Sources: Apple was caught flat-footed by the generative AI fever and is on course to spend ~$1B/year to add the tech across iOS 18, Siri, Music, and other apps
But the company is now preparing its response and plans to develop features for its full range of devices.
The Global Times: China opens a Foxconn investigation over tax and land use, inspecting Guangdong, Jiangsu, Henan, and Hubei sites; Foxconn plans to cooperate
Tax authorities said to have inspected a number of the Apple supplier's sites in provinces — China has launched an investigation …
Matter hits version 1.2, adding support for robot vacuums, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, smoke and CO alarms, air quality sensors, and more
One year in, and Matter is adding support for fridges, robot vacuums, smoke alarms, and more. It's a major step toward a complete smart home …
Sony says Marvel's Spider-Man 2 sold 2.5M copies in the first 24 hours after its October 20 release, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever
Over 2.5 million copies in 24 hours — Well, it looks like Sony's got another blockbuster on its hands.
Microsoft updates Excel to fix automatic conversions, after scientists reworked the alphanumeric symbols used to represent genes in 2020 to avoid Excel issues
In 2020, scientists decided just to rework the alphanumeric symbols they used to represent genes rather than try to deal …
The Worldcoin Foundation plans to pay orb operators, who scan people into the Worldcoin network, in WLD rather than USDC in December and has issued ~134M WLD
- In a recent blog post, the Worldcoin Foundation announced that orb operators, who assist people in scanning their eyes to join …
Japan's FTC opens an investigation into Google over alleged antitrust violations; a report says the focus will be if Google asked OEMs to prioritize its search
- The FTC said it is looking into Google's business practices — The US is mounting a broad investigation into the company
Amazon rolls out passkey support on iOS and the web, letting users log in via their devices' biometrics, and says support for Android is “coming soon”
Amazon's rolling out passkey support for its online site and mobile shopping apps. Customers can log in to Amazon using …
Google proposes “IP Protection” for Chrome, an opt-in feature that masks IP addresses via proxy servers for “qualifying traffic”, rolling out in stages
Google is getting ready to test a new “IP Protection” feature for the Chrome browser that enhances users' privacy …
Tinder rolls out Tinder Matchmaker, which lets loved ones view and recommend potential matches, in the US, the UK, and 13 others ahead of a global launch soon
If you're the kind of person who asks friends and family for help with your love life, Tinder is aiming to make things a little easier …
An internal Qualcomm document details the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, including support for new AI camera tools, like removing objects and expanding photos
Qualcomm will soon release its latest flagship mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which will enable generative AI …
A profile of China-based Luxshare, which started as Foxconn's electronics supplier and is now, according to analysts, eating into Foxconn's Apple business
Apple increasingly relies on China-based Luxshare for manufacturing amid U.S. tensions with Beijing
Microsoft and Sony both advertise on the The Sphere in Las Vegas, for Xbox and Spider-Man 2, respectively; a leak showed Sphere ad slots may cost up to $450K
Microsoft and Sony have both spent thousands of dollars this week in marketing campaigns at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Gurman: Apple is planning a “Mac-centered product launch” around October's end and may release an updated 24-inch iMac; the current model launched in April 2021
here's when Christian Zibreg / iDownloadBlog.com : A new iMac could finally be on the way — Apple could soon release a new iMac model … Saurav Dey / KnowTechie : Apple could launch new Macs this mon...
Databricks plans to acquire enterprise data firm Arcion, which raised $18M+, for $100M; Databricks raised $500M last month and bought MosaicML for $1.3B in June
- Databricks agreed to acquire Arcion, an enterprise data company, for $100 million on Monday, including incentives …
Microsoft plans to spend $3.2B to expand its AI and cloud in Australia over two years, aiming to boost computing capacity by 250% and train 300K Australians
Microsoft (MSFT.O) said it will spend A$5 billion ($3.2 billion) expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing abilities …
Members of Gen Z say they use family location sharing apps to bolster a sense of security, such as during dates or at concerts; Life360 now has 33M+ US MAUs
An upbringing filled with anxiety has Gen Z sharing their location via apps — Teenagers have long balked at telling parents where they are.
Cisco releases patches for two zero-day flaws that hackers exploited on 50K+ IOS XE devices; researchers note hacked hosts recently dropped from 60K to ~300
Ionut Ilascu / BleepingComputer :
The British Museum plans to digitize its entire collection to boost security and public access over the next five years, after 2,000 items were recently stolen
A former employee stole 2000 items from the museum with only 350 recovered. Ironically the museum has gotten heat from people arguing its artifacts were stolen from other cultures and should be retur...
SpaceX and the European Space Agency sign an agreement for two launches in 2024, each carrying two Galileo satellites, to help power the bloc's satnav system
Wall Street Journal :
Analysis: the iPhone 15 lineup has ~10% more expensive components than the iPhone 14 lineup; iPhone 15 Pro Max costs rose to $558, up 12% from the 14 Pro Max
here's why Hartley Charlton / WRAL TechWire : MacRumors: iPhone 15's record high production costs could push up iPhone 16 prices Ajit Singh / MySmartPrice : iPhone 15 Teardown Reveals Record High Comp...
EngageSmart says Vista Equity Partners plans to take the payments software vendor private for ~$4B, or $23 per share; EngageSmart raised $378M in its 2021 IPO
Samrhitha Arunasalam / Reuters :
How Qualcomm is tech's “problem child”: a tense relationship with Apple, sued by Arm, investigated by regulators, disagreements with Google over Pixel, and more
Almost from the moment of its birth Qualcomm had to fight the world. It is hard for us to understand today … X: @jaygoldberg X: @jaygoldberg : Qualcomm seems to be fighting everyone, all the time. Th...
Blockaid, which offers Web3 security tools for fraud, phishing, and hacks and claims to have prevented 1.3M+ attacks, raised a $6M seed and $27M Series A
Yogita Khatri / The Block :
Crunchbase: Black US founders raised ~$39.7M, or 0.13% of all capital allocated to startups in Q3 2023, down from $212M in Q2, $352M in Q1, and $1B in Q3 2022
it fell 20x. https://techcrunch.com/... Tawana Petty / @poettpetty : “To many Black founders, the dip in funding was expected. A lot of the diversity, equity and inclusion promises made after 2020 wer...
Uber plans to let users in Turkey's touristic Cappadocia region buy a €150 air balloon ride; ~10% of Turkey's 44.6M visitors in 2022 stayed in the region
it's started offering hot air balloons in Turkey Sophie Dickinson / Telegraph : You can now flag a hot air balloon with Uber Kai Xiang Teo / Insider : You can now book an Uber hot-air balloon in Turke...
Martin Goetz, who received the first US software patent, died on October 10 at 93; Goetz was awarded a patent for data-sorting software for mainframes in 1968
How Russia helped overthrow governments in Burkina Faso and the surrounding French-speaking Sahel region using wide-ranging online disinformation campaigns
A US jury finds Google guilty of gender bias and awards female executive Ulku Rowe $1M+, the first pay discrimination case against Google since 2018's walkouts
Dutch media reports that a former ASML employee accused of stealing data went to work for Huawei in China in 2022; it's unclear if they still work for Huawei
Cagan Koc / Bloomberg :
China's crackdown on cyber scams in Southeast Asia, often run by powerful Chinese crime syndicates, netted thousands of people but have left the networks intact
Huizhong Wu / Associated Press :
Dallas-based enterprise browser startup Island raised a $100M Series C led by Prysm at a $1.5B valuation, up from $1.3B in 2022, for $350M+ raised in total
Emma Sanchez / Bloomberg :
Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei confirms China may start requiring online political and financial commentators with 1M+ followers to display real names on their accounts
A profile of data labeler Scale AI, which has a $249M contract with the US DoD and was the first AI company to have an LLM deployed on a classified network
the tech behind chatbots such as ChatGPT — deployed on a classified network after it signed a deal with the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Charles Rollet / @charlesr...
Q&A with Fei-Fei Li and NTIA head Alan Davidson on regulating AI, US and China tech competition, the representation of women and PoC in AI discussions, and more
and Regulating—AI? — Fei-Fei Li of Stanford and the Commerce Department's Alan Davidson agree … Fei-Fei Li : Great chatting with U.S. Department of Commerce's Alan Davidson and The Wall Street Journ...
Q&A with Satya Nadella: AI as Microsoft's biggest opportunity, regrets on missing the mobile phone category, and doubling down as a game publisher and producer
Mathias Döpfner / Insider : Forums: r/artificial Forums: r/artificial : Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks AI, closing the Activision Blizzard deal, and his best business decision so far
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26
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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.