Techmeme
August 22, 2019, 2:45 PM

Top News

Sameer Samat / The Keyword:
Google stops using dessert-themed names for Android for better worldwide accessibility, names Android Q Android 10, and refreshes Android brand logo and color  —  Over the last decade, Android's open platform has created a thriving community of manufacturers and developers that reach a global audience with their devices and apps.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is planning to launch Pro iPhones with three-sensor camera systems for better low-light, new iPads, and a 16-inch MacBook Pro next month  —  Apple Inc. is readying a clutch of new hardware for the coming weeks and months, including “Pro” iPhones, upgrades to iPads and its largest laptop in years.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google proposes new privacy and anti-fingerprinting controls aimed at making it harder for online marketers and advertisers to track users across the web  —  Google today announced a new long-term initiative that, if fully realized, will make it harder for online marketers and advertisers to track you across the web.
ProPublica:
Interviews with 36+ DOD and tech officials shed light on tech giants' fight for $10B Pentagon JEDI cloud contract using backdoor lobbying and an advisory board  —  Tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt have gotten unprecedented access to the Pentagon.  And one whistleblower who raised flags has paid the price.
CNBC:
Overstock CEO Partick Byrne has resigned from the e-commerce company after his comments about being involved in a “Deep State” investigation of 2016 election  —  - Overstock CEO Partick Byrne has resigned from the e-commerce company after making controversial comments about his role in the “Deep State.”
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Krishna Bharat, who led the team that built Google News, returns to the company as a distinguished research scientist after a four-year hiatus  —  KEY POINTS  —  Pedestrians walk past Google headquarters in New York.  —  Krishna Bharat, the inventor of Google News, has returned to the company …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: News Corp is developing a news-aggregation service called Knewz, to address publisher concerns about Google and Facebook  —  Knewz.com will surface articles from hundreds of news sources, using software and human curation  —  News Corp is developing a news-aggregation service meant …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Assessing the impact of telecoms' poor privacy practices through the story of a woman stalked by a man who obtained her real-time location data from T-Mobile  —  Telecom giants are giving up customers' real-time location data to stalkers and bounty hunters.  Now, Motherboard speaks to a victim.
Washington Post:
Palantir's revenue from US government contracts under Trump surpassed its total under Obama's second term, as sources describe staff debates about work with ICE  —  After Google dropped a defense contract over employee pressure, Palantir's leaders doubled down on controversial work with the U.S. government
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Eminem's publisher Eight Mile Style sues Spotify claiming copyright infringement, challenges the constitutionality of the Music Modernization Act passed in 2018  —  Eight Mile Style alleges “Lose Yourself” and many of the rapper's hits aren't licensed by the streamer.  Now comes a suit eyeing Spotify's billions.
Brian Merchant / Gizmodo:
Investigation reveals popular on-demand massage app Zeel repeatedly ignored therapists' complaints about sexual harassment and inappropriate client behavior  —  When Ilene Antelman arrived at a client's Manhattan duplex in December of 2016, she was in a good mood.
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Users whose accounts have been disabled by Facebook say the opaque review process, the endless wait, and the inability to contact an employee can be maddening  —  For a decade, Christopher Reeves, an Uber driver in Seattle, used Facebook for everything: talking with friends, communicating with fellow drivers, meeting singles.
Stephan Kahl / Bloomberg:
Numbrs, an app that enables users to manage existing bank accounts in one place, raises $40M at a $1B+ valuation, bringing its total raised to ~$200M  —  - Numbrs raises $40 million as it looks to expand beyond Germany  — Company counts 50 indivuals and families among its investors
Facebook Technology:
A look at Oculus Insight, Facebook's technology that makes inside-out VR tracking on Oculus Quest and Rift S headsets possible  —  VR hardware was tethered to a PC — until one Facebook engineering team found a way to cut the cord  —  When Anna Kozminski joined Facebook as a software program manager …
Georgina Torbet / Engadget:
Google is rolling out its face-grouping feature in Google Photos, first introduced in 2015, across Europe  —  Google Photos recently hit one billion users after being spun out from Google+ just four years ago.  One reason the product grew so quickly is its frequent updates …
More: 9to5Google
Mehreen Khan / Financial Times:
The European Commission is planning regulation to impose strict limits on the use of facial recognition technology by companies and public authorities  —  Brussels is exploring ways to impose strict limits on the use of facial recognition technology in an attempt to stamp out creeping public surveillance of European citizens.

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Zoho:
Celebrate and collaborate this holiday season with Zoho Cliq  —  The holiday season is a time for celebration, relaxation, and reflection.  While some people are busy wrapping presents for their loved ones …
Genesys:
Executive Insights: The Era of Contact Center AI Copilots  —  How AI copilots are transforming customer experience and agent performance.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 12/23 - The Revenge Of Google Glass?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:45 PM ET, August 22, 2019.

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

Earlier Picks

Christina Farr / CNBC:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:
Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Abner Li / 9to5Google: