Techmeme
February 22, 2021, 9:15 PM

Top News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Spotify says it will launch a subscription later this year called HiFi that will offer “CD-quality, lossless audio”; Spotify currently tops out at 320kbps audio  —  Your turn, Apple Music  —  Spotify is going hi-fi.  Well, “HiFi.”  It's taken longer than competitors like Tidal …
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Gartner: in Q4 2020, Apple sold 80M new iPhones globally, overtaking Samsung to become the largest smartphone vendor, increasing its market share by ~15%  —  Apple overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone vendor worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2020, a feat not achieved by Apple since 2016 …
Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Microsoft partners with EU publishing lobbyists to push for payment for news content amid Australia's effort to force Facebook and Google to share their revenue  —  Seattle-based company aligns with press industry and exploits rivals' difficulties  —  Microsoft has joined forces …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers say China used NSA's EpMe exploit to attack Windows devices for years before the Shadow Brokers leaked the agency's zero-day toolkit online  —  The hackers used the agency's EpMe exploit to attack Windows devices years before the Shadow Brokers leaked the agency's zero-day arsenal online.
VICE:
Researchers say a change in iOS 14.5 beta, which improves how iOS handles pointers, makes sandbox escapes and “0-click” attacks much harder to pull off  —  Multiple exploit developers tell Motherboard an upcoming change in iOS could make zero-click exploits harder to pull off.
Jimmy Jenkins / KJZZ:
Whistleblowers: Arizona's inmate management software has been unable to interpret sentencing laws since 2019, leaving hundreds eligible for release incarcerated  —  According to Arizona Department of Corrections whistleblowers, hundreds of incarcerated people who should be eligible for release …
The Verge:
Epic will give Fortnite and Rocket League players who have bought loot boxes ~$8 worth of credits and set aside $26M+ for claims to settle a class action suit  —  The class action settlement also provides an additional $26 million in benefits  —  Epic Games will give Fortnite players 1,000 V-Bucks …
Jason Cipriani / ZDNet:
Samsung extends security updates for Galaxy phones released in 2019 or later from three years to a “minimum of four”  —  Previously, Samsung only guaranteed security updates for 3 years.  —  Samsung on Monday announced that it's extending the amount of time it will provide security updates …
Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
Russian officials are trying to lure people onto social networks tied to the government, in an attempt to keep dissent from going viral at moments of crisis  —  The Kremlin has constructed an entire infrastructure of repression but has not displaced Western apps.  Instead, it is turning to outright intimidation.
Malcolm Owen / AppleInsider:
Apple says it has revoked certificates for dev accounts used by the creator of the “Silver Sparrow” malware, effectively preventing new Macs from being infected  —  Following the discovery of a new and unusual malware that had the potential to attack Macs running on Apple Silicon …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Huawei unveils the foldable Mate X2 with an exterior 6.5" screen and interior 8" screen, both with 90Hz refresh rates, available in China from $2,785  —  Announced today for release in China  —  Huawei has announced the Mate X2, its first all-new foldable device since 2019's Mate X …

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