Secret gag orders imposed by the US government on tech companies must stop, as they abuse citizens' fundamental freedoms and are no longer even used sparingly
Brad Smith is the president of Microsoft. — The past seven days marked another bad week for the collision between technology and democracy.
Sources: Apple is planning to launch a faster Watch with improved connectivity and screen this year, and an entry-level and extreme sports models next year
- Updated screens and performance this year, new functions later — New entry-level and extreme sports models planned for 2022
Google makes Workspace and Chat available to all and adds client-side encryption for data on Workspace
That's over three billion potential users — Google is announcing some changes to its Workspace suite of apps and services today, including availability for anybody who has a Google account.
Sources: Apple turned over data to the DOJ about Trump's White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II in 2018 after being subpoenaed; Apple told McGahn last month
The company notified Donald F. McGahn II last month that it had been subpoenaed for his account information three years ago.
Review of the new $150 Beats Studio Buds: comfortable design and good sound quality but poor ANC, and some AirPods features are missing like audio sharing
Beats tried to do a lot at once — probably too much — with its new earbuds — The new Studio Buds are Beats' second pair …
Apple says it didn't know DOJ was asking for House Democrats' data when it complied with subpoena; Microsoft also received and complied with a similar subpoena
Amazon's game streaming service Luna is opening to all Prime members starting on Prime Day, June 21 and 22; US Prime members can start a seven day trial today
Get a free 7-day trial and play from Windows, PC, and mobile — Amazon is opening up access to its game streaming service Luna …
Interview with Apple execs Bob Borchers and Sebastien Marineau-Mes about changes to multitasking in iPadOS 15, SharePlay, Universal Control, Quick Note, more
for the whole OS! Federico Viticci / @viticci : So, uhm, the Shelf in iPadOS 15 is just a tray of open windows for the current app. It's not the “Shelf” we always imagined to drop stuff like a clipboa...
Sources: many Apple US stores will drop mask requirement for vaccinated customers as soon as Tuesday; mask requirement to be dropped at some Cupertino offices
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg :
UK-based Motorway, which allows professional car dealers to bid for privately-owned cars for sale, raises £48m Series B led by Index Ventures
Motorway, is a UK startup that allows professional car dealers to bid in an auction for privately-owned cars for sale.
In a week-long operation, Interpol took down ~113K web links to fake pharmacies, and in another recent operation it recovered ~$83M for victims of online crime
The Interpol (International Criminal Police Organisation) has taken down thousands of online marketplaces that posed as pharmacies …
CB Insights: VCs invested $1.5B into mental health startups in 2020, a record high, and 5.5x the funding invested in the space in 2016
I am a staff writer covering healthcare. Email me at kjennings@forbes.com. — Investors poured $1.5 billion into the market in 2020 …Tweets:@hkanji,@jrichlive,@venrock,@tylerbeaty_, and@forbesscienc...
[Thread] Former Facebook employee, now Coatue Management Chairman, shares his experiences working with Mark Zuckerberg during Facebook's early days
Dan Rose / @danrose999 :
Stripe announces Stripe Identity, a self-serve tool for companies that can be used to verify identities using AI, launching in 30 countries in beta
A number of startups (eg, here, here, here and here) have fashioned themselves as the “Stripe for identity verification” …
After El Salvador's president, many Latin American politicians are expressing interest in adopting cryptocurrencies, as a PR exercise to elevate their profiles
In a letter to SEC chair, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Intel, and others urge SEC to require mandatory disclosures on climate-related matters to shareholders
- A group of seven tech companies urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to require businesses to regularly disclose climate-related matters to their shareholders.
Immersive Labs, which helps employees learn security skills in a gamified way, raises $75M Series C led by Insight Partners, bringing its total raised to $123M
Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News :
Deepfakes, which are predominantly being used to produce porn, are thriving because the stigma of porn has made it difficult for sex workers to protect their IP
But revenge porn and IP theft are the more pressing threats — OVER THE PAST three years, celebrities have been appearing across social media in improbable scenarios. Tweets: @thewalrus , @bryonycole...
Companies with bitcoin on their balance sheets face an accounting risk as they often have to record impairment charges when its value falls
Tesla and other companies that hold the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency often must record impairment charges when its value falls Tweets: @paulvigna and @wsj Tweets: Paul Vigna / @paulvigna : For ...
Profile of DigitalMint, a final-mile crypto broker that helps ransomware victims pay ransoms in cryptocurrency, within 30-60 minutes of contact from the hacker
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC :
Grocery courier Boxed says it will go public via SPAC at a $900M valuation; CEO Chieh Huang says the company isn't profitable
Jaewon Kang / Wall Street Journal :
A new generation of young workers at China's technology giants is demanding an end to forced rankings, harsh working conditions, and the “996” work culture
Taproot, a significant Bitcoin upgrade promising better transaction privacy and smart contracts, got approved by miners globally, due to take effect in November
As carmakers integrate 100-150+ chip-based electronic control units in each car, a look at the challenges of an auto industry that is more dependent on software
UNESCO: AI and robotics have “dominated scientific output” in recent years; ~150K research articles were published on those subjects in 2019, up 44% from 2015
Sage Lazzaro / VentureBeat : Tweets: @noahpinion , @fabiochiusi , @alexisohanian , @levie , and @mattyglesias Tweets: @noahpinion : This is the @joshgans thesis. The idea that A.I. will do for white-...
Q&A with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about its Omniverse, dubbed a “metaverse for engineers”, discouraging miners from buying its GPUs, chip shortages, and more
Many Latin American Facebook users are self-compromising their accounts to fuel fake engagement through “autoliker” websites and unwittingly joining bot farms
Sources: UK government is planning far-reaching reforms to protect public service media by reducing Google, Amazon, and Samsung's bargaining power
Alex Barker / Financial Times : See also Mediagazer
Germany adopts legislation aiming to end its status as a haven for patent litigators, who have increasingly targeted tech companies
Ruth Bender / Wall Street Journal :
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.