Techmeme
September 22, 2022, 1:55 PM

Top News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple AirPods Pro (second-gen) review: improved ANC, sound quality, and clarity, but same old design, a Lightning connector, and no major new software features  —  Redesigned inside but not out, the new AirPods Pro are destined to be another hit — even if the magic is waning
Max Chafkin / Bloomberg:
A look at the quiet success of AirPods, of which Apple sold an estimated ~120M pairs in 2021, showing how big a business its upcoming niche VR headset could be  —  Sometime next year, Tim Cook will appear before the Apple Inc. faithful and unveil the company's next major computing platform …
New York Times:
An investigation based on nearly 160K Roskomnadzor documents details Russia's expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus, which helps Putin maintain power  —  Four days into the war in Ukraine, Russia's expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus was already hard at work.
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Google unveils Chromecast with Google TV (HD), featuring a remote control and supporting only 1080p content with HDR, for $30; the 4K version costs $50  —  Confirming rumors, Google has unveiled the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) device that offers features from the $50 4K model at a significantly cheaper $30 price.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Instagram, and now TikTok, have fallen afoul of the “Bootleg Ratio”, as clout-chasing accounts overtake content created by users specifically for each platform  —  TikTok is changing. … That stuff is still on the platform, but it's largely fallen off my For You page …
Bloomberg:
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he's confident regulators will approve the company's $69B Activision Blizzard purchase, citing several recent Sony acquisitions  —  Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said he's confident the company can gain regulatory approval …
TechCrunch:
Twitter informs some users that due to a bug, the company didn't close all of their active logged-in sessions on Android and iOS after their password was reset  —  Weeks after Twitter's ex-security chief accused the company of cybersecurity mismanagement, Twitter has now informed its users …
Gregory Zuckerman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: to increase profits, Coinbase hired Wall Street traders and explored using its own money to trade crypto in 2021, including a $100M test trade in 2022  —  The company completed a $100 million transaction before ending the effort.  It says that it hasn't engaged in proprietary trading.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
UK media regulator Ofcom plans to investigate the cloud computing, personal messaging, and smart device markets over the next year due to competition concerns  —  - Ofcom, the U.K. media watchdog, is set to launch a study examining the role of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud services market.
Gina Chon / Semafor Media:
Nick Clegg says Meta could lift its ban on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2023, when his suspension expires, after consulting experts  —  Semafor launches this fall, but we wanted to get this news right out to you.  Sign up for Semafor Principals for our coverage of Donald Trump.
Deeksha Bhardwaj / Hindustan Times:
India proposes a legal framework to regulate over-the-top communications services, including encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal, and intercept messages  —  The bill, if implemented in its current form, will have reaching ramification for the industry that is based on the premise of privacy and security of encrypted messages
Matthew Boyle / Bloomberg:
Disney, P&G, LVMH, and other large companies have hired chief metaverse officers to capitalize on Web3 trends, but it's unclear how long they will be needed  —  Advertising giant Publicis Groupe SA introduced the newest member of its C-suite at a technology conference in Paris this year.
Dave Michaels / Wall Street Journal:
The FTC says Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy cannot avoid testifying in an investigation into Amazon's Prime program after the company pushed back against the request  —  Commissioners deny company's request to quash subpoenas and pare back investigation  —  Amazon vs. Walmart: How the Giants Look to Each Other to Best Each Other
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen says Amazon Prime's first Thursday NFL game averaged 13.03M viewers while Amazon says it had 15.3M viewers; Amazon guaranteed advertisers 12.5M  —  Nielsen says 13 million viewers watched the Sept. 15 contest on Prime Video and local over-the-air affiliates.
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
A Meta-commissioned report from BSR details censorship and “unintentional bias” allegations against Palestinians during Israel's Gaza Strip attacks in May 2021  —  Facebook and Instagram's speech policies harmed fundamental human rights of Palestinian users during a conflagration …
Moneycontrol:
WhatsApp confirms that Manesh Mahatme, who led its payments business in India, left the company after 17 months; a source says Mahatme plans to rejoin Amazon  —  Mahatme's resignation comes at a time when WhatsApp's mobile payments business has failed to take off in a significant fashion in India
More: Inc42 Media and ReutersThanks:@tsuvik
Michael Kan / PCMag:
Ookla says download and upload speeds for SpaceX's Starlink have seen a sharp drop from Q1 to Q2 globally, amid network congestion due to soaring popularity  —  Median download speeds for Starlink users in the US reached only 62.53Mbps during the second quarter, a significant decrease from 90.55Mbps in Q1, according to Ookla.
Tweets: @karlbode
Brandy Betz / CoinDesk:
Estonia-based 3Commas, an automated crypto trading and portfolio management service, has raised a $37M Series B  —  The CEO of crypto custodian Copper also led the round for the trading bot-driven ecosystem.  —  3Commas, an automated crypto trading bot platform, has raised $37 million …
Ionut Ilascu / BleepingComputer:
A Python directory traversal vulnerability disclosed in August 2007, but never patched, likely affects 350K+ open-source projects and can lead to code execution  —  A vulnerability in the Python programming language that has been overlooked for 15 years is now back in the spotlight …
Sheena Vasani / The Verge:
Instagram is working on a feature to protect users from receiving unsolicited nude photos in their DMs; Meta says the tech won't let the company view the photos  —  Instagram is working on a way to protect users from receiving unsolicited nude photos in their DMs.

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More News

Diane Bartz / Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Esteban L. Hernandez / Axios:
Margi Murphy / Bloomberg:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
NetBlocks: