Techmeme
September 28, 2022, 5:50 PM

Top News

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Amazon's $1,000 Astro robot gets pet detection, the ability to check specific windows and doors, Ring camera integration, and an SDK for three universities  —  There's been a standing question surrounding how seriously we should ultimately take Astro.  The product was launched exactly one year ago …
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Source: FTX is in the process of raising a $1B round, which hasn't closed, as Sam Bankman-Fried considers bidding for bankrupt lender Celsius Network's assets  —  Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto billionaire who has been bailing out distressed industry players in recent months …
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
OpenAI removes the waitlist for DALL-E, giving everyone immediate access; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says a public release is essential to develop the tech safely  —  None of these photos were taken by a camera.  —  All of these images were created by the artificial intelligence text …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon unveils the $340 Kindle Scribe, an Oasis-like device for reading and writing with a 10.2" E Ink display and two stylus options, available to preorder  —  The newest Kindle is the first truly new Kindle in years.  It's called the Kindle Scribe, and it's both a reading device and a writing one.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Amazon unveils its fifth-gen $50 Echo Dot and $60 Echo Dot with Clock, which double as Eero mesh Wi-Fi extenders and have a temperature sensor and deeper bass  —  At its annual fall event, Amazon showed off its brand-new Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock.  The fifth generation …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon unveils a refreshed Fire TV Cube media player with Wi-Fi 6E for $140, Fire TV Omni QLED Series for $800+, and a refreshed Alexa Voice Remote Pro for $35  —  Amazon today introduced two new Fire TV devices designed to cater to customers seeking a more premium experience.
Lisa Eadicicco / CNET:
Amazon unveils the $140 Halo Rise, a bedside sleep tracker that uses contactless sensors, coming later in 2022 with a free six-month Amazon Halo subscription  —  It sits on your nightstand and functions as a sleep tracker and sunrise alarm clock.  —  Lisa Eadicicco
Umar Shakir / The Verge:
Cloudflare releases Turnstile, a “privacy-preserving” CAPTCHA alternative that tests the browser, not the user, through JavaScript-based challenges, in beta  —  The company calls it Turnstile, and it's designed to spare us from performing those mundane click-the-traffic-light kinds …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple tells suppliers to pull back from increasing the supply of iPhone 14 models by ~6M units in H2, instead aiming for 90M units, on par with 2021  —  Apple Inc. is backing off plans to increase production of its new iPhones this year after an anticipated surge in demand failed to materialize …
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
DocuSign plans to lay off 9% of staff as part of a major FY 2023 restructuring, incurring charges of $30M to $40M; DocuSign had 7,461 employees in January 2022  —  - DocuSign will lay off 9% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring plan, the company announced Wednesday.
More: GeekWire
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: GV shelved its algorithm, which for years served as a gatekeeper for new investments, suggesting that human judgement can't always be automated away  —  Google Ventures has mothballed an algorithm that for years had served as a gatekeeper for new investments, Axios has learned from multiple sources.
Samantha Cole / VICE:
Meta confirms it has permanently banned Pornhub's Instagram account for “repeatedly violating” its policies, after a three-week suspension  —  Pornhub claims its account was “fully PG,” and cites the uneven treatment of mainstream celebrities like Kim Kardashian who post nudity to the platform, compared to adult creators.
Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg:
Dune Analytics: NFT trading volumes fell 97% from a record $17.2B in January 2022 to $466.9M in September 2022  —  Volume Drop  —  NFT monthly volume has dropped 97% from 2022 highs  —  Source: Dune Analytics; Dashboard by @hildobby  —  Note: Cumulative data from OpenSea, NFTX, LarvaLabs, LooksRare, SuperRare, Rarible, Foundation
Financial Times:

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More News

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Financial Times:

Earlier Picks

Cameron Thompson / CoinDesk:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg:
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Mitchell Clark / The Verge: