Techmeme
January 5, 2022, 7:10 PM

Top News

Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Google partners with Acer, HP, and Intel to bring Fast Pair to select Windows PCs later in 2022 and announces improvements to Phone Hub on Chromebooks  —  Google wants to do for Android and Chrome users what Apple does for people in its ecosystem.  It's announcing a set of news today …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google unveils 13 software features to make its devices work better together, including expanded Fast Pair and unlocking an Android phone with a Wear OS 3 watch  —  It won't be easy  —  Google is announcing no fewer than 13 different new software features at CES 2022 …
Sylvia Varnham O'Regan / The Information:
Sources: Meta has stopped developing a new OS for its VR devices and upcoming AR glasses; the multiyear project involved hundreds of employees  —  Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has stopped development of a new software operating system to power its virtual reality devices …
Sam Machkovech / Ars Technica:
Sony details PlayStation VR2 for PS5: a 4K HDR OLED display, 2000×2040 pixels per eye, 110° FoV, eye tracking, haptic feedback, inside-out cameras, and more  —  Sexy specs include dedicated eye tracking, over 4 million pixels per eye.  —  Sony's trickle of information about its future …
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Instagram is testing the ability to switch between three feeds, including one that displays posts in chronological order, rolling out to all users in H1 2022  —  Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced today that the app is rolling out for some users the ability to switch between different feeds.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Intel claims its 12th-gen 14-core Core i9 outperforms Apple's M1 Max and is the fastest CPU ever, although the i9 uses significantly more power than the M1 Max  —  Intel today unveiled new 12th-generation Core processors suitable for laptops, and as part of the announcement …
Monica Chin / The Verge:
Asus unveils the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED with a 17.3" foldable screen, Intel's 12th-gen CPUs, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, and more, coming in Q2 for a TBD price  —  There's a more traditional 14-inch OLED Zenbook coming as well  —  Each year, it seems that more companies are trying out devices with foldable screens.
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
NFT marketplace OpenSea raises a $300M Series C led by Paradigm and Coatue at a $13.3B post-money valuation  —  OpenSea, one of the most talked about blockchain start-ups in Silicon Valley, said on Tuesday that had it raised $300 million in new venture capital, making it the latest company …
Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch:
Alto, which offers a self-directed IRA service, raises a $40M Series B to help people make tax-savvy investments in assets like crypto and artwork  —  Alternative investments are having a moment.  Their popularity has surged over the last decade, with the asset class growing from just over $3 trillion …
Gené Teare / Crunchbase News:
Global VC funding reached $643B in 2021, up from $335B in 2020 and ~$300B in 2019, with $29.4B in seed funding, $201B in early stage, and $413B in late stage  —  Venture funding in 2021 broke records across the board, Crunchbase data shows, with investment last year up more than 10x what it was a decade earlier.
More: Tech.eu
Elisa Braun / Politico:
Document: France's data protection agency CNIL is set to fine Google €150M and Meta €60M for failing to let French users easily reject cookie trackers  —  PARIS — French data regulator the CNIL is set to fine Google €150 million and Facebook €60 million for violating EU privacy rules.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Samsung unveils Home Hub, a SmartThings controller with a docked tablet, launching in South Korea in H1 2022, and says it joined the Home Connectivity Alliance  —  The new smart home controller from Samsung looks like something Apple or Google should make  —  Samsung introduced …
Anna Wiener / New Yorker:
If the metaverse takes off, it could take cues from today's privatized, centralized, financialized tech ecosystem and echo the development of play-to-earn games  —  In a virtual world full of virtual goods, finance could get weird.  —  Years ago, while on vacation in the Northwest …

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