Facebook responds to Apple's defense of IDFA, saying Apple is using its “dominant market position to self-preference their own data collection”
Apple Inc. on Thursday slammed Facebook Inc. and other internet giants for their ad-targeting practices in response to a letter questioning …
Roblox files S-1 for its IPO, reports losses of $206M on $589M in revenue, 31.1M DAU, and 22.2B engaged hours, up 122% YoY, for the first nine months of 2020
Roblox, a Silicon Valley-based based social gaming platform for tweens and teens, on Thursday filed for a $1 billion initial public offering.
Apple announces Barbara Whye as its new head of inclusion and diversity starting in early 2021; Whye will arrive from a similar role at Intel
Apple has announced a new vice president of inclusion and diversity. Barbara Whye, who has made a name for herself as Intel's head of D&I, will join the iPhone-maker in early 2021.
Microsoft is making a big push to entice Zoom users to Teams with a new free all-day video calling feature with up to 300 people on the web
Microsoft Teams is now free to use for 24-hour video calls all in a browser — Microsoft is making a big push to entice fans of Zoom …
Facebook's Q3 transparency report: 0.1%-0.11% of what users see violates hate speech rules; 95% of hate speech takedowns are proactive, up from 24% in 2017
Lawmakers and moderators criticized its policies this week — Facebook says it is proactively detecting more hate speech using artificial intelligence.
Go SMS Pro, an Android messaging app with 100M+ installs, is exposing photos, videos, and other files sent privately by its users
Go SMS Pro, one of the most popular messaging apps for Android, is exposing photos, videos and other files sent privately by its users. Worse, the app maker has done nothing to fix the bug.
Apple defends its delayed IDFA changes in iOS 14 and slams Facebook, saying “its intent is to collect as much data as possible” on its users
Last month, a coalition of eight civil and human rights organizations penned an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook regarding …
Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service launches in beta on iOS as a web app, bypassing Apple's App Store and letting iOS users play Fortnite
Nvidia joins Microsoft in bypassing Apple's App Store — Nvidia is joining its fellow cloud gaming providers in choosing to bypass Apple's App Store …
Google says it has completed a global rollout of RCS and will start testing end-to-end encryption in Android Messages
In mid-2019, Google decided to take over and speed up the launch of RCS. A little over 17 months later, Google announced today that it has completed a global rollout of RCS …
Apple's AR execs on how iPhones and iPads are becoming world-mapping, object-scanning tools that are laying the groundwork for the arrival of AR headsets
Sometime in the not-too-distant future, Apple will reportedly unveil an augmented- or mixed-reality headset. Apple hasn't discussed any headgear yet.
Source: Vietnam has threatened to shut down Facebook inside the country if it does not censor more “anti-state” posts on the platform
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has threatened to shut down Facebook in the country if it does not bow to government pressure to censor …
Snap has reportedly acquired Voisey, a UK startup that lets users create short music tracks and videos using their own voice overlayed on custom instrumentals
Snapchat helped pioneer the use of lenses on faces in photos and videos to turn ordinary picture messages into fantastical creations …
Facebook defends its decision to bring content moderators back to offices, saying some sensitive and graphic content can't be reviewed at home
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC :
Filing: Facebook files a lawsuit against a Turkish national who operated a network of Instagram clone sites that allegedly scraped 100K accounts
Facebook has today filed another lawsuit against a company acting in violations of its terms of service. In this case, the company …
BuzzFeed has agreed to acquire Verizon Media's HuffPost in a stock deal, as part of a larger agreement to syndicate content on each others' platforms
Wall Street Journal :
FireEye acquires cybersecurity investigation company Respond Software for $186M, while announcing it received a $400M investment from Blackstone and ClearSky
The security sector is ever frothy and acquisitive. Just last week Palo Alto Networks grabbed Expanse for $800 million.
The M1 Macs are astonishingly good and Rosetta is the exemplification of “it just works”, but the iOS app experience ranges from terrible to OK, at best
What is it? The MacBook Air is Apple's affordable line of laptops. Steve Gillmor / TechCrunch : Gillmor Gang: Apple Tacks Tweets: Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi : M1 Macs are like a Tesla Roadster of com...
A look at Facebook Groups, used by two thirds of Facebook's MAUs and a company focus since 2017, which make leaving the platform especially difficult
Facebook invested heavily in the one feature it knew people couldn't leave behind: Their groups — Before the pandemic, Andrea Norrington barely checked Facebook. Tweets: @geoffreyfowler , @kcpike , ...
Sources: tech jobs site Hired, which was once valued at $500M, is considering winding down its operations after its unsuccessful efforts to sell itself
Hired, a recruitment service for tech jobs, has started a process to sell assets, pay off creditors and wind down the company … Tweets: @humairawins , @jessicalessin , and @zachtratar Tweets: Humaira ...
Google says Stadia is coming to iOS as a Safari PWA within “several weeks”
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google :
ContextLogic, owner of mobile commerce app Wish, files for an IPO, says Wish had 108M MAUs and revenue of $1.75B for the first nine months of 2020, up 32% YoY
This morning Wish, a well-known mobile ecommerce startup, filed to go public. It joins Affirm, Airbnb, and Roblox in filing … Tweets: @mdudas Tweets: Mike Dudas / @mdudas : Silicon Valley is on 🔥🔥🔥 “...
Loadsmart, which uses AI to boost efficiency in logistics operations, raises $90M Series C led by BlackRock's Innovation Capital, at a $400M+ valuation
Backers include a BlackRock investment arm and maritime container line Maersk, which participated in earlier funding rounds
Research renews concerns about gender bias in image recognition services offered by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon
A new paper renews concerns about bias in image recognition services offered by Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. — MEN OFTEN JUDGE women by their appearance. Turns out, computers do too. Tweets: @wom...
Kid-focused gaming platform Roblox has titles and user profiles with profanities and other offensive content despite moderation efforts
Facebook's bug bounty program, now in its 10th year, paid out $1.98M in 2020 so far, on over 1,000 submissions
Lily Hay Newman / Wired :
Report: election misinfo often evaded YouTube's efforts to stop it, as videos supporting false voter fraud claims were viewed 138M+ times during election week
Sheera Frenkel / New York Times :
Zapata Computing, which operates a platform for writing quantum computing software, raises $38M Series B led by Comcast Ventures, Pitango and Prelude Ventures
@ZapataComputing CEO Christopher Savoie https://venturebeat.com/...
California regulator will allow companies to offer commercial autonomous ride-hailing services, pending state approval, which may delay deployment by 2+ years
you have to get a new “green light” later. 🤣🤣🤣 You are free to move about the cabin ... at some point later when we say you are free to do so. 🤣🤣🤣 https://twitter.com/...
Fitbit rolls out OS 5.1 for Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches, with Google Assistant, voice-to-text, phone calls, and automatic blood oxygen readings
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google :
The second-gen version of Echo Frames, Amazon's Alexa-enabled glasses that debuted last year for some customers, will be available generally on Dec. 10 for $250
Annie Palmer / CNBC :
YouTube says channels of all sizes may now see ads on them, though only creators big enough to qualify for its Partner Program will be paid any ad revenue
Microsoft Edge now has coupon and promo codes built in for online shopping
Tom Warren / The Verge :
Google says it will end preferential search rankings for AMP pages in the spring, but remains “fully committed” to the technology
Affirm files its draft S-1 for an IPO; in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, Affirm's revenue was $509.5M, up ~93% YoY, while net losses fell to $112.6M
Affirm Holdings, Inc. is offering shares of Class A common stock. TechCrunch : Roblox files to go public JD Alois / Crowdfund Insider : Max Levchin's Fintech Affirm Files S-1 to Go Public Da...
In an internal memo, FTC exec director said the agency will cut costs, freeze hiring, and lower IT spending, even as Congress pushes for action against Big Tech
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology : Tweets: @kantrowitz , @wbm312 , @wbm312 , @jeffhauser , @wbm312 , @jesselehrich , @lam_barrett , and @kantrowitz Tweets: Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : News: An in...
Transfr, a startup providing businesses with VR simulations for training workers, raises $12M Series A led by Firework Ventures
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch :
Aclima, which makes hyperlocal pollution maps for governments and others in partnership with Google StreetView, raises $40M Series B led by Clearvision Ventures
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat :
PayPal launches the Generosity Network, a GoFundMe-like service that lets individuals raise up to $20,000 over a span of 30 days
ControlUp, which helps IT teams manage all of their virtual desktops using one console, raises $27M round led by Jerusalem Venture and K1 Investment Management
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
30+ major Japanese firms will begin experiments next year towards issuing a common, private digital currency to promote digitalization in the cash-loving nation
Leika Kihara / Reuters :
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.