Techmeme
August 31, 2021, 11:23 AM

Top News

Jiyoung Sohn / Wall Street Journal:
South Korea's National Assembly passes a bill that forces Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems in their app stores  —  Seoul requires the companies to allow competing payment systems, threatening their 30% cut of most in-app digital sales  —  SEOUL—Google and Apple Inc …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Source: Apple's planned satellite capabilities for the iPhone are focused on emergencies, enabling texts and crisis reports in areas without cellular coverage  —  - Apple plans an emergency-reporting tool for future iPhones  —  Apple Inc.'s push to bring satellite capabilities to the iPhone …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says Windows 11 will not support Android apps at launch on October 5; support for Android apps will likely arrive in 2022  —  Microsoft will start testing Android apps on Windows 11 in the coming months  —  Microsoft won't ship support for Android apps on Windows 11 in time for the operating system's launch on October 5th.
Dave Nyczepir / FedScoop:
White House announces the US Digital Corps, a two-year fellowship aiming to recruit early-career software engineers and other technologists to federal agencies  —  The White House launched a two-year fellowship Monday designed to place early-career software engineers, data scientists and other technologists at federal agencies.
Micah Singleton / Billboard:
Apple acquires classical music streaming service Primephonic, giving users six free months of Apple Music, and will launch its own classical music app in 2022  —  Apple has acquired Primephonic, the classical music streaming service, for an undisclosed amount, the company tells Billboard.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Facebook plans to downrank current events content and political posts in the News Feed, after users approved of tests that limited such content  —  Facebook plans to announce that it will de-emphasize political posts and current events content in the News Feed based on negative user feedback, Axios has learned.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Amazon is developing a live audio feature, led by its Music division, with a focus on live music and potentially radio and podcasts  —  Amazon is investing heavily in a new live audio feature that's similar to other live audio offerings like Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces and Spotify's new live audio platform, sources tell Axios.
MIT Technology Review:
Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans  —  By capturing 40 pieces of data per person—from iris scans and family links to their favorite fruit—a system meant to cut fraud …
Danny Nelson / CoinDesk:
The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will work with blockchain and payments startup Bitt Inc. to launch Nigeria's eNaira digital currency later this year  —  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Monday it will work with Bitt Inc., a blockchain and payments startup, to launch …
Daniel Howley / Yahoo Finance:
Zoom beats with Q2 revenue of $1.02B, up 54% YoY, vs. $991.0M est., and now has 2,278 customers paying $100K+, up 131% YoY; stock down 10%+ on weak Q3 guidance  —  reported its fiscal Q2 2022 earnings after the bell on Monday, beating analysts' expectations on the top and bottom line.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Eight Sleep, which makes smart mattresses that cost $3K+ and use ML to regulate temperature for better sleep, raises $86M Series C led by Valor Equity Partners  —  The venture world is — quite literally — waking up to the potential of applying artificial intelligence to a wider variety of real-world …
More: Fortune and FinSMEsThanks:@ingridlunden
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:
Getting a water-damaged MacBook Pro fixed shows how independent repair shops can make repairs more affordable to consumers if Apple allows them access to parts  —  New legislation aims to provide more options for fixing our broken gadgets.  A journey to fix two MacBooks illustrates …
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
State media says China is restricting online gaming for minors to three hours most weeks of the year, from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays  —  - The country is imposing its strictest limits yet on play time  — Beijing is waging a campaign to groom productive youths
Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009  —  - Shares are poised for their eighth straight month of gains  — Yearly rise nearly twice as much as Facebook, Microsoft
Suvashree Ghosh / Bloomberg:
Facebook, Google, and Xiaomi are eyeing India's digital loan market, which Boston Consulting Group estimates to triple to $350B by 2023 and reach $1T by 2025  —  India's digital loan market is becoming a battleground for companies from Facebook Inc. to Xiaomi Corp., seeking a foothold in what's set to be a $1 trillion industry.
IDC:
Global smartphone shipments are expected to grow by 7.4% in 2021, reaching 1.37B units, with iPhone shipments growing 13.8% and Android shipments growing 6.2%  —  While the supply chain situation hasn't drastically improved, the smartphone market has shown positive results in recent quarters.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Manchester-based Peak AI, which helps non-tech companies build AI apps, raises $75M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, bringing total funding to $118M  —  As artificial intelligence continues to weave its way into more enterprise applications, a startup that has built a platform to help businesses …

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