Techmeme
April 13, 2020, 8:40 AM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Apple says COVID-19 contact tracing apps can include duration of proximity when deciding what is a proximity event, potentially limiting false positive pings  —  Adoption is the hard part of contact tracing apps so far — but if it's baked into the operating system, it gets a lot easier
Ross Anderson / Light Blue Touchpaper:
A list of issues that make contact tracing an impractical solution in the real world, from trolling others to cheating to insufficient adoption  —  There have recently been several proposals for pseudonymous contact tracing, including from Apple and Google.
Leo Kelion / BBC:
NHSX to test an app for users to send a “yellow alert” if they self-diagnose with COVID-19 symptoms and a “red alert” if they test positive, to recent contacts  —  The UK has confirmed plans for an app that will warn users if they have recently been in close proximity …
The Sunday Times:
Sources: NHSX, UK health service's technology arm, is working on a Bluetooth-based contact tracing app with Google and Apple at a “breakneck speed”  —  Ministers have ordered the creation of an NHS mobile phone app the government hopes will help end the coronavirus lockdown.
Moxie Marlinspike / @moxie:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is planning an iPad Pro-like design with flat edges and a smaller notch for iPhones, a smaller, cheaper HomePod, and Apple Tags for the fall  —  - iPhone's fall refresh to add 5G on as many as four new models  — Smaller HomePod speaker, location tags for keys in development
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Sources: after handing over to the new CEO, Bob Iger effectively returned to run Disney in March, as the pandemic decimated its most profitable businesses  —  The former C.E.O. thought he was riding into the sunset.  Now he's reasserting control and reimagining Disney as a company with fewer employees and more thermometers.
The Guardian:
Leaked docs reveal the extent of UK's cooperation with Faculty and Palantir on a “Covid-19 datastore” to power the previously announced NHS pandemic dashboard  —  Technology firms are processing large volumes of confidential UK patient information in a data-mining operation …
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
PayPal and Intuit say they have been approved by the Small Business Administration to distribute funds from its $350B emergency lending program  —  - PayPal and Intuit are among the first non-bank, fintech companies to be approved for the Small Business Association's emergency lending program.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Google introduces Maps, Search, and YouTube features in India to display authoritative and local information to help people combat coronavirus  —  Google has launched a website dedicated to coronavirus updates in India and tweaked its search engine and YouTube to prominently display authoritative information …

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
Are you ready for the era of agentic AI?  —  Tech leaders are always talking about what's next, and right now, agentic AI is dominating the discourse.  Equip yourself with the info you need in this recorded webinar.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
Everything new in the Zoho Sign iOS mobile app  —  Ranked highly in the iOS App Store (4.9 stars), Zoho Sign's mobile app for iPhone is a user favorite.  We're thrilled to share that the app has been enhanced …
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.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Why COULDN'T Apple Make An iPhone In The US?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Derek Thompson (Writer, The Atlantic) and Zach Weinberg (Co-founder & CEO, Curie.Bio) Discuss the Tariff Withdrawal and America's Future
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Hard Fork:
Big Tech's Tariff Chaos + A.I. 2027 + Llama Drama
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Great Chat:
The bull case for domestic manufacturing
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Why DOGE is killing the agency that keeps banks from ripping you off
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI's CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:40 AM ET, April 13, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Duncan Fyfe / VICE:
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Washington Post:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac: