Google announces a licensing program to pay publishers for content for a new news product, launching later this year, as part of the Google News Initiative
In a major departure from its long-standing practice of not paying publishers directly to distribute their work …
Wirecard collapses and files for insolvency facing an almost complete wipeout; source says creditors are owed nearly $4B
Douglas Busvine, Jörn Poltz, Arno Schuetze — BERLIN/MUNICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German payments company Wirecard collapsed on Thursday after disclosing …
Michael Hawley, whose work at MIT Media Lab helped lay the groundwork for IoT, and who helped Steve Jobs and Larry Page write commencement speeches, dies at 58
A man of manifold interests, his achievements ranged from developing ideas behind the so-called Internet of Things to publishing the world's biggest book.
Google photos gets a big redesign with a new Places view, Recent Highlights feature in Memories, a Things feature with photos related to users' interests, more
Plus, more features designed to help you rediscover your old photos — After five years as the dominant solution …
SoftBank's Masayoshi Son steps down from Alibaba's board, a post he had held since 2005
- Son steps down as Alibaba director, a post he held since 2005 — Jack Ma is also leaving SoftBank's board after 13 years — SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son ended …
DOJ has objected to Facebook and Google's 8,000-mile cable to Hong Kong, claiming it offers “unprecedented opportunities” for Chinese government espionage
The DOJ's opposition to Facebook and Google's 8,000-mile cable to Hong Kong highlights how physical infrastructure is as contentious as the virtual world.
Amazon forms Counterfeit Crimes Unit, made up of former federal prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts, to fight counterfeiters on its site
Amazon has formed an internal “Counterfeit Crimes Unit” to bolster its fight against knock-off products on Amazon.com, as the company seeks to show customers …
Google says it will auto-delete location and search data by default for new users after 18 months, as part of a broader expansion of its privacy options
A compromise between privacy and ad-targeting data — On Wednesday, Google announced broad changes in its default data practices for new users …
In January, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man's arrest for a crime he did not commit, in what may be the first known case of its kind
Kashmir Hill / New York Times :
Hey opens its email service to everyone and says Apple has approved its update with proposed changes to meet App Store guidelines
The $99-per-year email app no longer needs an invite to be used — Hey — the new email service from Basecamp that's been the subject of the latest fight …
AWS announces Honeycode, a cloud-based tool that it hopes will help non-coders build apps
- Amazon already leads the cloud infrastructure market, and now it's expanding its cloud product lineup with a tool for people who don't code. — The Honeycode service will compete with offerings …
The DOJ says it's charging Julian Assange in a superseding indictment with recruiting and conspiring with hackers affiliated with LulzSec and Anonymous
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged in a superseding indictment …
Boston passes an ordinance to ban government use of facial recognition, with minor caveats, joining cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and Cambridge
Boston joined cities like San Francisco, Oakland, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Wednesday in passing a vote to ban facial recognition technology for municipal use.
Google makes its ARCore Depth API available for developers on Android and Unity to build AR experiences
ARCore is Google's SDK for creating augmented reality experiences on Android and iOS. On Android devices, it's delivered as part of the Google Play Services for AR app.
Sources say the DOJ has made the antitrust inquiry into Google its top priority and the case is moving swiftly, spurred by the personal interest of AG Barr
Attorney General William Barr's attention to the Justice Department investigation shows the high stakes for the agency and for him. Tweets: @eisingerj , @b_fung , and @charlie_savage Tweets: Jesse Eis...
Sony launches a bug bounty program for the PS4, the PlayStation Network, and other Sony properties, paying from $100 to $50K+ for critical PS4 vulnerabilities
Sony will pay security researchers for bugs in the PlayStation 4 gaming console, its operating system, official PS4 accessories …
Facebook says it is globally rolling out a notification screen warning users if they try to share content that's more than 90 days old
Facebook announced Thursday that it would introduce a notification screen warning users if they try to share content that's more than 90 days old.
Inside DayLife Army, a social media cult, spun off from a Facebook group, that seduces young people with empty promises of a better world
The DayLife Army always seemed like a troll. Then it became a nightmare. — started with a tweet. In the fall of 2013, Matthew had recently turned 18 … Tweets: @judyberman , @charlottejee , @adhoce...
ScaleFactor, which developed a financial SaaS for automating bookkeeping tasks and raised ~$100M in 12 months, is shutting down after COVID-19 decimated sales
By the end of last year, software startup ScaleFactor had emerged as a buzzy financial services company, raising $100 million …
Judge rules that Rep. Devin Nunes cannot sue Twitter for defamation over @DevinCow account, agrees with Twitter that it is protected by Section 230 in this case
Kate Irby / The Fresno Bee :
TikTok launches a new site, TikTok for Business, as a home for marketing products and resources and launches a new AR ad format to rival Snapchat
TikTok is announcing to advertisers that it's open for business. The company is today officially introducing a new brand and platform called … See also Mediagazer
Comcast is the first ISP to join Firefox's Trusted Recursive Resolver program to deploy encrypted DNS lookups on the Firefox browser
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica :
Pipe, which helps SaaS companies turn their monthly or quarterly subscriptions into upfront cash flow, announces $60M seed extension led by Fin VC
Christine Hall / Crunchbase News :
Valence, a LinkedIn-type social network, launches to connect Black founders and VCs, including Accel, Sequoia, GGV, USV, Greylock, and CapitalG
A new platform launches today to make connections between Black founders and a select group of top-tier venture capitalists …
Denver-based DispatchHealth, which helps patients in 19 US cities request in-home care via its app and website, raises ~$136M Series C led by Optum Ventures
Nick Greenhalgh / AmericanInno :
Slack launches Connect, letting up to 20 organizations communicate in a single Slack channel, currently available to paying customers
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat :
Hopin, a London-based startup developing virtual events technology, raises $40M Series A led by IVP with Salesforce Ventures and others participating
This morning Hopin, a London-based startup building virtual events technology, announced that it has raised a $40 million Series A led by IVP.
SevenRooms, which provides guest management software to restaurants, hotels, and other public venues, raises $50M Series B from Providence Strategic Growth
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Stories from tech workers who are women, people of color, and LGBTQ-identifying, describe discrimination, microaggressions, feelings of isolation, and more
Los Angeles Times : Tweets: @jmbooyah , @ekp , @csforca , @miscadooch , @danbeucke , @alexpadilla4ca , @cdiaz916 , @scrivenix , @latimes , @latimes , @jeffbercovici , @jmbooyah , and @jmbooyah Tweets...
Tencent will buy Iflix, a Southeast Asian streaming company that operates in 13 countries; sources say Iflix's brand will still be used for at least 6-12 months
Patrick Frater / Variety :
Apple's Identifier for Advertisers, critical to tracking mobile ad spend, will become opt-in with iOS 14, a privacy boon for users and a big loss for marketers
zero attribution for users who do not *opt in*. Prices are going to go way up for bad traffic. It risks killing the app install/UA market as it exists today in terms of scale and effectiveness. @priva...
Sources: Facebook's head of trust and safety policy admits to a “trust deficit” on a call with 200+ advertisers, as the company tries to stem an ad boycott
not the people checking the product every day. https://twitter.com/... Matthew Garrahan / @mattgarrahan : A leading Facebook exec has admitted the company is suffering from a “trust deficit” as brands...
Sources: California AG plans to seek an injunction as soon as today to force Uber and Lyft to reclassify drivers as employees under AB5 before the case is heard
whether it's paying a legal wage or overtime, providing sick leave, or providing unemployment insurance.” @AGBecerra https://www.sfchronicle.com/ ... Xavier Becerra / @xavierbecerra : NEW: We're seeki...
A closer look at Apple's iOS 14 home screen, which finally adds widgets and other features like App Library while retaining the simplicity of iOS
Dieter Bohn / The Verge : Tweets: @backlon Tweets: Dieter Bohn / @backlon : In today's Processor (newsletter and video!) a deep dive into the home screen changes in iOS 14. Apple waited YEARS to add ...
Sources and documents detail a months-long cyberstalking and harassment campaign by members of eBay's security team against those behind the ECommerceBytes blog
Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @kadhim , @nongaap , @abihabib , @gzuckerman , @kyweise , @rebeccaballhaus , @roncharles , @karissabe , @daviduberti , @harrymccracken , @arawnsley , @harrymccracken , @...
An inside account of the security practices at Maersk leading up to and after the notPetya malware attack in 2017 and lessons learned from the recovery efforts
good luck with that. Also, yes to MFA but PHS + SSO > ADFS (like seriously) https://twitter.com/...
Instagram expands its TikTok rival, Reels, to France and Germany, after its 2019 Brazil debut, reworking the sharing model to be more public and less ephemeral
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Austin-based OJO Labs, which uses machine and human intelligence to personalize property recommendations, raises $62.5M led by Wafra
Christine Hall / Crunchbase News :
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.