Epic has introduced a new direct payment option in Fortnite on iOS and Android to get around app store fees and says it “will pass along the savings to players”
Plus, V-bucks get permanently discounted — Today, Epic announced the Fortnite “mega drop,” …
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and others partner to scenario-plan for the last three months before US Election Day, including slow election results
Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major social media companies are working together to scenario-plan for the last three months …
Sources: Apple will launch “Apple One” tiered subscription bundles, with Music, TV+, News+, and a new virtual fitness service, as early as October
Apple Inc. is readying a series of bundles that will let customers subscribe to several of the company's digital services …
Sources: Apple, Disney, and others participated in a White House call over the potential WeChat ban, arguing it could undermine their competitiveness in China
Companies including Apple, Disney and Walmart participate in call with White House over action against China's most important app
Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10 for $1,399, with preorders starting today in the US
Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10th, priced from $1,399. After months of Microsoft executives teasing …
Lyft joins Uber in saying it will pull out of California if forced to re-classify drivers as employees
The companies say they can't afford to classify drivers as employees — Lyft said it would shut down operations in California if forced to classify drivers as employees …
Facebook officially launches a Voting Information Center on Facebook and Instagram, with state-by-state information on how to register and vote
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch :
Intel offers a first look at its next-gen Tiger Lake processors and Xe graphics, both of which promise higher performance and lower power consumption
Architecture Day 2020 offers a preview of Intel's future — Intel's Architecture Day 2020 brought a first look at the company's upcoming …
A Weibo survey asking users to choose between WeChat and iPhones drew 1.2M responses, with ~95% saying they would rather give up their devices
- Ban on Chinese apps may render iPhone “electronic trash” — WeChat is instrumental to most China residents' everyday lives
Researchers say a now-patched Alexa vulnerability could have been exploited to hand over users' personal data, voice recordings, banking data history, and more
Subdomains belonging to the service were found to be harboring CORS errors and vulnerable to XSS attacks.
Lyft reports Q2 revenue of $339M, above expectations but down 61% YoY, as active riders drop 60% YoY to 8.7M; revenue per active rider was $39.06, down 2% YoY
Lora Kolodny / CNBC :
Twitter launches API v2, the first complete rebuild of its API since 2012, in a bid to improve relations with third-party developers
Wooing developers with a new API — Twitter is making it easier for businesses, academics, and third-party developers to build on its platform with the launch of its API v2 today.
Coinbase says it will offer fiat loans to US retail customers, backed by as much as 30% of a customer's bitcoin holdings, in 17 states this fall
Coinbase will allow U.S. retail customers to borrow fiat loans against as much as 30% of their bitcoin holdings in the fall, the San Francisco-based exchange announced Wednesday.
Israel says it thwarted an attack on its defense industry by North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus, but researchers say classified data was likely stolen
Israel says the attack was thwarted, but a cybersecurity firm says it was successful. Some officials fear that classified data stolen …
Sources: ByteDance has been in talks with India's Reliance for investment in TikTok's India operations since late last month, after India banned the app in June
Chinese giant ByteDance is engaging with India's Reliance Industries Limited, the parent firm of telecom giant Jio Platforms …
Hands-on with a non-functioning Surface Duo prototype, which has two 5.6-inch OLED screens forming a 8.1-inch display, bound together by a unique hinge
Scott Stein / CNET :
Google, YouTube, Twitter, and Snap introduce election-related initiatives to provide verified information on topics like voter registration and where to vote
A look at how Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs' bet on making Toronto a smart city failed, driven by intense resistance from residents and civic leaders
Alphabet bet big in Toronto. Toronto didn't play along. — October 2017, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke … Tweets: @dlberes , @ozm , @yeahyeahyasmin , @ozm , @davegershgorn , @longform ...
People close to Amazon's gaming efforts claim Amazon is struggling to make good games because its structure and culture aren't optimized for creative endeavors
Why is Amazon having so much trouble making good video games? Because Amazon's internal structure and culture are optimized … Tweets: @andyburns , @zhugeex , @sethschiesel , and @yangcliu Tweets: And...
Blend, which develops a SaaS platform for lenders, raises $75M Series F led by Canapi Ventures at a valuation of ~$1.7B, up more than 70% from a year earlier
QAnon followers are hijacking #SaveTheChildren, an anti-human-trafficking movement, and joining parenting Facebook Groups in order to gain new followers
whether people realize it or not Daniel Funke / PolitiFact : QAnon, Pizzagate conspiracy theories co-opt #SaveTheChildren Erica Evans / Deseret News : How a recent surge in concern about child sex tra...
Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek returned to Twitch on Wednesday, following Mixer's shutdown; his return stream attracted ~500K active viewers at its peak
Nick Statt / The Verge :
Facebook rolls out an interstitial screen that pops up when users try sharing COVID-19 content, showing the source and date created, adding much-needed friction
in this case, by adding friction & context via simple interstitials: https://twitter.com/... Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy : Facebook says it's rolling out “a global notification screen to give people m...
Canalys: 31.9M smartphones shipped in the US in Q2, down 5% YoY; Apple shipped 15M iPhones in the US, up 10% YoY, and Samsung shipped 7.4M units, down 1% YoY
Abrar Al-Heeti / CNET :
Stream, whose APIs enable product teams to build chat and activity feeds for their applications, raises $15M Series A led by GGV Capital
Earlier this year, the founders of Stream, a five-year-old, 60-person startup with offices in Boulder and Amsterdam, weren't feeling so great about their prospects.
Sources: Airbnb reported Q2 revenue of $335M, down from $842M in Q1 and over $1B in Q2 2019, as its adjusted loss rose to $400M, up from $341M in Q1
Bloomberg :
Sources: ByteDance's Indonesian news aggregator app BaBe censored content perceived as critical of the Chinese government between 2018 and mid-2020
Fanny Potkin / Reuters :
Reify Health, which makes cloud-based tools for clinical trial research, raises $30M Series B led by Battery Ventures, bringing total raised to almost $40M
Christine Hall / Crunchbase News :
Cisco reports Q4 revenue of $12.2B, down 9% YoY, net income of $2.6B, up 19% YoY, says more than half its revenue is from software and services
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet :
Sources: Palantir is planning to go public through a direct listing of its shares in late September
not to mention in more volatile markets. @rileycnbc : ...and new this evening: Palantir planning a direct listing for late September. The company is in the process of raising $961 million, $550 millio...
Keeper Security, which offers software to prevent password-related data breaches and cyberthreats, is raising a $60M round led by Insight Partners
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat : Tweets: @zackwhittaker and @zackwhittaker Tweets: Zack Whittaker / @zackwhittaker : Friendly reminder that Keeper Security once sued a cybersecurity reporter over one of ...
Square says it is testing a short-term loan feature, giving between $20 and $200, repayable over a month, with around 1,000 users
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch :
Apple's pledge to go carbon neutral by 2030 relies in large part on its Taiwanese suppliers TSMC and Foxconn, which use around 90% non-renewable sources
Bloomberg :
London-based Habito, which offers mortgages online, raises £35M Series C led by Augmentum Fintech, SBI Group and mojo.capital
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch :
Source: Facebook and Snap recently approached Dubsmash, a lip-syncing video app, about an acquisition, with discussions including a possible nine-figure deal
Alex Heath / The Information :
Profile of Jim Hood, who tussled with Google during his 16 years as Mississippi's AG and, sources say, is now advising the AG-led multistate antitrust probe
Leah Nylen / Politico : Tweets: @ruralchrislee Tweets: Chris Lee / @ruralchrislee : Glad to see former Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood fighting the good fight. “Unfailingly polite in his soft S...
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