Techmeme
April 1, 2020, 11:15 PM

Top News

The Information:
Sources: YouTube is planning to release Shorts, a rival to TikTok inside YouTube's main app, by the end of the year  —  YouTube is planning to release a rival to TikTok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, by the end of the year, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple now lets some video streaming apps, like Amazon Prime Video, use their own payment methods for in-app purchases on Apple devices, avoiding Apple's 30% cut  —  Apple Inc. has relaxed a controversial policy that took a 30% cut of payments when video apps on its platform sold TV shows and movies.
Erin Griffith / New York Times:
COVID-19 has negatively affected tech startups big and small, leading to layoffs, halted IPOs and hiring, slashed prices for products, and bankruptcies  —  Dozens have laid off thousands, slashed costs and changed their businesses to try to survive the pandemic.  All that may not work.
Felix / @c1truz_:
[Thread] Security researcher finds Zoom uses a “shady” technique to install its Mac app without user interaction, applying tricks used by macOS malware  —  Ever wondered how the @zoom_us macOS installer does it's job without you ever clicking install? Turns out they (ab)use preinstallation scripts, manually unpack the app using a bundled 7zip and install it to /Applications if the current user is in the admin group (no root needed). https://twitter.com/...
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Erin Griffith / New York Times:
All-in-one productivity tool Notion, which helps people organize and track their work, raises $50M from Index Ventures and others at a $2B valuation  —  While many start-ups grapple with the fallout from the pandemic, this San Francisco company raised more cash to survive.
Ry Crist / CNET:
FCC will vote on a proposal to allow the entire 6 GHz band to be available for unlicensed use, citing the increase in Wi-Fi demand; vote is set for April 23  —  The Federal Communications Commission announced a potentially significant step for Wi-Fi today, with plans for an April 23 vote …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
iOS 14 code indicates Apple is beefing up its Keychain password manager, adding two-factor authentication and more  —  Apple is working to improve the iCloud Keychain password manager on iOS, 9to5Mac has learned, with two-factor password integration and more.
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Some couples, faced with orders to shelter in place to avoid COVID-19, are getting married at home with friends and relatives watching on Zoom  —  As the coronavirus pandemic continues, socially distanced weddings are moving online  —  The day — her day — was finally here.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
John Legere steps down as T-Mobile CEO after the company closed its merger with Sprint; President and COO Mike Sievert takes over as CEO  —  John Legere is officially done with the role of T-Mobile CEO after the company officially closed its merger with Sprint, the company announced Wednesday.
Kaya Yurieff / CNN:
Doctors are banding together on Twitter and TikTok to settle on frameworks of verifiable sources and information to share with the public  —  New York (CNN Business)Ali Raja spends his nine-hour shifts in the emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital treating gunshot wounds …
Lynn La / CNET:
As the US Census kicks off, the Census Bureau's 500,000 enumerators will use iPhone 8s instead of clipboards, improving data entry and analysis  —  April 1 is Census Day 2020 in the US.  For the first time, census takers have said goodbye to paper and clipboards and hello to iPhone apps.
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
“Online proctor” companies, which watch students through their webcams during exams, are seeing a surge of business as universities close due to the pandemic  —  Colleges are racing to sign deals with ‘online proctor’ companies that watch students through their webcams while they take exams.
Ben Bergman / dot.LA:
An inside account of how Bird laid off 406 employees in two minutes via a Zoom webinar; employees say they were locked out of their computers during the meeting  —  Last Friday morning, 406 Bird employees - who had been working from home for two weeks because of the coronavirus and bleary-eyed …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Slack introduces a new app to integrate Microsoft Teams calling features and launches VoIP phone integration with Zoom, WebEx, Jabber, and more  —  You can now launch a Microsoft Teams call directly from Slack  —  Slack is launching a new app to integrate Microsoft Teams calling features into its chat app today.
Nikitha Sattiraju / Bloomberg:
A look at Google's US data center water usage, which it tries to keep secret: an estimated 2.3B gallons in three states in 2019, some with water shortages  —  In August 2019, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association built a 16-foot pyramid of jugs in its main entrance in Phoenix.

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Earlier Picks

Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire:
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac: