Australia launches a contact-tracing app that records digital handshakes between smartphones via Bluetooth, seeing 1.1M signups within a few hours
- Software records digital handshake between smartphones — Tracking app needs to overcome privacy concerns to succeed
Sources: Apple pushes back production of flagship iPhones coming later this year by about a month, as the pandemic weakens demand and disrupts manufacturing
The phones, some with 5G connectivity, will vary in price and come in three sizes — Apple Inc. is pushing back the production ramp …
Germany says it will adopt a decentralized approach to digital contact tracing backed by Apple and Google, abandoning its home-grown alternative
Germany becomes the newest to sign on to #decentralized tracing apps! Check out the coverage via @Reuters https://www.reuters.com/... Andrus Ansip / @ansip_eu : Germany changed course on Sunday over w...
WhatsApp says there has been a 70% reduction in the number of highly forwarded messages sent after its new forwarding limit was enforced
Earlier this month, WhatsApp limited the number of times a frequently forwarded message can be sent further to only one chat at a time
Interviews and documents show Europe's GDPR rules have been stymied by a lack of enforcement, poor funding, limited staff resources, and tech companies stalling
Nearly two years in, there has been little enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation, once seen as ushering in a new era.
Microsoft has patched a vulnerability in Teams that could have been exploited by hackers to hijack accounts by sending malicious links or GIFs
Microsoft has addressed a vulnerability that could have been exploited by hackers to hijack Microsoft Teams accounts by sending specially crafted links …
Baseless YouTube conspiracy videos, embraced by CCP media and uploaded to WeChat, Weibo, claim a US Army reservist started the pandemic and are ruining her life
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place … Tweets: @cnni , @hadas_gold , @seldo , @cnnnewsroom , @jesselehrich , and @jjma...
How Magic Leap failed to miniaturize tech used in its early, stunning demos, which wooed high-profile investors, leading to an unspectacular consumer product
Jon Evans is the CTO of the engineering consultancy HappyFunCorp; the award-winning author of six novels, one graphic novel …
US startups and big companies like PwC are making contact tracing apps to track staff in reopened facilities, some incorporating data from Bluetooth wearables
Tools could track movement of office workers to within a few centimetres — Companies including PwC, the global consultancy …
Reliance and Facebook pilot JioMart e-commerce orders via WhatsApp in three cities in Maharashtra, India, partnering with 1,200 grocery stores
JioMart, an e-commerce venture run by India's most valued firm, is testing an “ordering system” on WhatsApp, teasing the first peek …
Many tech startups are successfully applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, often to extend their runways despite already raising large sums
Some young companies have turned to the government loans not for day-to-day survival but simply to buy useful time.
As the pandemic halts filming, ad agencies are increasingly turning towards digitally altered, deepfake-style ads that repurpose old footage for new uses
With the pandemic having shut down production, companies are asking ad agencies to create commercials made up of digitally altered footage. Tweets: @edbott , @tiffkhsu , @joshsternberg , @changeist , ...
Starbucks partners with Sequoia Capital China to co-invest in technology businesses in China
- Starbucks has struck a partnership with venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China to co-invest in technology businesses in the world's second-largest economy.
Source: Alibaba's e-commerce chief, Jiang Fan, is demoted over allegations of improper behavior; Jiang is a former Google engineer and a leading CEO candidate
Lulu Yilun Chen / Bloomberg :
DraftKings closed up 10% on Friday, its first day of trading after its $3.3B merger with sports betting platform SBTech and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp.
Noah Manskar / New York Post :
Canalys: Vivo overtakes Samsung in Q1 2020 to take second place in Indian smartphone sales with 19.9% market share; Xiaomi still leads with 30.6% market share
Amazon says it is testing a video conference system to verify the identities of new merchants, used by 1,000+ applicants in the US, UK, China, and Japan so far
Research: ~150 new domain registrations starting with “reopen”, and many ending with US place names, are tied to state GOP orgs and other conservative groups
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security :
Templafy, which lets employees create on-brand, legally compliant documents easily, raises $25M Series C led by Insight Venture, bringing total raised to ~$70M
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE :
Survey of 200 UK startups during the pandemic: 49% have frozen hiring, 43% have stopped online ads, 40% have under one year's runway, and 30% have cut salaries
Amy Lewin / Sifted :
A look at the ways medical professionals are using TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to combat COVID-19 misinformation and the challenges they face as influencers
Abby Ohlheiser / MIT Technology Review :
A look at video conferencing startups like Shindig, Remotion, and Whereby that are challenging the tech giants by focusing on niche features and services
Videoconferencing has gone from novelty to niche to necessity in record time. But while a handful of tech giants dominate, with Zoom …
DJs are turning to various livestream platforms to earn a living amid lockdowns, but artists who made the records they play aren't necessarily being compensated
and donating money—but it isn't anywhere near a reliable source of income for artists yet https://pitchfork.com/... See also Mediagazer
Profile of AT&T's blunt new CEO John Stankey, a company veteran facing dire challenges at the largest US telco and pay TV provider, even if HBO Max is a big hit
Bloomberg :
Airbnb says it will establish cleaning standards for rentals, offering guidance on the best practices for cleaning rooms and requiring 24 hours gaps for safety
Chris Woodyard / USA Today :
Codota, which offers an AI tool for developers to autocomplete strings of code, raises $12M Series A led by e.ventures, bringing its total raised to $16M
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Security firm ZecOps: iOS Mail app's old, unpatched bugs have been exploited against a US Fortune 500 firm, a Japanese telco exec, a journalist in Europe, more
Lily Hay Newman / Wired :
How manufacturers and e-commerce companies may invest in robots to help them adapt to social distancing, regular cleaning, and a possible worker shortage
Will Knight / Wired : Tweets: @anand1agarwal , @dan_rowinski , @billschrier , @darkjournalist , and @wired Tweets: Anand Agarwal / @anand1agarwal : Rethinking. Reframing. Re-evaluating. An interestin...
Profile of Ryan Petersen, CEO of freight logistics startup Flexport that raised $1.3B to date and is helping fight COVID-19 by fundraising and delivering PPE
Josh Constine / TechCrunch : Tweets: @thogge , @scottbelsky , @joshconstine , @paulg , @mgcardamone , @dflieb , @joshconstine , @joshconstine , and @joshconstine Tweets: Tyler Hogge / @thogge : this ...
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
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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.