Techmeme
March 4, 2020, 12:15 AM

Top News

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google says it will not host an in-person I/O event this year, due to coronavirus fears, and will instead offer a series of online events  —  Following a string of other tech cancellations in recent days, Google just announced that it will not host an in-person I/O 2020 over coronavirus concerns.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Sam Dean / Los Angeles Times:
Twitter says it strongly encourages its 4,800+ employees to work from home to avoid spreading coronavirus, the first major US company to do so  —  Twitter on Monday became the first major U.S. corporation to strongly encourage its employees to work from home to avoid spreading coronavirus.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Citing coronavirus concerns, Apple restricts employee travel to Italy and South Korea, following its similar restrictions for China  —  - Company sends memo to employees about Covid-19 response  — Sick employees told to take leave; virtual meetings encouraged
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Robinhood says recent outages were caused by an “unprecedented load” on its system, will waive Gold customers' fee for 3 months, ~$15, as initial compensation  —  It wasn't the leap year, a coding blip, or a hack that caused Robinhood's massive outages yesterday and today that left customers unable to trade stocks.
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Jim Salter / Ars Technica:
Let's Encrypt discovers a bug in its Certification Authority Authorization code, meaning affected users need to manually force-renew certs to avoid downtime  —  Let's Encrypt users will need to manually force-renew once to avoid downtime.  —  On Leap Day, Let's Encrypt announced …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Kuo: Apple is working on six products with mini-LED tech including an iMac Pro refresh for Q4 '20, a 7.9" iPad mini coming in 2020, and a 14.1" MacBook Pro  —  Apple has six mini-LED products in the works that are set to debut in 2020 and 2021, and production is not expected to be delayed by the coronavirus …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Legal tech startup Atrium is shutting down, laying off 100+ employees; CEO Justin Kan says Atrium failed to be more efficient than a traditional law firm  —  Justin Kan's hybrid legal software and law firm startup Atrium is shutting down today after failing to figure out how to deliver better efficiency than a traditional law firm.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
WhatsApp says a dark mode will become available for iOS and Android users today, after months of testing, on by default for users with system dark mode enabled  —  Facebook finally says hello to darkness  —  WhatsApp is finally getting a new dark mode on iOS and Android today.
Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire:
In an email to staff, Amazon says an employee at its Seattle headquarters has tested positive for COVID-19 and that the affected employee remains in quarantine  —  An Amazon employee at the company's Seattle headquarters has tested positive for the novel coronavirus spreading across the country …
Aditi Shrivastava / The Economic Times:
Uber sold Uber Eats in India to Zomato for $206M, instead of $350M as previously reported, in return for a 9.99% stake, lowering Zomato's ~$3B valuation  —  Ride-hailing major Uber Inc sold its India food delivery business to larger rival Zomato for $206 million in return for a 9.99% stake, regulatory filings by the US-based firm show.
Alex Heath / The Information:
Sources: Facebook plans to use digital versions of government-backed currencies along with its Libra token for its Calibra wallet when it is launched in October  —  Facebook is scaling back its ambitious plan to upend the global financial system with a new digital currency.
Nat Levy / GeekWire:
Amazon says it will speed up same-day delivery for Prime members in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando, and Dallas thanks to newly built smaller warehouses  —  Amazon today unveiled its latest initiative to speed up delivery times on millions of items for its growing cadre of Prime members.
Rani Molla / Vox:
Brookings study: only 10 US cities have grown their share of tech jobs since 2010, resulting in less diversity for companies and no economic windfall elsewhere  —  Austin is one the few cities to see substantial growth in its share of tech workers.  Rick Kern/WireImage  —  Where tech jobs go, so does wealth.
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Honeywell says it will launch a quantum computer within three months with a quantum volume of at least 64, making it the world's most powerful quantum computer  —  Under Honeywell's quantum plans, customers will connect directly to systems housed by the company.
Adrian Chen / New York Times:
Profile of Hideo Kojima, a gaming industry legend known for highly anticipated game franchises like Metal Gear Solid, and his latest work, Death Stranding  —  He's an auteur whose bizarre creations — the Metal Gear Solid series and, most recently, Death Stranding — have become huge blockbusters.

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Andrew Marantz / New Yorker:
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