Techmeme
January 15, 2021, 12:15 PM

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: 14" and 16" MacBook Pros coming in Q3 2021 with Apple Silicon, MagSafe charging, no Touch Bar, new design with squared-off sides and more built-in IO ports  —  Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today released some interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Twitter outlines its plans for Wednesday's Inauguration Day, including transitioning @POTUS and other handles to Biden and archiving several official accounts  —  - Less than two weeks after President Donald Trump was kicked off his personal Twitter account, the institutional White House …
Mike Stone / Reuters:
The Trump admin adds Xiaomi, along with 8 other Chinese firms, to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, forcing US investors to divest by Nov. 11  —  The Trump administration on Thursday added nine Chinese firms to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies …
Alex Kantrowitz / OneZero :
Smaller services like Substack, Spotify, and Clubhouse are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation  —  Smaller services are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation  —  Glenn Greenwald was pissed.
Sarah Emerson / OneZero :
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
As Snapchat starts competing with TikTok via its Spotlight program, some creators begin earning small fortunes and look for ways to expand  —  Top performers are raking in cash, as the company seeks to compete against TikTok and similar platforms.  —  In late November, Cam Casey …
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
After Facebook and Twitter suspended Trump's account, activists and human rights groups have urged the companies to apply their policies evenly around the world  —  Human rights groups and activists have spent years urging the companies to do more to remove content that encouraged violence.
Kate Clark / The Information:
Source: Sequoia Capital recently bought shares of online automation firm Zapier from its founders on the secondary market, with the sale valuing Zapier at $4B+  —  Zapier isn't a household name in Silicon Valley, but the world's top venture capitalists have long been trying to own a piece of the booming enterprise software firm.
Mike Rogoway / Oregonian:
Sources: at an all-hands staff meeting, incoming CEO says Intel has to deliver better products for PCs than what a “lifestyle company in Cupertino” makes  —  - Competition: Intel rivals AMD and NVIDIA use TSMC's factories and have capitalized on the technical advances in Taiwan to leapfrog Intel in key segments.
Wall Street Journal:
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
X1 Card, which offers a credit card with limits based on current and future income instead of credit score, raises $12M funding round led by Spark Capital  —  X1 Card is raising a $12 million funding round.  The company is building a credit card that sets limits based on your current and future income, not your credit score.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung unveils the $799 Galaxy S21, $999 Galaxy S21+, and $1,199 Galaxy S21 Ultra, available now to preorder and launching on January 29  —  Samsung's latest flagships are here: the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.  The first two — which start at $799 and $999 …
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Ryne Hager / Android Police:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Apple has removed a controversial feature in macOS 11.2 beta 2 that allowed its own apps to bypass third-party firewalls, security tools, and VPNs  —  The ContentFilterExclusionList has been removed in macOS 11.2 beta 2.  —  Apple has removed a controversial feature from the macOS operating system …

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Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Sam Shead / CNBC:
David Carnoy / CNET:
New York Times: