Techmeme
September 19, 2023, 12:50 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
FTC v. Microsoft: new documents detail an Xbox Series X refresh in 2024, codenamed Brooklin, including a new controller and cylindrical, disc-less design  —  Microsoft is planning to refresh its Xbox Series X console in 2024 with an all-new design and features.
Push Square:
FTC v. Microsoft: in mid-2020, Phil Spencer discussed acquiring Warner Bros Interactive alongside Bethesda and said buying Nintendo would be a “career moment”  —  “It'd be a good move for both companies”  —  A genuinely dystopian email sent by Xbox chief Phil Spencer …
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
After over 100 internal Microsoft documents leaked, the FTC says that “Microsoft was responsible for the error in uploading these documents to the court”  —  The files include emails from corporate executives like Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and timetables for gaming releases.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
FTC v. Microsoft: docs show Microsoft's gaming plans for 2028, aiming for “full convergence” of its cloud platform and hardware to deliver “cloud hybrid games”  —  The documents may also reveal Microsoft's far future plans for 2028 — by which the company believed it could achieve …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google updates Bard to use data from Gmail, Docs, and Drive, not just the web, to help find and summarize emails, highlight points in a document, and more  —  Google's Bard AI chatbot is no longer limited to pulling answers from just the web — it can now scan your Gmail, Docs …
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Apple iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max review: USB-C, lighter, nicer to hold, useful Action Button, and camera improvements, but no 5x telephoto on the smaller Pro  —  Apple didn't choose the USB-C life, but boy are we glad it got here anyway. … There are very few surprises from new smartphones these days.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus review: comfortable to hold, Dynamic Island, great performance, and helpful camera features, but no always-on display or ProMotion  —  Apple's standard iPhone gets a lot of nice upgrades this year, but it's not anything we haven't seen before.
Amitoj Singh / CoinDesk:
Court filing: FTX sues SBF's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, to “recover millions of dollars in fraudulently transferred and misappropriated funds”  —  The filing, redacted in parts, asks the court to award the FTX estate damages, the return of any property given or payment made to the parents.
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
On a livestream, Elon Musk says X is “moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system”, as it's “the only way to combat vast armies of bots”  —  - Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. leader Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a livestream …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Intel announces Meteor Lake, its first chips to use its new chiplet architecture, offering CPUs using its 7nm Intel 4 process node, will “launch” on December 14  —  For many months, Intel has spared no opportunity to remind us that its Meteor Lake chips would be the ones to watch …
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Trend Micro: Chinese cyberespionage group Earth Lusca used new Linux backdoor malware SprySOCKS to target government agencies in multiple countries in H1 2023  —  A Chinese espionage-focused hacker tracked as ‘Earth Lusca’ was observed targeting government agencies in multiple countries, using a new Linux backdoor dubbed ‘SprySOCKS.’
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
A look at ShadowDragon, which offers social media surveillance tools that gather data from games and more, used by ICE, the State Department, the DEA, and more  —  Daniel Clemens sits in a darkened room and speaks about why he thinks people should not protest.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Greg Bensinger / Reuters:
Interviews with 15 current and former employees at Amazon's Lab126 hardware unit describe low morale due to layoffs and fears of a weak development pipeline  —  Some workers within Amazon's (AMZN.O) once-storied hardware division - responsible for popular devices like the Kindle reader …
Leo Lewis / Financial Times:
Location and mapping startup Mapbox raised $280M led by SoftBank, sources say at a ~$1.3B pre-money valuation; PitchBook says Mapbox had raised $360M to date  —  Son's decision to back US mapping company in $280mn investment round comes in wake of Arm listing
Jacquelyn Melinek / TechCrunch:
Blockchain Capital raised a total of $580M for two VC funds and says their focus will be on six sectors, including DeFi, blockchain gaming, and consumer/social  —  The crypto bear market may be ongoing, but Blockchain Capital is still going big.  It closed two new funds for a total of $580 million …

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More News

Financial Times:
More: RTÉX: @julianklymochko, @cer_eu, @s8mb, and @zach_cerLinkedIn: Ronan Scanlan

Earlier Picks

Sabrina Willmer / Bloomberg:
Catherine Thorbecke / CNN:
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: