Techmeme
September 29, 2021, 6:15 AM

Top News

Matthew Gault / VICE:
Internal docs detail Amazon's Astro, including its use of facial recognition and “Sentry” mode; sources who worked on Astro say it is a “privacy nightmare”  —  Leaked meetings show the robot will heavily rely on facial recognition and user behavior, but sources who worked on Astro say the robot is flawed.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Amazon debuts Astro, a $1K short robot with an Echo Show-like 10" display on top, meant to roam around the home; invite-only program is open for applications  —  In the fall of 1962, TV-watching audiences were invited to meet the Jetsons, a space-dwelling, flying-car-driving family from the future and their dog, Astro.
Wall Street Journal:
Internal docs: Facebook was “exploring playdates as a growth lever”, including engaging tweens as they hung out together  —  It has investigated how to engage young users in response to competition from Snapchat, TikTok; ‘Exploring playdates as a growth lever’
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
CNN restricts access to its Facebook Pages in Australia after a ruling that makes news organizations legally liable for comments on their Facebook posts  —  Company said it wants to avoid liability for user comments following Australian court ruling  —  CNN said it has restricted access …
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:
Apple says the “jelly scroll” issue on the 6th-gen iPad mini is normal for LCD screens; the issue isn't noticeable on other latest iPad models with LCD screens  —  Apple says the issue is caused by normal LCD screen behavior.  —  Update, 9/28/2021: In response to our inquiry …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Netflix acquires its first game studio, Night School Studio, which was founded by Sean Krankel and Adam Hines in 2014 and is best known for the game Oxenfree  —  Netflix has acquired its first game studio with the acquisition of Oxenfree creator Night School Studio.  The purchase price wasn't disclosed.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft opens the Windows app store to third-party app stores; Amazon and Epic Games will add the first storefront apps in the coming months  —  Amazon and Epic Games Store will be the first to integrate into the Microsoft Store  —  Microsoft is opening up its own app store in Windows even further today …
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
AngelList launches AngelList Stack, a set of tools to help founders start and run their companies, including end-to-end incorporation and banking services  —  AngelList Stack is a new suite of workflow products for founders  —  AngelList this week launched AngelList Stack …
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Amazon opens an invite-only program for its previously-announced $250 home surveillance drone, the Always Home Cam  —  Ring's $250 Always Home Cam is real and ready to fly into your living room  —  First announced at last year's Amazon hardware event, the Ring Always Home Cam is now ready for take-off.
Krebs on Security:
Researcher discloses AirTag Lost Mode vulnerability that enables a phishing attack, and says Apple spent three months investigating and refused basic questions  —  The new $30 Airtag tracking device from Apple has a feature that allows anyone who finds one of these tiny location beacons …
Turner Wright / Cointelegraph:
CFTC fines Kraken $1.25M for illegally offering margined crypto products from June 2020 to July 2021 and not registering as a futures commission merchant  —  “Margined, leveraged or financed digital asset trading offered to retail U.S. customers must occur on properly registered …
Gene Park / Washington Post:
Tim Sweeney and Epic execs discuss Epic's metaverse plans, contrasting it with Facebook's “manicured” feed, and emphasizing the role of creators  —  Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and other executives detail their plan for the metaverse and how it differs from Facebook's vision
Reuters:
Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal say a Facebook whistleblower will testify at an October 5 Senate hearing on child safety  —  Two U.S. senators said on Tuesday a Facebook Inc (FB.O) whistleblower will testify at a Senate hearing next week about what one of them called the social media company's “toxic effects” on young users.
Jennifer Surane / Bloomberg:
Affirm plans to debut a debit card and allow its customers to buy and sell crypto directly from Affirm savings accounts  —  - Customers will be able to buy, sell crypto including Bitcoin  — 'We won't let you do crazy things,' Affirm's Levchin says  —  Affirm Holdings Inc. is planning …
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Facebook asks Oversight Board for guidance on what content should get a second review via its cross-check program, which reportedly shields VIPs from its rules  —  Facebook is calling on its Oversight Board to issue policy recommendations about its cross-check system, a controversial program …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Acceldata, which makes AI-based data observability software for data quality, pipelines, and system infrastructure, raises $35M Series B led by Insight Partners  —  The Transform Technology Summits start October 13th with Low-Code/No Code: Enabling Enterprise Agility.  Register now!
More: FinSMEs

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Zoho:
Celebrate and collaborate this holiday season with Zoho Cliq  —  The holiday season is a time for celebration, relaxation, and reflection.  While some people are busy wrapping presents for their loved ones …
Genesys:
Executive Insights: The Era of Contact Center AI Copilots  —  How AI copilots are transforming customer experience and agent performance.
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.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 12/23 - The Revenge Of Google Glass?
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:15 AM ET, September 29, 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.

More News

Reuters:
Conor Hale / FierceBiotech:
Sarah Rieger / CBC News:

Earlier Picks

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Tom Krazit / Protocol:
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Kellen Browning / New York Times: