Techmeme
March 28, 2017, 3:45 PM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook's main app gets Snapchat-like Stories atop the News Feed, Direct for sharing ephemeral images and video with friends, and in-app camera effects  —  We want to make it fast, fun and easy for people to share creative photos and videos with whomever they choose, for however long they choose …
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Facebook copied Snapchat a fourth time, and now all its apps look the same  —  Facebook doesn't seem concerned with giving each of its core services a unique identity.  —  Facebook is copying Snapchat again: Today it launched Stories, the 24-hour photo and video montages that ultimately disappear, inside of its core Facebook app.
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Uber's first diversity report: staff is 36.1% female worldwide with 15.4% female engineers; in US, 49.8% white, 30.9% Asian, 8.8% black, 5.6% Hispanic overall  —  Uber just released its highly anticipated, first-ever diversity report detailing the demographics of its employees as of this month.
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Tinder unveils Tinder Online, a web-optimized version currently being tested in emerging markets with plans to launch everywhere “soon”  —  Tinder is today introducing a new way for users to access the platform with the launch of Tinder Online, a web-optimized version of the dating app …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Amazon debuts AmazonFresh Pickup, a drive-in service delivering groceries straight to the trunks of customers' cars, in beta at two Seattle locations  —  Amazon's grocery efforts just got a new level of convenience for shoppers: AmazonFresh Pickup, a drive-in grocery delivery right to your car's trunk, launching in beta on Tuesday.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
AWS launches Amazon Connect, a tool for call centers that uses its Lex speech recognition and AI; Salesforce says it's integrating Einstein service with Connect  —  Amazon Web Services just unveiled a new service for running call centers, dubbed Amazon Connect, leveraging the same technology used …
Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat:
Google Home and Google Wifi will be available in the UK on April 6 for £129, the first market outside the US for both  —  Google announced today that its Home and Wifi devices will be available soon in the U.K., the first international markets for the gadgets.
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Twitter will start selling pre-roll ads ahead of Periscope videos  —  Twitter is looking for some more video ad dollars.  —  Twitter is going to start making some money from Periscope, its livestreaming video service.  —  The company announced on Tuesday that it will begin selling pre-roll video ads …
Wall Street Journal:
Tencent buys 5% passive stake in Tesla for $1.8B, making it the fifth-largest shareholder in the automaker  —  China's most valuable company, buys 5% stake in Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker ahead of ambitious launch of $35,000 sedan  —  Tencent Holdings Ltd. bought a 5% stake in Tesla Inc. …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
IKEA's Trådfri system for smart home lighting goes live on Swedish website, available in Swedish stores on March 31 starting at about $85  —  Smart lights on a budget  —  Ikea is finally getting into the home automation game with its own system for smart lighting.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Payments company Square launches in the UK, its first European market and fifth globally  —  Mobile payments company Square is finally landing in Europe with the news today that it's now open for U.K.-based business owners.  —  This launch represents the fifth market for Square, after the U.S. …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases watchOS 3.2 with Theater Mode, an easily accessible option to disable “Raise to Wake”, and SiriKit, which will allow users to give Siri commands  —  Apple today released a new software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 3.1.3 to watchOS 3.2. watchOS 3.2 …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
Mastering bot filtering and Apple MPP compliance  —  Why is bot filtering important for your business?  As marketers, we live and breathe data.  Open rates, click-through rates, conversions—these metrics serve as the compass that guides our campaigns.
IDrive:
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.

Featured Podcasts

Channels with Peter Kafka:
Ian Rogers tells me I need a crypto wallet
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
What does Spain's blackout mean for the future of clean energy?
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
Techmeme Ride Home:
OpenAI Backtracks
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Invest Like the Best:
David Senra - The Focused Few
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
HubSpot CEO on the Future of SaaS, AI, & Leading Through Change
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Inside Devin: The world's first autonomous AI engineer that's set to write 50% of its company's code by end of year | Scott Wu (CEO and co-founder of Cognition)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:45 PM ET, March 28, 2017.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Gigi Sohn / The Verge:
Florin Bodnarescu / Neowin:
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal: