|
March 22, 2021, 10:05 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: |
Sources say Discord is exploring a sale that could value it at $10B+, with one source saying it is in the final stage of negotiations — Discord is going through a sales process now that could result in a purchase of the communications and cha5t platform for much more than $10 billion, GamesBeat has learned.
More:
GeekWire, Windows Central, The Information, SiliconANGLE, Neowin, Platformer, Reuters, Pocketnow, and Gamasutra
Tweets: @esthercrawford, @migueldeicaza, @spawnwavemedia, @kahjahkins, @alexcartaz, @g27status, @daveoshry, @mhdempsey, @turnernovak, @sethpjohnson, @diction, @thatguynamedtre, @goldenboyftw, @imranzomg, @yanivgraph, @mikebutcher, @waxpancake, @ambler, @mehedih_, @bdsams, @benbajarin, @mdudas, @prasanna, @martinsfp, @joshconstine, @caseynewton, @tomwarren, @alexeheath, @sarthakgh, @stefantziolis, @notpatrick, @jeffgrubb, and @brianoflondon
| Adi Robertson / The Verge: |
Judge certifies a class action suit against Apple that claims it knew for years that MacBooks' butterfly keyboards were flawed and small fixes were insufficient — The suit says Apple knew its thinner keyboard was rotten — A judge has certified a class action suit against Apple for its fragile butterfly keyboard design.
More:
United States District Court Northern District of California San Jose Division, The Register, PCMag, iMore, Ars Technica, MacRumors, TidBITS, 9to5Mac, HotHardware.com News, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, CNET, Pixel Envy, Forbes, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone Hacks, The Mac Observer, and iFixit News
Tweets: @zollotech, @reckless, @rsingel, @quinnypig, @joannastern, and @dhh
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft says it will begin a limited reopening of its Redmond HQ on March 29 and plans a future focus on hybrid workplaces — Microsoft is letting some employees back into the office — Microsoft is planning to start reopening its Redmond, Seattle headquarters later this month.
More:
The Official Microsoft Blog, microsoft.com, CNET, The Information, Insider, Financial Times, The Register, GeekWire, GameSpot, TechRadar, OnMSFT.com, Bloomberg, Tech Xplore, Microsoft, and The New Stack
Tweets: @microsoft, @satyanadella, @tomwarren, @martinsfp, and @louisgray
| Jay Peters / The Verge: |
Niantic announces a new partnership with Nintendo to develop mobile games built on Niantic's AR tech, starting with a game based on Nintendo's Pikmin franchise — Niantic and Nintendo announced a new partnership — Niantic, developer of the smash hit Pokémon Go, has announced a new partnership with Nintendo.
Source:
Niantic. More:
Nintendo Co., Ltd., TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, VentureBeat, Engadget, IGN, Stevivor, dexerto.com, Dot Esports, Polygon, GamesIndustry.biz, Destructoid, Twinfinite, GameSpot, and Nintendo World Report Updates
Tweets: @msquinn, @louisgray, and @martinsfp
| Makena Kelly / The Verge: |
Biden announces his intent to nominate Lina Khan, a legal scholar and leading voice in the growing tech antitrust movement, to serve as an FTC commissioner — Khan brought Big Tech scrutiny mainstream — President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Lina Khan …
More:
The White House, Politico, GeekWire, Reuters, The Hill, NPR, CNET, Agence France-Presse, TechCrunch, Deadline, CNBC, and Engadget
Tweets: @ceciliakang, @public_citizen, @linamkhan, @davidakaye, @_megconley, @richardjnieva, @slpng_giants, @froomkin, and @reckless
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft rebrands Xbox Live as Xbox network, says the change is to distinguish the online service from Xbox Live Gold membership — Xbox network is the future — Microsoft is rebranding Xbox Live to Xbox network. Instances of the new branding started appearing in the Xbox dashboard recently …
More:
GeekWire, VentureBeat, Windows Central, Twinfinite, IGN, GamingBolt, MUO, Gamasutra, TechRadar, Kotaku, Dot Esports, Game Rant, and PC Gamer
Tweets: @bigbrytv, @archonaut, @deejayknight, @kharlokong, @stevekovach, @slaypiece, @james_lrr, @paultassi, @powergotnow, and @vicious696
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Apple's HomePod mini has a sensor, currently disabled, that measures temperature and humidity; Apple is working on speakers with screens and cameras — Apple Inc.'s HomePod mini speaker launched last November with new features such as a home intercom system.
More:
MacRumors, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, The Next Web, iPhone in Canada Blog, Pocketnow, iMore, Apple Terminal, TechHive, KnowTechie, Wccftech, BGR, Voicebot.ai, Pocket-lint, iDownloadBlog.com, TidBITS, Neowin, Macworld, SlashGear, Redmond Pie, TechRadar, Forbes, Gizmodo, Six Colors, MacDailyNews, Tom's Guide, Engadget, iPhone Hacks, PCMag, Ubergizmo, MACお宝 …, Patently Apple, Insanely Great Mac, and Pixel Envy
| Nikkei Asia: |
Sources: Samsung plans to release new Galaxy Z Flip and Fold phones this year and is working on a double-folding phone to be unveiled as early as this year — South Korean tech titan is working on new double-hinged model — TAIPEI/SEOUL — Samsung Electronics is betting heavily on foldable smartphones …
More:
The Verge, The Next Web, Android Police, 9to5Google, SiliconANGLE, Pocketnow, SlashGear, XDA Developers, Android Central, MSPoweruser, Pocket-lint, MUO, phonearena.com, Wccftech, Mashable, and SamMobile
Tweets: @jon_prosser, @nikkeiasia, @adammiarka, and @davezatz
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Fitness company Peloton has recently acquired three startups, gaining expertise in wearable devices, voice assistants, and interactive workout mats — - Company quietly purchased Atlas Wearables, Otari and Aiqudo — Peloton Interactive Inc. recently acquired three companies …
Tweets: @markgurman
| Kim Lyons / The Verge: |
Jack Dorsey's first tweet sold as an NFT for $2,915,835.47 on a service called Valuables; Dorsey says he sent all proceeds to GiveDirectly's Africa fund as BTC — The winning bidder for the Twitter CEO's first tweet was Sina Estavi — After it spent just over two weeks on the market …
More:
Reuters, Engadget, CoinDesk, Decrypt, Japan Today, Agence France-Presse, CNBC, The Hill, PYMNTS.com, MUO, The Wrap, Insider, MarketWatch, Slashdot, Benzinga, Forbes, Fast Company, Protos, NewsBTC, TechSpot, Telegraph, CNET, The Block, Crypto Briefing, and The Mac Observer
Tweets: @amonck, @maxkennerly, @thetattooedprof, @_vaun, @mer__edith, @caseynewton, @whatsnext, @lanceulanoff, and @punished_picnic
| Chavi Mehta / Reuters: |
Facebook says it took down 1.3B fake accounts from October-December and 12M pieces of COVID-19 misinformation; Facebook has 35,000 staff tackling misinformation — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc said on Monday it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December …
More:
About Facebook, The Hill, MUO, Agence France-Presse, The Economic Times, Social Media Today, Raw Story, 9to5Mac, CNET, New York Post, and iTnews
Tweets: @goangelo, @trekonomics, @curtiskitchen, @bobcesca_go, @dlauer, @goangelo, @green_footballs, @slpng_giants, @goangelo, @dog_congress, @edbott, @goangelo, @rmac18, and @gregpinelo
| Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch: |
Spark Capital decides to “sever all ties” with Dispo after claims of sexual assault against a former Vlog Squad member; David Dobrik departs from Dispo — Dobrik departs from Dispo board and leaves company — Venture capital firm Spark Capital has decided to ‘sever all ties’ with Dispo …
More:
The Information, The Verge, New York Times, Insider, Axios, USA Today, Washington Post, dot.LA, Tubefilter, PetaPixel, CNN, Variety, and Mashable
Tweets: @sparkcapital, @sevensevensix, @panzer, @nmasc_, @triketora, @imcatnoone, @taylorlorenz, @nytimes, @amlewis4, @dunkhippo33, @kimmaicutler, @taylorlorenz, and @kattenbarge
| Rand Fishkin / SparkToro: |
SimilarWeb: in 2020, ~65% of Google searches ended without a click, up from ~50% in June '19; mobile searches are far more likely to end without a click through — In August of 2019, I published research from now-defunct clickstream data provider, Jumpshot, showing that 50.33% …
More:
Search Engine Land. Tweets: @ianlurie, @cyrusshepard, @modestproposal1, @randfish, @gfiorelli1, and @mikko
| Damien Wilde / 9to5Google: |
YouTube confirms it is testing a feature in the US that automatically detects products in videos and provides related content links — As part of one of YouTube's latest experiments, the video-sharing platform looks to expand beyond the “Products in this Video” feature that auto-detects specific items …
More:
The Next Web and The Verge
Tweets: @rakeshlobster, @lanceulanoff, @mattcassinelli, @brianroemmele, @ohthatflo, and @seyitaylor
| Andrew Chung / Reuters: |
SCOTUS declined to hear Facebook's appeal to stop a proposed $15B class action lawsuit that accused Facebook of secretly tracking users via the “like” buttons — (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away Facebook Inc's bid to pare back a $15 billion class action lawsuit accusing …
More:
Washington Examiner, TechSpot, The Hill, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @sp, @riptari, and @counternotions
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
Long time Google VP Caesar Sengupta, who was in charge of Next Billion Users, Google Pay, and oversaw Chrome OS, is leaving the company after 15 years — One big focus for Google today is making products for what it dubs the Next Billion Users in countries just coming online.
More:
LinkedIn, Bloomberg, The Financial Express, India Today, Reuters, Tech in Asia, Chrome Unboxed, The Economic Times, NDTV Gadgets 360, Insider, PYMNTS.com, PYMNTS.com, and CNBC
Tweets: @caesars, @rajananandan, and @mittermaniac
| Reuters: |
Sources: Box is exploring a sale, discussing a potential deal with other companies and PE firms, amid pressure from hedge fund Starboard over stock performance — (Reuters) - U.S. cloud services provide Box Inc is exploring a sale amid pressure from hedge fund Starboard Value LP over its stock performance … | Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNet: |
Richard Stallman says he has rejoined the Free Software Foundation's board; he resigned from the board and as president in 2019 after controversy over Epstein — The well-known founder of GNU software and free software resigned as president and board member of the FSF in 2019.
More:
The Verge and It's FOSS News
| Áine Cain / Insider: |
Report: Amazon has added 3,700 new sellers every day in 2021 so far on its website for a total of 295,000; 26% of new sellers are in the US while 10.1% in India — - Research firm Finbold has found that Amazon is drawing in new sellers at a rapid rate. — In 2021, the online giant attracted 3,700 new merchants a day.| Bloomberg: |
Online pharmacy Ro says it has raised $500M led by General Catalyst, FirstMark Capital, and TQ Ventures, sources says at $5B valuation — - Ro raises $500 million in round led by existing investors — New investors Altimeter, Dragoneer participate in round
More:
Forbes
| Miriam Gottfried / Wall Street Journal: |
Blackstone, with a goal of managing $1T in assets by 2026, is increasingly investing in fast-growing tech companies and has opened a San Francisco office — Jonathan Gray is guiding shift at investment firm that made its name buying into undervalued companies
Tweets: @cliffordasness
| Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE: |
NLRB docs show it filed a federal complaint against Amazon after a probe found Amazon illegally questioned and threatened a leader of Amazon walkouts in Queens — The state of New York is also suing Amazon for alleged health and safety violations at the same Queens warehouse where workers led the first COVID-19-related walkouts.| Katie Roof / Bloomberg: |
Side, a real estate brokerage whose software helps agents with branding, marketing, and more, raises $150M, valuing it at $1B and bringing total raised to $200M — - Side reaches $1 billion valuation with $150 million round — San Francisco-based firm looks to expand to new states| Larry Dignan / ZDNet: |
Synnex and privately-held Tech Data, both of which help implement solutions for IoT, cloud computing, and more, say they are merging in a deal valued at ~$7.2B — The combination of two companies will expand the geographic and product reach into cybersecurity, cloud, data and Internet of things.
More:
PR Newswire, SiliconANGLE, Channel Futures, CRN, and Silicon Valley Business …
| Andy Day / Fstoppers: |
Instead of convincing people merely to buy things that they don't need, NFTs are convincing them to buy imaginary optimism based on a mass enchantment and FOMO — Photographers, filmmakers, and digital artists are falling over themselves to mint NFTs in a get-rich-quick scheme …
More:
NFT Nick. Tweets: @counternotions, @iansherr, @cnyari, @johnkoetsier, @askslim, @jherskowitz, @reckless, @miloneuman, and @gullevek
Sponsor Posts
Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.
Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 10:05 PM ET, March 22, 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.
From Mediagazer
Sara Fischer / Axios:Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Upcoming Tech Events
Earlier Picks
| Reuters: |
More:
South China Morning Post, AdExchanger, Game Rant, dexerto.com, Gamasutra, coinspeaker.com, caixinglobal.com, Finbold, and GamesIndustry.biz
Tweets: @jonrussell and @yingzhi_yang