Techmeme
October 28, 2019, 3:15 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Sources: Alphabet has made an offer to buy wearable device maker Fitbit; Fitbit's stock has jumped 30%+ on the news  —  (Reuters) - Google owner Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) has made an offer to acquire U.S. wearable device maker Fitbit Inc (FIT.N), as it eyes a slice of the crowded market …
Apple:
Apple unveils AirPods Pro, with active noise cancellation, transparency mode, silicone ear tip design, and water resistance, coming October 30 for $249  —  All-New Design Features Active Noise Cancellation for Immersive Sound  —  Cupertino, California — Apple today announced AirPods Pro …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Sources: over 250 Facebook employees have signed a letter visible on an internal forum that says letting politicians lie in ads is “a threat” to the company  —  In an open letter, the social network's employees said letting politicians post false claims in ads was “a threat” to the company.
Spotify:
Spotify Q3: paid subs rose 31% YoY to 113M; MAUs grew 30% YoY to 248M; revenue up 28% YoY to €1.73B; net income of €241M, up from €43M in Q3 '18; stock up 14%+  —  NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) today reported financial results for the third fiscal quarter …
Hugh Son / CNBC:
Uber unveils Uber Money, a division for efforts like digital wallets and upgraded debit and credit cards, focusing at first on getting 4M drivers a bank account  —  - The ride company announces a new division called Uber Money, which includes a digital wallet and upgraded debit and credit cards.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on new smart home products with a new team headed by Andreas Gal, the former Mozilla CTO and co-founder of Apple-acquired Silk Labs  —  The iPhone maker's effort in smart-home devices trails rivals.  A new team wants to change that.
Angus Crawford / BBC:
Instagram bans drawings and memes related to self-harm or suicide  —  Instagram has pledged to remove images, drawings and even cartoons showing methods of self-harm or suicide.  —  The move is its latest response to the public outcry over the death of British teenager Molly Russell.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Nvidia unveils new $149 Shield TV and $199 Shield TV Pro with a faster Tegra X1+ processor, AI-based 4K upscaling, Dolby Vision HDR, and Dolby Atmos support  —  Nvidia has a new family of Android TV-based streaming devices, as tipped early via a couple of leaks from online stores.
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
How Ben Shapiro's massively popular right-wing site The Daily Wire gets promoted in an inauthentic, coordinated manner by 14 Facebook pages followed by millions  —  The Daily Wire, the right-wing website founded by pundit Ben Shapiro, is a cesspool of misogyny, bigotry, and misinformation.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases HomePod 13.2 software update with support for recognizing up to six different users' voices, Handoff from iOS, Ambient Sounds, and more  —  Apple today is releasing the HomePod 13.2 software update with several new features, including multiple users support, Handoff and Ambient Sounds.
More: The Verge and iMore

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:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
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Earlier Picks

Khari Johnson / VentureBeat: