Techmeme: Sources: Patreon is considering an IPO as soon as this year and has recently passed $100M in annualized revenue (The Information)

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple's first VR headset, planned for 2022 with a focus on gaming, video, and communication but with limited AR features, faces development hurdles — Apple Inc.'s first crack at a headset is designed to be a pricey, niche precursor to a more ambitious augmented reality product …

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Google signs an agreement with French media to create a framework for payment for publisher content and has reached agreements with three major newspapers — Google has reached an agreement with an association of French publishers over how it will be pay for reuse of snippets of their content.

More: Le blog officiel de …, CNN, CNBC, EURACTIV.com, The Keyword, International Business Times, Associated Press, Bloomberg, and Engadget. Tweets: @jason_kint

See also Mediagazer

Joseph Cox / VICE:

Hackers and hobbyists have deployed facial recognition on Parler videos taken at the Capitol on Jan. 6, showing the democratization of facial recognition tech — It demonstrates the democratization of facial recognition, but comes littered with ethical issues. — Joseph Cox

More: Wired. Tweets: @michaelsderby, @josephfcox, @evan_greer, @jason_koebler, @weinbergersa, @vicenews, and @vice

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Amazon says it wants to help the Biden administration's vaccination efforts, says non-WFH Amazon staff should be vaccinated “at the earliest appropriate time” — Amazon says it is ready to turn its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites and is offering other resources to the U.S. government.

More: Reuters, NBC News, The Verge, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, TechCrunch, PCMag, Engadget, Associated Press, coinspeaker.com, Protocol, Axios, Newser, The Hill, SiliconANGLE, and The Economic Times

Tweets: @dylanbyers, @robbwolf, @itshilarybuff, @davidharsanyi, @hassankhan, @ryanqdavis, @dylanbyers, @ashk4n, @andrewhclark, @kantrowitz, @sspencer_smb, @redsteeze, @gillianhturner, @jennifer__brett, @annierpalmer, @jordanzakarin, and @ryanqualtrics. Thanks:@kslosh

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review: beautiful screen with high refresh rate and a great camera system but let down by software with ads and subpar Bixby — Samsung's “Ultra” phones are meant to be the absolute pinnacle of the company's (non-folding) mobile technology.

More: The Guardian, Gizmodo, CNET, Engadget, TechCrunch, IGN, Wired, Tom's Guide, and Input

Tweets: @mattrosoff, @backlon, @backlon, and @backlon

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Pebble founder launches Beeper, a $10/month universal chat app, promising to bring 15 chat service into a single UI, including iMessage on Android and Windows — Beeper brings 15 chat apps together into one interface — Beeper is a new universal chat app that's an attempt …

More: 9to5Google, HotHardware.com News, BetaNews, Android Authority, MacRumors, Windows Central, SlashGear, Chrome Unboxed, Apple Terminal, iPhone Hacks, Tom's Guide, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, Neowin, Android Central, and The Mac Observer

Tweets: @as_w, @tsuvik, @iansherr, and @tomwarren

Nick Clegg / About Facebook:

Facebook is referring its decision to indefinitely suspend Trump's accounts to the Oversight Board and says the accounts will remain suspended in the meantime — Today, Facebook is referring its decision to indefinitely suspend former US President Donald Trump's access to his Facebook …

More: Axios. Tweets: @fbnewsroom, @shannonpareil, @tonyromm, and @caseynewton

The Information:

Sources: Patreon is considering an IPO as soon as this year and has recently passed $100M in annualized revenue — Patreon, the online service that allows podcasters, musicians and other artists to receive direct financial support from fans, is considering a public listing as soon as this year …

Tweets: @apollozac and @alexeheath

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

TripActions, a booking and management service with insights into business travel and expenses, raises $155M Series E co-led by a16z — TripActions, a booking and management platform that offers enterprises real-time data, automated reporting, and insights into business travel and expenses …

More: TechCrunch, FinSMEs, CTech, Tech.eu, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and CNBC

Monica Chin / The Verge:

A large number of laptop flagships in H1 2021 will ship with 16:10 or 3:2 displays, signalling an industry-wide shift toward laptops with taller aspect ratios — For lovers of tall screens, it's a great time to be alive — One of the biggest trends coming out of this year's CES …

More: ExtremeTech. Tweets: @raywongy, @stevesi, @stanhoraczek, and @dcseifert

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Analysts suggest the recent surge in GameStop's stock price, up 1,500% in nine months, is mostly the result of a short squeeze bubble that will pop eventually — New board members and a massive short squeeze cause stratospheric short-term growth. — Nine months ago, GameStop stock bottomed …

Tweets: @kyleorl

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:

The Biden administration updates WhiteHouse.gov with several new accessibility features, including dark mode, a large text mode, and more — From dark times to dark mode — The official website of the White House, WhiteHouse.gov, has been completely replaced with a new version …

More: Reuters, Protocol, NPR, Gizmodo, Business Insider, TechRadar, TechCrunch, and GeekWire

Tweets: @sarajchipps, @poisonedhoney_, @chillmage, @courtneyknorris, @mkbhd, @ericmichaud, and @tomwarren

Manasa Gogineni / VentureBeat:

OpenDrives, which provides network-attached storage for enterprise clients, raises almost $20M in Series B led funding by IAG Capital Partners — OpenDrives, which provides network-attached storage solutions for enterprise clients, has raised a series B funding round.

More: CRN, dot.LA, and GlobeNewswire

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Georges, which develops software to automate accounting tasks for freelancers and small businesses, raises €35M and rebrands to Indy — French startup Georges — or Georges.tech — is raising a new round of funding of $42.4 million (€35 million). The company is also getting a new name and will be called Indy going forward.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Curtsy, which makes an app allowing women to list their clothes, shoes, and accessories for resale, raises $11M Series A led by Index Ventures — Curtsy, a clothing resale app and competitor to recently IPO'd Poshmark, announced today it has raised $11 million in Series A funding for its startup focused on the Gen Z market.

Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:

Valtix, which helps companies secure application environments in AWS, Azure, and GCP, raises $12.5M from Cisco Investments, Northgate Capital, and others — Valtix has closed a $12.5 million strategic funding round from Cisco Investments, Northgate Capital and The Syndicate Group (TSG) …

More: VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, PR Newswire, and SecurityWeek

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