Techmeme
December 13, 2019, 7:30 PM

Top News

Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Apple and Spotify podcasts are available through Alexa-enabled devices in the US, starting today  —  Sad for HomePod  —  Starting today, Apple Podcasts is available through Amazon Alexa-enabled devices like Echo speakers.  People just have to say, “Alexa, play (insert show name here) on Apple Podcasts” to get a program.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook payroll data, including names, bank accounts, and pay info of 29K staff was compromised after unencrypted hard drives were stolen from employee car  —  - Some 29,000 current, former employees impacted by theft  — Unencrypted hard drives were stolen from payroll worker's car
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's next-gen “Project Scarlett” Xbox to be called Xbox Series X and available holiday 2020 with support for frame rates of up to 120 fps and ray tracing  —  Xbox now looks like a PC  —  Microsoft's next-generation Xbox is officially called Xbox Series X. Microsoft revealed …
Richard Nieva / CNET:
Google says it has captured more than 10M miles of Street View imagery, and, via Google Earth, mapped out the parts of the world where 98% of people live  —  If Google were to have a mascot, it might be the Street View car, with its towering camera rig and corporate logo exterior.  There's good reason for that.
Polina Marinova / Fortune:
WeWork sells SEO startup Conductor, which it bought for $113.6M, back to its management team, shuts down Spacious, which it acquired for $42.5M four months ago  —  As WeWork looks to sort out its future, the flashy startups it acquired are also seeking a new path forward.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple buys Spectral Edge, a UK startup whose tech improves the colors in photos by taking infrared shots and blending them with standard photos  —  - Spectral Edge technology improves colors in smartphone photos  — Photograph is a key differentiator in the smartphone market
Wall Street Journal:
Trump agrees to a limited trade deal with China that could result in Apple and others avoiding a 15% tariff on their products set to begin on Dec. 15  —  Plan would prevent new tariffs planned for Sunday and roll back some existing tariff rates  —  President Trump has agreed …
Bloomberg:
Inside Google's culture war as some employees and managers describe a “climate of fear” and the erosion of transparency that once defined the company  —  Restive workers see a culture in ‘total collapse.’  —  Each morning, workers at Google get an internal newsletter called the “Daily Insider.”
Li Yuan / New York Times:
Liu Jingyao, the college student who accused JD.com founder Richard Lui of rape, describes what it's like to be slut-shamed by the Chinese internet  —  Liu Jingyao, a college student, describes what it's like to be slut-shamed by 800 million people.  —  MINNEAPOLIS — When Liu Jingyao introduced herself …

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