Techmeme
July 28, 2021, 12:15 PM

Top News

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Activision Blizzard staff are staging a walk out today, demanding fairer treatment for underrepresented staff and ending arbitration clauses in staff contracts  —  Bobby Kotick said in an all-staff email that the company's recent actions were ‘tone deaf’  —  Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief …
Apple:
Apple reports Q3 revenue of $81.4B, up 36% YoY, net income of $21.7B, up from $11.2B YoY, Services sales of $17.4B, up from $13.2B YoY, iPhone sales of $39.6B  —  Revenue up 36 percent to new June quarter record  —  Services revenue reaches new all-time high
The Guardian:
Facebook will restrict how advertisers can target users under 18 across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, only allowing age, gender, and location targeting  —  Advertisers on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger will no longer be able to market to under 18s based on their interests
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Twitter says it is testing Shop Module, a new shopping section that brands can add to the top of their profiles, launching in the US today on iOS  —  Starting with a pilot of around a dozen brands  —  Twitter is piloting a new feature that allows businesses to add a shopping section …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify Q2: revenue of €2.3B, up 23% YoY, ad revenue up 110% YoY to €275M; paying subscribers reached 165M, up 20% YoY, total MAUs reached 365M; stock down 6%+  —  Spotify, citing ongoing headwinds from the COVID pandemic, fell short of its total monthly user growth goal in the second quarter of 2021.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sony says it has now sold over 10M PS5 consoles, up from the 7.8M announced in April, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation ever  —  PS5 is the fastest-selling PlayStation  —  Sony has now sold more than 10 million PS5 consoles.  That's up more than 2 million sales …
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Google says its upcoming Play Store safety listings, similar to Apple's app nutrition labels, will feature info on app data collection, encryption, and more  —  There's still half a year to go before you start seeing Google Play's new safety section, which will show you an Android app's privacy information …
Jonathan Greig / ZDNet:
Google announces a new bug bounty program, called Bug Hunter University, and says the existing program found 11,055 bugs from 2,022 researchers, paying ~$30M  —  The platform includes a new “Bug Hunter University.”  —  Google announced a new bug bounty platform as it celebrated …
Microsoft - Investor Relations:
Microsoft reports Q4 revenue up 21% YoY to $46.2B, net income up 47% YoY to $16.5B, commercial cloud revenue up 36% YoY to $19.5B, LinkedIn revenue up 46% YoY  —  Earnings Release FY21 Q4 REDMOND, Wash. — July 27, 2021 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended June 30 …
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
In the new iPadOS 15 beta, Apple makes its controversial Safari redesign optional, letting users choose a more conventional tab layout in settings  —  Enable the new (bad) tab experience in settings  —  Apple has started trickling out its fourth iOS and iPadOS 15 betas …
Danielle Bochove / Bloomberg:
Shopify beats Q2 expectations with $1.12B revenue, up 57% YoY and surpassing $1B for the first time; gross merchandise volume was up 40% YoY to $42.2B  —  - Company expects 2021 adjusted earnings to top 2020 results  — Revenue surpasses $1 billion for first time in company history
Bloomberg:
PowerSchool, which develops software used by 70% of K-12 students in the US and Canada, raises $711M in its IPO, selling shares at $18, valuing it at $3.5B  —  Education software provider PowerSchool Holdings Inc. raised $711 million in an initial public offering priced at the bottom of a marketed range.
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Biden instructs federal agencies to develop voluntary cybersecurity goals for companies operating critical infrastructure, as officials consider mandatory rules  —  Though voluntary, officials said the new step could be a prelude to a push for cybersecurity mandates
Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:
Lithic, previously Privacy.com, which offers APIs to help businesses issue virtual credit cards, raises $60M, sources say at an $800M valuation  —  - Bessemer, Index Ventures, Exor also part of fundraising round  — Firm's goal is to make issuing cards faster and easier
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, raises $105M led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $804M post-money valuation  —  Class, a virtual classroom that integrates exclusively with Zoom, announced today that it has raised $105 million in a financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund II.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Apple has sent a cease and desist letter to at least one Chinese citizen who advertised stolen prototypes of old iPhone models on social media  —  Apple sent a cease and desist letter to the person behind a Twitter account that advertised stolen iPhone prototypes.  —  Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Alphabet - Investor Relations:
Alphabet reports Q2 revenue of $61.88B, up 62% YoY, operating income of $19.36B, up 31% YoY, Google Cloud operating loss down to $591M; stock up 3%+  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - July 27, 2021 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Remote IT monitoring and management service Atera raises $77M Series B led by General Atlantic  —  All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now.  Watch now.  —  Atera, a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform for IT teams, has $77 million in a series B round of funding led by General Atlantic.
Bloomberg:
Duolingo raises $521M in its IPO after pricing shares at $102, valuing the company at $3.66B  —  Language learning app Duolingo Inc. and its investors raised $521 million in an initial public offering priced above the marketed range.  —  The company priced 5.1 million shares at $102 each Tuesday …
More: TechCrunch and Reuters

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