US judge rules in favor of T-Mobile-Sprint merger, the final hurdle for the deal; Sprint's stock rises 70%+
- A U.S. District judge ruled in favor of Sprint's $26 billion deal to merge with T-Mobile. — The ruling clears one of the final hurdles for the deal, which still can't close until …
US DOJ charges four Chinese intelligence officers with hacking Equifax; the breach was disclosed in 2017 and exposed financial records of 150M Americans
Federal prosecutors announced charges Monday against four Chinese intelligence officers for hacking the credit-reporting giant Equifax …
Sources: CIA secretly owned Crypto AG, the leading supplier of encryption systems globally, and could read allies' and adversaries' communications for decades
For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.
Microsoft shows how containerized and dual-screen apps will work in Windows 10X with a new emulator and SDK and also refreshes its Android-based Duo SDK
Microsoft is delivering its promised Windows 10X emulator and SDK, plus a refresh of its Android-based Duo SDK as its next milestones along its dual-screen device path.
Google's HR head, Eileen Naughton, to step down from her role amid rising employee anger over Google's handling of sexual harassment claims and staff protests
Google's head of human resources, Eileen Naughton, will step down later this year amid rising tensions between the company's top executives and rank and file employees.
Nielsen: streaming makes up 19% of US TV watching, with Netflix comprising 31% of streaming on TVs, followed by 21% on YouTube, 12% on Hulu, and 8% on Amazon
Netflix is big and it's getting bigger. And we're not just watching it on our phones and tablets: That dominance translates …
Sources detail how popular email apps like Edison, Slice, and Cleanfox scrape users' inboxes, using harvested data to power market research products
The popular Edison email app, which is in the top 100 productivity apps on the Apple app store, scrapes users' email inboxes …
Microsoft backtracks on forcibly installing the Bing extension in Chrome for Office 365 ProPlus enterprise customers and changing the default search engine
Sanity prevails: Microsoft is no longer planning to automatically deploy its Microsoft Search in Bing browser extension to Office 365 ProPlus users.
Sources: YouTube is considering a competitor to Amazon and Apple TV channels for accessing premium video subscriptions from other companies
YouTube is sending signals that it wants to become a destination site for every part of the TV universe. — The Google-owned video giant …
Google partners with non-profit Defending Digital Campaigns to offer its Advanced Protection tools, including Titan keys, to US political campaigns for free
Candidates can also get trained up on how to use Advanced Protection to keep their accounts safe.
Search warrant reveals how Apple uses hashes of previously identified child abuse images to flag, evaluate, and, if needed, intercept emails
Apple is well known for the secretive ways it sometimes operates, whether that's in protecting its iOS platform or how it deals with egregious criminals …
Sources: Snapchat will launch tools and custom content around mental health and wellness in a few months, including a search tool surfacing helpful resources
Snapchat is launching a new set of tools and custom content around mental health and wellness, sources tell Axios.
MWC bans visitors from China's Hubei province and will require those who have been to China prove they were outside the country for 14 days before the event
Brian Heater / TechCrunch :
Shippeo, which works on improving supply chain visibility by digitizing freight transport, raises €20M Series B led by NGP Capital and ETF Partners
Shippeo, the French startup working in supply chain visibility, has raised a €20 million Series B round, led by NGP Capital …
To challenge Netflix and tap Culver City's deep entertainment resources, Amazon, Apple, and HBO are moving into vast office and production spaces in the city
- They set up shop in California town to be where the talent is — Spending billions on content, they fuel a development frenzy
Varo Money says it has received FDIC approval for federal deposit insurance, bringing it closer to a national bank charter, a first for a fintech startup
Felix Salmon / Axios :
Research: in 2019, payments to release files from ransomware attacks averaged ~$84K in Q4, more than double the Q3 average, and jumping to $191K in December
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times :
Samsung shows off the unannounced Galaxy Z Flip in an Oscars ad, ahead of its Unpacked keynote, with small print that says a crease on the main screen is normal
Dieter Bohn / The Verge :
Direct-to-consumer retailer Brandless shuts down, becoming the first company backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund to do so
Good morning and welcome back to Merger Week. Tom Maxwell / Input : Brandless is shutting down after two years and $300 million invested Miles Kruppa / Financial Times : SoftBank-backed Brandless cuts...
Apple joins the FIDO Alliance, an open industry association which promotes the U2F authentication standard and helps reduce the over-reliance on passwords
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors :
Sirius XM invests $75M in SoundCloud in exchange for a minority stake and two seats on the board
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter :
Sony paid ~$229M, mostly in cash, for Insomniac Games according to Sony's latest financial report; Sony acquired Insomniac in fall 2019
Ryan Gilliam / Polygon :
MoEngage, which helps firms better understand their customers and improve their engagement, raises $25M Series C led by Eight Roads Ventures
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Impala, a startup looking to update legacy hotel management systems with a modern API, raises $20M Series B led by Lakestar with Latitude Ventures participating
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
Vezeeta, which operates a free medical search service in the Middle East and Africa with info about medical practices, raises $40M Series D led by Gulf Capital
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch :
Source: Alphabet quietly moved Jigsaw, a tech incubator that makes tools to curb online misinformation, back under Google last month
Nick Bastone / The Information :
India's proposed data protection bill, which intends to ban re-identification of user data without consent, could criminalize the work of security researchers
Lukasz Olejnik / Wired :
The median Series A deal size of US-based startups was $8.6M between 2018 and late January 2020, according to an analysis of 2,539 Series A rounds in the US
Jason D. Rowley / Crunchbase News :
In a letter to the EU competition commissioner, 34 companies including TripAdvisor and Expedia claim Google unfairly promoted its holiday rental search engine
Javier Espinoza / Financial Times :
On Monday, Bloomberg's campaign asked hundreds of tech leaders over a conference call to refer their most talented staff to its election operation in New York
Theodore Schleifer / Vox : Tweets: @teddyschleifer Tweets: Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer : NEWS: Mike Bloomberg's campaign huddled with hundreds of Silicon Valley leaders on a Monday call to ask ...
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.