Techmeme
February 20, 2024, 7:30 PM

Top News

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Messaging app Signal finally rolls out usernames in beta, letting users conceal their phone numbers; Signal still requires inputting a phone number to register  —  We tested the end-to-end encrypted messenger's new feature aimed at addressing critics' most persistent complaint.  Here's how it works.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Authorities arrest two LockBit operators in Poland and Ukraine, issue arrest warrants and a decryption tool, seize 200+ crypto wallets; US indicts two Russians  —  Law enforcement arrested two operators of the LockBit ransomware gang in Poland and Ukraine, created a decryption tool …
Bloomberg:
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Walmart agrees to acquire TV maker Vizio for $2.3B, or $11.50/share, to boost its ad business via Vizio's SmartCast OS, which lets users stream content with ads  —  Walmart's acquisition of Vizio for $2.3BN was confirmed today.  The European Commission rejected Amazon's acquisition of iRobot for $1.7BN.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Gary Geaves, Apple's longtime VP in charge of acoustics, is stepping down, replaced by Ruchir Davé, adding to the hardware engineering group's upheaval  —  - Apple acoustics chief Gary Geaves is stepping down from role  — Executive has been key to development of AirPods and HomePod
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple debuts a monthly Apple Music Replay, offering insights like total listening time, top songs, artists, and albums, and releases 2024's Replay Mix playlist  —  Apple today updated the Apple Music Replay experience, available at replay.music.apple.com, with visualizations of your favorite music habits …
Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo:
Demos from AI chip maker Groq go viral after the company's inference engine shows remarkable speeds running LLMs, including with real-time conversations  —  Two AI companies are claiming the science fiction term, “Grok,” as their own, but only one is turbocharging the AI industry.
John Voorhees / MacStories:
A look at ways to play games on Apple Vision Pro: spatial and iPad App Store games, streaming via MirrorPlay for PS5, NDI, Macs, browsers like Nexus⁺, and more  —  The lack of any kind of port significantly limits the type of gaming you can do in the Apple Vision Pro - or does it?
More: 9to5Mac, iMore, Six Colors, and The Verge
Threads: @viticciMastodon: @viticci@mastodon … and @johnvoorhees@mastodon …Forums: r/apple
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Samsung details its Auracast, 360 Audio, and Auto Switch features, rolling out to Buds 2, Buds FE, the S24 series, Neo QLED and OLED TVs, Book laptops, and more  —  None are appearing on Samsung's devices for the first time, but we now know how broadly they'll be supported across the lineup.

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
Getting things done (GTD): Streamlining productivity  —  Getting Things Done (GTD) is more than just a productivity method; it's a framework designed to help you regain control of your workload, reduce stress, and allow you to focus on what truly matters.
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
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