Google says it will close its two Stadia game studios, in LA and Montreal, and Stadia head Jade Raymond is leaving; the closure will affect ~150 developers
Google Stadia, the late 2019 streaming platform that promised to revolutionize gaming by letting users stream games without needing …
The unedited nature and serendipity of conversations makes Clubhouse a compelling platform for productive discussions on otherwise fraught topics
Elon Musk disrupts podcasting. PLUS: Robinhood's big mistake — I. Andreessen Horowitz and the backdoor pilot — Hey, did you hear Elon Musk went on Clubhouse? Tweets: @taylorlorenz , @jaycodon , @...
Apple releases the first iOS 14.5 beta, which lets users unlock their iPhones with Face ID while wearing a mask if they are also wearing an Apple Watch
The feature debuts in a new developer beta, available now — While the full release won't arrive for some time …
A recap of Elon Musk's Clubhouse appearance, which broke the 5,000 participant limit, pushing some to YouTube, and included an interview with Robinhood's CEO
even if it's a group of really interesting people talking — things get boring. Dan Romero / @dwr : There have been multiple 1000+ person rooms *pre-gaming* tonight's Elon interview on @GoodTimeShowCH....
Uber says it is buying alcohol delivery startup Drizly for $1.1B in cash and stock; Drizly co-founder and CEO Cory Rellas is expected to remain with Uber
Uber on Tuesday announced an agreement to buy Drizly, a Boston-based alcohol delivery startup, for $1.1 billion in cash and stock.
Google launches “about this result” menu item to its search results to give users more information about the sites they are about to visit
Google regularly tweaks its search results pages and tries out new designs. It's not that often, though, that it adds new features to those results …
Kuo: Apple Car will use Hyundai's E-GMP battery electric vehicle platform; new models could be built in association with GM and European manufacturer PSA
Noted TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo weighed in on “Apple Car” on Monday, saying Apple will work in close cooperation with Hyundai …
Amazon unveils plans for part of its HQ2 in VA, including three 22-story office buildings and the Helix, a 350-foot building with spiraling outdoor walkways
Centerpiece of design is a 350-foot building dubbed the Helix, which features two spiraling outdoor walkways
Google to pay $2.5M to 5,500+ female engineers as well as female and Asian job applicants to settle pay and hiring discrimination allegations
The US Department of Labor alleges systemic pay and hiring discrimination — Google has agreed to pay $2.5 million to more than 5,500 employees …
Sources: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is expected to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in a panel hearing on GameStop on February 18
Zachary Warmbrodt / Politico :
FTC says Amazon will pay $61.7M to settle charges that it withheld some customer tips from Flex drivers over 2.5 years; FTC will use the sum to pay the drivers
Settlement prohibits Amazon from misrepresenting driver earnings, pay or percent of tips paid to drivers, changing its handling of tips without drivers' consent
In a report, NYU researchers call conservative claims of social media censorship “a form of disinformation” and warn against completely repealing Section 230
A new report concludes that social networks aren't systematically biased against conservatives, directly contradicting Republican claims … Source: NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights .
Robinhood plummets back to one-star rating on Google Play Store; Google says current reviews are compliant with its policies and won't be removed
Following thousands of negative reviews — Investment app Robinhood has plummeted back down to a one-star rating on Google Play, thanks to a flood of thousands of new negative reviews.
Any US legislation to ban anonymity online will be unconstitutional, will not work, and most importantly will put many marginalized/vulnerable people at risk
There's an idea that pops up every so often among people who are upset about misinformation online but don't actually understand … Tweets: @amac , @kareshy_zen , @mmasnick , @senatorshoshana , @kfogel...
Robinhood says it has raised $2.4B from shareholders, just days after raising ~$1B
more than it had raised in its entire prior existence. https://www.wsj.com/...
Network security provider SonicWall says hackers are exploiting a critical zero-day vulnerability in its SMA 100 networking devices, and a patch is due Tuesday
“Highly sophisticated threat actors” exploit flaws in coordinated attack on SonicWall. — Network security provider SonicWall …
Steven Sinofsky talks about publishing his new book “Hardcore Software”, a first-person account of his time at Microsoft, in a serialized form on Substack
Steven Sinofsky, who ran the Windows division at the peak of the PC revolution, plans to use a popular newsletter platform …
Facebook is testing a notification for Facebook and Instagram iOS app users globally that encourages opting in to tracking for a “better ads experience”
Sara Fischer / Axios :
UK Treasury proposes stricter regulations for “buy now, pay later” services like Klarna, including affordability checks before lending
- The U.K. Treasury said buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms would come under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Divvy, which buys and rents homes while setting aside ~25% of monthly payments toward the renter's future down payment on the house, raises $110M Series C
Despite all the headaches that come with it, homeownership is still the American dream for many. — Divvy Homes - a startup …
A profile of Kuaishou, a Chinese TikTok rival, which is likely to hit a valuation of over $60B during its IPO this week, roughly one-third of ByteDance
Video sharing app is pivoting business model to advertising and ecommerce — Gu Jing spends two hours a day filming himself skinning pigs …
Microsoft's head of IR says Xbox will be in short supply through at least June, after it sold every unit it had last quarter and topped $5B in gaming revenue
Microsoft reveals when shortage will subside Tweets: Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft says it has sold every Xbox it has, but Xbox Series X will be in short supply until at least June. It sounds li...
Network data indicates the onset of widespread internet disruptions in Myanmar amid reports of a military uprising and the detention of political leaders
NetBlocks :
MediaTek announces Helio M80, its first mmWave 5G modem, says it will be sampled to customers “later in 2021”
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority :
Oyster, which develops HR software for a distributed workforce, raises $20M Series A, bringing its total raised to about $24M
The growth of remote working and managing workforces that are distributed well beyond the confines of a centralized physical office — or even a single country …
Ford says “millions” of its vehicles will run on Android starting in 2023, as it signs a six-year deal for Google Cloud to provide connected vehicle services
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge :
UK-based online greeting cards service Moonpig surges as much as 29% on its London debut, after raising £491M during its IPO
- Company prices IPO at 350 pence each, top end end of range — Company, shareholders sell 140.3 million shares in offering
Saudi Arabia-based Foodics, which offers restaurant management software including a cloud POS system, raises $20M Series B, bringing its total raised to $28M
Chris Albrecht / The Spoon :
Valon raises $50M Series A led by a16z to grow its mobile-first mortgage servicing tools, says in one year it committed to servicing its first $10B in mortgages
If you've ever applied for a mortgage, you know it's one of the most painful processes out there.
Chainalysis: ransomware gangs made at least $350M in 2020, up 311% YoY, with the Ryuk strain as the year's top earner, followed by the now-defunct Maze
The figure represents a 311% increase over ransomware payments recorded the previous your, in 2019. — Ransomware gangs …
ByteDance sues Tencent over alleged monopolies in WeChat and QQ, claiming violation of antitrust laws by blocking access to content from Douyin
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg :
Twitter quietly restored a number of high-profile accounts in India it banned earlier, citing a “legal demand”, including Caravan and two politicians
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Sources: Democrats have complained to companies, including Google, that have suspended campaign donations, say they are being penalized for Republicans' actions
what's shocking is that they happily put it in print. The utter shamelessness of it will blow your mind. Both Republicans and Democrats are completely addicted to corporate PAC money. https://www.wsj....
Alibaba sales beat estimates in the three months ended December, with revenue of $34.2B, up 37% YoY, and net income of $12.23B, up 52% YoY
Coco Liu / Bloomberg :
Sources: IBM has drastically downsized its blockchain team after missing revenue targets by 90%; IBM says the unit is “doing well”
Ian Allison / CoinDesk :
Soda, which develops a data monitoring service to help make sure data is verifiable and trustworthy, raises €11.5M Series A led by Singular
Robin Wauters / Tech.eu :
Databricks, which provides services for data analytics and AI workloads, raises $1B and is now valued at $28B
Automation software maker UiPath raises $750M led by Alkeon Capital and Coatue, valuing the company at $35B
Katie Roof / Bloomberg :
Source: Sriram Krishnan, known for holding product leadership roles at Facebook, Twitter, and Snap, has joined Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner
Alex Heath / The Information : Tweets: @ericnewcomer , @jessicalessin , @alexeheath , @sriramkri , @moorehn , @mdudas , @cindygallop , @anmolm_ , @almostmedia , @yoda , @zebulgar , @canadakaz , @alex...
After SpaceX won preliminary rights to $886M in FCC grants for rural broadband, rivals urge new FCC leadership to check if the winning bidders “are capable”
Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @wsj Tweets: @wsj : Elon Musk's space company is in line to receive $866 million in a government push to improve rural internet service, but some competitor...
Cybersecurity company Rapid7 acquires Kubernetes security startup Alcide for $50M; Alcide had raised ~$12M to date according to Crunchbase data
Social calendar and event discovery startup IRL, which focused on virtual events amid the pandemic, says that it now has 10M+ MAUs, growing 30% MoM since August
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Tweets: @alexkehr Tweets: Alex Kehr / @alexkehr : It's really impressive that this team has somewhat quietly built a social app with 10M monthly active users. https://techc...
Weights & Biases, which develops tools for machine learning researchers, raises $45M Series B led by Insight Partners
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.