Techmeme
April 26, 2021, 5:15 PM

Top News

Apple:
Apple expands its wide-ranging US investment plan by 20% to $430B and says it will spend $1B+ to open a 3,000-employee campus in NC  —  The accelerated commitment will fund a new North Carolina campus and job-creating investments in innovative fields like silicon engineering and 5G technology
Evan Selleck / iDownloadBlog.com:
Apple releases iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and watchOS 7.4, allowing Apple Watch owners to unlock with Face ID while wearing a mask  —  Apple has been working on the next update for iPhone and iPad for quite some time, seeding more than half dozen betas in the process.  But now iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 are now live.
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
Overview of iOS 14.5, which includes the App Tracking Transparency tool, lets Siri play audio with 3rd-party apps, and enables Face ID unlocking with a mask on  —  With Apple's latest mobile software update, we can decide whether apps monitor and share our activities with others.  Here's what to know.
New York Times:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Researcher shows that for months macOS had a flaw that would let apps run despite not being notarized by Apple's service; bug is patched in macOS Big Sur 11.3  —  Old malware, new tricks.  —  Apple has spent years reinforcing macOS with new security features to make it tougher for malware to break in.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases macOS Big Sur 11.3 with M1 optimizations, updated controller support, ability to change window size of iPhone and iPad apps on Macs, and more  —  Apple today released macOS Big Sur 11.3, the third major update to the macOS Big Sur operating system that launched …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Roku says anti-competitive demands from Google, including requests for preferential treatment of apps like YouTube TV, may force YouTube TV off Roku's platform  —  Roku on Monday notified its users via email that YouTube TV may be forced off its platform entirely, alleging anti-competitive demands …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook rolls out a miniplayer that will allow Facebook users to stream music and podcasts from Spotify through the Facebook app on iOS or Android  —  Facebook announced last week an expanded partnership with streaming music service Spotify that would bring a new way to listen to music …
Jason Fried:
Basecamp's CEO announces a ban on “societal and political discussions” at work, saying the company does not need to solve or even chime in on social problems  —  At Basecamp, we treat our company as a product.  It's not a rigid thing that exists, it's a flexible, malleable idea that evolves.
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Lyft says it is selling its self-driving unit, called Lyft Level 5 with ~300 employees, to Toyota's Woven Planet Holdings subsidiary for $550M  —  Ride-hailing company Lyft has sold off its autonomous vehicle unit to Toyota's Woven Planet Holdings subsidiary for $550 million …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Zoom officially launches Immersive View, which assembles up to 25 video conference participants in one scene, for all free and individual Pro Zoom accounts  —  Join Transform 2021 this July 12-16.  Register fo r the AI event of the year.  —  Zoom has officially launched …
Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
A group of Germany's largest media, tech, and advertising companies file antitrust complaint against Apple as it makes privacy changes on iPhones  —  Axel Springer among companies claiming controls will damage targeted advertising on iPhones  —  A group of Germany's largest media …

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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Joanna Ossinger / Bloomberg:
New York Times: