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August 25, 2020, 12:21 PM
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The Verge:
Judge denies Epic's motion to restore Fortnite to the App Store but orders Apple to not block Unreal Engine; full hearing scheduled for September 28  —  Epic Games won a temporary restraining order against Apple, at least in part  —  Epic Games just won a temporary restraining order against Apple — at least in part.
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo plans to launch an upgraded Switch in 2021, possibly with 4K graphics, more computing power, and a lineup of new games  —  - Strong lineup of Nintendo games set to accompany new hardware  — Update would make the Switch Nintendo's most enduring console
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to open an online store in India next month and is planning two retail stores there next year, first in Mumbai and then in Bangalore  —  - Online store comes a year after India eases rules on retail  — IPhone maker also plans a second physical outlet in India
Bill Gurley / Above the Crowd:
The rise in SPACs is leading to improved terms for targeted companies and an overall lower cost of capital, as company underpricing in traditional IPOs worsens  —  If you are looking past or through Covid — and why not, all of Wall Street is — the topic du jour in Silicon Valley is Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs.
Paul Mozur / New York Times:
Emboldened by Hong Kong's new security law, police are targeting the social media accounts of media executives, pro-democracy politicians, and activists  —  Under a new national security law, the police are targeting the social media accounts of executives, politicians and activists.
James Vincent / The Verge:
iRobot is updating its Roomba vacuum cleaners with AI-based software that will add specific spot-cleaning, event-based automation, and more  —  To help Roombas know when and where to clean  —  iRobot is announcing what it's calling the biggest software upgrade to its robot vacuum cleaners since …
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
TSMC says its 3nm process will hit volume production in 2022, and 5nm N5 chips, which should ship in products this year, will use 30% less power than the N7  —  At TSMC's annual Technology Symposium, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer detailed characteristics of its future 3nm process node …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Mozilla rolls out Firefox 79 for Android with Enhanced Tracking Protection, a new UI, its own mobile browser engine GeckoView, improved privacy mode, and more  —  After more than a year of development, Mozilla today launched Firefox 79 for Android, branded Firefox Daylight.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Facebook is testing a Shop section in its app in the US, while Instagram expands Live Shopping to more sellers in the US  —  Facebook is announcing a number of new e-commerce features both within the main Facebook app and on Instagram.  —  The pandemic has forced many businesses to shift online …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Fitbit unveils $330 Sense smartwatch with ECG and a sensor for detecting stress, and $230 Versa 3 with GPS and Google Assistant, both shipping in late September  —  Even as Google's $2.1 billion acquisition hangs over Fitbit, the wearables company today announced three new devices.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Apple acquires Spaces, a location-based VR startup that recently pivoted to videoconferencing  —  Spaces, a VR startup that got its start as a DreamWorks Animation project, has been acquired by Apple, Protocol has learned.  —  Apple confirmed the acquisition after this story was first published.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, two top investors in ByteDance, are key drivers in Oracle's bid for TikTok; Twitter's bid has made little headway  —  Investment firms with large existing stakes in ByteDance pursue deal for app's U.S. operations, as potential alternative to Microsoft
New York Times:
TikTok sues the Trump administration in federal court, arguing Trump's EO deprived it of due process
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Level Home unveils Level Touch, a $329 HomeKit-enabled smart lock that can be unlocked with a touch or included NFC access cards  —  The new Level Touch builds on the work started by the Bolt  —  Level is a relatively new company in the smart home scene, but today it's announcing its second product of the year: the Level Touch.
Pranob Mehrotra / XDA Developers:
Samsung adds the ability, off by default, to find offline devices with its Find My Mobile tool, using other people's nearby Galaxy devices to help locate them  —  Samsung's Find My Mobile app is designed to help you remotely locate your device, back up data to Samsung Cloud, delete local data …
Rishi Iyengar / CNN:
Facebook says it is planning legal action to challenge a recent Thai government request to block a 1M+ member Facebook group critical of the Thai monarchy  —  (CNN Business)Facebook said it is planning legal action against Thailand's demand that forced the company to block a group deemed critical of the country's monarchy.
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Mural, which offers a whiteboard-like digital environment for users to collaborate and brainstorm, raises $118M Series B led by Insight Partners  —  This morning MURAL announced that it has raised $118 million in an outsized Series B. The visual collaboration startup provides a whiteboard …
CNBC:
Ant Group files for IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai, reporting $3.2B profit in H1 2020, up 1,000% YoY, and revenue of $10.48B, up 38% YoY  —  - Ant Group, which is still controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, reported a more than 1,000% jump in profits in the first half of 2020 from the same period last year.
Ian Sherr / CNET:
Microsoft adds an audio transcription feature to Word's web version for Office 365 that will work with prerecorded or live audio  —  Microsoft's Word writing tool will soon be able to record and transcribe audio, marking an evolution long requested by everyone from students to reporters to Microsoft executives.
More: TechCrunch, The Verge, and VentureBeat.  Thanks:@iansherr
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
UK-based MelodyVR, which creates immersive live music for VR headsets and phones, acquires Rhapsody International, owner of Napster, from RealNetworks for $70M  —  Napster, the pioneering digital music brand from way back when, is changing hands once more.  Today, a UK startup called MelodyVR …

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From Mediagazer

New York Times:
Court docs detail a smear campaign against actor Blake Lively via media articles and social media posts after she accused director Justin Baldoni of misconduct

Ankush Khardori / Politico:
Trump may erode press protections but the ABC case is not evidence of that as the decision to settle appears reasonable given Stephanopoulos' imprecise remarks

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
A deep dive into Paramount's sale to Skydance; sources: Skydance may integrate Pluto into Paramount+, and CBS head George Cheeks is expected to be head of TV

More News

Financial Times:
Sources: key ministries in India including its telecom department have indicated that local telcos should avoid using Huawei gear, but a formal ban is unlikely

Earlier Picks

John Koetsier / Forbes:
Security research firm Snyk alleges that Chinese ad network Mintegral committed ad click fraud via its SDK across billions of installs of 1,200+ iOS apps
Chaim Levinson / Haaretz:
Sources detail NSO Group's sales in Gulf states, where it has made deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few years for its Pegasus spyware
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Audible debuts Audible Plus, a $7.95/month tier with unlimited access to a library of 11K+ titles spanning audiobooks, podcasts, and original productions
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Unity Software, which makes a 3D engine for games and more, files for a US IPO, reports that in 2019 it had a $163.2M net loss on $541.8M in revenue, up 43% YoY
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