Techmeme
July 31, 2019, 6:50 PM

Top News

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Spotify reports 108M paying subscribers in Q2, up 31% YoY, revenue of €1.67B, up 31% YoY, and an operating loss of €3M  —  Spotify closed its second calendar quarter this year with 108m paying subscribers and 232m total Monthly Active Users (MAUs).
Alex Heath / The Information:
Sources: Facebook is working on a new TV device that can stream video and make video calls using its Portal tech, and has approached Netflix, Disney, and others  —  Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming services on a new Facebook device …
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Apple joins Google, Facebook, and Twitter in the open-source Data Transfer Project, will develop interoperable systems to bring data in and out of iCloud  —  Just over a year after its official launch, the Data Transfer Project is announcing a new set of partners and features.
Cho Mu-Hyun / ZDNet:
Samsung posts Q2 operating profit of ~$5.6B, down 56% YoY, on revenue of ~$47.4B, down 4% YoY, after profits from its chip and mobile businesses declined YoY  —  Samsung expects “persistent uncertainties” in the memory business for the remainder of the year but will pursue an aggressive investment plan in the second half.
Wall Street Journal:
Four major broadcast networks sue Locast, which is funded by AT&T, to try to stop it from freely retransmitting the signals of their local TV stations  —  CBS, ABC, NBCU and Fox say AT&T-funded Locast is retransmitting their signals without permission and in violation of copyright law
Raymond Zhong / New York Times:
Trump's ongoing trade war with China has been a boon for Vietnam, as some tech companies, like Apple and Nintendo, consider shifting production there  —  Samsung already assembles half of its handsets in the country, which got a big lift from U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.  Now Apple is homing in.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google says its Titan security keys are now available in Canada, France, Japan, and the UK, expanding beyond the US  —  Google today announced that its Titan Security Key kits are now available in Canada, France, Japan and the UK.  Until now, these keys, which come in a kit with a Bluetooth key …
Rebecca Aydin / Business Insider:
Sex tech startups protest outside Facebook's NYC offices, saying it bars them from running ads, and launch site to show alleged double standard of ad approvals  —  - The women's wellness companies say Facebook has not allowed them to run ads for their products on Facebook or Instagram.
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Qualcomm misses with Q3 revenue of $4.9B, down 13% YoY, and licensing revenue of $1.29B, down 10% YoY; stock down 4%+ after hours  —  Qualcomm says it is well positioned for the 5G ramp to come in early 2020.  —  Qualcomm published its third quarter financial fiscal 2019 results on Wednesday …
More: Qualcomm, CNBC, and Macworld
Shara Tibken / CNET:
A look at the potential benefits of 5G in a variety of applications and services, including AR/VR, healthcare, emergency response, connected cars, and broadband  —  Take a five-minute walk behind Qualcomm's main office in San Diego and you'll find an unlikely kind of lab.
Anna Baydakova / CoinDesk:
Sources: Chinese importers in Russia buy ~$30M worth of tether, a USD pegged crypto coin, every day, to send large sums of money back home  —  The Takeaway  —  Chinese importers in Russia are buying up to $30 million a day of tether (USDT) from Moscow's over-the-counter trading desks.
Olivia Carville / Bloomberg:
Court filing: former IBM HR VP Alan Wild says the company has fired 50,000 to 100,000 staff in recent years; ongoing litigation argues older staff were targeted  —  - Moves were to make IBM appear as ‘cool’ as Google and Amazon  — Big Blue is facing several age-discrimination lawsuits
Tweets: @zachweinberg
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Lightricks, which makes the popular selfie editing app Facetune, raises $135M Series C led by Goldman Sachs at a post-money valuation of $1B  —  Facetune, a photo editing app that empowers users to cover their gray hairs, refine their jaw lines, and reshape their noses …
Sarah Scoles / The Verge:
Newly-released documents on Sentient, the NRO's ambitious analysis tool meant to guide spy satellites to areas of interest, raise more questions than answers  —  Meet the classified artificial brain being developed by US intelligence programs  —  At the final session of the 2019 Space Symposium …

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Earlier Picks

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