Techmeme
September 29, 2020, 9:13 PM

Top News

Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Amazon unveils Amazon One, a biometric technology that lets shoppers pay using their palm, coming first to two Amazon Go stores in Seattle  —  Amazon wants shoppers at its stores — and those of other retailers — to pay by palm with Amazon One.  Amazon  —  And, it hopes, at other retailers' stores in the future.
Will Evans / Reveal:
Investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety, based on data from 150 warehouses between 2016-2019, finds rising injury rates, which Amazon has attempted to hide  —  Robots.  Prime Day.  Holiday peak.  Internal records show Amazon has deceived the public on rising injury rates among its warehouse workers.
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook introduces Accounts Center, a tool for managing the growing number of settings across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger  —  Despite being under antitrust investigations in U.S. and E.U., Facebook today is rolling out a new feature that highlights the extent to which its suite of apps now interoperate.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Rally raises $17M from Porsche Ventures, Alexis Ohanian, and others for its service that lets users list and invest in, but not buy, collectibles  —  When people ponder the investment opportunity around collectibles, they probably think about things like wine auctions, sales of very expensive …
Bloomberg:
Facebook promotes longtime growth executive Alex Schultz to take over as chief marketing officer following Antonio Lucio's departure last month  —  - Alex Schultz is taking over as chief marketing officer  — Schultz led Facebook's growth and data analytics efforts
Aoife White / Bloomberg:
Microsoft's Bing search app will appear as a download prompt on new Android phones in Germany, UK, and France, after it won slots in a Google auction for rivals  —  Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search app will appear as a download prompt on new Android phones in Germany, the U.K. and France after it won slots in a Google auction for rivals.
Frank Pallotta / CNN:
Disney launches GroupWatch on Disney+, letting up to seven people watch in sync; viewers can react using emoji but can't chat  —  New York (CNN Business)Pandemic lockdowns have given many people the time to binge watch hours of streaming, but not the ability to do so with friends.
Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire:
Seattle unanimously approved new regulations that would ensure Uber and Lyft drivers earn minimum wage, the second US city to establish the standard after NYC  —  Seattle became the second big city in the nation to establish a minimum wage standard for Uber and Lyft drivers on Tuesday.
More: CNET and New York Times
Jeremy Burge / Emojipedia:
A look at the new emojis coming in iOS 14.2, including bubble tea, people bottle-feeding a baby, a transgender flag, a seal, a feather, and more  —  The wait is nearly over for iOS users: bubble tea, a transgender flag, seal, feather and more emojis are included in the latest iOS beta.
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU is set to approve Google's Fitbit acquisition  —  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google is set to win EU antitrust approval for its $2.1 billion purchase of fitness tracker maker Fitbit to take on Apple and Samsung in the wearable technology market, people familiar with the matter said.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google extends free access to Meet's unlimited call times for Gmail accounts through March 2021  —  Google is trying hard to make Meet a video conferencing competitor by adding a torrent of new features in quick succession.  After making premium features free at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic …
Jeanne Whalen / Washington Post:
Sources: CFIUS is stepping up scrutiny of past Chinese tech investments in US startups, sending inquiries to some companies about years-old deals  —  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has contacted dozens of U.S. companies to screen shareholders for national-security risks.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Online learning company, Thinkific, which lets anyone list courses and serve them from their own site, raises $22M led by Rhino Ventures  —  It's been a big year for online learning companies — and it sounds like Thinkific is no exception.  The Vancouver-based startup is announcing that it has raised $22 million in new funding.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches a US elections guide in its app, partnering with BallotReady, SignVote, and others to provide info on candidates, how to vote, and more  —  Though TikTok is in the middle of fighting off the Trump administration's attempt to ban its app in the U.S. over data privacy concerns …
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
Wide-ranging interview with Elon Musk on Neuralink and the future of brain chip implants, his thoughts on AI being an existential threat to humanity, and more  —  (SINGING) When you walk in the room, do you have sway?  —  [MUSIC PLAYING]  —  I'm Kara Swisher and this is Sway.  [MUSIC PLAYING]
Monica Chin / The Verge:
Lenovo debuts foldable ThinkPad X1 Fold with a 13-inch OLED screen, 11th-gen Intel processors, and 8GB RAM, available for pre-order now, starting at $2,499  —  Plus, a bunch of ThinkBooks  —  Lenovo has announced a ThinkPad like no ThinkPad you've ever seen before: the ThinkPad X1 Fold.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Twitter hires Rinki Sethi as its new CISO following its July 15 hack; Sethi previously worked at cloud data management company Rubrik  —  Sethi previously served in security roles at Rubrik, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, Intuit, and eBay.  —  After leaving the position unfilled for months …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
D-Wave launches Advantage, a cloud service that offers access to 5,000+ qubit quantum computing and a hybrid solver service that can handle 1M variables  —  D-Wave today launched its next-generation quantum computing platform available via its Leap quantum cloud service.
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:
UK-based Huboo, which offers an end-to-end fulfillment service for online retailers, raises £14M Series A led by Stride.VC  —  Huboo, the U.K.-headquartered startup that offers an end-to-end fulfilment service for online retailers of all sizes, has raised £14 million in Series A funding.

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