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Techmeme
April 30, 2021, 2:05 PM

Top News

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
EU charges Apple with antitrust violations, alleging that Apple squeezed rival music streaming apps by requiring them to use its in-app payments system  —  EU accuses Apple of forcing many apps to use its in-app payment system on which it takes commissions, saying it ‘distorted competition’ in music streaming
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Roku has removed YouTube TV from its channel store after Roku and Google failed to come to a distribution agreement; existing users will continue to have access  —  If you've already got the app, be careful not to delete it  —  Roku has pulled YouTube TV from its channel store.
New York Times:
Google is experimenting with post-pandemic designs in 10% of its global work spaces, including inflatable balloon walls, hybrid meeting rooms, open-air tents  —  The company that helped popularize open office plans and lavish employee perks is trying to reinvent office spaces to cope …
Mark Wilson / Fast Company:
Experts detail how Apple AirTags can be used by an abuser to discreetly track a partner despite built-in protections, especially when victims are not iOS users  —  AirTags are powerful surveillance technology.  And the National Network to End Domestic Violence believes Apple has more work to do to fix them.
David Pierce / Protocol:
ByteDance announces that its CFO Shouzi Chew will now also become the CEO of TikTok; TikTok's interim head Vanessa Pappas will be TikTok's COO  —  Shouzi Chew, the CFO of ByteDance, got a new job title on Friday: CEO of TikTok.  Vanessa Pappas, who's been running the company …
Shira Ovide / New York Times:
Combined revenue of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook hit ~$1.2T this year, up 25% since March 2020, benefitting from a “perfect positive storm”  —  The dictionary doesn't have enough superlatives to describe what's happening to the five biggest technology companies …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple clarifies that the first-gen Magic Keyboard is “functionally compatible” with the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro but may not “precisely fit when closed”  —  In a new support document published today, Apple has clarified the situation around the Magic Keyboard's compatibility with the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
BBC:
English soccer and cricket clubs and other sporting bodies begin a four-day boycott of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, protesting abuse on the platforms  —  Football clubs, players, athletes and a number of sporting bodies have begun a four-day boycott of social media in an attempt …
Mihir Zaveri / New York Times:
NYPD says it has canceled its contract with Boston Dynamics and will return the Spot robotic dog, amid backlash about the robot's surveillance capabilities  —  The Police Department will return the device earlier than planned after critics seized on it as a dystopian example of overly aggressive policing.
More: Forbes and Wired
Amazon - Investor Relations:
Amazon reports Q1 revenue of $108.5B, up 44% YoY, net income of $8.1B, up from $2.5B YoY, and says AWS has become a $54B annual sales run rate business  —  Amazon today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2021.  • Operating cash flow increased 69% …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Miles Kruppa / Financial Times:
Sources: a16z is raising its third fund focused on cryptocurrencies and crypto startups, aiming to raise up to $1B, twice the size of their previous fund  —  Third crypto vehicle from longtime supporter of the sector will be roughly twice the size of the firm's last one
Eliot Brown / Wall Street Journal:
From Sutter Hill's Snowflake investment to Accel's bet on UiPath, Altos Ventures' bet on Roblox, and more, a look at VC firms poised to reap blockbuster profits  —  Sutter Hill's Snowflake bet eclipses some of the biggest returns in U.S. startup history  —  Nearly a decade ago …
Bloomberg:
Cybersecurity company Darktrace rises 32% on its first day of trading on London Stock Exchange, after raising £165.1M in its IPO at a valuation of £1.7B  —  - Valuation is lower than what the company had previously sought  — Company priced IPO at 250 pence per share, midpoint of range

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
New in Zoho Payroll USA: Multi-state payroll and more  —  Running payroll shouldn't get harder as your business grows.  Whether you've expanded into new states or built a team with unique needs …
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

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Earlier Picks

Liam Tung / ZDNet:
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Nandita Bose / Reuters:
Tom Warren / The Verge: