Techmeme
September 14, 2020, 5:15 PM

Top News

Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Oracle confirms it is part of a proposal submitted by ByteDance to the US Treasury to become TikTok's “trusted technology provider”  —  - Oracle and TikTok share an interest in marketing, but while Oracle pursues business from big companies, TikTok aims for a wide scale among consumers.
New York Times:
Microsoft says ByteDance has rejected its offer to take over TikTok's US operations, leaving Oracle as the only other known bidder  —  The move leaves Oracle as the sole known remaining bidder, as the clock ticks down on President Trump's executive order to block the app.
South China Morning Post:
BuzzFeed News:
Internal memo from a fired Facebook data scientist shows how it knew many countries' leaders repeatedly used Facebook to manipulate voters but failed to stop it  —  Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections …
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Nvidia to buy Arm from SoftBank in a $40B deal, saying it will keep Arm's HQ in UK, expand R&D facilities there, and keep Arm's open licensing business model  —  - Acquirer pledges to keep Arm independent to retain customers  — Nvidia to build AI research facility at Arm's U.K. location
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources detail Apple's Tuesday event: Apple Watch Series 6 with faster CPU and blood oxygen meter, new mid-tier iPad Air, and no new iPhones  —  - Company to debut new Apple Watches and iPad Air on Tuesday  — Smaller HomePod, headphones in the works; iPhones coming later
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: the 5.4" iPhone 12 will feature a narrower notch but none of the iPhone 12 models will have a 120hz display; iPad Air will feature Touch ID in side button  —  Ahead of tomorrow's Apple event, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new investor note highlighting his expectations for the remainder of 2020.
Chris Jaffe / YouTube Blog:
YouTube says it is launching an early beta of YouTube Shorts, a 15-second video feature, in India  —  - By Chris Jaffe VP of Product Management Sep.14.2020 … YouTube has always been a place to be entertained — from your favorite dance trends, like Evolution of Dance, Roller Skate Dances …
BBC:
Google says its carbon footprint is now zero, after becoming carbon neutral in 2007, and aims to run all data centers and offices on carbon-free energy by 2030  —  Google says it has wiped out its entire carbon footprint by investing in “high-quality carbon offsets”.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook introduces Watch Together for Messenger, letting up to eight people in a mobile chat or 50 people in a Room watch videos together  —  Facebook today is rolling out a new feature that will allow friends and family to watch videos together over Messenger.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Low-code database service Airtable raises $185M Series D at $2.58B post-money valuation and launches Airtable Apps, a JavaScript-based no-code development tool  —  The spreadsheet-centric database and no-code platform Airtable today announced that it has raised a $185 million Series D funding round …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google announces it will unveil the Pixel 5 as well as a new smart speaker and Chromecast on September 30  —  5G versions of the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A are on the way  —  Google is planning to launch its Pixel 5 smartphone, a new Chromecast, and a new smart speaker later this month.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Red Ventures says it has agreed to buy CNET Media Group from ViacomCBS for $500M in a deal expected to close in Q4 2020  —  ViacomCBS is offloading CNET Media Group in a $500 million deal with digital-marketing company Red Ventures, which announced the deal Monday.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
CISA: hacking groups linked to China's Ministry of State Security have exploited F5, Citrix, Pulse Secure, and Microsoft Exchange bugs to hack US gov't networks  —  CISA says attacks have started a year ago and some have been successful.  —  The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Leaked promotional videos show Oculus Quest 2 powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2 with an “almost 4K display”, 6GB RAM, up to 256GB storage, and 3D audio  —  A full launch of the headset is rumored for later this week  —  The Oculus Quest 2 VR headset has leaked in full via …
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
GoodRx, a US online drug coupon and price comparison site, says in amended S-1 it offered founders ~$500M in stock, raised $100M from Silver Lake ahead of IPO  —  GoodRx is a rare breed of modern tech IPO: a startup that is actually profitable and heading to the public markets.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
LG announces Wing, a smartphone with a 6.8-inch main “twisting” display and a 3.9-inch display underneath; release data and price TBA  —  Coming to Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, but there's no word on price  —  LG is no stranger to two-screen smartphones in recent years …

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Earlier Picks

Chris Welch / The Verge: