Techmeme
February 27, 2020, 5:55 PM

Top News

Queenie Wong / CNET:
Facebook cancels its F8 developer conference amid growing concerns around COVID-19, says it is planning “locally hosted events” and livestreamed content instead  —  Facebook said Thursday it's cancelling its annual F8 developers conference, the social media giant's biggest event of the year …
Carli Velocci / Windows Central:
Microsoft says it will not attend Game Developers Conference due to coronavirus concerns and will make sessions and experiences available in a digital event  —  The move follows Sony, Facebook, and Unity.  —  What you need to know  — Microsoft Game Stack announced it's pulling out of GDC due to coronavirus concerns.
BuzzFeed News:
Docs show Best Buy and Walmart, alongside ICE, DOJ, and FBI, are among the 2,200+ companies and law enforcement agencies listed as clients of Clearview AI  —  The United States' main immigration enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, retailers including Best Buy and Macy's …
Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Sources: Walmart plans to start publicly testing a membership program called Walmart+ as soon as next month to compete with Amazon Prime  —  Walmart has struggled to keep up with Amazon's online dominance for years.  Javier Zarracina/Vox  —  Amazon Prime has devastated traditional retail.
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says TikTok is “fundamentally parasitic”, “always listening,” and its fingerprinting technology is “truly terrifying”  —  TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms but the CEO of Reddit had some harsh words for the popular app …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon face hefty fines after FCC probe found that the carriers didn't do enough to protect users' location data  —  AT&T, T-Mobile among companies facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, though they will likely fight decision
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Researchers find an Android malware strain Cerberus that can extract and steal one-time passwords generated by Google's Authenticator mobile app  —  A new version of the “Cerberus” Android banking trojan will be able to steal one-time codes generated by the Google Authenticator app and bypass 2FA-protected accounts.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Facebook sues data analytics firm OneAudience, claiming it paid app developers to install its SDK in their apps so it could harvest data on Facebook users  —  Data analytics firm OneAudience allegedly paid app developers to include its SDK in their code so it could harvest data from Facebook users.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: 120Hz screen is nice and battery life is good but the main camera often acts like a first-gen product with first-gen problems  —  A new-generation camera with first-generation problems  —  Samsung has something to prove.  —  That's the most obvious feeling …
Martin Brinkmann / gHacks Technology News:
Google officially adds support for Google Earth on Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers, and says it is working on adding support for Safari  —  When Google unveiled the new Google Earth back in 2017, it switched Google Earth from being a desktop application to a web application.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
DoorDash announces it has confidentially filed documents for an IPO with the SEC  —  Food delivery service DoorDash announced Thursday it has taken a first step toward a public offering.  —  DoorDash said it has confidentially submitted a draft S-1 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Wayne Ma / The Information:
Source: Apple is planning to release an iPad keyboard with a built-in trackpad, likely with the next version of the iPad Pro, later this year  —  Apple is planning to release an iPad keyboard accessory later this year that will include a built-in trackpad, the latest step in its effort …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Nokia is working with advisers to explore strategic options ranging from asset sales to mergers  —  - Company working with advisers to consider asset sales, mergers  — Equipment maker has cut outlook amid fierce competition  —  Nokia Oyj is exploring strategic options …
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
VMware reports Q4 revenue of $3.07B, up 11% YoY, subscription and SaaS revenue up 14% YoY, but misses expectations, stock down 6% after hours  —  However, shares fell in after-hours trading as Q4 earnings fell below expectations.  —  VMware crossed a new revenue threshold in fiscal year 2020 …
More: VMware
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Tractable, which aims to speed up insurance company response times for events like car accidents by using AI to perform damage appraisal, raises $25M Series C  —  London-based insurtech AI startup Tractable, which is applying artificial intelligence to speed up accident and disaster recovery …
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
Dahmakan, a Malaysia-based food delivery startup that creates its own meals based on customer data and market research, raises $18M Series B  —  Dahmakan, a full-stack food delivery startup based in Malaysia, announced today that it has closed a $18 million Series B. Investors include Rakuten Capital …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
LinkSquares, which allows legal and finance teams to automate searches of legal documents and eases management of company contracts, raises $14.5M Series A  —  It takes between 20 days to 30 days for a company to create, negotiate, and finalize a contract, according to Aberdeen Research.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Online gaming platform Roblox raises $150M led by a16z's Late Stage Venture fund, reportedly at a $4B valuation; Roblox was valued at $2.5B+ as of last year  —  Online gaming platform Roblox, now home to 115 million largely Gen Z players per month, announced today it has raised $150 million …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Microsoft says it will likely miss its guidance for its More Personal Computing segment, which includes Windows, due to COVID-19's impact on its supply chain  —  Microsoft shares fell 2% on Wednesday after the company said it doesn't expect to meet the quarterly revenue guidance …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it has paused use of the election reminder feature in the EU after the Irish DPC raised concerns about what data it collects and how it is used  —  Big tech's lead privacy regulator in Europe has intervened to flag transparency concerns about a Facebook election reminder feature …

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