Techmeme
March 16, 2022, 3:40 PM

Top News

Dan Seifert / The Verge:
iPad Air (2022) review: fast with the M1 chip and great display but Touch ID is not as convenient as Face ID and the front camera is awkward in landscape mode  —  The new iPad Air is a blend of familiar features with predictable results  —  Much of the new iPad Air from Apple is a known quantity.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Hands-on with Universal Control: Apple's most impressive new feature in years that bridges the gap between macOS and iPadOS without requiring Apple peripherals  —  It's super cool, super niche, and Apple at its best  —  It's been a good month for Mac desktop setup aficionados.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix will launch an “add an extra member” test in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru to let primary account holders pay a fee for users outside their households  —  Netflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Meta adds basic parental controls for Quest VR, almost three years after launching the headset, starting with an unlock pattern for specific apps in April  —  Despite releasing its first virtual reality headsets in May 2019, Meta is only now adding parental supervision tools to its Meta Quest VR headset.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the AI-powered Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, with support for automatic reframing, image correction, and more, available for $799 on May 31  —  Microsoft's latest camera has a lot of smarts  —  Microsoft is launching its first AI-powered camera for the Surface Hub 2.
Bloomberg:
Foxconn resumes partial operations at two Shenzhen campuses closed on Monday, one of which makes iPhones, after authorities approved its “closed loop” process  —  Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn Technology Group has resumed partial operations in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Linktree, which creates simple “link in bio” landing pages for people and companies, raises a $110M Series C led by Index and Coatue at a $1.3B valuation  —  Who would've thought that an entire swath of startups would spring up all because Instagram, TikTok and Twitter only let you link to one website in your bio?
Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
A look at Ukraine's “invisible heroes”, internet technicians who are risking their lives avoiding bombs and thwarting Russian hackers to keep Ukraine online  —  They're fixing internet in bombed-out buildings, finding rogue operators providing Russians with mobile connections and thwarting hackers.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
The FBI and CISA warn that Russian state-sponsored hackers accessed an unnamed NGO's network by exploiting default MFA protocols and the PrintNightmare flaw  —  The FBI says Russian state-backed hackers gained access to a non-governmental organization (NGO) cloud after enrolling their own device …
The Information:
Sources: Google has struck a deal to acquire Raxium, a five-year-old startup that makes microLED components for AR and VR displays  —  Google has struck a deal to buy Raxium, a five-year-old startup that develops tiny light-emitting diodes for displays used in augmented and mixed reality devices …
Clive Thompson / Wired:
An in-depth look at GitHub and OpenAI's Copilot, which writes 35% of its users' code, and how AI tools can make developers more efficient and democratize coding  —  OpenAI's new tool can autocomplete lines of programming or conjure software from a simple prompt.  It could also riddle the internet with even more bugs.
Tweets: @samaThanks:@colegarry2
Chris Bengel / CBS Sports:
Spotify signs a sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, including rebranding the soccer club's stadium to Spotify Camp Nou, reportedly worth $310M over four years  —  FC Barcelona have agreed to a sponsorship deal with Spotify to have the audio streaming platform become the club's main partner.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Interview with Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg on the company's growth, the future of open-source WordPress, Tumblr moderation, Web3, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more  —  Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, which he co-founded, and Tumblr …
Rest of World:
Six months after El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, dozens of citizens, economists, and developers detail cracks in the country's crypto revolution  —  As El Salvador prepares to launch its ‘Bitcoin bond’, interviews with citizens, economists and technologists reveal cracks in the country's crypto revolution.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
iUNU, whose LUNA robot moves on greenhouse roofs and uses AI to detect problems with plants and find spots that are ready to harvest, raises a $24M Series B  —  Not going to lie, iUNU (pronounced “you knew") is not the easiest name (further confusing matters is the presence of a robot called “LUNA").
More: GeekWire
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Mark Zuckerberg says NFT support will be coming to Instagram over the next several months and that users will “be able to mint things within that environment”  —  Love them or hate them, NFTs will soon be coming to Instagram.  Speaking at SXSW, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed …

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Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Tom Warren / The Verge: