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January 6, 2021, 11:05 AM
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| Alexandra Alper / Reuters: |
Trump signs an executive order banning transactions with Ant Group's Alipay, Tencent's WeChat Pay and QQ, and five other Chinese payment apps — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group's Alipay.
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The White House, Bloomberg, Reuters, MacRumors, CyberScoop, The Hill, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Verge, AppleInsider, Engadget, Fast Company, TechRadar, New York Times, Tech in Asia, Neowin, Android Central, SlashGear, Pocketnow, U.S. Department of Commerce, Reuters, PYMNTS.com, and MarketWatch
Tweets: @secretaryross, @commercegov, @chriskeall, @niubi, @mdudas, and @niubi
| Jesse Pound / CNBC: |
In a reversal, NYSE says it will go ahead with its plan to delist China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, following Mnuchin criticism — The New York Stock Exchange will delist three Chinese telecommunication giants after all. — The stock exchange will remove U.S.-traded shares of China Telecom …
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Intercontinental Exchange, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Protocol, csrc.gov.cn, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, and CNN
Tweets: @markgongloff, @katie_martin_fx, @benedictevans, @jchengwsj, @felixsalmon, and @business
| Will Heaven / MIT Technology Review: |
OpenAI introduces two new GPT-3 models: CLIP, which classifies images into categories from arbitrary text, and DALL·E, which can generate images from text — With GPT-3, OpenAI showed that a single deep-learning model could be trained to use language in a variety of ways simply by throwing it vast amounts of text.
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OpenAI, BBC, The Next Web, Axios, New Scientist, FlowingData, Neowin, Towards Data Science, TechCrunch, Synced, and VentureBeat
Tweets: @calebwatney, @deljohnsonvc, @danielrakh, @dillonliam, @neil_chilson, @adamludwin, @dflieb, @gdb, @mark_riedl, @ilyasut, @humansofflat, @0x49fa98, @fcain, @liv_boeree, @techreview, @wongmjane, @sama, @sama, @km, @viss, @jonathanberte, @esyudkowsky, and @mmasnick
| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Apple says App Store users spent $1.8B on goods and services between December 24 and New Year's Eve and $540M on New Year's Day alone; Books has 90M MAUs — Apple has announced today that App Store customers spent a record amount throughout the holiday season.
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Apple, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, MacRumors, CNBC, Bloomberg, and MacRumors
| Pranob Mehrotra / XDA Developers: |
WhatsApp updates its Terms and Privacy Policy to mandate data sharing with Facebook, including transaction data, mobile device information, IP address, and more — WhatsApp users are receiving an in-app notice today regarding the service's new terms and privacy policy.
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MacRumors, 9to5Mac, The Hacker News, The Economic Times, WhatsApp.com, iDownloadBlog.com, TechRadar, Wccftech, and Android Authority
Tweets: @hypervisible, @stilldelvingh, @ediggs, @martinsfp, @jochendo, @psawers, and @pitermach
| Queenie Wong / CNET: |
Facebook updates Pages with a cleaner design, tools for hosting text-based Q&As, a dedicated News Feed, removes the total amount of “likes”, and more — The social network will also remove the total amount of “likes” a Page receives.
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About Facebook, TechCrunch, Reuters, and MSPoweruser
Tweets: @alexvoica, @sarafischer, @mattnavarra, @stshank, @taylorlorenz, @alexvoica, and @alexvoica
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Google plans to add privacy labels across its iOS app catalog this week or next, after a report claimed none of Google's iOS apps have been updated since Dec. 7 — Contrary to reports, Google is not delaying updates to its iOS apps because it doesn't want to comply with Apple's recently announced App Store Privacy Labels policy.
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AppleInsider, KnowTechie, MacDailyNews, TechRadar, Wccftech, NextPit, BGR, news.com.au, phonearena.com, SlashGear, Pocketnow, SiliconANGLE, Slashdot, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, TechSpot, and Reuters
Tweets: @mjtsai, @taupeavenger, @davewoodx, @metacurity, @volt4ire, @mattnavarra, @jernejv, @hunterwalk, @campuscodi, @elkmovie, @hanse00, @alexeheath, and @michaelgrothaus
| Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNet: |
Open source developer David Recordon named Biden's director of technology, returning to the White House after serving as its first director of IT under Obama — With a background in open source, open standards, and security, Recordon may be ideal for President Joe Biden's White House.
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MeriTalk, Executive Gov, FedScoop, TechRadar, and President-Elect Joe Biden
Tweets: @sjvn, @johnolilly, and @dalmaer
| Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: |
FBI, CISA, and ODNI, with support from NSA, say an APT “likely Russian in origin” is responsible for all or most of the recently discovered hacks of US agencies — Joint statement from the FBI, CISA, ODNI, and NSA says SolarWinds hack was “likely Russian in origin.”
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Ars Technica, ODNI Newsroom, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Forbes, Threatpost, The Independent, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, ComputerWeekly.com, CSO, The Hacker News, CNBC, Voice of America, New York Times, Gizmodo, CRN, Dark Reading, Financial Times, CNET, Boing Boing, and Security Affairs
Tweets: @georgecroner, @froomkin, @file411, @miekeeoyang, @file411, @campuscodi, and @campuscodi
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft says it will shut down Minecraft Earth, which let users play Minecraft in real life through AR, on June 30, due to the pandemic — The ambitious project to cover the world in blocks is over — Microsoft is closing down its Minecraft Earth mobile game in June, due to the ongoing pandemic.
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Minecraft.net, TechRadar, iPhone in Canada Blog, Game Rant, help.minecraft.net, WinBuzzer, MacRumors, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, XDA Developers, TouchArcade, VRFocus, Digital Trends, CNET, Neowin, OnMSFT.com, PCWorld, PC Gamer, GamingBolt, PCMag, Windows Central, Wccftech, Thurrott, HotHardware.com News, OnMSFT.com, 9to5Mac, GeekWire, Game Rant, Android Authority, Engadget, and Ubergizmo
Tweets: @minecraftearth, @minecraft, @sithaizawa, and @alexhern
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Atlanta-based SalesLoft, which provides AI-based tools to help salespeople run their sales process virtually, raises $100M at a $1.1B post-money valuation — The Covid-19 pandemic and specifically need for social distancing to slow the spread of the virus have continued to keep many of us away from the office.| Nicole Friedman / Wall Street Journal: |
Amazon commits $2B+ over five years to create and preserve affordable housing in three of its employment hubs, Seattle, Arlington, VA, and Nashville, Tenn. — Tech giant to make investments over next five years in and around Seattle, Arlington, Va., and Nashville, Tenn.| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
CIRP: iPhone 12 mini made up 6% of total iPhone sales in US during Oct. and Nov., while the 6.1" iPhone 12 garnered 27% and 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max each took ~20% — A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) today seen by 9to5Mac highlights the continued success of the iPhone 12 lineup.
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THE ELEC, Korea …, BGR, appleosophy.com, Gizchina, Pocketnow, iMore, iPhone Hacks, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, Maxwell Weinbach, AppleInsider, MakeUseOf, Wccftech, GSMArena.com, and MacRumors
Tweets: @reneritchie, @alexhcranz, @mcwm, @bradleychambers, and @lukemiani
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Dremio, which offers tools for companies to help streamline and curate data, raises $135M Series D led by Sapphire Ventures at a $1B post-money valuation — Dremio, a startup offering tools to help streamline and curate data, today announced that it raised $135 million in series D funding at a post-money valuation of $1 billion.
More:
ZDNet and SiliconANGLE
| Matt Grossman / Wall Street Journal: |
IBM names Gary Cohn, former Goldman Sachs executive and economic adviser to Trump, as its vice chairman and member of its executive leadership team — Past Goldman Sachs president named vice chairman as tech icon develops stronger growth strategy — International Business Machines Corp …
More:
Washington Post and The Irish Times
Tweets: @gary_d_cohn, @gary_d_cohn, @danielnewmanuv, @jstrauss, @eisingerj, @mattegancnn, @davidenrich, and @edleafe
| Mike Dano / Light Reading: |
Verizon says that it will indefinitely delay the shutdown of its 3G network, after pushing the shutdown from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020 — Verizon has backtracked on its plan to turn off its 3G network by the end of 2020. — In response to questions from Light Reading …
More:
Engadget, The Verge, TechRadar, TalkAndroid.com, phonearena.com, SlashGear, Android Police, Liliputing, CNET, iDownloadBlog.com, Pocketnow, and MacRumors. Tweets: @thethomaspauls1
| Lingling Wei / Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: China's regulators aim to force Ant Group, which owns Alipay, to share its consumer-credit data with China's central bank or an entity controlled by it — Request is part of Beijing's crackdown on what it believes is Ant's unfair advantage over other lenders
More:
Business Insider and PYMNTS.com
Tweets: @jchengwsj, @jchengwsj, @joshchin, @macaesbruno, @chorzempamartin, @tim_morrison, @baldingsworld, @wsj, @edwardnh, @realjunsonchan, and @cnbcnow
| Freya Pratty / Sifted: |
EU makes its first direct equity investment in startups, with €178M invested across 42 companies, from a new European Innovation Council Fund — Under the new European Innovation Council Fund, each of the companies will receive between €500,000 and €15m, with €178m invested overall.| Manish Singh / TechCrunch: |
India's Udaan, which operates a B2B marketplace, adds $280M to its $585M Series D, bringing its total raised to $1.15B, source says at a valuation of $3.1B — Business-to-business marketplace Udaan has raised $280 million from new and existing investors as the Indian startup builds a war-chest …
More:
Crunchbase News, The Economic Times, TechCircle, and Reuters
| Ryan Browne / CNBC: |
Kahoot, a game-based online learning service, says it had revenues of $45.2M in 2020, up 247% YoY, and plans to list on the main Norwegian stock market — - Kahoot is a game-based online learning service that lets players create and engage in multiple-choice quizzes.Thanks:@ryan_browne_
| Anthony Wood / Roku Blog: |
Roku says it now has 51.2M active user accounts, up by about 14M in 2020, and users streamed 58.7B hours in 2020 — Today, we shared a significant milestone for Roku and the industry. We announced preliminary estimated data for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2020, of 51.2 million active accounts …
| Eugene Kim / Business Insider: |
Sources: Amazon is working on a contactless Alexa-enabled device that can track and monitor sleep apnea, primarily using millimeter-wave radar — - Amazon is working on a new Alexa-enabled device that can track and monitor sleep apnea, Business Insider has learned.
More:
The Verge
| Sara Fischer / Axios: |
Facebook says it will resume its political ad ban in Georgia after the polls close in the Georgia runoff elections — Following the Georgia runoff elections, the Facebook ban that restricts ads on social issues, elections and politics nationwide will be reimplemented in the state, the company said on Tuesday.| Corin Faife / The Markup: |
More:
The Markup, Politico, TechCrunch, The Overspill, and Gizmodo
Tweets: @juliaangwin, @andymstone, @suryamattu, @fboversight, @jilliancyork, @leonyin, @leonyin, @eric_seufert, @fboversight, @elipariser, @stokel, @janelytv, @themarkup, @randfish, @deaneckles, @carnage4life, @juliaangwin, @slpng_giants, @evelyndouek, @corintxt, @willoremus, @lauraedelson2, @hari, @emilybell, @stevemullis, @billypuntove, @_loganmcdonald, @rswitzer, @niemanlab, @jonkeegan, @corintxt, @stokel, @blackamazon, @jason_kint, @mozilla, @adrjeffries, @adrjeffries, @andymstone, @jlowcock, @suryamattu, and @themarkup
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