Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Site News
Techmeme
June 16, 2021, 7:35 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Sponsor Events Newsletter

Top News

Rebecca Kern / Bloomberg:
Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, leading a push for a new antitrust package targeting Big Tech, says Apple would be banned from pre-installing its own apps  —  - Cicilline comments on intent of antitrust legislation  — Proposal would prohibit companies from self-prefering products
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Overview of House lawmakers' recent antitrust-focused bills, which target consumer tech giants, vary in radicalness, and at times conflict with each other
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: some of Apple's healthcare efforts, including a pilot primary healthcare service with Apple-employed doctors, have stalled due to internal concerns  —  Tech giant has envisioned hiring doctors to offer primary care, now focused on Watch  —  Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
In an email to creators, Facebook says it will launch its podcast platform on June 22; podcasters can link up RSS feeds and decide if users can clip shows  —  Along with podcast clips  —  Facebook is planning to start rolling out its podcast product next week, on June 22nd, and, eventually …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Facebook says it will begin testing ads on Oculus headsets, starting with the shooter game Blaston, and won't use data stored on devices to target ads  —  - Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will begin testing advertisements that will appear within the company's Oculus virtual reality headsets.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches Greenroom, an app that lets Spotify users worldwide join or host live audio rooms and turn those conversations into podcasts  —  In March, Spotify announced it was acquiring the company behind the sports-focused audio app Locker Room to help speed its entry into the live audio market.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
In Xbox's June update, Microsoft adds a Stories-like feature to the Xbox mobile app and rolls out text-to-speech and speech-to-text accessibility features  —  June update is here, and Microsoft has  —  detailed the latest software tweaks Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S users can look forward to trying out on their consoles.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Interview with Apple's VP for Technology Kevin Lynch on Apple Watch's evolution, future health capabilities through sensor fusion with AirPods, and more  —  Apple VP of Technology Kevin Lynch charts a path from Apple Watch's early days to the sophistication of Health today.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Facebook launches a new suite of tools for admins of Groups, including AI-powered Conflict Alerts that identify “contentious or unhealthy conversations”  —  Part of a suite of new tools for managing Facebook communities  —  Facebook is launching a suite of new tools to help group admins get a grip on their communities.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
DuckDuckGo says it raised $100M+ in “mainly secondary investment” in late 2020 from WhatsApp founder Brian Acton, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and others  —  Privacy tech continues cooking on gas.  To wit: Non-tracking search engine DuckDuckGo has just revealed that it beefed …
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Amazon blames social media companies for its failure to remove fake reviews, saying they let bad actors use their platforms to buy and sell fake product reviews  —  Firm says sites are slow to act when warned that fake reviews are being solicited on their platforms
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Waymo raises $2.5B from Alphabet, a16z, Tiger Global, and others, to advance its autonomous driving tech and grow its team  —  - Google sibling company Waymo announced a $2.5 billion investment round Wednesday, which will go toward advancing its autonomous driving technology and growing its team.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
After years of pop-up experiments, Google says its first retail store, located in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, will open on June 17  —  Pixel, Nest, Fitbit, and third-party accessories will be on sale  —  After years of pop-up experiments, Google is finally dipping its toes …
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Harry Stebbings, a 24-year-old Londoner with a popular podcast about tech investing, raises $140M fund from MIT, RIT Capital, and founders of Spotify and Calm  —  Harry Stebbings secures investment from MIT and Rothschild-backed RIT Capital Partners  —  A 24-year-old law school dropout …
Mathew Olson / The Information:
Around 150 of Mapbox's 222 US staff have signed CWA union cards; they assert maps are political, and workers should be able to refuse to work on some projects  —  San Francisco-based Mapbox offers tools and navigation data that can power just about any use of digital maps you can imagine, including augmented reality.
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Twitch, where even niche artists can make thousands of dollars per month by cultivating fan tribes, is becoming increasingly attractive to musicians  —  The gaming platform is becoming increasingly attractive to artists, who can earn money by cultivating fan tribes that express their loyalty through patronage.
Geoffrey Fowler / Washington Post:
Apple's obsession with thin design has made the new M1-powered iMac less useful by removing ports and making it virtually impossible to replace components  —  A half-inch desktop computer shows how Apple's obsession with thin design can work against us  —  Apple's newly redesigned iMac measures just 0.45 inches thick.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Facebook partners with Michigan State University to create a method for reverse-engineering deepfakes by using AI to reveal the ML model that created it  —  The work could help future deepfake investigations  —  Deepfakes aren't a big problem on Facebook right now, but the company continues …
Anna Edgerton / Bloomberg:
At a Senate antitrust hearing, Amazon and Google defended their smart home device businesses from criticism by Democrats and Republicans  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Amazon.com Inc. defended their smart-speaker businesses as U.S. senators warned the grip the companies have over the market could harm competition and consumer privacy.
More: Protocol and 9to5Mac
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Novo, a neobank targeting small businesses, raises $40.7M Series A led by Valar Ventures  —  Small businesses have traditionally been underserved when it comes to IT — they are too big and have too many requirements that can't be met by consumer products, yet are much too small to afford …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Tractable, which uses computer vision and AI to help make damage appraisals for car insurance claims, raises $60M Series D, giving the company a $1B valuation  —  As the insurance industry adjusts to life in the 21st century (heh), an AI startup that has built computer vision tools …
More: VentureBeat.  Thanks:@ingridlunden
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
With products like Dash Buttons and Echo Look, Amazon uses customers to test features then sunsets the devices too quickly due to low sales or negative feedback  —  Amazon's experimental approach to product design can hurt your wallet and the environment.  Why does it need our help to figure out what it's doing?
Hayden Field / Morning Brew:
Sources detail Airbnb's failures to prioritize anti-discrimination outside of talking points, including its Smart Pricing algorithm, which widened inequalities  —  Sources say the company prioritizes anti-discrimination in its talking points, but not in its spending.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Honor says Google apps will return to its phones, starting with the 50 series, announced in China today, after Huawei sold off the brand at the end of last year  —  Officially announced today in China  —  The Honor 50 series will be able to ship with Google's apps and services …

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 Sign is a “high growth performer” in the Frost & Sullivan's Frost Radar™ for electronic signature software, 2024  —  We are happy to announce that Zoho Sign has clinched a position as a high growth performer …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
Techmeme Ride Home:
 Thu. 11/07 - More Election Stuff
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.
Sponsor this podcast
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:35 PM ET, June 16, 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.

From Mediagazer

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
In an earnings call, David Zaslav says the Trump Administration may be more merger friendly, enabling a “real positive and accelerated impact on this industry”

Taylor Lorenz / User Mag:
How conservatives nurtured and funded a vast network of online influencers and creators, and how structural disadvantages prevent the left from replicating it

Austin Fuller / Current:
How public media newsrooms in Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma are enhancing their statehouse journalism with funding from CPB

More News

Joe Light / Bloomberg:
US lawmakers and Fed officials have expressed concern over the risk to US financial system posed by stablecoins, as their total market cap crosses $100B
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Privacy activists worry about the lack of transparency and detailed info on how Apple plans to implement driver's licenses and other digital IDs on its devices

Earlier Picks

Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:
Examining the commercialization of ideas and interactions via newsletters, NFTs, and tip jars, where money empowers but reduces expression to mere commerce
Ashley Lampard / Rest of World:
A look at the rise and fall of Phan Huynh Anh Khoa, aka “The King of Squirrels”, who used Facebook to become one of Vietnam's most notorious wildlife traders
Bloomberg:
Japan Display, which sold its smartphone screen factory last year, is pivoting to VR; LCDs are projected to dominate the VR headset market over the next 5 years
New York Times:
Biden names Lina Khan, an antitrust expert who wrote the “Amazon Antitrust Paradox”, as FTC chair, after the Senate voted 69-28 to confirm her as commissioner
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Sponsor Events Newsletter