In crackdown, Twitter says it will limit reach of QAnon content and permanently suspend accounts violating policies, banning 7K+ QAnon accounts in last 2 weeks
Twitter announced on Tuesday it has begun taking sweeping actions to limit the reach of QAnon content and banned …
Slack files EU antitrust complaint against Microsoft, accusing it of unfairly bundling its rival app Teams with its Office 365 tools
Workplace messaging app says it is unfair for tech group to bundle Teams with Office 365 — The workplace messaging app Slack has filed a formal antitrust complaint …
Sources: Kevin Roose's tweets about Facebook stories with the highest engagement as per CrowdTangle worried the News Feed team, who considered them inaccurate
What news should people see when they come to Facebook? — In the old days, your answer might have been “whatever they want to see,” or even “who cares?” Tweets: @oliverdarcy , @johnwhegeman , @vivia...
Samsung announces Galaxy Z Flip 5G for $1,450, shipping August 7, available on AT&T and T-Mobile in the US
Samsung has officially announced the 5G version of its Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone. Called the Galaxy Z Flip 5G (naturally enough), the phone is nearly identical to its 4G predecessor.
Facebook adds an App Lock feature to Messenger on iPhone and iPad, as part of a number of privacy changes for Messenger including a Privacy section in settings
There's a new Privacy section in settings — Facebook now lets you add an extra layer of security when opening Messenger on an iPhone or iPad.
Facebook adds labels to voting-related posts from US politicians like Trump and Biden that say “Get official voting info” without fact checking the posts
it might even seem that Facebook is endorsing what Trump is saying and providing a path for more information. https://twitter.com/... Roger McNamee / @moonalice : FB's labeling of Trump's false and in...
Kuo: Apple is lining up periscope telephoto lens suppliers for the 2022 iPhone; periscope lenses allow manufacturers to provide higher optical zoom capabilities
Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo today released a new report detailing his research on which lens suppliers will begin providing parts for Apple in the coming years.
Facebook is creating new teams dedicated to studying and addressing potential algorithmic racial bias on its core platform and Instagram
Wall Street Journal :
US charges two Chinese nationals over a 10+ year hacking spree, alleging theft of terabytes of data, including vaccine secrets, from many orgs in 11 countries
U.S. prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals, said to be working for China's state intelligence bureau …
Sources: a small group of ByteDance's US investors are discussing the possibility of joining forces to buy a majority stake in TikTok
A small group of ByteDance's U.S. investors is discussing with the company's top management the possibility of joining forces to buy a majority stake in TikTok …
Fiat Chrysler says it has signed an “exclusive” deal with Waymo on self-driving tech, ending its 18-month relationship with Amazon-backed Aurora
Agreement will help Google sibling in attempt to bring its technology into the mainstream
Italy's antitrust authority says it's investigating Apple and Amazon, suspecting them of curbing Beats headphone sales by anyone other than official resellers
Italy's antitrust authority said it's investigating Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. after a local retailer complained they'd been banned …
Bangladesh's economy relies heavily on Facebook, with ~300K stores offering “F-Commerce” amid an absence of global e-commerce players and online payment options
In Bangladesh, there is no Amazon. There is no eBay. If you want to buy a dress or a crested finch from the comfort of your home, you have to use Facebook.
Snap reports Q2 revenue of $454M, up 17% YoY, vs $439.1M est., global DAUs of 238M, up 17% YoY, a net loss of $326M, up from $255M, and ARPU of $1.91, flat YoY
- Snap's stock price fell more than 8% on Tuesday after the company reported its second-quarter earnings.
NSCAI, a federal commission led by Eric Schmidt, recommends creation of a government-funded university to train students in skills like cybersecurity and AI
The Digital Service Academy would compete with Stanford and MIT — The U.S. government's approach of letting Silicon Valley drive …
AT&T told some customers their phones are not compatible with its new network, without explicitly saying the issue may not affect them until February 2022
Amid an economy-crushing pandemic, AT&T has decided that now is the best time to send a scaremongering email to some customers …
Microsoft launches Dataflex, a relational database for building low-code business Teams apps
Microsoft today launched Dataflex, a relational database that lets business developers create, deploy, and manage Power Platform apps and chatbots without leaving Microsoft Teams.
Profile of David Malan, a computer science professor who has embraced high production e-learning techniques on Harvard and MIT's online-learning platform, edX
Gabriel Guimaraes grew up in Vitória, Brazil, in a yellow house surrounded by star-fruit trees and chicken coops. Tweets: @nachiketmor and @_pablotrinidad_ Tweets: Nachiket Mor / @nachiketmor : If gov...
Spotify signs new licensing agreement with Universal, who will also be a partner for developing and testing services and tools Spotify hopes labels will pay for
Agreement includes label giant's sign-on to streamer's ‘two-sided marketplace’ where it envisions music companies paying for marketing and data tools
A breakdown of the “four internets”: the US, China, EU, and India, the latter being driven in large part by the powerhouse telecom network Jio
Manage your Stratechery subscription. — One of the more pernicious mistruths surrounding the debate about TikTok … Tweets: @marceloplima , @s8mb , @antoniogm , @rmantri , and @benedictevans Tweets: ...
Microsoft says it will now let third-party developers integrate apps into Teams video calls, including before, during, and after meetings
here's what's new in Microsoft 365 in July Tweets: Dion Hinchcliffe / @dhinchcliffe : Now @Microsoft is allowing 3rd-party apps to integrate with the @MicrosoftTeams meeting experience for the first t...
Misfits Market, an ecommerce site that sells “ugly” or misshapen produce, raises $85M Series B led by Valor Equity Partners, bringing total raised to $101.5M
Misfits Market, the ecommerce platform that sells ‘ugly’ produce (among other things), has today announced the close of an $85 million Series B financing round. Tweets: @counternotions Tweets: Kontra ...
Spotify launches video podcasts worldwide, starting with select creators, letting free and paid users seamlessly move between the video and audio versions
@spotifypodcasts layering video on top of audio/podcast content... def looks like YouTube content being woven into the Spotify UI. I bet they used @JoeRogan content in the prelaunch UI mocks! https://...
In resuming activity, MLB relies on several tech giants for help: iPads to examine play, Google Cloud to track stats, Sony audio to power artificial crowd noise
- Major League Baseball will look to Big Tech companies like Apple and Google to help with its shortened season that is scheduled to begin Thursday.
Google unveils G Suite security features including support in Gmail for BIMI standard for brands, new controls for Meet hosts, and ability to block Chat Rooms
Neil Kumaran / Google Cloud Blog :
OnePlus Buds review: truly wireless with AirPod-like rigid design, great battery life, aggressive $79 pricing, but custom controls are for OnePlus phones only
Chris Welch / The Verge :
Emily Kramer, a former VP at equity management service Carta who oversaw publication of Silicon Valley gender-pay gap research, sues Carta over unequal pay
My experience as Carta's lone woman executive Lucinda Shen / Fortune : The executive who led Carta's gender-pay gap study is suing over gender discrimination David Pierce / Protocol : Your tech compan...
Snap expects its growth to moderate through rest of Q3, as uncertainty around back-to-school season and operations of sports leagues impact advertising demand
Megan Graham / CNBC :
LinkedIn says it will cut ~960 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, as the pandemic is having a sustained impact on demand for its recruitment products
Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters :
Research: despite China's robust propaganda efforts on social media, China is not as successful at driving engagement compared to states like Russia and Iran
Stanford FSI : Tweets: @noupside and @holisticinfosec Tweets: Renee DiResta / @noupside : New work from our team out today! One of the things we have been studying at SIO is full-spectrum influence: ...
Dexterity, which is developing a full-stack service for collaborative warehouse robots, comes out of stealth with $56.2M in funding
Brian Heater / TechCrunch :
Shelf Engine, a startup that helps grocery stores reduce food waste with data-driven shelf stocking optimizations, raises $12M Series A from Initialized and GGV
great execution to date on a huge and high-impact opportunity to reduce food waste in the grocery supply chain https://techcrunch.com/...
Bangladesh's regulator orders telcos and ISPs to stop providing free access to social media in zero-rating deals, citing criminal misuse by some users
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Kantar: Amazon spent $6.9B on US advertising in 2019, making it the top US ad spender, ahead of Comcast's $6.1B, AT&T's $5.5B, P&G's $4.3B, and Disney's $3.2B
Sara Fischer / Axios : Tweets: @docjamesw Tweets: James Whittaker / @docjamesw : Ads fill the coffers of the bad, decent and excellent alike. Ads divorce revenue from product/content quality. You no ...
Instagram is testing a Personal Fundraiser feature on Android, first in the US, UK, and Ireland
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Taranis, an Israeli startup using aerial scouting and AI to identify crop issues, raises $30M Series C round from Singapore's Orion Fund and Vertex Growth
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg : Tweets: @technology Tweets: @technology : A former Israeli spy tapped venture capital funding for drones and artificial intelligence. Now his startup is about to change the w...
Wave.tv, which makes videos of offbeat sports for platforms like Snapchat and Facebook, raises $32M Series A, says at a valuation between $50M and $100M
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal : See also Mediagazer
Inside Citizen, a police scanner app whose usage has surged amid BLM protests, as it ponders monetization and continues to tweak its service to address flaws
Boone Ashworth / Wired : Tweets: @kimcrayton1 , @wired , @edzitron , @traceyfutures , @marika_writes_ , and @blackamazon Tweets: @kimcrayton1 : It is my goal to get more folx in TECH to adopt the #ca...
Sources: Snap has hired a law firm to lead an investigation into accusations of racism and sexism within the company, after former employees spoke out in June
Monica Chin / The Verge : Tweets: @grahamstarr Tweets: Graham Starr / @grahamstarr : SCOOP: Sources tell @paigeleskin that Snap has hired the law firm Williams Kastner to investigation allegations of...
Amazon says it spent $4.38M on US lobbying in Q2, a record for the company, which faces increasing antitrust scrutiny; filings show Facebook spent $4.83M in Q2
Bloomberg : Tweets: @quinnypig Tweets: HydroxyCoreyQuinn / @quinnypig : The weirdest thing to me is how inexpensive lobbying really is. I mean... this is “acquihire a failed 5-person startup” territo...
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.