Apple says HomePod smart speaker will be available to order starting Friday, January 26 in the US, UK, Australia and will arrive in stores February 9
Breakthrough Wireless Speaker Brings Advanced Audio Technologies Into Any Home for an Incredible Music Listening Experience
Facebook says social media has mixed effect on democracies: it gives many a voice but paves way for false news, foreign interference, echo chambers, harassment
Samidh Chakrabarti / Facebook :
Twitter COO Anthony Noto has resigned to become SoFi CEO, starting March 1
Noto joined Twitter in 2014 after a career on Wall Street — SoFi has been searching for a new leader since September — Twitter Inc. Chief Operating Officer Anthony Noto has resigned to accept the ...
By recognizing that it hurts democracy, an admission with little precedent among tech firms, Facebook bolsters the case against itself for users and regulators
Sometimes, it's bad for democracy — In October, I started writing a daily newsletter about Facebook and democracy.
HomePod's multi-room audio and stereo features will not be available at launch, will be enabled later this year via a free software update
Within the HomePod's pre-order date and launch announcement today, Apple confirmed that the smart speaker's multi-room audio and stereo features won't be making it into the device at launch.
Intel tells customers to stop deploying buggy Spectre/Meltdown patch, as it resulted in “higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior”
More problems from the massive processor vulnerability — Intel has a patching problem.
Netflix beats in Q4 with 8.3M new worldwide subs, vs 5M est., and almost 2M in US, vs 1.28M est.; revenue of $3.29B meets expectations; stock up 10%+
Netflix reeled in 8.3 million new streaming subscribers — including almost 2 million in the U.S. — handily beating Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Android 8.1 Speed Labels now show WiFi network speeds before connecting, helping decide between networks to join; admins can opt out of having speed displayed
Oreo was a bit of a lackluster update on first launch, but the mobile operating system is getting some nice new tricks with 8.1's updates.
DJI unveils $799 Mavic Air drone with 4K 30fps recording, 2,375 mAh battery, and up to 21 minute flight time, available for preorder today, ships January 28
DJI has taken the wraps off its latest drone, the DJI Mavic Air, slotting into the gap between the current Mavic Pro and the company's entry-level Spark.
Snap opens up ability to share select public Stories outside the app, via text or email, or to Twitter and Facebook
- Users will be able to share Stories to their linked social media accounts, or through text or email with a link to a webpage where people who don't have the app can view the message.
Google's Files Go Android app, which can delete all “good morning” images, a popular morning greeting in India, at once, has 10M+ downloads
The country, newly online, has become obsessed with sending cheery greetings from smartphones, causing head scratching in Silicon Valley
Acer announces $349 Chromebook Spin 11 with 360-degree hinge, 11.6-inch touchscreen, and USB-C, Chromebook 11 C732 with built-in LTE option, and Chromebox CXI3
And a tiny Chromebox — Acer has announced a new Chromebook called the Spin 11, a convertible design with a 360-hinge and 11.6-inch touchscreen.
Google quietly updates design of Gboard for iOS to make the GIF creation feature more accessible
Hey, Dieter — Gboard, Google's iOS and Android keyboard app, has quietly updated its design by moving its GIF-making button up next to the word suggestion bar.
DuckDuckGo launches revamped mobile apps and browser extensions with built-in tracker blocking available globally for Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari
Some major product news from veteran anti-tracking search engine DuckDuckGo: Today it's launched revamped mobile apps …
Tokyo-based bitFlyer, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, launches in Europe after receiving EU-wide payment institution license
BitFlyer, the Tokyo-based operator of one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, is expanding into Europe after receiving regulatory approval …
Linux creator Linus Torvalds criticizes Intel's “garbage” Spectre and Meltdown patches, saying they “do things that do not make sense”
Steve Ranger / ZDNet :
Investigation into the internal power struggle at Kaspersky Lab, which former staff say was won by managers with ties to Russian intelligence
Kaspersky Lab is under fire in the US over concerns that it could provide its clients' private — and at times secret — information to the Russian government. Tweets: @yashalevine Tweets: Yasha Levine ...
India's biometric ID project Aadhaar has helped neither with welfare nor against corruption and created new problems, exposing people's personal data to theft
if not of dying, at least of losing access to food, pensions or other benefits they sorely need.” http://twitter.com/... @newindianvoice : Operators threaten users with disconnection of service if the...
Sources: Coinbase crossed $1B in revenue in 2017, sends reminder to investors that it does not allow trading of its stock on secondary markets
just on Coinbase — $200b last year? And nearly all of that would have been in Q4. Am I reading @teddyschleifer story right Bitcoin people? Missing other rev sources? http://www.recode.net/... Modest P...
Rupert Murdoch suggests Facebook pay carriage fees similar to the cable TV model to recognize trusted publishers
How to Stay Safe from Killer Robots? Stand In a Puddle Siladitya Ray / MediaNama : Rupert Murdoch wants Facebook to pay publishers for their content Todd Spangler / Variety : Rupert Murdoch: Facebook ...
Montana governor signs executive order barring data discrimination, the first such attempt by any state governor to uphold net neutrality since FCC repeal
Harper Neidig / The Hill :
Instagram now supports GIFs in Stories through partnership with GIPHY
Ankit Chawla / NDTV Gadgets 360 :
Verizon reports net income of of $18.8B in Q4, up 5% YoY, on revenue of $34B, and adds 1.2M net customers in Q4 as its 2017 net adds grew 1.8%
Larry Dignan / ZDNet :
SEC chairman: public companies pivoting overnight to blockchain tech to capitalize on hype are being scrutinized, and poor legal advice is being given on ICOs
Michelle Price / Reuters :
Study of 372+ ICOs shows that ~$400M of the total $3.7B funds raised to date have been stolen, with phishing as the most widely used hacking technique
Apple launches Apple Music for Artists, a dashboard to provide musicians with insights into their fans' listening and purchasing habits, currently in beta
Melinda Newman / Billboard :
Letgo adds housing listings to its popular used goods marketplace app
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Windows VR headset and motion controller bundles from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are discounted between 39% and 52% on Amazon
Ben Lang / Road to VR :
Global VC funding in 2017 was highest in a decade at $155B, VC investment in AI doubled to $12B YoY, and VC funding in Asia reached $48B+
KPMG : Tweets: @jasonlk and @jasonlk Tweets: Jason M. Lemkin / @jasonlk : “Global median deal size rose for every deal stage in 2017” ... but ... “Global first-time VC financing fell for the third st...
AltspaceVR CEO Eric Romo joins Facebook months after selling his startup to Microsoft, will join the Social VR team
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch :
Report: in US, time spent online increased from 9.4 to 23.6 hours per week since 2000; 84% now use phone to access the internet compared to 23% in 2010
Ian Chaffee / USC News :
Profile of London-based Mustafa Suleyman, the left-leaning liberal activist who cofounded DeepMind, the AI lab Google acquired for a reported £400M in 2014
Sam Shead / Business Insider :
Google says it will launch AI research center in France, expand its office there, and debut new Google Hubs with local partners to teach digital literacy skills
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
Data virtualization startup Primary Data, which had raised ~$100M total, is shutting down
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch :
Coinbase hires former Twitter executive Tina Bhatnagar as its VP of Operations and Technology
Two of Microsoft's official distributors in Russia have imposed restrictions on sales of Microsoft software to 200+ Russian firms, to comply with US sanctions
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