Techmeme
November 18, 2020, 12:45 PM

Top News

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Apple will reduce App Store cut to 15% for any developer that earns less than $1M in revenue per year from their apps, starting January 1  —  Any developer that earns less than $1 million in revenue per year is eligible  —  On Wednesday, Apple announced a reduction to its longstanding App …
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Sensor Tower: Apple's move will affect ~98% of developers that pay the company a commission, but they accounted for less than 5% of App Store revenue last year  —  App makers bridled at the 30 percent commission, which has drawn scrutiny from regulators looking into antitrust claims.
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump says he has fired CISA Director Christopher Krebs, baselessly calling Krebs' previous statement on the security of the 2020 election “highly inaccurate”  —  - President Donald Trump announced Tuesday on Twitter that he has “terminated” top U.S. cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs.
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Marissa Mayer's Lumi Labs, now called Sunshine, unveils Sunshine Contacts, an AI-powered contact organizer app for iOS  —  Marissa Mayer shoves her iPhone toward her MacBook's webcam until it overwhelms the screen on the Google Meet video call we are sharing.  —  “I admire Apple,” she declares.
Nick Summers / Engadget:
Fortnite now offers Houseparty video calls on PC, PS4, and PS5; users need the Houseparty app installed on an iOS or Android device, which functions as a webcam  —  Houseparty wants to change the way that people communicate while playing video games.  The company, which offers …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter rolls out Fleets, its ephemeral Stories feature, globally, and says it plans to test an audio-based social networking feature similar to Clubhouse  —  Twitter this morning is launching its own version of Stories — aka “Fleets” — to its global user base.
Om Malik / On my Om:
M1 completes Steve Jobs' vision of Apple making “the whole widget” for all the devices in the company's product line  —  Even as Apple's final event of 2020 gradually becomes a speck in the rearview mirror, I can't help continually thinking about the new M1 chip that debuted there.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Zuckerberg says Facebook won't moderate Trump differently once he leaves office but spokesman says he'll be fact-checked; Twitter will end special treatment  —  Many world leaders generally have wider latitude on Twitter and Facebook because their comments and posts are regarded as political speech …
Evelyn Douek / Wired:
Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Avery Hartmans / Business Insider:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Language learning app Duolingo raises $35M from Durable Capital and General Atlantic at a $2.4B valuation, up from $1.65B earlier this year  —  Last week, we reported that popular language learning app Duolingo, with 500 million total app downloads​, was raising $35 million on a valuation …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Abacus.AI, which helps companies manage AI models, raises $22M Series B, following $13M Series A in July  —  AI startup RealityEngines.AI changed its name to Abacus.AI in July.  At the same time, it announced a $13 million Series A round.  Today, only a few months later …
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Research suggests Sony PS5 and Xbox Series X and S first week sales in Japan were lower than their predecessors, hinting at persistent supply bottlenecks  —  - Sony and Microsoft both sold out limited inventory in Japan  — Companies have acknowledged supply constraints that may endure

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Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat: