Techmeme
September 16, 2020, 4:30 PM

Top News

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Facebook announces Oculus Quest 2, starting at $299, with a lighter design, 50% better resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, up to 256GB storage, coming October 13  —  The Oculus Quest 2 is here, and it sounds like a tremendous upgrade over the original in every way.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Oculus Quest 2 review: sharp screen, great price, and strong ecosystem, but requires a Facebook sign-in, Link cable and better strap cost extra, and it's bulky  —  At a passing glance, the Quest 2 looks like a dramatically new headset.  Facebook-owned Oculus has become known …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
YouTube:
Livestream of Sony's PS5 showcase event  —  Before PlayStation 5 launches this holiday, we wanted to give you one more look at some of the great games coming to PS5 at launch (and beyond!).  Our next digital showcase will weigh in at around 40 minutes, and feature updates on the latest titles …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Facebook says it has partnered with Ray-Ban maker Luxottica to develop consumer “smart glasses”, coming next year, but shared few details  —  The company partnered with Ray-Ban maker Luxottica  —  Facebook says its first pair of consumer “smart glasses” will be releasing next year …
Scott Stein / CNET:
Interview with Facebook's Andrew Bosworth on Project Aria, its AR glasses project that is using ~100 testers in Seattle and SF to refine the experience  —  We won't be wearing our magic Tony Stark AR smartglasses this year, or the year after, or maybe not even the year after that.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Cloud data warehousing company Snowflake raised $3.4B in its IPO, making it the largest software IPO ever, valuing the company at over $44B  —  Snowflake, a Silicon Valley cloud data warehousing company, on Tuesday night raised $3.4 billion in what is the largest software IPO ever.
James Vincent / The Verge:
In a new filing, Apple says “Epic started a fire, and poured gasoline on it”, arguing that the game developer's injuries are “entirely self-inflicted”  —  Apple lays out its case for keeping Fortnite off the App Store  —  Apple has responded to Epic's demands …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NYT and Facebook announce a multi-year partnership to co-develop AR filters and effects on Instagram that help users access and contextualize NYT stories  —  The New York Times and Facebook have struck a multi-year partnership to co-develop augmented reality (AR) filters and effects on Instagram …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Sources: at an all-hands, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defended keeping Joe Rogan's transphobic podcasts available; Spotify passed on some other old Rogan episodes  —  Multiple sources inside Spotify described an all-hands meeting in which Spotify CEO Daniel Ek discussed the company's handling of the controversial podcaster.
Matt Binder / Mashable:
Developers are frustrated at Apple for launching iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 with just one day's notice  —  Apple fans who were waiting for an iPhone 12 unveiling at the Apple Event today may be a little disappointed.  But, Apple gave them a treat to hold them over instead: an announcement that iOS 14 is being released tomorrow.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
A safety driver who was riding in an autonomous Uber vehicle in Tempe, AZ, during its fatal 2018 crash has been charged with negligent homicide  —  Investigators said the woman had been watching a video on her phone when the vehicle killed a pedestrian in Arizona.
Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
DOJ charges five Chinese citizens with hacks targeting 100 companies and institutions in the US and elsewhere; two Malaysian businessmen were arrested  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged five Chinese citizens with hacks targeting more than 100 companies and institutions …
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Apple One bundles launch with discounts on services including Music, TV+, Arcade, iCloud storage, Fitness+, and News+ and tiers between $15 and $30/month  —  The hardware giant leans into its software offerings  —  The long-rumored bundle bringing together Apple Music, Apple TV Plus …
Wesley Hilliard / AppleInsider:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Researchers unveil a Bluetooth LE attack impacting billions of devices, leaving them vulnerable to spoofing; most vendors do not have patches but Apple does  —  New BLESA attack goes after the often ignored Bluetooth reconnection process, unlike previous vulnerabilities, most found in the pairing operation.
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
A look at Gen Z Mafia, a Discord server where young people in tech who are seeking to break into the industry can discuss ideas and collaborate  —  A group of young tech enthusiasts are carving their own path on Discord.  —  For young people, breaking into the cutthroat tech industry …

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Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Ben Geman / Axios: