Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Apply here or tell a friend!
Techmeme
August 18, 2020, 3:30 PM

Top News

Financial Times:
Apple:
Apple renames Beats 1, its streaming radio station, Apple Music 1 and launches two new radio stations: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country  —  Apple Music 1 and two new stations, Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, feature exclusive original shows from the world's top music hosts and artists
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Samsung Note20 Ultra review: has fast performance, multiday battery life, big display is great for streaming games, but camera bump is huge, and it's expensive  —  A refinement of the formula  —  Samsung has settled into a new routine for its Galaxy Note line of smartphones …
Michael Simon / PCWorld:
Samsung promises three generations of Android updates for many Galaxy S, Note, Foldable, and A series devices, rivaling Google's three year promise for Pixel  —  When Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 20 earlier this month, the biggest surprise wasn't the faster screen, smoother S Pen, or more powerful processor.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Google Maps says it's rolling out more detailed maps with improved street designs for SF, NYC, and London, and with more accurate natural features worldwide  —  Making natural features easier to see and streets easier to navigate  —  Google Maps is being redesigned to make it easier …
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Apple says “the problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied” if they revert to comply with the guidelines they agreed to  —  “The problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied.”  —  Apple has responded to Epic Games' latest salvo …
The Information:
@epicnewsroom:
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Oculus will soon require all of its VR headset users to sign up with a Facebook account, removing support for new separate Oculus accounts in October  —  Support for separate Oculus accounts will end in 2023  —  Oculus will soon require all of its virtual reality headset users to sign up with a Facebook account.
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon says it is expanding physical offices and adding 3,500 corporate employees in six major cities, including 2,000 jobs in New York City  —  The e-commerce giant says it is adding 3,500 employees in six major cities, including 2,000 jobs in New York City
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Senate Intelligence Committee concludes Putin ordered the 2016 hacking of Democratic Party accounts and the release of emails to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign  —  - Manafort described as a ‘grave counterintelligence threat’  — Report details plan to hurt Clinton, finds no Trump collusion
Joanna Nelius / Gizmodo:
Nvidia's cloud gaming service GeForce Now is now available on Chromebooks in beta, but lacks the ability to automatically adjust for poor network conditions  —  Nvidia's cloud gaming service, GeForce Now, officially hit beta on ChromeOS today and it's helping to make the gaming PC obsolete faster than you'd expect.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Sources: Uber and Lyft are considering a franchise-like model in California where they would license their brands to operators of vehicle fleets  —  Under pressure to classify their freelance drivers as full-time employees, the ride-hailing companies are discussing another option.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Facebook and NYU research project suggests AI can make MRI scans up to four times faster by “predicting” the final scan from less data  —  AI learns to create MRI scans from a quarter of the data  —  If you've ever had an MRI scan before, you'll know how unsettling the experience can be.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Uber expands its Uber Pass subscription to 200 cities across the US, excluding California, after initially testing in 10  —  Uber is launching its monthly Uber Pass subscription service across the U.S., following an extended test period in a handful of cities.
More: Engadget
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
California-based Asian e-grocer Weee! raises $35M Series C from DST Global, bringing its total raised to over $100M  —  Coronavirus stay-home orders have sparked an unprecedented demand for grocery delivery around the world.  Now investors are clamoring to bet on promising players in the field.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Generate videos with Veo 3 in Google Gemini  —  Create high-quality, 8-second videos with Veo 3, our state-of-the-art AI video generator.  Try it with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.
Warp:
The #1 Coding Agent  —  #1 on Terminal-Bench.  71% on SWE-bench Verified.  Trusted by 600K+ devs.  Try the top agentic dev tool for $1 for 1st month with code TECHMEME.
Zoho:
How appreciation solves real workplace challenges  —  Recognition isn't just a feel-good gesture; it's a powerful way to fix some of the most common workplace problems.  Whether it's low morale, high turnover …
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.
F5:
F5's 2025 AI Strategy Report  —  Only 2% of Enterprises Are Fully AI-Ready.  Most face security gaps like weak data governance and lack of AI firewalls, stalling adoption and innovation.  What is your readiness to scale AI?

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
The US AI Action Plan
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
We are not ready for better deepfakes
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Great Chat:
The tech origin story: No straight lines
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Why Trump is defunding NPR and PBS - and suing Rupert Murdoch
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Big Technology Podcast:
Are AI's Economics Unsustainable? -- With Ed Zitron
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Peter Fenton from Benchmark
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:30 PM ET, August 18, 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

Earlier Picks

Jon Porter / The Verge: