Techmeme
July 15, 2021, 8:50 AM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Netflix hires ex-Facebook and EA exec Mike Verdu as VP of game development; source: Netflix plans to offer games as a new programming genre within the next year  —  Netflix Inc., marking its first big move beyond TV shows and films, is planning an expansion into video games and has hired …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Twitter says it will retire Fleets, its Stories-like service, on August 3 after low adoption  —  A fleeting moment for Fleets  —  Say goodbye to Fleets, the row of fullscreen tweets at the top of the Twitter timeline that expire after 24 hours.  The ephemeral tweet format is shutting …
Jackson Palmer / @ummjackson:
[Thread] Jackson Palmer, a Dogecoin co-creator, says crypto primarily amplifies the wealth of its proponents via tax avoidance, limited regulatory oversight  —  I am often asked if I will “return to cryptocurrency” or begin regularly sharing my thoughts on the topic again. My answer is a wholehearted “no”, but to avoid repeating myself I figure it might be worthwhile briefly explaining why here...
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Revolut raises $800M Series E from SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global at a valuation of $33B; Revolut was last valued at $5.5B in 2020  —  The fintech funding continues to roll in at a rapid pace, a result of the huge shift underway in how consumers spend and manage their money.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Android 12 Beta 3 introduces scrolling screenshots, a faster auto-rotate using face detection to determine the phone's orientation, and more new features  —  Plus, it will finally support scrolling screenshots  —  Google is releasing the latest beta for Android 12 right on schedule.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp begins a limited beta for multi-device support, letting users access WhatsApp on up to four non-phone devices without an active smartphone connection  —  WhatsApp is finally pushing an improvement to a key feature that even the Facebook-owned instant messaging service acknowledges has been a top request from users for years.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft announces Windows 365, letting businesses stream a version of Windows 10 or 11 in a web browser or through its Remote Desktop app, launching August 2  —  Windows 365 is a new service that creates Cloud PCs  —  Microsoft is putting Windows in the cloud.
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will pay $1B to creators by the end of 2022; creators can earn money using Instagram or Facebook tools or by hitting milestones  —  Facebook is setting up a program to pay $1 billion to creators through the end of 2022, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive …
PYMNTS.com:
Facebook says it will expand its Facebook Pay service beyond its own platforms, starting in August with Shopify vendors in the US  —  The cozy and consolidated universe of payment and digital wallet providers got a little less comfortable on Wednesday (July 14) after social media giant Facebook announced …
More: Facebook, Engadget, and iMore
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Facebook staff detail the fight over CrowdTangle, which notes top-engaging posts, often showing right-wing sources dominating; in April, its team was reassigned  —  Executives at the social network have clashed over CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data tool that revealed users' high engagement levels with right-wing media sources.
Wall Street Journal:
Avast says it is in advanced talks to merge with NortonLifeLock in a cash and stock deal; Avast has a market value of ~$7.2B  —  Cybersecurity firm Avast has market value of $7.2 billion  —  NortonLifeLock Inc. is in talks to buy cybersecurity firm Avast Plc in a deal that would expand the U.S. company's focus on consumer software.
More: SiliconANGLETweets: @campuscodi
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
In macOS Monterey's new developer beta, Apple appears to walk back on its revamp of Safari's tabs, which were set to become more efficient with vertical space  —  In the third developer beta of macOS Monterey, which came out this morning, Apple has overhauled the design of Safari …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Clubhouse debuts Backchannel, a DM feature supporting group messages and audio chat, on iOS and Android; the ability to send images or video will be added later  —  Never leave the app  —  Now, you can slide into people's Clubhouse DMs.  The social audio company is launching its direct messaging feature …
Tomio Geron / Protocol:
Square acquires Crew, maker of a messaging service for retail and other in-person workers, for an undisclosed amount; Crew had raised ~$58M previously  —  Square has acquired Crew, maker of a messaging service for retail and other in-person workers, in a deal to bolster Square's workforce management products.
Maddie Stone / The Keyword:
Google's Threat Analysis Group breaks down three recent malware campaigns, likely state-backed, and notes a large uptick of in-the-wild 0-day attacks this year  —  Zero-day vulnerabilities are unknown software flaws.  Until they're identified and fixed, they can be exploited by attackers.
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Woven Planet Holdings, a Toyota subsidiary that develops and invests in automated driving, has acquired 3D mapping startup Carmera for an undisclosed amount  —  Woven Planet Holdings — an entity created by Toyota to invest in, develop and eventually bring future of transportation technologies …
Bloomberg:
European Central Bank says it will begin a 24-month “investigation phase” that could lead to the creation of a digital euro by around 2025  —  - Process will take 24 months before decision on adoption taken  — ECB says infrastructure would use far less energy than Bitcoin
Christine Hall / TechCrunch:
Miami-based Unybrands, which acquires small e-commerce brands looking to scale their operations on and off Amazon, raises $300M from Crayhill Capital Management  —  Unybrands is the latest e-commerce aggregator to pick up a significant investment, this time closing $300 million in growth capital from Crayhill Capital Management.
Source: PR NewswireMore: FinSMEs
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
SecurEnds, which uses AI to help companies manage risk and compliance, raises $21M Series A led by Elephant  —  Join executive leaders at the Conversational AI & Intelligent AI Assistants Summit, presented by Five9.  Watch now!  —  Identity governance platform SecurEnds today announced …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Lambda, which offers AI-optimized hardware and develops a machine learning development framework, raises $24.5M from 1517, Gradient Ventures, and others  —  Join executive leaders at the Conversational AI & Intelligent AI Assistants Summit, presented by Five9.  Watch now!
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