Apple reports Q3 revenue of $81.4B, up 36% YoY, net income of $21.7B, up from $11.2B YoY, Services sales of $17.4B, up from $13.2B YoY, iPhone sales of $39.6B
Revenue up 36 percent to new June quarter record — Services revenue reaches new all-time high
Activision Blizzard staff will walk out on Wednesday, demanding fairer treatment for underrepresented staff and ending arbitration clauses in staff contracts
Bobby Kotick said in an all-staff email that the company's recent actions were ‘tone deaf’ — Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief …
Facebook will restrict how advertisers can target users under 18 across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, only allowing age, gender, and location targeting
Advertisers on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger will no longer be able to market to under 18s based on their interests
Microsoft reports Q4 revenue up 21% YoY to $46.2B, net income up 47% YoY to $16.5B, commercial cloud revenue up 36% YoY to $19.5B, LinkedIn revenue up 46% YoY
Earnings Release FY21 Q4 REDMOND, Wash. — July 27, 2021 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended June 30 …
In the new iPadOS 15 beta, Apple makes its controversial Safari redesign optional, letting users choose a more conventional tab layout in settings
Enable the new (bad) tab experience in settings — Apple has started trickling out its fourth iOS and iPadOS 15 betas …
Mac and iPad sales break quarterly records in Q3, with Mac revenue of $8.2B, up 16% YoY, and iPad revenue of $7.4B, up 12% YoY
Mike Peterson / AppleInsider : Tweets: @greengart , @caro_milanesi , and @neilcybart Tweets: Avi Greengart / @greengart : AirPods and Apple Watches are a HUGE business. How big? Bigger than iPad. Big...
Spotify Q2: revenue of €2.3B, up 23% YoY, ad revenue up 110% YoY to €275M; paying subscribers reached 165M, up 20% YoY, total MAUs reached 365M; stock down 6%+
Spotify, citing ongoing headwinds from the COVID pandemic, fell short of its total monthly user growth goal in the second quarter of 2021.
Sony says it has now sold over 10M PS5 consoles, up from the 7.8M announced in April, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation ever
PS5 is the fastest-selling PlayStation — Sony has now sold more than 10 million PS5 consoles. That's up more than 2 million sales … Source: SIE Blog - English .
Apple's Q3 revenue for Wearables, Home, and Accessories category, which includes Watch and AirPods, was $8.8B, up 36% YoY; nearly 75% of Watch buyers were new
Juli Clover / MacRumors :
Code and animation files in iOS 15 beta 4 show the process for validating ID cards in the Wallet app will likely include a verification system with selfies
Apple announced at WWDC 2021 that iOS 15 will add support for ID cards in the Wallet app, but details are unknown as this feature is not available in the beta version of iOS 15.
Google says its upcoming Play Store safety listings, similar to Apple's app nutrition labels, will feature info on app data collection, encryption, and more
There's still half a year to go before you start seeing Google Play's new safety section, which will show you an Android app's privacy information …
Google announces a new bug bounty program, called Bug Hunter University, and says the existing program found 11,055 bugs from 2,022 researchers, paying ~$30M
The platform includes a new “Bug Hunter University.” — Google announced a new bug bounty platform as it celebrated …
Twitter says it is testing Shop Module, a new shopping section that brands can add to the top of their profiles, launching in the US today on iOS
Starting with a pilot of around a dozen brands — Twitter is piloting a new feature that allows businesses to add a shopping section …
Biden instructs federal agencies to develop voluntary cybersecurity goals for companies operating critical infrastructure, as officials consider mandatory rules
Though voluntary, officials said the new step could be a prelude to a push for cybersecurity mandates
Alphabet reports Q2 revenue of $61.88B, up 62% YoY, operating income of $19.36B, up 31% YoY, Google Cloud operating loss down to $591M; stock up 3%+
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - July 27, 2021 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.
Delhi's high court says statements by Twitter “clearly show total non-compliance” with IT rules, which include appointing a liaison, giving it a week to comply
Upmanyu Trivedi / Bloomberg :
Apple's greater China sales in Q3 were up 58% YoY to $14.76B, Americas grew 33% to $39.57B, paid Services subscribers grew to 700M, up 150M YoY
CISA and FBI, UK's NCSC, and Australia's ACSC issue a joint advisory detailing the most exploited vulnerabilities in 2020 and 2021
Cyber-security agencies from Australia, the UK, and the US have published a joint advisory today listing the most exploited security flaws throughout 2020 and 2021.
TSMC receives final approval for a 2nm chip plant in Taiwan; sources say construction will begin in 2022 and equipment will be installed in 2023
Environmental approval could help chip giant stay ahead of Intel — TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has received final approval …
Shopify beats Q2 expectations with $1.12B revenue, up 57% YoY and surpassing $1B for the first time; gross merchandise volume was up 40% YoY to $42.2B
- Company expects 2021 adjusted earnings to top 2020 results — Revenue surpasses $1 billion for first time in company history
After Twitter's refusal to block content related to farmer protests, some Indian government ministers and departments are shifting to home-grown rival Koo
Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is fast losing its sheen as a favoured communications tool for many Indian government departments and ministers keen … Tweets: @adityakalra Tweets: Aditya Kalra / @adityakalra : W...
Algolia, which provides APIs for developers to integrate real-time search into websites and apps, raises $150M Series D at a $2.25B valuation
Algolia has raised a $150 million Series D funding round at a post-money valuation of $2.25 billion. Compared to the Series C round from October 2019 …
Insiders suggest China's internet companies, which have long emulated SV's founder-driven model, will align more with China's leadership after tech crackdown
On the fourth floor of a harborside mall on Grand Cayman, not far from touristy scuba-diving outlets and a jerk-chicken shack …
Twitter hires the team that built Brief, a subscription-based news summary app founded by former Google employees; the app will wind down July 31
Twitter's recent acquisition spree continues today as the company announces it has acqui-hired the team from news aggregator and summary app Brief.
Apple warns that supply constraints due to “legacy node” chip production will be worse in Q4 than in Q3 and will likely affect sales of the iPhone and iPad
Contentful, which offers APIs to let companies manage content, raises $175M Series F led by Tiger Global at a ~$3B valuation, after a $80M Series E in June 2020
Contentful this morning announced a $175 million Series F round of capital, led by Tiger Global, valuing the unicorn at around $3 billion.
Apple has sent a cease and desist letter to at least one Chinese citizen who advertised stolen prototypes of old iPhone models on social media
Apple sent a cease and desist letter to the person behind a Twitter account that advertised stolen iPhone prototypes. — Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Global chip shortage dampens Microsoft's Q4 Surface revenue, down 20% YoY, and Windows OEM revenue, down 3% YoY
Report: malware developers are increasingly writing malicious code in “exotic” programming languages like Golang to hamper analysis efforts and evade detection
They are focused on exploiting pain points in code analysis and reverse-engineering. Source: BlackBerry .
Snap says Snap Map will now include recommendations for places to visit based on location, friend activity, and previous favorites
The new feature is designed to make Snap Map more of a utility — More than 250 million people use Snapchat's built-in map to see where their friends are in the world.
Danish startup Dixa, which helps companies manage customer relations via messaging, email, and voice, raises $105M Series C led by General Atlantic
European customer engagement platform Dixa has raised a Series C funding round of $105 million, led by growth equity investor General Atlantic.
AMD Q2: revenue of $3.85B, up 99% YoY, Computing and Graphics revenue of $2.25B, up 65% YoY, Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom revenue of $1.6B, up 183% YoY
Larry Dignan / ZDNet :
PowerSchool, which develops software used by 70% of K-12 students in the US and Canada, raises $711M in its IPO, selling shares at $18, valuing it at $3.5B
Education software provider PowerSchool Holdings Inc. raised $711 million in an initial public offering priced at the bottom of a marketed range.
Survey of 20,699 Americans: those who rely on Facebook for COVID-related news are less likely to get vaccinated than average and less likely than Fox viewers
IBM report: in 2021, the average data breach costs companies $4.24M to remedy, up 10% YoY; “mega” breaches involving 50M+ consumer records can cost $401M
IBM research estimates that the average data breach now costs upward of $4 million. — The average cost of a data breach …
A Harvard biostatistician is reconsidering plans to use Apple Watch as part of a study after finding inconsistencies in heart rate variability data collected
Nicole Wetsman / The Verge :
YouTube reports $7B in Q2 ad revenue, up 84% YoY from $3.81B, and says its Shorts feature now has 15B global daily views, up from 6.5B in March
Remote IT monitoring and management service Atera raises $77M Series B led by General Atlantic
All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now. Watch now. — Atera, a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform for IT teams, has $77 million in a series B round of funding ...
Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, raises $105M led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $804M post-money valuation
Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, announced today that it has raised $105 million in a financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund II.
SonderMind, a marketplace to find mental health services, raises $150M co-led by Drive Capital and Premji Invest, sources say at a $1.1B valuation
- Startup raises $150 million in round co-led by Drive Capital — The mental-health problem ‘is immense,’ CEO Mark Frank says
Duolingo raises $521M in its IPO after pricing shares at $102, valuing the company at $3.66B
Language learning app Duolingo Inc. and its investors raised $521 million in an initial public offering priced above the marketed range. — The company priced 5.1 million shares at $102 each Tuesday ...
Lithic, previously Privacy.com, which offers APIs to help businesses issue virtual credit cards, raises $60M, sources say at an $800M valuation
- Bessemer, Index Ventures, Exor also part of fundraising round — Firm's goal is to make issuing cards faster and easier
In a court filing, AGs from 45 states, DC, and Guam say they will appeal the dismissal of their Facebook antitrust case
Leah Nylen / Politico :
A look at VTubers, virtual anime-like avatar YouTube channels driven by anonymous Japanese users that are now mainstream, surpassing 1.5B+ views/month in Q4'20
How the pandemic mainstreamed VTubers, Japan's fictional YouTube celebrities. — Virtual YouTuber Kizuna AI is the featured guest … Tweets: @restofworld , @mikafilm , and @restofworld Tweets: @restof...
A look at the role of social media manager, which has evolved from a position commonly filled by millennial interns into a more professionalized discipline
Krithika Varagur / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @mims , @arb , @owenmroe , @travishelwig , @genepark , and @kofie Tweets: Christopher Mims / @mims : Does the person who tweets for your brand account...
Creators of PunkSpider say they're relaunching their search engine for hackable sites at Defcon next week to spur web admins to fix thousands of unpatched bugs
in the hope of shaming site owners into fixing them. https://www.wired.com/... Thomas Brewster / @iblametom : PunkSpider was super interesting when it first launched but was plagued with legal and com...
Valora, a mobile-first digital crypto wallet built on the open source blockchain network Celo, raises $20M Series A led by a16z
We're at an exciting moment in the history of crypto … Tweets: Arianna Simpson / @ariannasimpson : 1/ Today I'm thrilled to share that a16z crypto is leading a $20 million Series A in @ValoraApp, a mo...
Indian business messaging service Gupshup raises an additional $240M as part of its Series F, led by Fidelity Management, Tiger Global, and others
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
TikTok expands LIVE platform with new features, including events, co-hosts, Q&As, moderation tools, and more, to make it more competitive with Instagram Live
Droom, an online marketplace for used cars and motorbikes in India, raises $200M in a pre-IPO growth round, at a $1.2B valuation, up from $500M in 2018
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
LinkedIn posted Q4 revenue of ~$3B, passing the $10B mark in annual revenue for the first time since Microsoft acquisition; Q4 ad revenue was up 97% to $1B+
Critics say Facebook has compromised on its community standards to access commercial opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, home to ~1.2B Facebook MAUs
Nikkei Asia :
Berlin-based consumer electronics rental service Grover raises $1B in asset-backed financing and a $29M extension of its Series B from Fasanara Capital
Dan Taylor / Tech.eu :
LogicGate, which helps automate corporate governance, risk, and compliance processes, raises $113M Series C, bringing its total raised to $156M
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
Kili Technology, which helps companies transform raw data into high-quality annotated data for AI training, raises $25M Series A led by Balderton Capital
Orum, whose AI-powered tech helps sales representatives automate outbound calling workflows, raises $25M Series A led by Craft Ventures at a $125M valuation
China orders Tencent and 13 other developers to rectify problems with “harassing” pop-ups in apps, often used for ads, giving them until August 3
esp. when they're video players or chatbot windows. https://twitter.com/...
Brain Technologies raises $50M+ and launches Natural, a natural language search engine app for iOS in the US
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
InVia Robotics, which offers robotics as a service for warehouse automation, raises $30M Series C led by Microsoft's M12 Ventures and Qualcomm
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
Treeverse, which develops an open source Git-like service for data lakes, raises $23M Series A from Dell Technologies Capital and others
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat :
Brazil-based Pipo Saude, which sells and manages healthcare benefits for other companies, raises $20M Series A led by Thrive Capital
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch :
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.