Techmeme
January 15, 2021, 3:00 PM

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: 14" and 16" MacBook Pros coming in Q3 2021 with Apple Silicon, MagSafe charging, no Touch Bar, new design with squared-off sides and more built-in IO ports  —  Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today released some interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple to launch redesigned iMacs this year with a Pro Display XDR-like design, and is working on two new Mac Pros, one of which may use Intel CPUs  —  Apple Inc. is planning the first redesign of its iMac all-in-one desktop computer since 2012, part of a shift away from Intel Corp. processors …
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Kuo: Apple is “aggressively” testing vapor chamber thermal systems to cool its upcoming iPhones  —  Noted TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a report on Friday said recent industry surveys indicate Apple is “aggressively” testing vapor chamber thermal systems for use in iPhone …
The Information:
Sources: Apple is discussing launching a new subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts  —  Apple—long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space—is waking up.  The company, which runs the most widely used podcasting app in the industry …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Twitter outlines its plans for Wednesday's Inauguration Day, including transitioning @POTUS and other handles to Biden and archiving several official accounts  —  - Less than two weeks after President Donald Trump was kicked off his personal Twitter account, the institutional White House …
Mike Rogoway / Oregonian:
Sources: at an all-hands staff meeting, incoming CEO says Intel has to deliver better products for PCs than what a “lifestyle company in Cupertino” makes  —  - Competition: Intel rivals AMD and NVIDIA use TSMC's factories and have capitalized on the technical advances in Taiwan to leapfrog Intel in key segments.
Wall Street Journal:
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
As Snapchat starts competing with TikTok via its Spotlight program, some creators begin earning small fortunes and look for ways to expand  —  Top performers are raking in cash, as the company seeks to compete against TikTok and similar platforms.  —  In late November, Cam Casey …
Mike Stone / Reuters:
The Trump admin adds Xiaomi, along with 8 other Chinese firms, to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, forcing US investors to divest by Nov. 11  —  The Trump administration on Thursday added nine Chinese firms to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies …
Alex Kantrowitz / OneZero :
Smaller services like Substack, Spotify, and Clubhouse are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation  —  Smaller services are coming under scrutiny now that the big platforms have warmed to aggressive moderation  —  Glenn Greenwald was pissed.
Sarah Emerson / OneZero :
Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Interview with Walmart's e-commerce chief Marc Lore, who is leaving the company at the end of the month to build “a city of the future”  —  Marc Lore, the founder of Jet.com, helped Walmart become the No. 2 online shopping site after Amazon.  —  Marc Lore, a serial entrepreneur …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
WhatsApp to delay new privacy policy by three months following widespread confusion over whether the policy would mandate data sharing with Facebook  —  The new update will now go out on May 15th  —  WhatsApp on Friday announced a three-month delay of a new privacy policy originally slated …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Amazon launches Amazon Custom Assistant, which will let car makers build their own custom AI assistants with their own wake words, custom voices, and more  —  Amazon is letting automakers tailor custom voice experiences using its AI platform  —  Amazon is giving car companies …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
OneWeb, which to date launched 110 out of a planned constellation of 648 satellites to provide internet access, raises $1.4B with $400M from SoftBank and Hughes  —  After a troubled year that saw broadband satellite operator OneWeb file for bankruptcy, get rescue finance from the UK government and Bharti …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google says it will remove the inadvertent ability for Chromium browsers to access Chrome bookmarks and other sync features when users are logged into Google  —  Besides the intended differences, web browsers based on Chromium offer an underlying experience that's mostly identical to Chrome.
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
After Facebook and Twitter suspended Trump's account, activists and human rights groups have urged the companies to apply their policies evenly around the world  —  Human rights groups and activists have spent years urging the companies to do more to remove content that encouraged violence.
Ari Levy / CNBC:
GitLab is considering going public after an employee share sale valued it at $6B; GitLab revenue crossed $150M annually after growing 74% in the latest quarter  —  - GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij confirmed CNBC's reporting from November of an employee share sale, which valued the company at $6 billion.
Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
Hagens Berman files suit against Amazon alleging it colluded with five big publishers to fix eBook prices; Hagens Berman previously sued Apple for the same  —  Amazon is accused of fixing the price of e-books sold on the e-commerce site through anticompetitive agreements …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung unveils the $799 Galaxy S21, $999 Galaxy S21+, and $1,199 Galaxy S21 Ultra, available now to preorder and launching on January 29  —  Samsung's latest flagships are here: the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.  The first two — which start at $799 and $999 …

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Kate Clark / The Information:
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New York Times: