Facebook to buy Giphy, keep its branding, integrate with Instagram; sources say the deal is worth ~$400M, while Giphy was valued at ~$600M in its latest round
Facebook has agreed to buy Giphy, the popular platform of sharable animated images, Axios has learned from multiple sources.
Facebook's purchase of Giphy gives FB insight into how and where gifs are shared outside of its own apps, including device IDs and keystrokes in Giphy tools
GIPHY joins Facebook's data collection arsenal — Facebook announced on Friday that it will buy Giphy, a popular GIF search engine …
US bans sales to Huawei of semiconductors and semiconductor designs made abroad using certain US software and technology
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday moved to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei Technologies from global chipmakers, in an action that could ramp up tensions with China.
Sources: DOJ and state AGs are likely to bring antitrust lawsuits against Google as soon as this summer, focusing on its ad business and search dominance
Both the federal and state investigations are focused on Google's ad business — WASHINGTON—Both the Justice Department and a group …
China signals it is ready to retaliate for US' Huawei ban by launching investigations or imposing restrictions on companies like Qualcomm, Cisco, and Apple
>> U.S. Delivers Another Blow to Huawei With New Tech Restrictions https://www.nytimes.com/... Paul Triolo / @pstasiatech : U.S. makers of semiconductors worry that the rules will slash their sales no...
Sources: Clubhouse raised a Series A round from a16z, which includes $10M in primary capital and at least $2M in secondary shares, at a $100M valuation
Clubhouse is a voice-based social media app with about 5,000 beta test users. Prospective listeners have to sign up for a waitlist via Google form …
NPD: consumer spending on video gaming in the US hit a record $10.86B between January and March, up 9% YoY, with sales from video game content up 11% to $9.58B
New numbers from NPD confirm what we've known for a while: the first quarter of 2020 was a very good one for gaming companies.
John Borthwick, one of Giphy's early investors and board members, describes how the Facebook deal came about and says talks began in late March
John Borthwick was one of Giphy's first believers. The company, which Facebook just bought for a reported $400 million, launched in 2013 out of Betaworks …
An overview of key challenges that need to be addressed to make Europe's various COVID-19 contact tracing apps interoperable for cross-border travel
A major question mark attached to national coronavirus contact-tracing apps is whether they will function when citizens of one country travel to another.
Forcing Facebook and Google to pay for news could lead to uncritical reporting on tech; better approaches would tackle roots of media woes, including ad markets
Exponent — as promised! — will be back tomorrow, talking about podcasting, Spotify, and working from home. — On to the update: Tweets: @raju , @jason_kint , @jarroddicker , @dkiesow , @mattyglesias ...
A deep dive into Sudan's 2019 internet shutdown, how telecom engineers disrupted the government's control over the internet, and the future of digital rights
How citizens, telecom employees, and activists in Sudan turned a battle for digital rights into a referendum on the government Tweets: @jacobkushner , @restofworld , @accessnow , @eileenguo , @gijnafr...
Singapore state investor Temasek joins Libra, along with cryptocurrency investor Paradigm and private equity firm Slow Ventures
Saheli Roy Choudhury / CNBC :
Spotify restores web player support for Safari after removing it in 2017
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors :
Conspiracy theories and misinformation about vaccines dominate Instagram's search results, and are made more visible by the app's recommendation algorithms
Instagram's efforts to curb health misinformation have done little to stem the flow of conspiracy theories and misinformation about vaccines. Tweets: @sachabaroncohen , @alfiekohn , @chelseaclinton , ...
The Pentagon argues that a proposal from satellite company Ligado to meld satellite spectrum with a terrestrial 5G IoT network would interfere with GPS signals
Marguerite Reardon / CNET :
The pandemic could accelerate consolidation in the scooter-sharing industry, as companies cut costs and lay off staff to cope with severe declines in ridership
Public transportation is on life support, as the pandemic makes people less inclined to want to cram themselves into underground metal tubes … Tweets: @c_ehrlichman , @mikeelgan , @quan , and @riderep...
Kuo: Apple planning a 10.8-inch iPad in H2 2020 and a new iPad mini in H1 2021, predicts AR glasses with laminated lens in 2022 at the earliest
yes, I know these glasses don't exist to the outside world yet—I'm damn curious at how and what accessibility features are planned. Apple Watch, AirPods are one thing; putting something on your face i...
Amazon says it is aiming to gradually reopen its French warehouses starting May 19 as it finalizes an agreement with unions and work councils
Christian Lowe / Reuters :
Questions of interoperability loom as Western nations diverge in contract tracing approach, potentially impacting the efficacy of global health data sharing
Amrita Khalid / Quartz :
Microsoft Surface Earbuds review: great sound and practical touch controls, but they have reception issues if worn one at a time and are not ideal for exercise
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget :
Facebook's reluctance to fact-check conspiracy theories is based on an outdated “backfire” theory; experiments show fact-checks and debunkings are effective
a zombie theory from the research literature circa 2008 that has all but been abandoned since." https://www.wired.com/... Stephan Lewandowsky / @stworg : Very interesting piece by @EthanVPorter and @t...
Civil, which began with the intent to launch dozens of sites supported by a blockchain-based platform and the CVL token, fell short of fixing media funding woes
Allegra Hobbs / Patreon : Tweets: @studyhallxyz , @studyhallxyz , @dtunkelang , @harrysiegel , @jenniferbrandel , and @jason_pontin Tweets: @studyhallxyz : We are indeed in the “throw things at the w...
Foxconn reports profit decline of 89% YoY to $70M in Q1 with revenue down 12% YoY, as the coronavirus froze much of its China production and demand slumped
Debby Wu / Bloomberg :
Sources: India's antitrust watchdog is reviewing a complaint filed in mid-March alleging WhatsApp is abusing its dominant position by offering payment services
Sources: AppLovin paid ~$500M for mobile game developer Machine Zone, which was valued at ~$5B during its last funding round in 2016
Bloomberg :
Sources: Discord is in talks to raise new funds at a valuation of between $3B and $4B; the chat app was valued at $2B in December 2018
originally used only by gamers but adopted by book clubs, schools & other communities during the pandemic — is in talks to raise new funding at a valuation of >$3bn. Scoop w/ @Katie_Roof https://www.b...
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.