Techmeme
October 1, 2020, 10:01 PM

Top News

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Google will pay publishers $1B+ through 2023 to create and curate high-quality journalism for the new Google News Showcase, starting in Germany and Brazil  —  Google will pay publishers more than $1 billion over the next three years to create and curate high-quality journalism for a new set …
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
DOJ and CFTC charge BitMEX and its founders with allegedly operating an unregistered trading platform and violating CFTC anti-money laundering rules  —  The U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have filed charges against crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Facebook announces updates for Groups: automating moderation, surfacing some public group discussions in News Feeds and search results, and more  —  The company is pushing people to join Groups  —  Facebook is expanding the reach of public groups today with new features that could lead …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils $549 Surface Laptop Go with smaller 12.4" display, 10th-gen Intel Core i5, in three color variants, preorders start today, shipping October 13  —  This new Surface laptop is smaller, lighter, and less powerful  —  Microsoft is introducing a new Surface Laptop Go today …
Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon says that of its 1.37M frontline workers, 19K+ contracted COVID-19 from March 1 to September 19, with an infection rate lower than general US population  —  - Amazon on Thursday released comprehensive data into the spread of the coronavirus across its workforce.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
The Senate Commerce Committee votes to subpoena CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify before the panel about concerns over Section 230  —  The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday voted on a bipartisan basis to subpoena the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify before the panel …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Netflix support document says that 4K streaming will be available only on Macs that have macOS 11.0 Big Sur, the latest Safari browser, and a T2 security chip  —  Macs without a T2 chip can't watch 4K Netflix  —  macOS Big Sur, Apple's upcoming release of its Mac operating system …
Christine Fisher / Engadget:
Facebook makes Forecast, an app for crowdsourced predictions and collective insights, available to all users  —  The company thinks Forecast will ‘encourage measured, respectful conversation.’  —  Facebook isn't exactly known for balanced conversations or reliable information …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple launches its updated Maps in UK, after completing rollout across the US in 2019, with its Look Around feature in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin  —  Apple today officially launched its in-house mapping data in the United Kingdom and Ireland, after completing the rollout across the United States in 2019.
Jim Salter / Ars Technica:
Survey of 500+ North American developers: ~50% say they manage at least 100 times more code than they did in 2010  —  Developers manage more code, in more languages, for more platforms than ever.  —  Sourcegraph, a company specializing in universal code search, polled more than 500 North …
More: Walmart Inc.Tweets: @jgamblin
Traf:
A designer shares how he generated $100K+ selling custom app icon sets via a simple website when iPhone home screen customization exploded after iOS 14 release  —  This title is a little misleading.  Sure, it took me 6 days to amass 3,626 sales for a total of $101,528, but like any overnight success, it was years in the making.
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
US Treasury says those who facilitate payments on behalf of ransomware victims, including digital forensics firms, face fines if recipients are under sanctions  —  Companies victimized by ransomware and firms that facilitate negotiations with ransomware extortionists could face steep fines …
Gordon Corera / BBC:
UK report says Huawei has failed to adequately tackle security flaws in its telco equipment despite previous complaints  —  Huawei has failed to adequately tackle security flaws in equipment used in the UK's telecoms networks despite previous complaints, an official report says.
Shannon Vavra / CyberScoop:
DOD and DHS say malware dubbed SlothfulMedia is being used in ongoing campaigns in India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Russia, and Ukraine  —  The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are calling out an unspecified “sophisticated cyber actor” …
Stanford Cyber Policy Center:
Researchers detail communities of accounts on Instagram and Twitter that role play with stolen images of minors, sometimes to sexualize children  —  A Look at the Use of Stolen Child Imagery in Social Media Role-Playing Games  —  In June 2020 Stanford Internet Observatory came across communities …
Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
Global app revenue grew 32% YoY in Q3 2020 to more than $29B; consumer spending in the App Store grew 31% to $19B while Play Store grew ~34% YoY to $10.3B  —  Worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps reached $29.3 billion and their installs climbed to 36.5 billion across Apple's App Store …
More: The Hill and Adweek

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
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Zoho:
Building a more inclusive web experience: Our journey toward better accessibility  —  Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)Technology has the power to connect, empower, and transform lives, but only if it's built for all.
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.

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More News

The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Shira Ovide / New York Times:
The Economic Times:
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Rich Woods / Neowin:
Natalia Drozdiak / Bloomberg: