Kuo: AirPods Pro 2, the first update since 2019, will launch in Q4 2022 with a new design similar to Beats Fit Pro, improved chip, and more
The AirPods Pro 2, the first update to the AirPods Pro since its debut in 2019, will launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Apple analyst Ming Chi-Kuo.
Amazon says it resolved the underlying issues that caused an AWS outage starting around 10:45am ET and is “working towards recovery of any impaired services”
Yesterday AWS East experienced an outage, here are notable points: govtech.com : What caused Tuesday's major Amazon outage? Tweets: Shh / @worldwise001 : I'm almost certain the images on the McDonald'...
Kuo: Apple's first AR headset, weighing 300g-400g, will enter mass production in late Q4 2022; Apple is planning a lighter second-gen headset for launch in 2024
Sami Fathi / MacRumors :
Roku says it has agreed a multi-year extension with Google for distribution of YouTube and YouTube TV apps on Roku devices; Roku stock up 8%+
Roku and Google have agreed to a multi-year extension for both YouTube and YouTube TV apps to be distributed on Roku.
Twitter is testing a process for reporting harmful tweets that lets US users describe what happened and will use the data to improve its responses
Twitter is trying out some changes to the way that users report tweets that they believe might break Twitter's rules.
The AWS outage took down Amazon's Flex and Dolphin apps for logistics and time tracking, halting some deliveries
There's a mix of frustration and joy from workers as AWS outages cause chaos with Amazon's delivery infrastructure during its busy season. — Websites and online services …
Report details the supply chain issues that forced Apple to significantly scale down its iPhone and iPad production plans
As Apple's ever-important holiday shopping season continues, the company is facing what a new report from Nikkei Asia describes as the “nightmare before Christmas.” Source: Nikkei Asia .
Facebook launches a Professional Mode, letting creators monetize their profiles, and a Reels Play bonus program, offering eligible creators up to $35K/month
Facebook has launched a new professional mode for profiles that will let eligible creators earn money without the need to create a separate Page.
Meta launches a website that lets fans buy digital tokens called Stars to tip Facebook creators using Facebook Pay, avoiding app store payment commissions
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
After Tesla added over 12 video games that can be played while driving, critics argue the company is compromising road users' safety, on top of Autopilot issues
The feature raises fresh questions about whether Tesla is compromising safety as it rushes to add new technologies.
Google sues two Russians it claims help run a botnet that has infected 1M+ devices and uses command-and-control server addresses stored on Bitcoin's blockchain
- Complaint says the two created a sophisticated ‘botnet’ — Glupteba sells stolen logins, credit cards, Google says Source: The Keyword .
Sources: Meta, Snap, and other iOS developers continue to collect anonymized and aggregated data on users for targeted ads, despite Apple's ATT changes
Group's unacknowledged shift lets companies follow a looser interpretation of its privacy rules — Apple has allowed app developers …
A look at Twitter's Project Guardian, a secretive list of thousands of highly targeted users that helps moderators respond more quickly to their complaints
‘Project Guardian’ aims to protect prominent tweeters from abuse, harassment — Twitter Inc.'s highest-profile users …
Amazon launches AWS Top Secret-West, its second Top Secret Region designed for government workloads requiring Top Secret US security classification level
“Amazon's cloud arm, AWS, announced a new ‘top secret’ region this week, designed specifically for the U.S. government. It is Amazon's second such region.
Seventeen groups representing ~150 newspapers quietly filed antitrust lawsuits in the past year against Google and Meta for monopolizing the digital ads market
Newspapers all over the country have been quietly filing antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year …
Sources: Parag Agrawal was Jack Dorsey's only serious candidate to replace him as Twitter CEO and Elliott Management did not demand that Dorsey resign
Activist investor Elliott Management cranked up pressure for the social network's board to set a succession plan
FAA outlines flight restrictions, including restricting bad weather automated landing systems, to avoid interference with the C-band 5G spectrum from January 5
Agency's order could disrupt air travel with limits to cockpit systems needed in poor weather; new 5G services expected to go live Jan. 5
Meta, Nike, CVS, GM, IBM, Walmart, and others join the Data & Trust Alliance, which has developed an anti-bias scoring system to analyze AI usage during hiring
The organization has created a format for evaluating the technology, which is often used to screen job candidates.
French financial super app Lydia raises a $100M Series C at a $1B+ valuation
Just a few weeks after announcing stock and crypto trading, French fintech startup Lydia is announcing that it has raised a $100 million Series C round. With this funding round, the startup has reach...
Ahead of a congressional hearing, Adam Mosseri outlines Instagram parental controls coming in March, including monitoring time spent and bulk deleting posts
& could have—been implemented long ago. https://www.npr.org/... @instagram : It's OK to take a break. ❤️ We want your time on Instagram to be positive and intentional. Starting today, you can now add ...
Ubisoft will add NFT items into its games, starting with Ghost Recon Breakpoint on the Tezos blockchain, becoming the first major gaming company to do so
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt :
The Senate confirms Jessica Rosenworcel to lead the FCC, the first female chair in the agency's history, in a 68 to 31 vote
Crypto critic Saule Omarova, who was Biden's pick to lead the OCC, withdraws her name from consideration following Senate fights over her background
Bloomberg :
As US companies fight to attract workers in a tight labor market, Amazon has emerged as the de facto wage-and-benefit setter, causing ripples across the economy
In local markets throughout America, the e-commerce giant's facilities have an impact on inflation, job markets and labor standards Tweets: @sarthakgh , @cfishman , @cfishman , @cfishman , @cfishman ,...
A look at the proliferation of “dark stores”, mini-warehouses in urban retail spaces used by fast grocery delivery companies, and their impact on community life
Mini-warehouses dubbed “dark stores” are quietly taking over urban retail space. Tweets: @ron_miller , @jeffspeckfaicp , @bpolitics , @rebeccaspang , @galeabrewer , @hkanji , and @hypervisible Tweets:...
Tipalti, which offers cloud-based accounting services, raises a $270M Series F at an $8.3B valuation, after raising $150M at a $2B valuation in October 2020
Tipalti, once a fintech unicorn, is now nearing decacorn status. — The company, which automates accounts payables for mid-market companies …
Q&A with ConstitutionDAO's Jonah Erlich on how it got started, what would have happened if they had won the auction, and what happens to the ~$47M they raised
Jonah Erlich is one of the core members of a group called ConstitutionDAO, a group that raised money to try to buy … Tweets: @cwarzel , @jierlich , @davidesilverman , and @reckless Tweets: Charlie War...
Researchers discover 27 vulnerabilities in the Eltima SDK, a library used by numerous cloud providers including AWS to remotely mount a local USB device
Researchers have discovered 27 vulnerabilities in Eltima SDK, a library used by numerous cloud providers to remotely mount a local USB device. Source: SentinelOne .
Reddit launches Spotify Wrapped-style annual usage statistics for users, including time spent and popular content; users created 366M posts in 2021, up 19% YoY
Reddit is launching a new personalized Spotify Wrapped-like recap feature for all users tomorrow.
Twitter acquires messaging app Quill, which will shut down and delete all user data on December 11 after launching in February to challenge Slack
Quill is joining Twitter! — We started Quill with the goal of increasing … Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch : Twitter acquires Quill, a would-be Slack rival; team will work on DMs as Quill shuts down Liam...
US airports are increasingly using biometrics like facial recognition to verify IDs and shorten security procedures for passengers who opt into the programs
Tech-driven changes are coming fast and furiously to airports, including advancements in biometrics that verify identity … Tweets: @liamspradlin , @nytimes , and @joebotxyz Tweets: Liam / @liamspradli...
Stan Chudnovsky, Meta's Messenger chief who is also leading the integration of Meta's messaging services, will leave the company in Q2 2022
Gaming hardware company NZXT raises $100M led by Francisco Partners, its first outside funding since launching in 2004
NZXT has raised funding for the first time since it debuted as a PC gaming hardware company in 2004. It's a whopper of a round at $100 million.
Claroty, which protects industrial systems, raises $400M led by Vision Fund 2 and others, source says at a ~$2B valuation, and acquires Medigate for $400M
Worried that cyberattacks are “a threat to humanity,” the New York startup claims it's the best-funded company in its field thanks …
Synthesia, which uses AI to create virtual avatars, raises a $50M Series B led by Kleiner Perkins, bringing its total funding to $66.5M
Synthesia, a company leveraging AI to generate videos of avatars, today announced that it raised $50 million in a series B round, bringing its total raised to $66.5 million.
Uber is being challenged in Europe, as European Commission proposals set to be published this week and a UK High Court decision threaten to drive up labor costs
Equinix acquires West African data center company MainOne, which services businesses in more than 10 countries, for $320M
Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch :
Researchers discover cybercrime forums acting as an informal court system on the Dark Web, where criminals can file grievances and settle disputes with peers
Blackstone and others are trying to shake up the $40T global corporate bond market with computer-driven quant trading that already reshaped the stock market
Corporate credit has been largely untouched by computer-driven trading, but some investors are trying to change that Tweets: @robinwigg , @antoinegara , and @financialtimes Tweets: Robin Wigglesworth ...
Sources: Samsung partnered with Microsoft this summer on a HoloLens project slated to launch in 2024; Samsung will likely be the hardware manufacturer
NewtonX, which connects companies with subject matter experts, raises a $32M Series B led by Marbruck Ventures, bringing its total funding to $47M
Christine Hall / TechCrunch :
The BIS, an umbrella group for central banks, says DeFi is built on a “decentralization illusion” and should be “properly regulated” to safeguard investors
Easol, which offers event management tools, raises a $25M Series A led by Tiger Global
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
A look at Trump Media & Technology Group, which lacks a product, users, publicly identified executives, and revenue, and its merger with DWAC, valued at $1.85B
much less a profitable one. TMTG went public by merging w/a SPAC, Digital World. That transaction netted Trump about $300 million https://popular.info/... See also Mediagazer
Security-focused IoT service Afero, raises a $50M Series C led by Crosspoint Capital Partners, bringing its total funding to an estimated ~$100M
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch :
Indonesian startup Flip, which aims to streamline interbank money transfers, raises a $48M Series B, bringing its total funding to $65 million
Kate Park / TechCrunch :
Research: African startups will raise $5B in 2021, more than the past three years combined, creating four unicorns, including Andela, Flutterwave, and OPay
Samuel Gebre / Bloomberg :
As Indian IT firm Infosys ramps up hiring of US workers, some are paid to do nothing for an extended period of time while they wait for a project assignment
Emma Rindlisbacher / The Verge : Tweets: @emmajune Tweets: Emma Barker / @emmajune : Fascinating piece by @brokenimageheap on outsourced tech companies that hire recent grads to meet hiring goals...a...
Meta restructures its research department, bringing ~50 employees from teams like WhatsApp and Instagram into a group led by research head Pratiti Raychoudhury
Bloomberg : Tweets: @ubiquity75 , @ubiquity75 , @ubiquity75 , @ubiquity75 , and @mer__edith Tweets: Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75 : Probably an unpopular opinion among my peers, but “greater acc...
Cerebral, which provides app-based counseling, medication, and mental health services, raises $300M at a $4.8B valuation led by Vision Fund 2
Gillian Tan / Bloomberg : Tweets: @brianmwang Tweets: Brian Wang / @brianmwang : There's something very creepy about this and I can't put my finger on why https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Australian startup Finder, which helps clients invest and save money, raises ~$20M at a $485M valuation from Future Now Capital
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.