Techmeme
March 19, 2020, 7:05 PM

Top News

Financial Times:
EU calls on streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube to limit broadband use and offer programs only in standard, rather than high, definition  —  Brussels tells streaming companies to limit services as Facebook says managing traffic is a “challenge”  —  The EU has called on streaming services …
Reuters:
Netflix says it will reduce its bit rates across all its streams in Europe for 30 days, in effect cutting traffic on its European networks by 25%  —  Netflix said on Thursday it would reduce its bit rates across all its streams in Europe, in effect cutting traffic on its European networks …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft says Teams passed 44M DAUs, up from 32M earlier this month, unveils new features like real-time noise suppression that are coming later this year  —  Microsoft Teams, which launched worldwide in March 2017, passed 32 million daily active users (DAUs) this month.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils DirectX 12 Ultimate, which promises to better unify the features and capabilities of PC gaming and the Xbox platform, coming later this year  —  Bringing a suite of software advancements in gaming graphics onto a single platform  —  Microsoft has a new version …
Phillip Prado / Android Authority:
Google says Android Go, its OS aimed at low-end devices, now has more than 100M users and announces a new Camera Go app optimized for devices with 1GB of RAM  —  Today, Google made two exciting announcements.  Android Go now officially has more than 100 million users, and the company will soon release a new Camera Go app.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Uber says ride volume is down by ~70% in cities like Seattle, it has “ample liquidity” with $10B in cash, and is considering delivering medicine; stock up 35%+  —  Uber — the on-demand transportation and food delivery behemoth — has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Olga Khazan / The Atlantic:
An Amazon warehouse worker in Queens, NY tests positive for coronavirus; Amazon says it has temporarily closed the facility and sent workers home with full pay  —  Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Queens, New York, received a text Wednesday evening that they long feared might come …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook starts rolling out its sweeping desktop redesign, which offers dark mode, tabbed home screen, larger fonts, and a cleaner profile, to all users  —  Facebook today officially rolled out its sweeping desktop redesign that offers dark mode, tabbed homescreen, and a cleaner profile.
Torsten Ingvaldsen / HYPEBEAST:
Report: total streams for Spotify's top 200 most-streamed songs fell 23% in Italy from March 3 to March 17; US, UK, France, Spain markets have also decreased  —  Data from Spotify may suggest that widespread self-isolation is to blame.  —  Olly Curtis/Getty Images
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
StreamElements: gaming viewership is up 10% on Twitch and up 15% on YouTube Gaming over past week; in Italy, minutes watching livestreams grew 66%+ since Feb.  —  Live-streaming is more popular than ever  —  These are unprecedented times.  It's fun to joke about the apocalypse …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft have lost a combined $1.3T in value since the market peak on Feb. 19; Facebook led the decline, dropping ~30%  —  - Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook have lost a combined $1.3 in value since the market peaked on Feb. 19.

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