Techmeme
January 15, 2021, 6:50 AM

Top News

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Jack Dorsey says Trump ban was the right decision for Twitter but reflects a “failure” to promote healthy conversation and sets a dangerous precedent  —  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explained in a tweetstorm that the company faced an ‘extraordinary and untenable circumstance’
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
After Facebook and Twitter suspended Trump's account, activists and human rights groups have urged the companies to apply their policies evenly around the world  —  Human rights groups and activists have spent years urging the companies to do more to remove content that encouraged violence.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung unveils $799 Galaxy S21, $999 Galaxy S21+, and $1,199 Galaxy S21 Ultra, available now to preorder and launching on January 29  —  Samsung's latest flagships are here: the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.  The first two — which start at $799 and $999 …
David Carnoy / CNET:
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Mike Stone / Reuters:
The Trump admin adds Xiaomi, along with 8 other Chinese firms, to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, forcing US investors to divest by Nov. 11  —  The Trump administration on Thursday added nine Chinese firms to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: 14" and 16" MacBook Pros coming in 2021 with Apple Silicon, MagSafe charging, no Touch Bar, new design with squared-off sides and more built-in IO ports  —  Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today released some interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro.
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Intel updates its NUC desktop line with 11th-gen processors, adds a gaming-focused model called NUC 11 Enthusiast, and a NUC Pro line that can drive 8K displays  —  Intel's NUC 11 line is here, and it packs up to an RTX 2060  —  Intel is updating its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Apple has removed a controversial feature in macOS 11.2 beta 2 that allowed its own apps to bypass third-party firewalls, security tools, and VPNs  —  The ContentFilterExclusionList has been removed in macOS 11.2 beta 2.  —  Apple has removed a controversial feature from the macOS operating system …
Kate Clark / The Information:
Source: Sequoia Capital recently bought shares of online automation firm Zapier from its founders on the secondary market, with the sale valuing Zapier at $4B+  —  Zapier isn't a household name in Silicon Valley, but the world's top venture capitalists have long been trying to own a piece of the booming enterprise software firm.
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
X1 Card, which offers a credit card with limits based on current and future income instead of credit score, raises $12M funding round led by Spark Capital  —  X1 Card is raising a $12 million funding round.  The company is building a credit card that sets limits based on your current and future income, not your credit score.
Sarah Emerson / OneZero :
The far-right is flocking to MeWe, a privacy-focused Facebook alternative that has Tim Berners-Lee on its board, with membership growing to 15M in recent months  —  ‘Have you tried to moderate 15 million people?’  MeWe founder Mark Weinstein told OneZero  —  'm an American who is sick …
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Axios says it will launch AxiosHQ, which lets companies write internal memos styled like Axios newsletters, next month, starting at $10K a year  —  AxiosHQ communications platform to launch with Delta Air Lines and AT&T among early customers  —  Punchy news startup Axios is betting …
Sujeong Lim / Counterpoint Research:
238M units of true wireless stereo hearables were shipped in 2020, up 83% YoY, with Apple devices comprising 29% market share, Xiaomi 13%, and Samsung 5%  —  San Diego, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Beijing, London, Buenos Aires  —  TWS (true wireless stereo hearables) …
More: iMore
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Nayya, which uses AI to help guide employees in selecting a health plan offered by their employers, raises $11M Series A led by Felicis Ventures  —  Nayya, an insurance benefits management platform, today announced it has closed $11 million in a series A round led by Felicis Ventures.
More: FinSMEs
Wall Street Journal:
TSMC says it will raise capital expenditures to between $25B and $28B in 2021, an increase of at least 47% YoY  —  The world's biggest contract chip maker plans to boost capex by at least 47% in 2021  —  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. , a key chip supplier to Apple Inc. …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
New research outlines how insights into thriving public spaces in the physical world can help social media platforms in building healthy online communities  —  Or: 14 ways to rebuild your hell site  —  In the aftermath of the Great Deplatforming of the past week, we've seen a thoughtful debate …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
Meet Airtable ProductCentral  —  The unified solution for managing your entire product development process in the AI era.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
Zoho Forms for successful Black Friday sales  —  Black Friday is a retail frenzy that can significantly impact your bottom line.  To make the most of this shopping bonanza, you need a strategy that not only attracts customers …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 11/04 - Apple Buying And Investing In Things
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:50 AM ET, January 15, 2021.

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

Kerry Flynn / CNN:

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Sam Shead / CNBC:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
New York Times:
Rick Osterloh / The Keyword: