Techmeme
March 21, 2020, 11:05 AM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google launches a dedicated COVID-19 website, focused on locally relevant info in the US, as well as enhanced Search results for terms related to the disease  —  After lots of complicated drama, a simple website  —  One week ago, President Donald Trump held a press conference wherein …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
A day with the new MacBook Air: delightfully close to perfection and settles all the issues with keyboard, price, and performance, but its camera still stinks  —  We waited a long time for a retina MacBook Air.  When we finally got it back in November 2018, it was worth waiting for.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
After canceling Google I/O's in-person event in early March, Google now says it will “not be holding an I/O event in any capacity this year”  —  Google earlier this month announced that it was not hosting a physical developer conference in light of coronavirus.
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Twitter, which prohibits denials of established science on the virus' transmission, says Elon Musk's tweet that kids are “essentially immune” is not a violation  —  The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Russian hacker group called Digital Revolution claims it breached a contractor for FSB and discovered details of a project intended to build an IoT botnet  —  Digital Revolution hacker group leaks details about “Fronton” an IoT botnet a contractor was allegedly building for the FSB, Russia's intelligence agency.
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
Amazon warehouse workers and drivers fear the impact of COVID-19 as Amazon grows into an essential service, warning of uneven enforcement of safety measures  —  Amazon is positioning itself as an ‘essential’ service during the pandemic — a move that benefits the company and puts its warehouse workers and drivers in danger
Brandy Betz / Seeking Alpha:
Sources: Airbnb's plans to go public are in disarray after the company racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses this year  —  The coronavirus pandemic has led to hundreds of millions in losses for Airbnb (AIRB) and has the company considering a funding round rather than going public, according to WSJ sources.
Brent Lang / Variety:
Netflix creates a $100M fund to support cast and crew members laid off from Netflix projects, with $15M to go to third parties and nonprofits  —  Netflix has created a $100 million relief fund to help members of the creative community who have been left unemployed and without a way to earn an income during the coronavirus crisis.
Strategy Analytics:
Research: global smartphone shipments dropped 38% YoY in February, from 99.2M units in 2019 to 61.8M in 2020  —  According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments tumbled 38 percent year-on-year in the month of February, 2020.
The Official Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft introduces a Healthcare Bot service using AI to assist frontline organizations, like the CDC, in directing individuals to appropriate medical care  —  In a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not only important to deliver medical care but to also provide information to help people …
Bloomberg:
Sources: SoftBank-backed car-rental startup Getaround, once valued at $1B+, is actively seeking a sale as it deals with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak  —  The car-sharing company Getaround is actively seeking a sale as the coronavirus outbreak has sent demand plunging and left …
Xinmei Shen / Abacus:
Amid heavy censorship, Telegram became a refuge for WeChat users seeking information outside official channels at the height of the COVID-19 crisis in China  —  Telegram features like channel broadcasts and optional chat encryption have helped some people stay up to date amid heavy censorship on Tencent's WeChat

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