Techmeme
May 5, 2017, 6:20 AM

Top News

Reuters:
Sources: Justice Department opens criminal probe into Uber's use of Greyball software to evade regulators  —  The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber Technologies Inc's use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, two sources familiar with the situation said.
CB Insights:Uber
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Facebook says it is closing Oculus VR film studio, canceling all on-going projects, will invest in VR content produced by outside partners  —  Oculus Story Studio, the award-winning studio behind virtual reality (VR) short films like “Dear Angelica” and “Henry,” is being shut down, Facebook announced Thursday afternoon.
Bloomberg:
YouTube producing a half-dozen original series this year; source says it will spend $100M+ for 40+ ad-supported original shows and movies next year  —  Online service sees opportunity to lure big national sponsors  —  Paid Red service gets budgets matching HBO, Showtime programs
Iain Thomson / The Register:
Hackers exploited SS7, a protocol used by cellphone providers, to intercept two-factor codes sent to online banking customers, letting them empty bank accounts  —  O2 in Germany confirms online thefts from sour krauts  —  Experts have been warning for years about security blunders …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
SpaceX details plans to launch first of 4,425 high-speed internet satellites in 2019, following two years of tests starting in 2017  —  Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to start launching satellites into orbit in 2019 to provide high-speed internet to Earth.  —  In November, the company outlined plans …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Heap raises $27M Series B led by Menlo Ventures and NEA to help businesses with data analytics  —  Heap, a startup that promises a uniquely comprehensive approach to analytics, has raised $27 million in Series B funding.  —  Co-founder and CEO Matin Movassate told me Heap's vision is to “make data useful for everyone.”
Aaron Pressman / Fortune:
CDC says 50.8% of US households use only cellphones, overtaking landlines as main service for the first time  —  It's official: For the first time, a majority of American homes have only wireless telephones.  —  The trend to drop landlines has been growing over the last decade alongside …

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