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January 18, 2022, 6:50 PM
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| Microsoft: |
Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7B in cash, or $95/share, in FY 2023; Activision's stock, which closed last week at $65.39, jumps 25%+ — Legendary games, immersive interactive entertainment and publishing expertise accelerate growth in Microsoft's Gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud.
More:
Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Verge, New York Times, Activision Publishing, CNBC, Bloomberg, Kotaku, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Washington Post, Microsoft, Windows Central, Engadget, Forbes, Variety, Insider, PYMNTS.com, TechRadar, Microsoft, Computerworld, Silicon Valley Business …, Protocol, Slate, IGN, Dexerto, The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, Neowin, PR Newswire, TheStreet, Android Headlines, Digital Trends, OSnews, CNBC, Gizmodo, Reclaim The Net, GameSpot, Benzinga, Polygon, VentureBeat, OnMSFT.com, thegamer.com, Bitcoinist.com, Ars Technica, LinkedIn, Reuters, MSPoweruser, Polygon, Neal Ungerleider's …, CNBC, CNN, MacRumors, Axios, IGN, Windows Central, TouchArcade, CNET, OnMSFT.com, NBC News, ZDNet, and Axios
Tweets: @dinabass, @xbox, @gregisenberg, @jasonschreier, @charlieintel, @xbox, @satyanadella, @zhugeex, @jonerlichman, @microsoft, @jasonschreier, @damianburns, @edzitron, @adriennelaw, @stopskeletons, @pucknorris, @anildash, @alexeheath, @levie, @jasonschreier, @atvi_ab, @andrewrsorkin, @jasonschreier, @jasonschreier, @mattdpearce, @quantian1, @ibogost, @carnage4life, @varunmayya, @sarafischer, @9_volt_, @kcoxdc, @mrpointyhead, @hownottodraw, @vahn16, @turnernovak, @zhugeex, @tomwarren, @gw_alec, @martinsfp, @mattophobia, @reckless, @alexeheath, @silvermanjacob, @charlieintel, @eric_seufert, @byadamfitch, @tomwarren, @eric_seufert, @alexhern, @swiftonsecurity, @mealoneinmymind, @sarafischer, @laurakbuzz, @tomwarren, @silvermanjacob, @mckkirk, @eric_seufert, @shonaghosh, @ldignan, @chrismessina, @stroughtonsmith, @modestproposal1, @jonporty, @laurakbuzz, and @laurakbuzz
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft says Xbox Game Pass has 25M subscribers, up from 18M in January 2021 — Microsoft's all-you-can-eat catalog of games is getting bigger, and now it's adding Activision Blizzard — Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service now has 25 million subscribers.
More:
Xbox Wire, The Information, iTnews, Road to VR, Polygon, Forbes, news.com.au, CNBC, Windows Central, Engadget, SiliconANGLE, Game Developer, PC Gamer, Silicon Republic, OnMSFT.com, Club386, DCD, Digital Trends, thegamer.com, PYMNTS.com, and purexbox.com
Tweets: @itsjuliahardy, @klobrille, @swiftonsecurity, @penllawen, @kiruti, and @kylebrussell
| Peter Kafka / Vox: |
Following several game studio acquisitions, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal faces a big regulatory hurdle with Lina Khan's antitrust-focused FTC — Microsoft-Activision is like Disney-Fox. Maybe bigger. — Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
More:
New York Times, Forbes, MobileSyrup, NPR, Seattle Business Journal, GeekWire, and Video Games Chronicle
Tweets: @kellen_browning, @t1, @weaponoutfitter, @garrett_archer, @cyynapse, @agentbizzle, @richgel999, @snazzyq, @shiraovide, @caseynewton, and @xcloudtimdog
| Andrew Asmakov / Decrypt: |
Crypto.com halted withdrawals on Monday and required users to sign back in and reset 2FA; research shows it lost 4,600+ ETH, worth ~$15M, in a presumed hack — The crypto exchange has reportedly lost at least $15 million in Ethereum, and security experts believe the true losses could be much higher.
More:
The Register, Gizmodo, CoinDesk, The Hill, CryptoPotato, Crypto Daily, New York Post, VICE, Candid.Technology, and TechSpot
Tweets: @cryptocom, @peckshield, @cryptocom, @cryptocom, @billym2k, @cryptocom, @mathewi, @johnkoetsier, @decryptmedia, @jeffnolan, @calbucci, and @campuscodi
| Stephen Graves / Decrypt: |
Coinbase partners with Mastercard to let users pay with a credit card in its upcoming NFT marketplace, solve “pain points”, and classify NFTs as “digital goods” — Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced a partnership with Mastercard to simplify the process …
More:
The Coinbase Blog, Mastercard USA, TheStreet, PYMNTS.com, Finextra, Blockworks, The Block, Crypto Daily, Crypto Briefing, Bloomberg, and The Verge. Tweets: @mastercardnews
| Jeffrey Knockel / The Citizen Lab: |
China's MY2022 Olympics app, mandatory for attendees to report travel and health data, has serious encryption flaws and contains a censorship keyword list — Key Findings — MY2022, an app mandated for use by all attendees of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, has a simple but devastating flaw …
More:
New York Times, ZDNet, BBC, Gizmodo, DW.COM, Toronto Star, Engadget, Associated Press, Olympics.com, Protocol, and BleepingComputer
| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
YouTube says it's winding down YouTube Originals after six years and will only fund programs that are part of its Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds — YouTube is getting out of the business of originals: The Google-owned video giant said it is winding down its original productions team after more than six years.
More:
Ars Technica and Engadget
Tweets: @rkyncl, @thafnine, @tweetsauce, @brodyfoxx, @brodyfoxx, @film_girl, @domsmales, and @michellemanafy
| Canalys: |
Apple shipped an estimated 22% of global smartphones in Q4 2021, down from 23% in Q4 2020, followed by Samsung at 20%, Xiaomi at 12%, Oppo at 9%, and Vivo at 8% — Shanghai (China), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Reading (UK) and Portland (US) - Tuesday, 18 January 2022
| Wall Street Journal: |
AT&T and Verizon temporarily restrict 5G expansion plans near US airports, but a few airlines will still suspend some flights Wednesday amid Boeing guidance — Flight suspensions occur even as AT&T and Verizon agree to limit signals within 2 miles of runways to address air-safety concerns
More:
The White House, Verizon, PYMNTS.com, Android Police, Engadget, Insider, CNET, Protocol, Voice of America, Light Reading, Politico, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @reuters, @hackylawyer, @k0lwc, and @mytechmusings
| Tomer Ganon / CTech: |
Source: Israeli police used NSO's Pegasus to monitor citizens, mayors, political protesters, and former government employees without warrants or court oversight — Mayors, leaders of political protests against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former governmental employees …
More:
The Guardian, 9to5Mac, Washington Post, NPR, Haaretz, Engadget, and SecurityWeek
Tweets: @baphometx and @adam_k_levin
| Makena Kelly / The Verge: |
Democratic lawmakers unveil the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, which would ban targeted ads by data brokers, but exempt broad location and contextual ads — It could reshape the entire tech industry — On Tuesday, Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban nearly all use …
More:
Euractiv, VICE, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, eshoo.house.gov, and Insider NJ
Tweets: @dmarti, @eric_seufert, @resilien7, @dmarti, @dmarti, @wolfiechristl, @fightfortheftr, @neil_chilson, @jfelixcardoso, @leshann, @kylebrussell, @ne0liberal, @adamkovac, @can, @can, @hypervisible, @caitrionafitz, @accountabletech, @thezedwards, @samfbiddle, @samfbiddle, @samfbiddle, @logophobe, and @duckduckgo
| Joanna Ossinger / Bloomberg: |
Animoca Brands, which publishes NFTs and games tied to blockchain platforms, raises $359M led by Liberty City at a $5B valuation, up from $2.2B in October 2021 — Soros Fund Management and the Winklevoss twins' venture capital firm are among investors in a funding round that's more than doubled …
More:
Animoca Brands, The Block, TechCrunch, Forbes, Decrypt, Blockworks, VentureBeat, Cointelegraph, Nikkei Asia, CryptoPotato, South China Morning Post, and DealStreetAsia. Tweets: @ysiu
| Kenrick Cai / Forbes: |
Ironclad, which helps companies create and manage business contracts, raises a $150M Series E entirely from existing investors at a $3.2B valuation — Jason Boehmig spent two years as a lawyer in Silicon Valley, putting together documents for startups, before he had enough of the clunkiness of the job.
More:
SiliconANGLE. Tweets: @ironclad_inc, @rowghani, @forbes, @mikewhelanjr, @ruthiejsf, and @lux_capital. Thanks:@pchalker
| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
The FTC and DOJ seek public comment on how to rewrite “the antitrust laws regarding mergers”, signaling a potentially tougher stance toward Big Tech deals — - The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division kicked off a process to rewrite merger guidelines for businesses on Tuesday.
More:
Federal Trade Commission, Gizmodo, SiliconANGLE, AdExchanger, Federal Trade Commission, Barron's Online, Financial Times, PCMag, AppleInsider, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and The Hill
Tweets: @cswilsonftc, @chopracfpb, @demandprogress, @ashleyrgold, @ftc, @lauren_feiner, and @leah_nylen
| Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: |
Walnut, a personalized product demo and analytics service, raises a $35M Series B and says its ARR has grown 700% since its $21M Series A in August 2021 — In a world where software rules the roost and cloud spending has gone through the roof, SaaS has emerged as the default business model …
More:
Globes Online and ReadWrite
| Ben Thompson / Stratechery: |
As Intel pushes ahead with its IDM 2.0 strategy, a look at the motivations behind its TSMC partnership that is giving its competitor better scale and economics — Intel's earnings are not until next Wednesday, but whatever it is that CEO Pat Gelsinger plans to discuss …
Tweets: @teej_m and @hassankhan
| Lucy Harley-Mckeown / The Block: |
The UK government will increase its scrutiny of crypto advertising, bringing the marketing in line with other financial promotions, to avoid “misleading claims” — Quick Take — HM Treasury said it would ramp up scrutiny of crypto advertising in the UK.
Source:
GOV.UK. More:
ZDNet, CNBC, Crypto Briefing, Crypto Daily, Blockworks, Engadget, and Financial Times. Tweets: @rishisunak
| Frank Chaparro / The Block: |
OpenSea acquires crypto lending APIs startup Dharma Labs, which will shutter its wallet in 30 days; source says the deal was valued between $110M and $130M — Quick Take — OpenSea confirms acquisition of Dharma Labs — Dharma Lab's Hollander picked for CTO role
More:
OpenSea Blog, PYMNTS.com, Protocol, and Decrypt
Tweets: @dfinzer, @nadavahollander, @tropofarmer, @chrisblec, @xanderatallah, and @farokh
| Andrew Hayward / Decrypt: |
The Metaplex Foundation, developer of an NFT protocol behind 5.7M+ minted Solana NFTs, raises $46M with Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson among 90+ investors — The protocol that powers millions of Solana NFTs finds prominent backers as it looks towards the metaverse and beyond. — In brief| Kyle Alspach / VentureBeat: |
Banyan Security, which offers a zero trust remote access client and saw a 300% increase in users in 2021, raises a $30M Series B led by Third Point Ventures — Banyan Security, which today announced raising $30 million in series B funding, said it saw a 300% increase in users in 2021 …
More:
Banyan Security and SiliconANGLE
| Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: |
Analysis: Meta has filed dozens of patents to monetize its metaverse, including a virtual store with sponsored items, eye and face tracking in headsets, more — Meta hopes to use tiny human expressions to create virtual world of personalised ads — Pupil movements, body poses and nose scrunching …
More:
TheStreet, Fortune, TechRadar, KnowTechie, and Protocol
Tweets: @mattnavarra, @muradahmed, @craigsalm, @1br0wn, @muradahmed, @_richardhall, @timothynoah1, and @juliapowles
| Ashley Rodriguez / Insider: |
Social Capital founder and CEO Chamath Palihapitiya says the “ugly truth” is “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghurs in China, himself included — - Chamath Palihapitiya said “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghur Muslims in China.
More:
The Register and Washington Post
Tweets: @warriorspr, @chamath, @mittromney, @timopg, @cokedupoptions, @jonnajarian, @jason, @senrickscott, @candersonmo, @rayhanasat, @rmac18, @guypbenson, @jason, and @ianbremmer
| Cho Mu-Hyun / ZDNet: |
Samsung unveils its 4nm Exynos 2200 SoC with an Xclipse GPU using AMD's RDNA 2 architecture, offering hardware-accelerated ray tracing and variable rate shading — The processor packs Samsung's own Xclipse GPU based on AMD RDNA 2 architecture that the South Korean company says will offer …
Source:
Samsung Newsroom. More:
TNW, Ars Technica, MobileSyrup, Android Police, PCMag, HotHardware.com News, and Android Authority. Tweets: @vladsavov
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