Techmeme
January 23, 2021, 3:10 PM

Top News

Sam Byford / The Verge:
Microsoft backtracks on price hike for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions announced Friday and says free-to-play games will also no longer require a Gold subscription  —  Free-to-play games will also no longer require a Gold subscription  —  Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase.
Crispian Balmer / Reuters:
Italy tells TikTok to block all unverified user accounts after a 10-year-old girl dies while allegedly participating in the “blackout challenge” on the app  —  ROME (Reuters) - The Italian data privacy watchdog ordered video app TikTok on Friday to block the accounts of any users …
Will Oremus / OneZero :
Despite an apparent industry's influence during transition, latest appointments and developments hint Biden admin will be tougher on tech than its predecessors  —  Two schools of thought on the new administration  —  For all of Donald Trump's railing against Amazon's “monopoly,” social media …
The Information:
Sources: VCs have approached Clubhouse about investing in its next round at ~$1B valuation, a 10X increase from the previous round; a16z is expected to lead  —  The race to invest in social audio app Clubhouse is on again.  Venture capital firms have approached the startup's founders …
USA Today:
Facebook said a “configuration change” caused some users to be logged out of their apps in Saturday morning; issue is now fixed  —  “Why am I logged out of Facebook?”  The question ricocheted around the internet as an untold number of people across the nation found themselves logged out of their apps Friday night.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
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.  — The company is looking …
William Boston / Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
MoffettNathanson survey: 62% of Apple TV+ subscribers were on free offers in Q4 2020, only 30% said they plan to renew at the regular $4.99/month price  —  Apple has said it wants to bulk up revenue from services — including Apple TV Plus, which is just over one year old.

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Featured Podcasts

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Big Technology Podcast:
Are We Too Obsessed With AI Predictions? — With Carissa Véliz
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
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Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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More News

Brendan Sinclair / GamesIndustry.biz:

Earlier Picks

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Dara Kerr / CNET:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: