Techmeme
March 31, 2021, 6:35 AM

Top News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn confirms it's working on a Clubhouse rival and says it will begin beta testing soon, but doesn't have an exact timeframe for its launch  —  Clubhouse's list of competitors is growing.  LinkedIn has now confirmed it's also testing a social audio experience in its app which would allow creators …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple announces a virtual WWDC 2021 from June 7 to June 11, where iOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8, and more are expected  —  Apple has officially announced WWDC 2021.  This year, the conference will take place completely virtually starting June 7.  This marks the second year in a row that Apple …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Deliveroo drops by as much as 30% on its LSE debut, after pricing shares at £3.90, valuing it at around £5.6B; poor debut likely due to labor practice issues  —  Update: It seems that the market is volatile indeed.  After pricing its shares at the lower end of the range …
Ben Gilbert / Insider:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Spotify buys app developer Betty Labs, creator of Locker Room, a live social audio app where fans can talk about sports, which Spotify plans on expanding  —  The acquisition will allow creators of all kinds to host anything from debates to live concerts.
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
Sources: Google plans to release “Pixel Buds A” in 2021, which will almost be visually indistinguishable from current Buds and offered in white and green colors  —  For a few years now, Google has offered affordable variants of its Pixel phones with the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google has started to roll out a limited developer origin trial of FLoC, as part of its Privacy Sandbox project for Chrome  —  Google today announced that it is rolling out Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a crucial part of its Privacy Sandbox project for Chrome, as a developer origin trial.
Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:
User had ~$600K worth of bitcoin stolen after using a fake app for cryptocurrency hardware wallet Trezor downloaded from the App Store; app was rated five stars  —  Recent scams show there are holes in Apple's safety net  —  Phillipe Christodoulou wanted to check his bitcoin balance last month …
Politico:
Sources: suspected Russian hackers stole thousands of State Department officials' emails last year; the classified network doesn't appear to have been accessed  —  Suspected Russian hackers stole thousands of State Department officials' emails last year, according to two Congressional sources familiar …
Alex Heath / The Information:
Sources: Snap plans to unveil new Spectacles aimed at AR developers and creators in May and has begun a years-long project to make a camera drone  —  Snap is readying a new push into hardware with a more advanced version of its Spectacles smart glasses that feature displays capable …
Lulu Yilun Chen / Bloomberg:
Chinese grocery app Nice Tuan, which focuses on community group buying and claims to have 15M orders per day, raises $750M led by Alibaba and DST Global  —  - D.E. Shaw, Anatole, Jeneration Capital invest in grocery app  — Nice Tuan also attracts backing from CDH, GGV, Kunlun Capital
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Source: in January, IoT manufacturer Ubiquiti downplayed a “catastrophic” breach, which gained root access to its AWS accounts and access to countless devices  —  On Jan. 11, Ubiquiti Inc. [NYSE:UI] — a major vendor of cloud-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as routers …
Nikkei Asia:
Foxconn, the world's top contract electronics manufacturer, says the chip shortage will result in it shipping 10% fewer products, without specifying a timeframe  —  Key iPhone maker to invest $1bn in North American electric vehicle plant  —  TAIPEI — Foxconn, the world's biggest contract …
Sebastian Pellejero / Wall Street Journal:
Dapper Labs, maker of NFT-focused NBA Top Shot, raises $305M, sources say at $2.6B valuation; investors include several pro athletes including Michael Jordan  —  Dapper Labs draws investors that include basketball legends Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant, seeking to cash in on the digital-collectibles craze
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google announces upgrades to Maps, including indoor AR directions, a new directions interface with eco-friendly driving routes, and new weather map layers  —  Indoor AR directions, a new directions interface, and more  —  Google is announcing a bunch of new features planned for Google Maps …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Arm unveils Armv9, its next gen chip architecture that adds features for security, AI, and more, as it expects ~300B Arm-based chips to ship in the next decade  —  Arm today announced Armv9, the next generation of its chip architecture.  Its predecessor, Armv8 launched a decade ago …
John Tozzi / Bloomberg:
BrightInsight, which helps drug/device makers build apps for patients and doctors, raises $101M Series C led by General Catalyst, source says at $750M valuation  —  - Startup builds digital tools for drugmakers, medical devices  — Investors have put $26 billion into digital health ventures
Eric Geller / Politico:
Interviews with 15 people show CISA is underfunded, short on talent, outmatched by adversaries, and overwhelmed by the fallout from two massive cyberattacks  —  The agency that protects the U.S. from hackers is hobbled by funding woes, a talent shortage and growing pains that are jeopardizing …
More: Fortune
Brandon Katz / Observer:
LightShed Partners: SVOD subscribers will nearly double by 2024 to 1.25B from 650M at the end of 2020  —  Of the 11 major legacy media and tech companies that have a direct hand in Hollywood, all but one house some sort of over-the-top (OTT) streaming service.

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Earlier Picks

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