Techmeme
September 22, 2022, 9:00 PM

Top News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple AirPods Pro (second-gen) review: improved ANC, sound quality, and clarity, but same old design, a Lightning connector, and no major new software features  —  Redesigned inside but not out, the new AirPods Pro are destined to be another hit — even if the magic is waning
Max Chafkin / Bloomberg:
A look at the quiet success of AirPods, of which Apple sold an estimated ~120M pairs in 2021, showing how big a business its upcoming niche VR headset could be  —  Sometime next year, Tim Cook will appear before the Apple Inc. faithful and unveil the company's next major computing platform …
New York Times:
An investigation based on nearly 160K Roskomnadzor documents details Russia's expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus, which helps Putin maintain power  —  Four days into the war in Ukraine, Russia's expansive surveillance and censorship apparatus was already hard at work.
Bloomberg:
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he's confident regulators will approve the company's $69B Activision Blizzard purchase, citing several recent Sony acquisitions  —  Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said he's confident the company can gain regulatory approval …
TechCrunch:
Twitter informs some users that due to a bug, the company didn't close all of their active logged-in sessions on Android and iOS after their password was reset  —  Weeks after Twitter's ex-security chief accused the company of cybersecurity mismanagement, Twitter has now informed its users …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases iOS 16.0.2 to fix repeated copy and paste prompts, a bug that caused cameras in iPhone 14 Pro models to shake in some third-party apps, and more  —  Apple today released iOS 16..2, addressing a number of bugs that iPhone 14 owners have been experiencing since …
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Instagram, and now TikTok, have fallen afoul of the “Bootleg Ratio”, as clout-chasing accounts overtake content created by users specifically for each platform  —  TikTok is changing. … That stuff is still on the platform, but it's largely fallen off my For You page …
Dhruv Mehrotra / Wired:
A look at anti-pornography “accountability apps” used by churches and parents; two apps exploited Android's accessibility permissions to track users' every move  —  Churches are using invasive phone-monitoring tech to discourage “sinful” behavior.  Some software is seeing more than congregants realize.
Gina Chon / Semafor Media:
Nick Clegg says Meta could lift its ban on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2023, when his suspension expires, after consulting experts  —  Former President Donald Trump could be allowed back on Facebook once a suspension of his account expires in 2023 …
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Google unveils Chromecast with Google TV (HD), featuring a remote control and supporting only 1080p content with HDR, for $30; the 4K version costs $50  —  Confirming rumors, Google has unveiled the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) device that offers features from the $50 4K model at a significantly cheaper $30 price.
Gregory Zuckerman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: to increase profits, Coinbase hired Wall Street traders and explored using its own money to trade crypto in 2021, including a $100M test trade in 2022  —  The company completed a $100 million transaction before ending the effort.  It says that it hasn't engaged in proprietary trading.
Naomi Nix / Washington Post:
Some civil rights groups say they have seen little action from Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube to bolster election policies ahead of the 2022 US midterms  —  For months, civil rights groups have unsuccessfully pleaded with Big Tech companies to bolster their election policies
Deeksha Bhardwaj / Hindustan Times:
India proposes a legal framework to regulate over-the-top communications services, including encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal, and intercept messages  —  The bill, if implemented in its current form, will have reaching ramification for the industry that is based on the premise of privacy and security of encrypted messages
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
A Meta-commissioned report from BSR details censorship and “unintentional bias” allegations against Palestinians during Israel's Gaza Strip attacks in May 2021  —  Facebook and Instagram's speech policies harmed fundamental human rights of Palestinian users during a conflagration …
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen says Amazon Prime Video's first Thursday Night Football game averaged 13.03M viewers; Amazon claimed 15.3M viewers after guaranteeing advertisers 12.5M  —  Nielsen says 13 million viewers watched the Sept. 15 contest on Prime Video and local over-the-air affiliates.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
UK media regulator Ofcom plans to investigate the cloud computing, personal messaging, and smart device markets over the next year due to competition concerns  —  - Ofcom, the U.K. media watchdog, is set to launch a study examining the role of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud services market.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
ByteDance unveils Pico 4 VR headset with dual 2,160x2,160 displays, Snapdragon XR2, 128GB for €429 or 256GB for €499, shipping in Europe and Asia on October 18  —  Pico, the Chinese startup acquired last year by TikTok parent company ByteDance, has a new virtual reality headset on the way.
Matthew Boyle / Bloomberg:
Disney, P&G, LVMH, and other large companies have hired chief metaverse officers to capitalize on Web3 trends, but it's unclear how long they will be needed  —  Advertising giant Publicis Groupe SA introduced the newest member of its C-suite at a technology conference in Paris this year.
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Singapore-based Immunefi, which hosts bug bounty programs for crypto projects with a 10% commission on payouts, raised a $24M Series A led by Framework Ventures  —  - Immunefi has raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Framework Ventures.  — The startup hosts bug bounty programs …

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