Techmeme
February 19, 2021, 2:10 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a magnetically attached battery pack for iPhone 12 that would wirelessly charge the handset  —  - Accessory has faced development issues related to software  — Wireless charging unit may be popular with frequent users  —  Apple Inc. is working …
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
UK Supreme Court rules that Uber drivers should be classified as workers not independent contractors, concluding an almost five-year legal battle  —  - The U.K.'s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Uber's drivers should be classified as workers rather than independent contractors.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is in talks with suppliers for next-gen lidar sensors for self-driving cars, that will be considered cutting edge four to five years from now  —  - Vetting of laser sensor vendors is developmental milestone  — iPhone maker has several years of work ahead on autonomous car
Wolfie Zhao / The Block:
Bitcoin's market capitalization passes $1T as its price surges above $53K  —  Bitcoin's market capitalization has crossed the $1 trillion milestone for the first time after over a decade's development as it gains increasing mainstream attention.  —  Bitcoin's price set new record highs …
Nikkei Asia:
Sources: Huawei notifies suppliers that it plans to order components for 70M to 80M smartphones this year, down over 60% from the 189M it shipped last year  —  China's largest handset maker suffers from US sanctions Biden appears to back  —  TOKYO — Huawei Technologies has notified …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Facebook's refusal to pay a misguided media tax, pushed by Rupert Murdoch, is a defense of the open web and criticizing it for rejecting a link tax is bizarre  —  None of this should have been a surprise.  Back in September we wrote about Facebook publicly saying that if Australia went forward …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google releases Android 12 developer preview, available for Pixel devices, with under-the-hood changes adding security, support for more media formats, and more  —  The big, consumer-facing changes will come later this year  —  Google is releasing a developer preview for the next version of Android …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft announces new standalone versions of Office: Office 2021, available for Windows and macOS later this year, and Office LTSC for commercial customers  —  Microsoft Office LTSC is also arriving for businesses  —  Microsoft is announcing two new versions of Office today …
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
WhatsApp says it will offer users the ability to review its new privacy policy through a banner inside its app, ahead of the update's May 15 launch  —  The company is trying to set the record straight on private messages and what's changing  —  WhatsApp has a new plan to explain …
Usman Pirzada / Wccftech:
Nvidia announces dedicated crypto mining GPUs and says RTX 3060 GPU will detect the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm and limit the hash rate by 50%  —  NVIDIA has finally conceded to the overwhelming mining demand facing the GPU market right now and launched a lineup …
Bloomberg:
EU regulators start the process of approving data-sharing arrangements with the UK, adopting a pair of “adequacy decisions” endorsing UK privacy protections  —  - EU commission announcement paves way for ‘adequacy decisions’  — EU readies measures in case of any ‘problematic development’
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Microsoft completes its probe into its SolarWinds-related breach, finds hackers stole some source code but no evidence that they abused its internal systems  —  Microsoft says it has completed its investigation into its SolarWinds-related breach.  —  Microsoft's security team said today …
Reuters:
Sources: Chinese grocery delivery startup Xingsheng Youxuan raised about $2B from KKR and others in new funding at a $6B pre-money valuation  —  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese community grocery shopping app Xingsheng Youxuan has raised about $2 billion in a new funding round that values …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: IBM is exploring a sale of its IBM Watson Health business, which has roughly $1B in annual revenue and isn't currently profitable  —  Business has roughly $1 billion in revenue and isn't profitable, sources say  —  International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a potential sale …
Rest of World:
A look at how Clubhouse is being received in Japan, India, Nigeria, and Hong Kong, regions where Clubhouse usage has spiked  —  The buzzy audio app is most frequently associated with Silicon Valley, but it's taking off everywhere from Japan to Nigeria.  —  What happens when a buzzy app pegged …

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Earlier Picks

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Bloomberg: