Techmeme
January 5, 2022, 11:15 PM

Top News

Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Google partners with Acer, HP, and Intel to bring Fast Pair to select Windows PCs later in 2022 and announces improvements to Phone Hub on Chromebooks  —  Google wants to do for Android and Chrome users what Apple does for people in its ecosystem.  It's announcing a set of news today …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Sylvia Varnham O'Regan / The Information:
Sources: Meta stopped developing a new OS for its VR devices and upcoming AR glasses, but will continue modifying an open-source version of an Android OS  —  Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has stopped development of a new software operating system to power its virtual reality devices …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Meta says it is still working on a “highly specialized OS” for its AR/VR devices, and it is not “halting or scaling back” operations in building AR/VR software  —  It's still interested in a custom OS  —  Meta reportedly pulled the plug on a custom operating system …
NetBlocks:
Kazakhstan faces internet disruptions and a subsequent nationwide shutdown since Tuesday evening, amid protests against energy price increases  —  Network data from NetBlocks confirm a significant disruption to internet service in Kazakhstan from the evening of Tuesday 4 January 2022 …
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Instagram tests the ability to switch between a Home feed, a Favorites feed, and a Following chronological feed, rolling out to all users in H1 2022  —  Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced today that the app is rolling out for some users the ability to switch between different feeds.
Monica Chin / The Verge:
Asus unveils the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED with a 17.3" foldable screen, Intel's 12th-gen CPUs, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, and more, coming in Q2 for a TBD price  —  There's a more traditional 14-inch OLED Zenbook coming as well  —  Each year, it seems that more companies are trying out devices with foldable screens.
Fatos Bytyci / Reuters:
Kosovo bans crypto mining in an attempt to curb energy consumption as the country faces its worst power crisis in a decade  —  Kosovo's government on Tuesday introduced a ban on cryptocurrency mining in an attempt to curb electricity consumption as the country faces the worst energy crisis in a decade due to production outages.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
HTC announces the Vive Wrist Tracker, a watch-like controller that tracks hand-to-elbow position for its Vive Focus 3 VR headset, expected Q1 2022 for $129  —  Set to launch later this quarter  —  HTC is announcing a new wrist-based controller for its Vive Focus 3 virtual reality headset.
Li Yuan / New York Times:
The number of unemployed Chinese tech workers is growing amid fears that China's tech crackdown could kill the entrepreneurial drive that made it a tech power  —  The crackdown is killing the entrepreneurial drive that made China a tech power and destroying jobs that used to attract the country's brightest.
Anna Wiener / New Yorker:
If the metaverse takes off, it could take cues from today's privatized, centralized, financialized tech ecosystem and echo the development of play-to-earn games  —  In a virtual world full of virtual goods, finance could get weird.  —  Years ago, while on vacation in the Northwest …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Intel claims its 12th-gen 14-core Core i9 outperforms Apple's M1 Max and is the fastest CPU ever, although the i9 uses significantly more power than the M1 Max  —  Intel today unveiled new 12th-generation Core processors suitable for laptops, and as part of the announcement …
Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch:
Alto, which offers a self-directed IRA service, raises a $40M Series B to help people make tax-savvy alternative investments in assets like crypto and artwork  —  Alternative investments are having a moment.  Their popularity has surged over the last decade, with the asset class growing …
Lizzy Lawrence / Protocol:
Online whiteboard tool Miro raises a $400M Series C at a $17.5B post-money valuation, up from $725M in April 2020, and says it has 30M users  —  Whiteboard tool Miro announced today that it has joined the unicorn ranks with a $17.5 billion post-money valuation.
Gené Teare / Crunchbase News:
Global VC funding reached $643B in 2021, up from $335B in 2020 and ~$300B in 2019, with $29.4B in seed funding, $201B in early stage, and $413B in late stage  —  Venture funding in 2021 broke records across the board, Crunchbase data shows, with investment last year up more than 10x what it was a decade earlier.

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Earlier Picks

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Meghan Herbst / Wired:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sam Machkovech / Ars Technica:
Ben Winslow / KSTU:
Mike Isaac / New York Times: