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December 4, 2019, 8:55 PM
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Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Paresh Dave / Reuters: |
Instagram says it will now require birthdates from new users, in order to improve safety features for minors and better target ads for age-restricted products — SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's Instagram said it will require birthdates from all new users starting on Wednesday …
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Instagram, Digital Trends, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, The Daily Dot, SlashGear, The Hill, KnowTechie, MSPoweruser, Neowin, CNET, Engadget, The Verge, BBC, and CNET
Tweets: @shayan86, @sinnamonlove, @mattnavarra, @chrismessina, @timmarchman, @tomgara, @wongmjane, @sarahfrier, @wongmjane, and @karissabe
| Jason Schreier / Kotaku: |
Sources: Microsoft is planning a cheaper, disc-free Xbox, codenamed Lockhart, to go alongside its high-end Project Scarlett console — In June, Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, a new iteration of the Xbox that the company said would “set a new bar for console power, speed and performance.”
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The Verge, The Next Web, Ars Technica, Windows Central, Thurrott, CNET, GeekWire, Business Insider, Engadget, Wccftech, GameSpot, Destructoid, Pocket-lint, IGN, Tom's Guide, Gamasutra, VG247, USgamer.net, Neowin, BGR, TechSpot, OnMSFT.com, Gematsu, Digital Trends, GamesIndustry.biz, TweakTown News, Geek.com, SlashGear, and MSPoweruser
Tweets: @sweetnessgaming, @tomwarren, @getfandom, @balroggameroom, @tomwarren, @jasonschreier, @benjisales, and @smetaldave64
| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
BMW reverses its decision to charge $80/year for Apple's CarPlay, saying it will offer it free in some models and for a one-off $300 fee in others — BMW in early 2018 decided to begin offering BMW customers CarPlay access for a subscription fee rather than a one-time fee …
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Autocar, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Ars Technica, autoblog.com, Cult of Mac, MacDailyNews, and iPhone Hacks. Tweets: @ianstechyt
| Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech: |
An in-depth look at Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 and 765 chips, and why Snapdragon 865 does not come with an integrated 5G modem — We're here in Maui for the second day of Qualcomm's fourth annual Snapdragon summit, for what is probably the most exciting part of the event …
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PCMag, MacRumors, Ars Technica, Android Police, Engadget, Android Police, AppleInsider, iMore, 9to5Mac, SiliconANGLE, Patently Apple, Cult of Mac, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, The Verge, Wired, and ZDNet
| Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: |
Language learning app Duolingo raises $30M Series F from Alphabet's CapitalG at a $1.5B valuation, more than double the valuation from its 2017 Series E — Popular language learning app Duolingo has raised $30 million in a series F round of funding from Alphabet's investment arm CapitalG.
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CNBC, Pittsburgh Business Journal, EdSurge, and Axios
Tweets: @hunckler, @stevecase, and @chrisbriem
| Caroline Haskins / VICE: |
Internal and public documents portray efforts by Amazon's Ring to entice police with parties and batches of 40+ free Ring doorbells for promoting the service — This is the second of a three-part series exploring how Ring transformed from start-up pitch to the technology powering Amazon's …
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New York Post and The Verge
Tweets: @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @carolineha_, @katiedrumm, @josephfcox, @jason_koebler, and @acluofil
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
Google says Focus mode, a Digital Wellbeing feature for Android that mutes notifications, is rolling out to Android 9 and 10 users — At I/O 2019 in May, Google announced the latest Digital Wellbeing features to build on last year's initial launch. In testing for the past several months …
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The Keyword, TechCrunch, Engadget, Android Police, Business Insider, The Verge, Thurrott, MSPoweruser, CNET, Digital Trends, and XDA Developers
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Reddit publishes its 2019 retrospective: 430M MAUs, up 30% YoY, with 199M posts, 1.7B comments, and 32B upvotes; Bill Gates AMA had the most upvotes with 110K — In a year-end retrospective released this morning, Reddit says its user base grew 30% this year to reach 430 million monthly active users, as of the end of October.
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Upvoted, The Daily Dot, Mashable, Digital Trends, CNET, and Business Insider
Tweets: @reddit, @sachinrekhi, @brianmanzullo, and @davidspinks
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Plex launches a free, ad-supported streaming service featuring thousands of movies and shows from studios like MGM, available in ~220 countries — Plex today is launching its own ad-supported streaming service, a rival to The Roku Channel, Tubi, Crackle, Vudu's Movies on Us …
More:
Plex, 9to5Mac, The Streamable, Gizmodo, TechSpot, The Verge, Digital Trends, Android Authority, Android Police, and Windows Central. Tweets: @film_girl
| Victoria Song / Gizmodo: |
Craigslist, which launched in 1995, finally gets an official app, available now on iOS and in beta on Android — Craigslist has long been a staple of the internet since it first launched in 1995—but surprisingly, it hasn't had an official app in the decade or so since the smartphone era began.
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Engadget, TechSpot, GeekWire, Cult of Mac, Droid Life, Android Central, TechCrunch, KnowTechie, and Mashable
Tweets: @stevesi, @caseynewton, @nathanblawrence, and @jowens510
| Annie Palmer / CNBC: |
Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom and CFO Alan Pickerill are stepping down, with day-to-day work taken up by Chairman Barry Diller, after a disagreement over strategy — KEY POINTS — Expedia announced Wednesday that CEO Mark Okerstrom and CFO Alan Pickerill are stepping down from their roles at the company.
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Expedia Inc. MediaRoom, Bloomberg, ZDNet, GeekWire, Reuters, PYMNTS.com, and Business Insider
| Neha Malara / Reuters: |
Slack reports Q3 revenue of $168.7M up 60% YoY, beating analyst estimates, and a net loss of $87.8M, says its paying customers grew to 105K, up 30% YoY — (Reuters) - Slack Technologies Inc (WORK.N) forecast disappointing current-quarter revenue and profit on Wednesday as its messaging platform wrestles with stiff competition.
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SiliconANGLE, Business Wire, Wall Street Journal, ZDNet, Financial Times, MarketWatch, and Benzinga
| Fair Tax Mark: |
Fair Tax Mark report on Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix over the past decade finds they have collectively avoided $100B+ in taxes — The Fair Tax Mark will later this week release a new report, The Silicon Six and their $100 billion global tax gap … | Li Yuan / New York Times: |
Huawei's reputation in China, once unimpeachable, has been dented by a labor dispute over severance pay with an employee, who was recently freed from jail — When an executive wrote about her house arrest in Canada, an outcry about a former employee's treatment arose on social media.
More:
Foreign Policy. Tweets: @liyuan6, @scs_disputes, @david_mulroney, @kenroth, @liyuan6, @maryhui, and @nytimes
| Bloomberg: |
More Google employees accuse the company of retaliation in NLRB complaint filed Tuesday in Chicago, alleging Google fired one or more employees for organizing — A complaint filed Tuesday accused Google of terminating staff in retaliation for activism about working conditions …
Tweets: @josheidelson, @josheidelson, and @mer__edith
| TechCrunch: |
SEC filing: Sequoia Capital has raised nearly $1B for later-stage US investments and ~$2.4B for venture and growth deals in China — Noted Silicon Valley venture capital fund Sequoia Capital has raised nearly $1 billion for later-stage U.S. investments and roughly $2.4 billion for venture … | Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal: |
India, which is increasingly trying to shelter local companies, has erected regulatory hurdles over the past year for how US tech firms operate in the country — New barriers make world's biggest untapped digital market a slog for Walmart, Facebook; taking cues from China's protectionism
More:
Politico. Tweets: @ericbellmanwsj, @wsj, @viditb, @arifcrafiq, @dericsayers, @matthausk, @hoofnagle, and @parmy. Thanks:@newley
| Manish Singh / TechCrunch: |
Amazon launches a battery-powered portable Echo speaker in India with an enclosed 4,800mAh battery, claims up to 10 hours of continuous music playback — After launching nearly a dozen Echo speaker models in India in two years, Amazon said on Wednesday it is adding a new variant to the mix …
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GeekWire, Engadget, The Verge, Gizchina, Android Central, Tom's Guide, iPhone Hacks, TechHive, International Business Times, Mashable, Android Police, TechSpot, Cult of Mac, XDA Developers, Thurrott, BetaNews, Pocket-lint, PhoneArena, and Digital Trends
Tweets: @davezatz and @tech2eets
| Mike Isaac / New York Times: |
Sources: Facebook's NPE team is exploring the creation of apps for podcasts, travel, workplace services, and newsletters, although these may never be released — The social network is exploring new product areas through a team dedicated to building the company's future.
Tweets: @mikeisaac, @ceciliakang, @puiwingtam, and @caseynewton
| Todd Feathers / VICE: |
A look at the problems caused by spyware on student devices, marketed as a way to prevent shootings, without any independent research to support the claims — It was another sleepy board of education meeting in Woodbridge, N.J. The board gave out student commendations and presented budget requests.
Tweets: @josephfcox, @inhabitglobal, @vice, and @zenalbatross
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Kustomer, an omnichannel CRM platform for enterprise customer service, raises $60M Series E led by Coatue, bringing its total raised to ~$173M — Kustomer, a CRM startup that's taking on the likes of Zendesk, Salesforce, and many other bigger and older providers, has closed yet another round of funding …
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VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, and FinSMEs
Sponsor Posts
Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model — Gemini 2.5 Pro is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy. Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
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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
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:
Zoho Books now enables direct VAT filing with EmaraTax — We're excited to announce that Zoho Books is now recognised as a Digital Tax Integrator by the Federal Tax Authority, enabling direct VAT return filing from within your favorite accounting software.
Zoho Books now enables direct VAT filing with EmaraTax — We're excited to announce that Zoho Books is now recognised as a Digital Tax Integrator by the Federal Tax Authority, enabling direct VAT return filing from within your favorite accounting software.
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.
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
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Google DeepMind C.E.O. Demis Hassabis on Living in an A.I. Future
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