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January 22, 2021, 10:10 PM
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| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: thinner and lighter, higher-end 13" MacBook Air with MagSafe charging to launch as soon as this year; redesigned MacBook Pros to get SD card slot back — Apple Inc. is working on a thinner and lighter version of the MacBook Air, the company's mass-market laptop, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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9to5Mac, DigiTimes, The Verge, CNBC, Engadget, MacRumors, Gadget Now, Pocketnow, iMore, BGR, AppleInsider, Ars Technica, HotHardware.com News, Redmond Pie, iDownloadBlog.com, Debugger , KnowTechie, Trusted Reviews, 9to5Mac, XDA Developers, Cult of Mac, PetaPixel, TechSpot, Tom's Hardware, iPhone Hacks, SiliconANGLE, Gizmodo, Wccftech, Digital Photography Review, Mashable, SlashGear, Pocket-lint, iDrop News, Softpedia News, Neowin, Laptop Mag, Macworld, Input, MSPoweruser, CNET, MacDailyNews, Tom's Guide, MakeUseOf, iPhone in Canada Blog, Apple Terminal, MACお宝 …, TechCrunch, and MacRumors
Tweets: @markgurman, @saradietschy, @snazzyq, @ijustine, @jank0, @rossrubin, @jennaezarik, @tailosivetech, @joannastern, @cdespinosa, @tailosivetech, @lukemiani, @anshelsag, @lapcatsoftware, @harrymccracken, @alexjamesfitz, @every_daydad, @rdrv3, @wongmjane, @glennf, @jerm_cohen, @timothycookothy, @stalman, @reneritchie, @lanceulanoff, @canoopsy, @feliciaday, @wongmjane, @sriramk, @bdsams, @saradietschy, @julianchokkattu, @jpeguin, @lukemiani, @mgsiegler, @counternotions, @eposvox, @anshelsag, @stroughtonsmith, @gregorymcfadden, @gillyberlin, @bencsin, @thecomputerclan, @hayatohuseman, @hallstephenj, @casey, @pierce, @dhh, @glennf, @adrianweckler, @markgurman, @evanedinger, @ihnatko, and @joannastern
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft is increasing the prices of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, up $1 to $10.99 per month and up $5 to $29.99 for a three-month membership — Xbox Live Gold prices are going up for monthly subscribers — Microsoft is increasing the prices of its Xbox Live Gold subscription soon.
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Xbox Wire, The Verge, Business Insider, GamingBolt, Press Start, XDA Developers, Trusted Reviews, Game Rant, USA Today, BGR, TechCrunch, TrueAchievements, Thurrott, Input, CNET, GeekWire, Laptop Mag, GameSpot, Stevivor, HotHardware.com News, Bloomberg, TechSpot, Android Headlines, TechRadar, VentureBeat, Forbes, Polygon, SlashGear, MSPoweruser, and KnowTechie
Tweets: @wario64, @xboxsupport, @fantavisiontv, @andrearene, @geo_aw, @linkus7, @firstadopter, @tomwarren, @vicious696, @tomwarren, @lamarrwilson, @cade_onder, and @mrbadbit
| Charlie Savage / New York Times: |
Unclassified memo: Defense Intelligence Agency analysts have used commercial databases of location data from smartphone apps to track Americans without warrants — The disclosure comes amid growing legislative scrutiny of how the government uses commercially available location records.
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Wall Street Journal, CNET, The Verge, CyberScoop, and The Hill
Tweets: @charlie_savage, @eff, @zackwhittaker, @jesselynradack, and @markszaidesq
| Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: |
Ex-ADT technician pled guilty to computer fraud and invasive visual recording for viewing home security camera feeds he installed in ~200 homes over 9,000 times — Employee for ADT accessed ~200 customer cams on more than 9,600 occasions. — A home security technician has admitted …
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U.S. Department of Justice, Slashdot, Threatpost, PCMag, CyberScoop, Mashable, infosecurity-magazine.com, and Newser
Tweets: @yashar, @hauntedsunshine, @erindooley, and @fbidallas
| Adi Robertson / The Verge: |
FTC fines three bot-powered ticket scalping operations a total of $3.7M, the first time the agency applied a 2016 anti-bot law called the BOTS Act — The three will pay a total of $3.7 million — The Federal Trade Commission issued multimillion-dollar fines against three bot-powered ticket scalping operations.
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Federal Trade Commission, Gizmodo, Input, PCMag, and TechSpot
Tweets: @ftc and @rkslaughterftc
| Dara Kerr / CNET: |
Lyft is testing a “priority mode” offering drivers more rides in exchange for a 10% pay cut; some drivers call it “poverty mode”, saying their earnings dropped — In late September, Earla Phillips got what she described as an irritating email from Lyft.| Reuters: |
Sources: Biden is looking to hire cybersecurity veterans for top roles, but some observers worry too much value is being placed on public sector experience — WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is hiring a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise …
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Engadget, Politico, CyberScoop, NBC News, and CNET
| Jordan Novet / CNBC: |
Sources: Microsoft president Brad Smith defended the company's political contributions in a meeting with employees after some questioned donations from its PAC — - Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said the company needs the Microsoft Political Action Committee.
Tweets: @aaschapiro, @reedgalen, @juddlegum, and @gregmannarino
| Eric Newcomer / Newcomer: |
Sources: data analytics service Databricks is in talks to raise a private funding round, potentially valuing it at ~$27B; Databricks was valued at $6.2B in 2019 — The Andreessen Horowitz and NEA-backed company is raising a private round. — Databricks — a data and AI platform … | Nilay Patel / The Verge: |
Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, on starting and scaling one of the biggest YouTube tech channels to 13.5M subscribers, day-to-day work, and future of his business — Marques Brownlee is one of the best reviewers I know, and also one of the most savvy and successful YouTubers.
Tweets: @ericzawo, @reneritchie, and @lanceulanoff
| Brendan Sinclair / GamesIndustry.biz: |
Activision Blizzard says that it is merging its Vicarious Visions studio, which Activision acquired in 2005, and its ~200 staff into Blizzard Entertainment — Long-time Activision Publishing studio will be “fully dedicated” to Blizzard titles going forward; former studio head Jen Oneal promoted to Blizzard leadership's team
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Bloomberg, VentureBeat, IGN, Game Rant, Kotaku, Windows Central, Ars Technica, Engadget, Wccftech, SlashGear, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Dot Esports, GameSpot, The Verge, Polygon, Gamasutra, and PC Gamer
Tweets: @jmdornbush and @toadsanime
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Samsung is considering building a $10B chipmaking plant in Texas, a major investment it hopes will help it catch up with industry leader TSMC — - It's looking to build a cutting-edge wafer fab in the U.S. — It would follow TSMC's decision to build a new site in Arizona
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Austin American-Statesman, Pocketnow, phonearena.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, CoinDesk, SamMobile, GSMArena.com, The Verge, and Patently Apple
Tweets: @melt_dem, @adambain, @wolfejosh, @yoolimleenews, @sdonnan, @libertyrpf, @atbwebb, @thestalwart, and @leorzhang
| Sara Fischer / Axios: |
Aside from Facebook Oversight Board's binding decision on Trump, Nick Clegg says it'll be interesting if it has guidance for similar situations in the future — Facebook's decision to ask its new independent Oversight Board to review the company's indefinite suspension of former President Trump … | Nick Clegg / About Facebook: |
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Platformer, New York Times, Wired, and Politico
Tweets: @fbnewsroom, @klonick, @caseynewton, @politixs, @fboversight, @persily, @nxthompson, and @jason
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