Techmeme
January 18, 2019, 7:55 PM

Top News

Washington Post:
Sources: FTC commissioners have met to consider a record fine against Facebook for potentially violating a 2011 consent decree about user privacy  —  U.S. regulators have met to discuss imposing a record-setting fine against Facebook for violating a legally binding agreement with the government …
Financial Times:
Sources: Spotify plans to launch a ~$100 voice-controlled in-car music player with preset buttons that correspond to Spotify playlists later this year  —  Spotify has a new target as it makes a break for independence from devices made by Apple, Google and Amazon: the car dashboard.
Alex Heath / Cheddar:
Sources: Snap fires security chief over secret relationship with a consultant and pushes out his boss, the head of HR, amid multiple departures in recent months  —  Snap's global security chief has been fired after an internal investigation found that he had an undisclosed relationship …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Max Schrems files GDPR complaints against Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, others for failing to provide required info about data they collect on users  —  European privacy campaigner Max Schrems has filed a fresh batch of strategic complaints at tech giants, including Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Spotify and YouTube.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook confirms it is testing LOL, a feed of funny videos and GIF-like clips pulled from News Feed posts by top meme Pages  —  How do you do fellow kids?  After Facebook Watch, Lasso, and IGTV failed to become hits with teens, the company has been quietly developing another youthful video product.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Airbnb held informal talks to buy discounted hotel booking app HotelTonight; HotelTonight was valued at $463M in a March 2017 funding round  —  A deal would give the home-sharing company more inventory and help it move into hotel bookings  —  Airbnb Inc. has held talks …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Hands-on with Nike's $350 Bluetooth-enabled Adapt BB shoe with automated power-lacing, which will allow basketball players to change shoe tightness via an app  —  Nike's Adapt BB shoe has utility for pros, but is also a lens into a connected future  —  Why does the world need a self-lacing shoe?
Business Insider:
Satya Nadella says Cortana won't challenge Alexa and Google Assistant directly; Microsoft will focus on making it a skill on other voice platforms instead  —  - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that it no longer sees its Cortana smart assistant as a competitor to Amazon's Alexa.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter says a bug led to the “Protect your Tweets” setting being disabled for some Android users for almost five years, making their tweets public  —  Twitter accidentally revealed some users' “protected” (aka, private) tweets, the company disclosed this afternoon.

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Earlier Picks

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Tim Cook / TIME:
Nathaniel Gleicher / Facebook:
Brian Barrett / Wired: