboard …
John Koetsier / Forbes:
Security research firm Snyk alleges that Chinese ad network Mintegral committed ad click fraud via its SDK across billions of installs of 1,200+ iOS apps  —  A Chinese ad network named Mintegral is accused of spying on user activity and committing ad fraud in more than 1,200 apps with 300 million installs per month since July 2019.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:30 AM ET, August 25, 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.

From Mediagazer

Janko Roettgers / The Verge:
Apple TV relies on a few tentpole titles to draw audiences, like HBO did in the past, while Netflix uses its catalog size and algorithms to keep viewers engaged

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Disney study: the Toy Story franchise has driven $16B in total revenue for the company over 30 years; nearly half of the revenue was generated domestically

Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite:
The Washington Post faces a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the company covertly used surveillance pricing to charge loyal subscribers higher rates

More News

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
UK-based MelodyVR, which creates immersive live music for VR headsets and phones, acquires Rhapsody International, owner of Napster, from RealNetworks for $70M
Financial Times:
Sources: key ministries in India including its telecom department have indicated that local telcos should avoid using Huawei gear, but a formal ban is unlikely

Earlier Picks

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Audible debuts Audible Plus, a $7.95/month tier with unlimited access to a library of 11K+ titles spanning audiobooks, podcasts, and original productions
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Unity Software, which makes a 3D engine for games and more, files for a US IPO, reports that in 2019 it had a $163.2M net loss on $541.8M in revenue, up 43% YoY
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