Techmeme
December 13, 2017, 5:45 PM

Top News

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
T-Mobile is acquiring Denver-based TV tech company Layer3 TV and says it will launch its own wireless TV service to compete with Comcast, others, in 2018  —  T-Mobile says it will launch its own TV service in 2018, expanding its competitive focus beyond the U.S. wireless giants to target major cable …
Josh Lipton / CNBC:
Apple awards $390M from its $1B Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Finisar, which makes laser chips used in iPhone X and AirPods for depth and proximity sensing  —  - Apple is investing $390 million into Finisar, which makes chips used by Apple products for depth and proximity sensing.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the company will “press pause” on planned change to service fee for each pledge, set to start Dec. 18, after uproar from creators  —  Patreon has called off plans to add a service fee to patrons' pledges, a proposed update that angered many users.
Nate Raymond / Reuters:
Unsealed court documents show three men have plead guilty to creating the 2016 Mirai botnet that disrupted access to major internet platforms  —  (Reuters) - A former Rutgers University student and two other men have agreed to plead guilty to computer crimes related to the creation and use …
Jason Del Rey / Recode:
Target says it plans to acquire grocery delivery platform Shipt for $550M in cash and will run it as independent unit; Shipt has 170 staff and has raised $65M  —  Target will offer same-day delivery from half of its stores by summer.  —  Another domino just fell in the wake of the Amazon-Whole Foods acquisition.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google says it's bringing Assistant to tablets running Android 6.0+ and phones running Android 5.0+ in US, UK, India, Australia, and elsewhere  —  The Google Assistant, Google's take on Siri, Cortana and Alexa without the approachable name, has long been available on most modern phones and tablets.
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Google says it's opening an artificial intelligence research center in Beijing, its first in China  —  Google has officially announced that it is opening an AI center in Beijing, China.  —  The confirmation comes after months of speculation fueled by a major push to hire AI talent inside the country.
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Sources: Facebook plans to end program that paid ~300 publishers and other content creators to produce videos for News Feed  —  Multiple publisher sources said Facebook no longer plans to pay publishers and other video makers to produce videos for the news feed.
Kim Willsher / The Guardian:
French government moves to ban smartphone use in primary, junior, and middle schools, affecting children age 6-15, starting in September 2018  —  Pupils, teachers and parents seem less than convinced by measure prohibiting use in primary, junior and middle schools
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Uber says its head of driver product, Aaron Schildkrout, is leaving the company after three years, as the firm concludes its 180-day driver improvement campaign  —  Aaron Schildkrout joined Uber in 2015.  —  Uber's head of driver product, Aaron Schildkrout, is leaving the company after three years.
Tweets: @ericnewcomer
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Location-based VR firm Dreamscape Immersive raises $10M more to bring Series B total to $30M; Nickelodeon invests, will let its IP be used in new VR experience  —  Dreamscape Immersive, the location-based virtual reality (VR) startup headed by Disney and DreamWorks veterans …
More: The Wrap
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Techstars partners with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber on three-month Asia-based accelerator focused on mobile chat and related areas  —  Techstars is bringing its global accelerator program to Asia for the first time in partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber.
More: Techstars

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
2025: World Password Day is now also World Passkey Day  —  Since 2013, the first Thursday of May has been recognized as World Password Day to spread awareness about good password practices and protecting our online accounts.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Judge Refers Apple For A Criminal Investigation
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Great Chat:
What's the deal with Deel?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Lenny's Podcast:
The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
The difference between early and late AI adopters
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Tariffs, Trump, TikTok: What's going to happen to ads in 2025?
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:45 PM ET, December 13, 2017.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Takashi Mochizuki / Wall Street Journal:
Reuters:
Oliver Cragg / Android Authority:
Jeff Benjamin / 9to5Mac: