Techmeme
November 14, 2018, 12:20 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources provide a behind-the-scenes account of Amazon's HQ2 selection process, say the company made the decision to split HQ2 in two in September  —  For months, cities vied for Amazon's second headquarters while some executives were realizing that no single place would fulfill its requirements
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Day One: The Amazon Blog:
J. David Goodman / New York Times:
Washington Post:
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Netflix is testing cheaper, mobile-only subscriptions “in a few countries” including Malaysia, where it is half the price of its next cheapest package  —  Netflix is testing a cut-price mobile-only subscription as it explores new packages aimed at widening its appeal in Asia and other emerging markets.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Uber launches rider loyalty rewards program with upgrades to nicer cars, access to premium support, and waiver on cancellations if rebooked within 15 minutes  —  Uber's new loyalty program incentivizes you not to check Lyft or the local competitor.  Riders earn points for all the money …
Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central:
Samsung unveils 8nm Exynos 9820 chipset with a dedicated NPU for on-device AI and 8K video recording, likely to be used in next year's Galaxy S10  —  Samsung is betting on a dedicated NPU to introduce a host of AI-enabled features in its upcoming flagship.  —  Huawei was the first to roll …
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Internal Facebook survey shows just 52% of its staff are optimistic about its future, down 32% from last year, amid scandals and a sharp stock decline  —  Employee surveys show weaker optimism about future, confidence in platform's mission  —  Facebook Inc.'s FB .77% difficult year is taking …
New York Times:
Tyler Barriss, the serial swatter responsible for the fatal Kansas hoax call, pleads guilty to federal charges, will serve between 20 and 25 years in prison  —  A California man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making dozens of hoax phone calls during which he reported fake crimes …
Alison Frankel / Reuters:
Snap says it's responded to subpoenas from the DOJ and SEC about its IPO, following a suit alleging Snap misled the public on how Instagram affected its growth  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission have subpoenaed Snap Inc (SNAP.N) …
Angus Berwick / Reuters:
Investigation shows how ZTE helped Venezuela's government build a system, used by as many as 18M, similar to China's national identity card program  —  TRICKS OF THE TRADE: Critics say China exports tools that help autocratic governments monitor citizens.  Venezuelan President Nicolás …
Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
In written response to Senate Intelligence Committee, Facebook says free speech and privacy will inform any decision to return to China  —  Facebook Inc. said if it ever returns to China, the company will do it in a way that preserves rights to free expression and privacy — issues that make such a move almost impossible today.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News:
AmazonBasics Microwave review: looks and works pretty much like a regular microwave, with some Alexa integration via Echo, and is good value at $60  —  Amazon's new “smart” microwave with Alexa is a microwave.  It's not magic.  —  Yes, you can use your voice instead of pressing buttons.
Kaitlyn Tiffany / Vox:
Most period-tracking apps are designed more to aid marketers and medical companies in collecting health data for ad targeting than for women  —  The golden age of menstrual surveillance is great for men, marketers, and medical companies.  —  A cartoon cloud told me I might be pregnant.
Ava Kofman / The Intercept:
Google's plan for a smart city in Toronto is facing resistance from privacy activists, who are fighting against the commodification of their city's data  —  The world's most ambitious “smart city,” known as Quayside, in Toronto, has faced fierce public criticism since last fall …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is finally re-released, after data loss bugs caused it to be pulled; Microsoft says it's focusing on improving code quality  —  October update, or November update?  —  Microsoft is releasing its Windows 10 October 2018 Update again today, after bugs forced the company to pull it offline last month.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Sponsor Posts

Termina:
AI Powered Diligence at Scale  —  VCs and founders deploy Termina AI Scans on >12% of all known series A+ deals to uncover hidden risks and opportunities.  Explore how you too can invest and build better companies with AI.
Intel:
Intel Delivers powerful CPUs for AI and Networking  —  With the onset of AI, businesses demand powerful and efficient CPUs.  Explore new Intel Xeon 6 processors, for the broadest set of workloads with leadership performance and lower TCO.
Zoho:
The future of remote AR support: Why Zoho Lens is the ideal choice  —  Imagine this: Your field technician is on site assessing malfunctioning heavy machinery.  Instead of waiting for an expert to travel to the location …
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:
Intel's New Boss
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Why Trump can't be trusted with Congress' new anti-deepfake bill
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months--one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder & CEO of StackBlitz)
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.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Breaks Down the Global Impact of Trump's New Tariffs
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Generative Now:
Dan Shipper: The First MultiModal Media Company
A podcast from Lightspeed dedicated to highlighting the stories, strategies and insights behind today's most exciting AI companies.
Subscribe to Generative Now.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wants to hang on to the live-streaming crown
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 12:20 PM ET, November 14, 2018.

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

Earlier Picks

Christina Farr / CNBC: