Techmeme
July 15, 2021, 12:15 PM

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 …
Antonio Regalado / MIT Technology Review:
Facebook says it is ending a project to build a head-mounted brain-typing device and will instead focus on a wrist controller for VR that reads muscle signals  —  The company's research into a mind-reading device is over, for now.  Some scientists said it was never possible anyway.
Wall Street Journal:
TSMC says it expects shortage of chips used in cars to start easing in the next few months but broader semiconductor shortage could persist until 2022  —  A dearth of semiconductors has stymied manufacturing activity in the auto industry  —  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. …
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 …
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.
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...
David Priest / CNET:
Facebook Messenger adds Soundmojis, which add audible expressions to emoji, accessible through a loudspeaker icon  —  Messenger chats are about to get louder. … Facebook on Thursday launched “Soundmojis” for its Messenger app.  The new feature adds the audible expressions to emoji …
Kellen Browning / New York Times:
Some tech workers who quit the Bay Area during the pandemic are trickling back, as Twitter reopens its SF HQ and, along with Google, plans to expand in the area  —  Critics said the pandemic would make the industry flee San Francisco and its southern neighbor, Silicon Valley.
Reuters:
US Consumer Product Safety Commission has sued Amazon to force it to recall hazardous products sold on its site, including 24K faulty carbon monoxide detectors  —  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said on Wednesday it has sued Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) to force the retailer …
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.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: Miami-based OpenStore, which acquires Shopify merchants, raises $30M Series A led by Khosla Ventures at a post-money valuation of around $250M  —  OpenStore, a Miami-based rollup of Shopify merchants, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures at around a $250 million post-money valuation, Axios has learned.
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.
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
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Netradyne, which uses cameras and edge computing to give commercial vehicle drivers real-time feedback, raises $150M Series C, bringing total funding to $197M+  —  Netradyne, a startup that uses cameras and edge computing to improve commercial driver safety, has scored $150 million in Series C funding.
More: FinSMEs
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India-based news aggregator app Inshorts raises $60M, sources say at a $550M valuation, as its social network app Public gains popularity in the country  —  Indian startup Inshorts, which operates an eponymous news aggregator service, has raised $60 million in a new financing round as its two-year-old bet …
Reuters:
Amplitude, an analytics startup helping companies optimize products, confidentially files for a US direct listing, a month after raising $150M at $4B valuation  —  Tencent Holdings Ltd-backed Amplitude said on Wednesday it had confidentially filed paperwork for a direct listing in the United States …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Teikametrics, a Boston-based startup that helps third-party sellers optimize advertising campaigns on Amazon and other ecommerce platforms, raises $40M Series B  —  Join executive leaders at the Conversational AI & Intelligent AI Assistants Summit, presented by Five9.  Watch now!
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: TechRadarTweets: @campuscodi

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Juli Clover / MacRumors:
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Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
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