Techmeme
March 13, 2021, 1:10 PM

Top News

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple says it is discontinuing the original HomePod to focus on HomePod mini, will provide HomePod owners software updates and support via Apple Care  —  After 4 years on the market, Apple has discontinued its original HomePod.  It says that it will continue to produce and focus on the HomePod mini, introduced last year.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Microsoft will adjust its release cycle for Edge to match the four-week release cadence of Chrome, starting with Edge 94, which is set for release in September  —  The change will go into effect in September  —  Microsoft is going to adjust its release cycles for Microsoft Edge to match …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
US DOJ indicts CEO of encrypted phone company Sky for selling devices to drug traffickers, the second such company to face charges after Phantom Secure  —  “The indictment alleges that Sky Global generated hundreds of millions of dollars providing a service that allowed criminal networks around …
Hamish McKenzie / Substack Blog:
Substack co-founder on how Substack Pro works: year one, writers get upfront pay, Substack keeps 85% of revenue; later, writers keep 90% revenue, no minimum pay  —  The thinking behind Substack Pro  —  When we started Substack in mid-2017, the future for writers was frightening.
BuzzFeed News:
An internal doc at Facebook, co-written by Chris Cox, aims to equip employees with rebuttals to the perception that the company's products fuel polarization  —  In a Thursday presentation, Facebook executives told employees the company isn't to blame for social division in the country.
James Tarmy / Bloomberg:
MetaKovan, an anonymous digital asset investor and founder of NFT focused crypto-based investment fund Metapurse, is the buyer of the $69M Beeple NFT  —  A digital asset investor who goes by the handle Metakovan and refuses to give his full name, announced that he is the buyer …
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
NTSB sent a letter to the NHTSA asking for stricter standards on automated vehicle tech, citing Tesla's Level 2 Autopilot system tests as needing more oversight  —  - The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on its sister agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …
Reuters:
Sources: Qualcomm is struggling to meet higher than expected demand due to the global chip shortage and US sanctions against Huawei  —  SAN FRANCISCO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc is struggling to keep up with demand for its processor chips used in smartphones and gadgets …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: tools used in the Feb. 28 Exchange hack are similar to proof-of-concept attack code that Microsoft distributed to security partners a week earlier  —  Investigators seeking to unravel how attack spread in week before software fix  —  Microsoft Corp. is investigating whether …
Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says Microsoft's support of a bill for greater bargaining power for news pubs is “self-serving” and intended to distract from the SolarWinds hack  —  Google has always been committed to providing high-quality and relevant information, and to supporting the news publishers who help create it.
Brad Smith / Microsoft On the Issues:

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: MessageWhiz SMS for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Big Tech's Insane Hidden AI Spending, Ranking Anthropic vs. OpenAI, AI For Travel Debate
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
OpenAI's Two-Week Pause + Jill Lepore on the Threat of the "Artificial State" + Train of Thought
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
The $12.5 Billion Lakers, the NFL's TV Fight, and Sports Media's Big Split
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
Rich Sutton and Khurram Javed: Why AI Models Stop Learning, and How to Start It Again
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Invest Like the Best:
Ben Thompson on Big Tech, China, and the AI Boom Running Out of Money
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:10 PM ET, March 13, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Hayden Field / Morning Brew:

Earlier Picks

James Vincent / The Verge:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE: