Techmeme
August 12, 2020, 10:40 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10 for $1,399, with preorders starting today in the US  —  Microsoft is launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10th, priced from $1,399.  After months of Microsoft executives teasing …
Scott Stein / CNET:
Hands-on with a non-functioning Surface Duo prototype, which has two 5.6-inch OLED screens forming a 8.1-inch display, bound together by a unique hinge  —  Inside a little white box in front of me is a gadget that looks like a little book.  The Microsoft Windows logo is embossed on top.
Francoise Brougher:
Former Pinterest COO provides a detailed account of her claims about gender discrimination and toxic workplace culture with recommendations for the company  —  Pinterest has always been about aspiration.  It is a platform for sharing beautiful images, curating galleries of an idealized world.
Erin Griffith / New York Times:
Former Pinterest COO accuses the company of gender bias in a new lawsuit, alleging she was fired in April after complaining about sexist treatment  —  Françoise Brougher, Pinterest's former chief operating officer, said she was fired after speaking up about mistreatment.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Trump's executive order to ban TikTok by Sept. 20 is a gross abuse of power and sets an alarming precedent for the executive branch's control over software  —  An alarming precedent for government control over software  —  For months, President Trump has been teasing some kind of ban on TikTok …
Wall Street Journal:
Analysis: TikTok used an Android security hole to collect MAC addresses, possibly for ad tracking, without an ability to opt out; the practice ended in November  —  The tactic, which experts in mobile-phone security said was concealed through an unusual added layer of encryption, appears to have violated Google policies
Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Biden's VP pick Kamala Harris, who has close ties with tech execs and has dodged questions about breaking up Big Tech, is likely to generate excitement in SV  —  Sen. Kamala Harris has had a close relationship with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.  Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn says it has sold presentation-sharing service SlideShare to Scribd, which will take over its operation on September 24  —  SlideShare has a new owner, with LinkedIn selling the presentation-sharing service to Scribd for an undisclosed price.  —  According to LinkedIn …
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
Samsung Display reveals new generation of variable refresh rate mobile display panels, making its debut in the Note20 Ultra, helping lower device power usage  —  By now we've become quite familiar with high refresh-rate displays in the mobile space, as the first pioneering 90Hz devices …
Becky Ferreira / New York Times:
As Amazon joins SpaceX and OneWeb in launching satellite constellations, astronomers worry about the effects on astronomical observations and image quality  —  The F.C.C. approved the company's 3,236-satellite constellation, which aims to provide high-speed internet service around the world.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Microsoft fixes 17 critical and two zero-day flaws, including an actively-exploited RCE flaw in IE that can compromise PCs when users visit malicious sites  —  Microsoft says attackers have used a Windows zero-day to spoof file signatures and another RCE in the Internet Explorer scripting engine to execute code on users' devices.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook says it removed 22.5M posts for violating hate speech policies in Q2, up 2x from Q1, and that 95% of the violations were caught using automated systems  —  - Hate speech removal has jumped nearly 10-fold since 2018  — Facebook to undergo third party audit for content in 2021
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Simpplr, which develops AI-powered intranet software for employee directories, raises $10M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners  —  Simpplr today raised $10 million for its AI-powered intranet platform that is designed to streamline communications.  CEO Dhiraj Sharma says the funds …
Tweets: @ichetan
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Gong, which uses AI to provide insights on customer behavior and improve sales, raises $200M Series D, at a $2.2B valuation, led by Coatue  —  Gong.io, a startup providing an “intelligence platform” for enterprise sales teams, today nabbed $200 million in funding at a $2.2 billion valuation …
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Routable, a startup focused on streamlining B2B payments, comes out of stealth with $12M Series A from Y Combinator, Founders' Co-Op, and others  —  Routable, a fintech startup with Seattle roots, came out of stealth mode this week and announced a $12 million Series A funding round.
More: PYMNTS.com
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
US judge sides with Google in a lawsuit brought by Genius, which alleged that Google scraped lyrics in violation of copyright law  —  Google may have been caught “redhanded,” but a federal judge rules that Genius hasn't alleged any viable claims not be preempted by copyright law.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft commits to launching the Xbox Series X in November and will delay Halo Infinite until 2021  —  Halo Infinite will not be available until 2021  —  Microsoft is committing to launching its next-generation Xbox Series X console in November.  The company had previously only confirmed a vague …

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Fri. 11/22 - An LLM Siri But... Only The Year AFTER Next?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:40 AM ET, August 12, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg Law:
Wall Street Journal:
Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo:
Joseph Cox / VICE: