Techmeme
August 3, 2020, 5:55 PM

Top News

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Trump says he is fine with the idea of Microsoft buying TikTok in US, but the US government should be paid a “substantial amount of money” as part of the deal  —  Today the President appeared to bless the budding Microsoft-TikTok deal, continuing his evolution on a possible transaction.
The Official Microsoft Blog:
After Satya Nadella and Trump spoke, Microsoft says it will continue discussions to explore a TikTok acquisition in US, ending on Sept. 15 if no deal is reached  —  Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft acquiring TikTok lets it access younger users growing up with iOS and Android, expand AR and Xbox offerings, and collect data  —  At first glance, a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok seems a little unusual.  Microsoft has spent years walking back consumer plays like the Groove Music service …
Wall Street Journal:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google announces the $349 Pixel 4A, available for pre-order on August 20, $499 Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 5, coming later in fall  —  If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.  See our ethics statement.  —  Google is officially announcing three Pixel phones today.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Pixel 4A review: for $349, it sports 128GB storage, decent battery life, 5.8" 1080p screen, and a flagship-tier camera, great at photos but mediocre for video  —  Stripped to just the phone essentials, but it gets them right  —  If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Google says it will invest $450M in smart home security company ADT, which will sell and install Nest smart home products, for a 6.6% stake  —  Google is investing $450 million in ADT to acquire a 6.6% stake in the Florida-headquartered firm that provides security and smart home solutions, the two said today.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces partnerships with six more banks to offer digital checking and savings accounts to Google Pay users in the US, starting next year  —  Google is expanding its plans to offer digital banking services in the U.S. The company announced today it's partnering with half a dozen …
Jack Stubbs / @jc_stubbs:
[Thread] A look at the correspondence between a hacked US travel management firm, CWT, and the ransomware attackers, who were paid $4.5M in BTC to decrypt files  —  An interesting thing happened on the internet with week. U.S. travel management firm was hit with Ragnar Locker ransomware. The company agreed to pay and handed over $4.5 mln in bitcoin https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Snap says it's working on a feature that will let users set their Snaps to music, similar to TikTok's app, coming to English-language markets this fall  —  Snapchat is taking aim at TikTok.  The company announced today it will begin testing a new feature that lets Snapchat users set their Snaps to music, similar to TikTok's app.
Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Apple faces a $1.4B lawsuit from Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology, a Chinese AI firm that was recently awarded a patent for a voice assistant similar to Siri  —  Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology's suit could prevent Apple from selling many of its products in China
David Shepardson / Reuters:
The FCC will take public comment for 45 days on the Trump administration's petition for new transparency rules on how social media companies moderate content  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission will take public comment for 45 days on a petition filed …

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