Techmeme
September 28, 2021, 2:14 PM

Top News

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.
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Amazon announces the $60 Smart Thermostat in partnership with Honeywell, with preorders starting today  —  It can detect when you're home and adjust the temp accordingly  —  Amazon revealed its excitement over the “promise of ambient computing” with a new smart thermostat.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Amazon unveils a $250 Echo Show 15, with a 15.6-inch 1080p display, wall mount, Visual ID for tailored content, picture frame mode, and more  —  Amazon just took the wraps off the latest — and largest — addition to the Echo Show family.  The Echo Show 15 takes the company's smart screen technology …
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Nick Clegg says Facebook will publish two internal slide decks central to WSJ's story on Instagram's impact on teens “in the next few days”  —  Facebook will publish two internal slide decks detailing its research into how Instagram affects teens' mental health sometime “in the next few days.”
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
In an interview, Satya Nadella described Microsoft's failed TikTok deal as the “strangest thing” he has ever worked on and says TikTok came to Microsoft  —  Remember when wild policy swings like this happened all the time?  —  It's difficult to remember now …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Six creators from Clubhouse's 25-person creator program say it did not deliver sponsorships for their shows, leading them to look elsewhere  —  Dozens of Clubhouse creators had been anticipating their first sponsorship meeting for months.  As the inaugural class of Clubhouse's “Creator First” …
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
1Password partners with email host Fastmail to introduce Masked Email, which creates unique emails for logins  —  Sign in with Apple has allowed iPhone and Mac users to protect their privacy by allowing them to generate random email addresses when they need to access a new website, service or app.
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 …
Mishaal Rahman / XDA Developers:
Hands-on with an Android 12.1 build with support for foldable devices, including an updated taskbar, split-screen view, and more  —  Google is expected to release the next major update to Android, Android 12, next week, but ahead of its release, we're already hearing about Google's plans for a follow-up update.
Jennifer Hiller / Wall Street Journal:
Some bitcoin miners, including TeraWulf and Compass Mining, are partnering with nuclear power plant owners amid criticism from environmentalists  —  Some cryptocurrency miners are striking deals with operators of struggling nuclear plants, which are carbon-free and have excess power capacity to spare
More: Protos
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
French startup Swan, which offers banking-as-a-service tools to companies, raises €16M Series A led by Accel  —  French startup Swan has raised an $18.7 million Series A funding round (€16 million) led by Accel.  The company provides a banking-as-a-service platform for other products and services.
More: FinSMEs, Tech.eu, and Finextra
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Facebook defines its metaverse and plans to invest $50M over two years in programs and external research to “responsibly” build the “next computing platform”  —  It defines the metaverse and calls it the ‘next computing platform’  —  Facebook has announced …

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.
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:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 11/21 - What The DOJ Wants Google To Do
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 2:14 PM ET, September 28, 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

Earlier Picks

Kellen Browning / New York Times:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post: