Ahead of the EU's DMA, Spotify shares iOS app mockups with full in-app payments, rolling out in part on March 7; Apple hasn't yet shared its changes for the DMA
For years, Apple's App Store policies have made it impossible for apps to sell digital services and goods on their own terms.
eBay plans to cut ~1,000 full-time jobs, or ~9% of its workforce, and scale back the number of contracts within its “alternate workforce” over the coming months
- EBay said Tuesday it's laying off 1,000 full-time employees. — CEO Jamie Iannone told employees the company will …
Netflix plans to to retire its ad-free Basic plan in some countries where ad-supported plans are available, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 2024
Although Netflix no longer allows new or returning members to sign up for the ad-free Basic subscription that costs $11.99 per month …
Sources: Apple plans to add new fees and restrictions after allowing EU users to download apps from outside the App Store, including reviewing sideloaded apps
Meta, Spotify and other companies are weighing new options for customers as Apple makes changes to comply with new European law
ASML reports Q4 revenue of €7.2B and net profit up 9% YoY to €2B, both above est., orders grew 3x QoQ to €9B+, and expects 2024 net sales to be similar to 2023
ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS), Europe's biggest technology company by market value, on Wednesday reported better …
Alleged renders of Google's Pixel 9 Pro show a ~6.5-inch display, smaller than the Pixel 8 Pro, a refreshed camera island with three cameras, and a flat frame
The upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro might feature a smaller flat display compared to the Pixel 8 Pro. — HIGHLIGHTS
Netflix reports Q4 revenue up 12.5% YoY to $8.83B, vs. $8.71B est., paid users up 12.8% to 260.3M, vs. 256M est., $938M net income, up from $55M; NFLX jumps 8%+
there. Janko Roettgers / @jank0@sfba.social : TIL that Netflix has a “Bridgerton wedding dress collection.” Janko Roettgers / @jank0@sfba.social : Netflix is “not interested in acquiring linear — as...
The UK NCSC releases an all-source intel assessment warning that ransomware attacks will increase in both volume and impact over the next two years due to AI
Ransomware attacks will increase in both volume and impact over the next two years due to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, British intelligence has warned.
X adds support for passkeys for US-based iOS users; the announcement comes shortly after the hack of the US SEC's X account
X, formerly Twitter, today announced support for passkeys, a new and more secure login method than traditional passwords, which will become an option for U.S. users on iOS devices.
A look at some long-term issues facing the gaming industry, including deep layoffs, weak revenue growth, and declining VC investments
To players and outside observers, 2023 looks like one of the 70-year-old gaming industry's greatest-ever years. Chief among its achievements was its slate of new software releases.
Apple's acquisitions, job postings, and academic papers detail the company's AI plans; PitchBook says Apple acquired 21 AI startups since the start of 2017
Acquisitions, job postings and academic papers suggest tech company is preparing to run AI through its devices
Google unveils a new Gemini-powered chat-based tool in Google Ads to build Search ad campaigns, out in beta to all English language advertisers in the US and UK
Google announced today that Gemini, its family of multimodal large language models, now powers the conversational experience within the Google Ads platform.
A US federal judge denies NSO Group's motion to dismiss Apple's lawsuit and orders the Pegasus spyware maker to answer Apple's complaint by February 14
Apple has won an early battle against the NSO Group in court today. Apple sued the Pegasus spyware maker in November 2021 …
Originality AI: 88%+ of the top US news outlets now block AI companies' web crawlers; leading right-wing outlets, like Breitbart and Newsmax, mostly permit them
Nearly 90 percent of top news outlets like The New York Times now block AI data collection bots from OpenAI and others. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social . Bluesky: @lolgo...
Ring plans to stop letting police request footage from users' video doorbells and cameras via its tool next week; police and fire services will need a warrant
- Move dials back company's longtime public-safety stance — Law enforcement will now have to seek warrants for video
A Massachusetts court filings shows Google reached a settlement in an AI chip patent lawsuit filed by Singular Computing, which sought $1.67B in damages
Google (GOOGL.O) on Wednesday reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit over chips that power the company's artificial …
EquiLend, which processes $2.4T of securities-lending transactions per month, goes down after a January 22 cyberattack and says restoration may take a few days
- EquiLend says it may take days to recover from cyber incident — Firm is at heart of Wall Street's securities-lending industry
A profile of Kai-Fu Lee, an AI expert who helped Microsoft and Google get established in China and whose startup 01.AI is leading the open source AI race
Kai-Fu Lee, an AI expert and prominent investor who helped Google and Microsoft get established in China, says his new startup 01.AI …
IEA: electricity used by data centers, crypto, and AI may more than double in the next three years; Irish data centers will use 32% of its electricity by 2026
- Cryptocurrency, AI to dominate demand, IEA report finds — Increase in demand will be covered by renewables, nuclear
Sources: Apple pivots to a less ambitious design for its upcoming EV, from Level 4 autonomy to Level 2+, and pushes back its launch from 2026 to 2028 or later
and it doesn't sound like the self-driving car of the future Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Apple reportedly switches to less ambitious development roadmap for its electric car Nadeem Sarwar / Slash...
Google announces AI features for Chrome on macOS and Windows: Organize Similar Tabs and custom themes rolling out soon in the US, and Help Me Write in February
“To get started, right-click a text box or field on any site you visit in Chrome and select “Help me write. ” Type in a few words and our AI will kickstart the writing process for you.” … X: @google ...
Netflix says user engagement with games on its service tripled in 2023 and Grand Theft Auto has become its most successful launch to date
Oppo and Nokia sign a patent cross-licensing deal, ending a years-long dispute, letting the Chinese smartphone maker sell in key European markets like Germany
- Patent cross-licensing agreement ends years-long dispute — Chinese brand is the No.4 smartphone maker in the world
The US National Science Foundation partners with OpenAI, Meta, Nvidia, and others to launch NAIRR, a pilot program to increase researchers' access to AI tools
The pilot program, called the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, follows President Biden's executive order mandating lower entry to AI infrastructure.
As Wikimedia Russia shuts down, a look at the Kremlin-compliant Wikipedia alternative Ruwiki, which recently went live, led by an ex-Wikimedia Russia director
A campaign to replace the country's Wikipedia with a more pliant alternative seems near completion.
Framework Laptop 16 review: the modular system offers unprecedented customization, competent at mid-range gaming, but ran hot, froze, and glitched in testing
You're buying for the promise, not the performance. Brad Linder / Liliputing : Libits: Framework Laptop 16 review roundup, a pocket-sized travel router, Firefox 122, and budget phones with 90 Hz displ...
Research: African startups raised between $2.9B and $4.1B total in 2023, down from $4.6B to $6.5B in 2022, with Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa leading
TechCrunch :
Berlin-based Kittl, which is developing a browser-based graphic design tool, raised a $36M Series B led by IVP, just a year after raising an $11.6M Series A
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
As Chinese tech manufacturers flock to Vietnam to set up new factories, Bac Ninh, an industrial hub northeast of Hanoi, has become a center for Chinese culture
Rest of World : X: @dali_yang X: Dali L. Yang / @dali_yang : As Chinese manufacturers open shop in Vietnam, Bac Ninh has become a cultural hub with Chinese restaurants, bubble tea shops, and language...
London- and Tallinn-based VC firm Plural, led by some of Europe's best known startup founders, raised a €400M fund to invest in early-stage “deep tech” startups
The firm offers a Silicon-Valley approach to backing start-ups as an alternative to the traditional VC model X: @khelioui , @soundboy , @taavet , @pluralplatform , @ryan_browne_ , and @carinanamih . L...
Stuttgart-based Instagrid, which uses software to boost its 20kg portable batteries, raised a $95M Series C led by TVG at a $400M to $500M post-money valuation
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
NYC-based Bilt Rewards, which converts rental payments to points, raised $200M led by General Catalyst at a $3.1B valuation, and says users spend $20B annually
- General Catalyst, Eldridge invest in $200 million equity round — Startup wants to add neighborhood merchants to rewards program
BeReal plans to let brands and celebrities join, starting on February 6, and says the app now has 23M DAUs, up from 20M DAUs in August 2023
BeReal, a rising social media app that emphasizes authenticity, is making its first outreach to brands and celebrities.
Texas Instruments reports Q4 revenue down 13% YoY to $4.08B, vs. $4.13B est., and FY 2023 sales down ~13% YoY, the company's biggest fall in over a decade
Ian King / Bloomberg :
A FINRA review of 500+ crypto-related retail communications finds that 70% of them contained claims that are false, misleading, or otherwise violated its rules
Turner Wright / Cointelegraph :
A filing in a class action suit by 10 US artists against Midjourney and others lists 16,000 artist names whose work Midjourney had allegedly used for training
James Tapper / The Guardian :
SAP plans voluntary buyouts or job changes for 8,000 employees as part of a 2024 restructuring program but says its headcount should remain the same
Jordan Novet / CNBC :
Source: Brex told employees that the fintech is cutting 282 jobs, or ~20% of its staff, saying the team grew “too quickly”, and its CTO and COO are leaving
AiDash, which uses AI to search satellite images to spot fire and weather risks on power lines, raised a $50M Series C led by Lightrock
Peter Henderson / Reuters :
A look at SK Hynix's NAND flash memory chip plant in Dalian, China, acquired from Intel for $9B in 2020, which is now in limbo because of US-China export rules
Bloomberg : X: @mackhawk , @samkimasia , @samkimasia , and @pstasiatech X: Mackenzie Hawkins / @mackhawk : New: South Korea's economy relies heavily on chips. That makes it especially vulnerable to U...
Sources: Jack Ma and Joe Tsai become Alibaba's largest shareholders after buying shares worth ~$50M and ~$150M, respectively, in Q4, together eclipsing SoftBank
Zhou Xin / South China Morning Post :
Filing: Google is terminating its contract with data-labeling firm Appen, effective March 19; Google accounted for $82.8M of Appen's $273M revenue in 2023
Xianyu, Alibaba's online second-hand goods trading platform that claims to have 500M+ users, is opening its first bricks-and-mortar store in Hangzhou, China
Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post :
Sources: Figma is refreshing employee equity packages and offering buyouts as the startup resets its valuation from $20B to $10B, after the scrapped Adobe deal
Supermicro's stock jumped 430%+ since early 2023 during the AI frenzy, outpacing Nvidia, boosting the value of its founder's 12% stake, plus options, to $3.3B
Bloomberg :
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26
Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
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.