Techmeme
September 30, 2020, 4:45 PM

Top News

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Google unveils Pixel 5 with a 6-inch 90Hz OLED display, ultrawide rear-facing camera instead of zoom lens, 5G, 8GB RAM, and fingerprint sensor on back for $699  —  It's October, so despite the weird year we're having, Google is hosting a (virtual) event to show off its latest smartphone, the Pixel 5.
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
Google unveils Pixel 4a 5G with a 6.2" display, 6GB of RAM, 128GB storage, Qualcomm's 765G chipset, and 18W USB-C fast charging for $499  —  After speculation, leaks, tidbits, and rumors, Google has now officially launched the Pixel 4a 5G during the online “Launch Night In” keynote.
Nikkei Asian Review:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook unveils cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram, which works even for users without accounts on the other service, rolling out now  —  Facebook announced today it will begin rolling out new functionality that will allow Instagram and Messenger users to communicate across apps …
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Palantir closed at $9.50 following its direct listing on the NYSE, after opening at $10  —  - Palantir's public market debut on Wednesday comes 17 years after the company was created.  — In pursuing a direct listing, Palantir is following the path of Spotify and Slack …
Sharon Weinberger / New York Magazine:
Former US military and intel officials express concerns about Palantir, arguing its success is largely down to its software having a friendlier UI than rivals  —  Back in 2003, John Poindexter got a call from Richard Perle, an old friend from their days serving together in the Reagan administration.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Google announces a new Google TV service that brings streaming apps, a unified search, and live TV, through YouTube TV, into a single interface  —  Not to be confused with the smart TV platform of the same name (2010-2014, RIP) or the Android TV platform it's built on top of, Google has just taken the wraps off the new Google TV.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Brian Armstrong's apolitical goal for Coinbase is wishful thinking, limiting its politics to what he deems acceptable during a time of strife in America  —  At a highly polarized time, Brian Armstrong's controversial blog post is an act of wishful thinking  —  This story is part of a group of stories called
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Reuters:
Sources: China is considering an antitrust probe into Google, after allegations by Huawei that Google leveraged the dominance of Android to stifle competition  —  BEIJING/SINGAPORE/SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - China is preparing to launch an antitrust probe into Alphabet Inc's Google …
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
Google announces Nest Audio, a revamp to its discontinued Google Home speaker, available today for $99  —  During Launch Night In, Google unveiled Nest Audio, a major revamp of the original Google Home speaker, and it's available on October 5 for $99.  —  At last year's Made by Google event …
NBC News:
Interviews with 40 Amazon employees and government documents: Amazon's COVID-19 response lacks oversight and transparency with inadequate worker safety policies  —  On the evening of Sunday, Aug. 9, workers at the MKE1 Amazon fulfilment center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, received an alert …
Natalia Drozdiak / Bloomberg:
Internal docs: EU may ban big tech companies from preferencing their own services or exclusively pre-installing their own apps as part of Digital Services Act  —  - Gatekeeper platforms could also have to share data with rivals  — EU to unveil regulatory proposal for platforms in December
Max Weinbach / Android Police:
Xiaomi announces a range of new flagship devices: €499 Mi 10T, €599 Mi 10T Pro, and €279 Mi 10T Lite, all with 6.67-inch displays, and €99 Mi Watch  —  Xiaomi is known for its cheap phones, whether they come under its own brand name or its Redmi and Poco sub-brands.
Sophia Kunthara / Crunchbase News:
Golden, which aims to map all human knowledge using AI alongside humans to collect public information, raises $14.5M Series A led by a16z  —  Golden, a startup aiming to map all human knowledge, raised $14.5 million for its Series A round, the company announced Wednesday.  —  Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily
More: Golden Blog and TechCrunchThanks:@jason_rowley
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Twitter says it is expanding voice tweets to more iOS users and plans to add transcriptions to voice tweets to improve accessibility  —  Voice tweets will come to Android and the web in 2021  —  Twitter has just expanded its voice tweets feature, which lets you record a snippet of audio to include with a tweet, to more users on iOS.
Christopher Harland-Dunaway / The Verge:
Profile of Tron founder and BitTorrent CEO Justin Sun, whose controversial reputation is built on a non-traditional leadership style and marketing stunts  —  When Chinese millionaire Justin Sun acquired BitTorrent, was he trying to skirt the trade war?  Or fly right in the face of it, no matter the cost?
Bloomberg:
Clubhouse courted fresh controversy after a conversation with hundreds of listeners devolved into a platform for anti-Semitic comments on a Jewish holy day  —  Controversial private social app Clubhouse was again the target of criticism on Monday, after a conversation with hundreds …

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Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire: