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December 19, 2019, 5:50 AM
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| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
Lawmakers balk after Facebook explains how it collects and monetizes location data of users who have denied location services in their smartphone OS for its app — - In response to a letter from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Facebook explained why it tracks users' locations …
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The Hill, CNBC, 9to5Mac, WebProNews, Firstpost Tech, BGR, iMore, Boing Boing, Input, Slashdot, and The Next Web
Tweets: @birnbaum_e, @hawleymo, @hypervisible, @llsethj, @giano, @aqsa9990, and @ai6yrham
| First Round: |
State of startups survey: 33%+ of founders worry about the end of a tech bubble, 65% say 2020 fundraising will be hard, and diversity and mental health are key — Welcome to the fifth edition of State of Startups. What started as an experiment in 2015 has since become a treasured tradition here at First Round.
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Tomasz Tunguz and NewsBTC
| Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC: |
Facebook acquires Spanish cloud gaming startup PlayGiga, reportedly for ~€70M — - Facebook has acquired PlayGiga, a Madrid-based company that specializes in cloud gaming. — Over the past few years, Facebook has been expanding its efforts in gaming.
More:
The Verge, Engadget, Digital Trends, TechCrunch, Firstpost Tech, Pocket-lint, Variety, GamesIndustry.biz, and Seeking Alpha. Tweets: @shiraovide. Thanks:@sal19
| Los Angeles Times: |
MyShake, an app that uses data from the USGS alert system that senses earthquakes, sent out its first public alert for a 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday — In a milestone, California's new statewide earthquake early warning cellphone app sent out its first public alert for a magnitude 4.3 earthquake …
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Engadget, iMore, NBC Bay Area, Mashable, and MacDailyNews
Tweets: @pnsn1, @uofcalifornia, and @latimes
| Josh Constine / TechCrunch: |
Spotify is prototyping Tastebuds, a social feature that allows users to interact with and discover music by searching the people they follow — Spotify is prototyping a new way to see what friends have been listening to, called “Tastebuds.” Despite how discovering music is inherently social …
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Engadget, Pocket-lint, BGR, Digital Trends, TechSpot, Neowin, iDownloadBlog.com, Android Police, SlashGear, Cult of Mac, and The Verge
Tweets: @wongmjane, @caseynewton, @joshconstine, @arainert, @pugson, @chiefofstuffs, @renkiger, and @chrismessina
| Megan Graham / CNBC: |
Facebook says it will ban any branded content, including influencers' posts, promoting tobacco products, vaping, or weapons on Facebook and Instagram — - For the first time, Facebook and Instagram are putting restrictions around the types of items that brands can promote using “branded content.”
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Instagram for Business, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Verge, Input, The Next Web, Social Media Today, The Daily Dot, Gizmodo, Mashable, Axios, SlashGear, Digital Trends, Engadget, Search Engine Journal, BBC, and NBC News
Tweets: @matthewstoller, @danielmarans, @ashorg, and @emilybell
| Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post: |
US government says Uber will pay $4.4M to victims of alleged gender discrimination and strengthen sexual harassment defenses, following an EEOC investigation — An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation found “reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture …
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EEOC, TechCrunch, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Financial Times, Seeking Alpha, Business Insider, CNET, and Law360
Tweets: @useeoc, @lauren_feiner, @useeoc, @faizsays, and @susanthesquark
| New York Times: |
An examination of poorly secured police and private databases reveals how China is ramping up its ability to spy on its citizens to new and disturbing levels — The authorities can scan your phones, track your face and find out when you leave your home. One of the world's biggest spying networks …
Tweets: @paulmozur, @ruv, @umairh, @aclu, @riotpedestrian, @marcorubio, @nytimes, and @hawleymo
| Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg: |
After tests in Chicago, Uber to expand Uber Works, its marketplace for short-term jobs in hospitality, events, light industrial, and other sectors, to Miami — Governments around the world are pressing Uber Technologies Inc. to give employment benefits to its army of gig drivers.
More:
PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, Input, and Seeking Alpha
Tweets: @trafficbutter, @davidjoachim, and @sartor1836
| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
Spanish startup Glovo, an on-demand delivery service for food, groceries, pharmaceuticals, and more, raises €150M Series E led by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala — Spain's Glovo, an on-demand delivery app platform which operates in Europe, LatAm and Africa delivering food but also other urban conveniences … | Todd Haselton / CNBC: |
Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance announce a partnership to create a universal smart home standard, called the “Project Connected Home over IP” — - Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance announced a new partnership. — It's called Project Connected Home over IP …
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Zigbee Alliance, The Verge, Engadget, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, Mashable, Google, The Overspill, TidBITS, Ars Technica, Google Developers Blog, Techaeris, TalkAndroid.com, Android Headlines, Input, Android Authority, Vox, ZDNet, Telecompetitor, AnandTech, Voicebot.ai, Business Insider, Pocketnow, XDA Developers, Gizchina, SiliconANGLE, Android Police, Daring Fireball, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gizmodo, Stacey on IoT, CNET, Neowin, BGR, Mercury News, PYMNTS.com, TechCrunch, MacStories, Android Central, Thurrott, CNET, iPhone Hacks, 9to5Google, iMore, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, MacRumors, MSPoweruser, WebProNews, The Mac Observer, Kirkville, and Seeking Alpha
Tweets: @waltmossberg, @stevesi, @links_for_twit, @markgurman, @zigbeealliance, @dcseifert, @reckless, @onejarednewman, @campuscodi, @tsuvik, and @stevekovach
| Dave Muoio / MobiHealthNews: |
Boston-based OM1, a healthcare industry startup which organizes and analyzes large datasets to measure and predict clinical outcomes, raises $50M Series C — Scale Venture Partners headed the round, which comes roughly a year and a half after OM1's $21 million Series B.
More:
PR Newswire and TechCrunch
| Antoine Gara / Forbes: |
A look at Cross River, a bank that is underwriting loans at a rate of $1B+ per month to customers of some popular fintech apps, including Affirm and Upstart — If you want a glimpse of the future of banking, don't look to Silicon Valley or Manhattan's financial district.
Tweets: @antoinegara and @jake_bernstein
| Julie Jargon / Wall Street Journal: |
A look at Photo Roulette, a guessing game app for up to 50 players that picks a random photo from any phone and shows it to all players for five seconds — Popular game draws images from players' camera rolls at random, causing embarrassment, raising privacy concerns
Tweets: @caseynewton, @arainert, @taylorlorenz, and @hunterwalk
| Bloomberg: |
Current and ex-employees of SoftBank's Vision Fund describe an environment of sycophancy towards Son, harassment, rivalries, and a culture of recklessness — Masayoshi Son's venture capital firm is famous for making outsize bets on tech startups. It has also been described as an environment of sycophancy and harassment.
More:
Oversharing, Business Insider, and New York Post
Tweets: @bw, @shiraovide, @ivan_brussels, @jbarro, @mhbergen, @rsarver, @puiwingtam, @shiraovide, @kateclarktweets, and @sonalibasak
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UiPath:
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