Commerce Department announces that it will ban US downloads of and business transactions with TikTok and WeChat on Sunday
- The Commerce Department announced it will ban U.S. business transactions with China-owned social apps WeChat and TikTok on Sunday.
Apple says it will open its online store in India on September 23
Apple announced today that it plans to open its online store in India on September 23. The expansion will bring direct sales and an improved shopping experience to customers in the region for the fir...
Sources: ByteDance plans US IPO for new global TikTok business if Trump approves deal including Walmart and Oracle, which will take less than a 20% global stake
if Trump approves. No more carved out U.S. co. https://www.cnbc.com/... @cnbcnow : UPDATE: Treasury Dept. sent major term sheet revisions to Oracle & TikTok last night to specifically address security...
Google pulls India's Paytm app from Play Store ahead of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament; sources say for repeatedly violating its gambling policies
Google has pulled Indian financial services app Paytm from the Play Store for repeatedly violating its policies.
Sources: Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom has had preliminary talks about becoming TikTok's new CEO
a potentially epic “chip on the shoulder” chapter for his future book... https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ana Milicevic / @aexm : Ah, yes. They are required to hire a(nother) man na...
Sources: Steven Mnuchin is attempting to push through a TikTok deal enabling it to retain some Chinese ownership, despite security concerns from lawmakers
The deal would let the U.S. government approve the company's board and require TikTok to plan to go public
Twitter rolls out security features for high-profile political accounts, including enabling password reset protection and security prompts, ahead of US election
It's automatically turning on password reset protection — Twitter will start prompting high-profile political accounts …
A bug in the first public release of iOS 14 is making the default browser or mail app settings reset to Apple's Safari or Mail when the device reboots
One of the new features in iOS 14 is the ability to change the default email or browser app to a third-party alternative such as Chrome, Edge, or Outlook.
Epic says it will shut down Fortnite: Save the World on macOS on September 23rd
Epic and Apple's squabble will pull the plug on Mac support for this PvE version of ‘Fortnite.’ — Fortnite: Save the World — a castle building players-vs-zombies version of the game that preceded …
Source: an agreement between ByteDance and Oracle includes creation of an oversight board approved by the US government, and a continuous third-party audit
An agreement between TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance and Oracle includes a variety of concessions in an effort to make the deal palatable …
Apple's iOS 14.2 developer beta adds Music Recognition feature in Control Center, using Shazam tech for song identification of audio in apps and the environment
iOS 14.2 can identify songs that are playing inside your apps — Apple bought music recognition app Shazam in 2018 …
CEO of fraud detection startup NS8 arrested by the FBI on charges of misleading investors who invested $123M in his company, a deal in which he earned $17M+
The CEO of a startup that sold fraud prevention software is facing fraud charges after he was arrested Thursday by the FBI in Las Vegas.
German media: a patient died after ransomware attack forced a hospital to send them elsewhere; hackers backed down after police told them target was a hospital
A person in a life-threatening condition passed away after being forced to go to a more distant hospital due to a ransomware attack.
Sources: CFIUS sent letters to Epic, Riot, and other game companies asking for information about their data security protocols involving Tencent
- Cfius sent letters to gaming companies about data security — Move is part of heightened scrutiny on Chinese companies
PS5 will launch on Nov. 12 in North America, Japan, Mexico, AU, and NZ for $500 for Blu-Ray version and $400 for Digital Edition and then elsewhere on Nov. 19
Sony provided more details about the upcoming PlayStation 5. During a video event today, the company explained what you can expect in terms of a PS5 release date and price.
Twitter to restrict QAnon content posted by politicians; in July, it started removing QAnon tweets from Trends and recommendations, with 50% drop in impressions
Jack Brewster / Forbes : Tweets: @jbruce218 , @miambloom , @blackamazon , @jgreenblattadl , @ajf0626 , @jason_kint , @quinnypig , and @krisgoldsmith85 Tweets: Jack Brewster / @jbruce218 : NEW: Twitte...
EU is considering new rules that would likely require Apple to give competitors access to the NFC tech used for payments in its iPhones
- EU antitrust authorities are already investigating NFC access — Statement part of EU digital finance package to come next week
It makes no sense for two large and powerful companies like Apple and Google to completely control software distribution on mobile phones and it must stop
I have written extensively on this blog over the last decade and a half about the significant negative consequences …
A look at the alliance of convenience between Facebook and Trump admin as sources say Zuckerberg told employees that Facebook is likely to fare better under GOP
In late 2019, during one of Mark Zuckerberg's many trips to Washington to defend Facebook in front of Congress …Tweets:@juddlegum,@sarahfrier,@adamserwer,@juddlegum,@sarahfrier,@jasonschreier,@kurtwag...
Despite a shift to remote work amid COVID-19, Slack is having a hard time living up to its hype as layoffs/slowed hiring among its clients undercut its billings
In the war for the remote office, why isn't the hyped messaging app pulling a Zoom? — It's no secret that the arrival …
NBCU told Roku that it plans to force Roku to remove access to NBCU's TV Everywhere channels on its platform as early as this weekend, amid Peacock negotiations
Late Thursday, Comcast-owned NBCUniversal notified Roku that the media company plans to force Roku to remove access …
IBM launches Mayflower Autonomous Ship, an AI-powered research vessel off the coast of England, with a trans-Atlantic crossing scheduled in 2021
The research vessel pushed off from Plymouth, England; a nod to the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's historic trip.
US auto insurers are using AI to generate nearly instantaneous repair claims, using only photos of the damage, with COVID-19 spurring on adoption
Using algorithms, tech companies are helping insurers speed up the process after an accident, make it more accurate and keep estimators out of the field — a plus during a pandemic. Tweets: @tractable_...
Internet Archive says it is using Cloudflare's reconfigured Always On caching tools to improve its Wayback Machine archiving
The Internet Archive and the infrastructure company are teaming up to make sure sites never fully go down. — The web is decentralized and fluid by design … Tweets: @wired , @brittanymbrown , and @ev...
Sources: neobank Chime has raised $485M Series F at a $14.5B valuation; CEO says the startup will be IPO-ready within the next 12 months
- Chime, the start-up that delivers banking services through mobile phones, has closed a fundraising that values the company at $14.5 billion, CNBC has learned exclusively.
Facebook says it will specify which parts of its internal Workplace are for discussing political issues so staffers don't have to confront such issues at work
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC :
Unity has priced its IPO at $52 per share, above the expected range, that would initially value the company at $13.7B
- Unity is selling shares at $52 a piece in its IPO, CNBC has confirmed. — The company raised its range on Wednesday to $44 to $48 from $34 to $42.
Interview with Ilkka Paananen, CEO of mobile game maker Supercell, on Tencent's majority stake, attempting to create another hit franchise, and team building
Mobile games maker Supercell has been one of the great, understated, breakthroughs of the European startup world.
Facebook says it will limit the spread of private groups focused on health advice and those with ties to violence, and will archive groups without admins
AFTER Facebook's June 30 ban https://twitter.com/...
Google updates Play Store rules banning stalkerware apps unless they include an “adequate notice or consent” and show a “persistent notification”
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet :
Mozilla says it is permanently shutting down Firefox Send after some users sent malware and conducted spear phishing attacks using the file-sharing service
Stephen Shankland / CNET :
24 of 35 living American Turing award winners, including Alphabet chair John Hennessy, endorse Biden, citing the harm of Trump's immigration policies to tech
They said the administration's policies were driving away technology talent and could do long-term damage to their industry.
US charges 3 alleged state-backed Iranian hackers with stealing sensitive info on aerospace and satellite tech from 2015-2019, detailing spear phishing attack
Eric Geller / Politico :
Reinvent Technology Partners, a SPAC backed by Hoffman and Pincus, trades up 11% on first day after raising $600M in IPO, and is looking for a target to buy
- Hoffman- and Pincus-backed blank-check rises in trading debut — Tech duo raised $600 million in initial public offering Tweets: @yuinausicaa , @timbray , and @katie_roof Tweets: Yui Nausicaa / @y...
Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, which lets SMBs manage their pages and profiles across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger from a single interface
Kbox Global, which uses AI to help under utilized kitchens find right set of food delivery options for their local market, raises £12M led by Balderton Capital
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch : Tweets: @wanderingvc Tweets: Daniel Waterhouse / @wanderingvc : Good piece by @sohear covering out latest investment. Software-powered franchise models are going to make w...
Docs: Amazon generated ~$3.9B in revenue and $1.6B in profit for USPS during FY2019; USPS delivered 1.54B packages for Amazon, or 30% of Amazon's 2019 volume
Olive, whose AI-powered bot automates healthcare admin tasks, has raised $106M led by General Catalyst and Drive Capital, bringing total raised to $222M
Carrie Ghose / Columbus Business Journal : Tweets: @columbusbiz1st Tweets: Columbus Biz First / @columbusbiz1st : Five months after raising $52M in VC, Columbus health AI maker Olive has raised anoth...
Cloud collaboration tool Air raises $12M Series A led by Tiger Global; Air lets users comment, share and discuss visual assets all in one place
Igor Bosilkovski / Forbes : Tweets: @lererhippeau Tweets: Lerer Hippeau / @lererhippeau : “With the transition to remote work, employees are seeking out cloud-based platforms that effortlessly enable...
Data analytics company Sumo Logic's stock closed at $26.88 per share, up 22% from opening, raising more than $325M in its IPO and valuing the company at ~$2.2B
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE :
Google-backed telehealth provider Amwell closed at $23.07 per share, up 28%+ in its trading debut, after raising $742M in its IPO
Luisa Beltran / Barron's Online :
Ready, an on-demand service that provides medical care to patients at their homes, has raised $54M Series C from investors including GV
Andrew Donlan / Home Health Care News :
Sources: JD Health, the online health care unit of JD.com, is planning to file for a Hong Kong IPO as soon as this month that could raise at least $1B
Julia Fioretti / Bloomberg :
Affirm, e-commerce point-of-sale lender, raises $500M Series G, bringing its total raised to $1.3B; in July, sources said Affirm was preparing for an IPO
PYMNTS.com :
ApplyBoard, an online service helping international students apply for study abroad programs, has raised $55M Series C extension, after raising $75M in May
Alexandra Sternlicht / Forbes :
A look at Amazon's Hands off the Wheel program, which for the past decade has allowed the company to automate certain tasks and assign new work to employees
Alex Kantrowitz / HBR.org : Tweets: @kantrowitz Tweets: Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : A look into white-collar automation at Amazon, based on my reporting in Always Day One: https://twitter.com/...
Canadian payments company Nuvei surged 31% in its market debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange, after raising $700M in IPO in Canada's largest ever tech offering
Aoyon Ashraf / Bloomberg :
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.