Techmeme
March 6, 2020, 1:20 PM

Top News

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
An unfixable flaw in nearly all Intel chips released in last five years allows sophisticated attackers access to mask ROM of its chipsets and microprocessors  —  Converged Security and Management Engine flaw may jeopardize Intel's root of trust.  —  Virtually all Intel chips released …
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Oppo unveils Oppo Watch, its first smartwatch with 1.91-inch OLED screen, fitness tracking, music playback, available on March 24 in China for ~$215  —  Out in China this month for $215  —  As repeatedly teased by Oppo itself, Oppo is making a watch called the Oppo Watch, and today it got revealed in full.
Richard Lai / Engadget:
Oppo unveils €1,199 Find X2 Pro with 5G, Snapdragon 865, 6.7-inch Quad HD+ 120Hz display, a 10x hybrid zoom camera, and 4,260mAh battery with 65W charging  —  Even though Oppo isn't as well-known in the US, chances are you might have come across one of its recent tech demos.
Ina Fried / Axios:
Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, which are asking their Bay Area staff to work from home, say they plan to pay their hourly workers regular wages  —  Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Twitter all told Axios on Thursday night that they plan to pay their hourly workers regular wages …
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Steven Levy / OneZero :
Profile of Whitfield Diffie, one of the pioneers of public-key cryptography, which ushered in digital signatures and now underlies the security of ecommerce  —  Longtime tech journalist Steven Levy's new book, Facebook: The Inside Story, details how Mark Zuckerberg transformed …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Sources: Apple is rejecting apps related to COVID-19 that do not originate from “recognized institutions” like governments or hospitals  —  - Apple is cracking down on apps related to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that aren't from recognized institutions like governments or hospitals, iPhone developers say.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Sonos says it is getting rid of its controversial recycle mode, which bricked its older devices, while continuing to offer a trade-in discount  —  Sonos has been under fire lately for the way it has handled a few decisions around its oldest products.  Last fall, the company introduced a …
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Sources: Waymo is now valued at more than $30B, after raising $2.25B this week  —  Windfall pushing Alphabet division above rivals comes at turning point for group  —  When outside investors lined up this week to pour $2.25bn into Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving technology division, it brought strong validation for a decade of work.
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Clearview AI's facial recognition app was used by the company's investors, clients, and friends to “test” its tech for over a year prior to public scrutiny  —  Investors and clients of the facial recognition start-up freely used the app on dates and at parties — and to spy on the public.
Chris Mellor / Blocks and Files:
Nvidia acquires SwiftStack, a small AI-focused data storage and management platform it currently uses, for an undisclosed sum  —  Nvidia is buying SwiftStack, an object storage software company.  Terms were undisclosed but the takeover looks like a white knight move by Nvidia.
Wayne Ma / The Information:
Investigation details Apple's struggles to create a device manufacturing supply chain in India  —  Several years ago, employees at Apple investigated whether components for the iPhone could be made in India.  The results weren't encouraging.  —  While the employees found some companies …
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Facebook reverses course and says it will remove 1K+ deceptive census ads being run by the Trump campaign, after initially saying they do not violate its policy  —  November's election will have an enormous impact on politics in the United States for the next four years.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Arweave, which uses a blockchain to perpetually host sites and apps, raises $8.3M seed from a16z, USV, and Coinbase Ventures, four months after raising $5M  —  The Chinese government has been removing criticism of its coronavirus response from apps like Weibo, the local equivalent of Twitter.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Jack Dorsey says he is reevaluating plans to spend part of the year in Africa amid the coronavirus outbreak and “everything else going on”  —  The Twitter CEO is facing down an adversarial investor who wants him gone  —  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is reevaluating his plans …

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