Techmeme
February 5, 2021, 12:00 PM

Top News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google has patched an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability in its Chrome 88 update  —  Google Chrome 88.0.4324.150 released with a fix.  Users advised to update.  —  Google has released today version 88.0.4324.150 of the Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Snap says Apple's changes to IDFA will interrupt demand; Unity says IDFA changes will affect how mobile game developers “optimize lifetime customer value”  —  - Snap and Unity Software, which reported fourth quarter earnings after the bell Thursday, both warned of the upcoming impact …
Harvard Business Review:
Facebook's claims about the size of losses small businesses will suffer due to iOS 14 privacy changes don't hold up under scrutiny and are likely exaggerated  —  by - Bart de Langhe and - Stefano Puntoni  —  Summary.  —  Apple will soon require consumers to opt in if they want to allow businesses …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Ben Gilbert / Insider:
Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance on Clubhouse on Thursday, discussing VR, AR, Facebook's Reality Labs group, and remote work  —  - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on a Clubhouse talk show on Thursday evening.  — Zuckerberg appeared on The Good Times Show, a talk show on the buzzy new social networking app.
Ashwin Manikandan / The Economic Times:
PayPal says it will wind down its domestic payment operations in India by April 1 and focus on its existing cross-border trade business  —  Mumbai: PayPal Inc. will wind down its payment operations in India this year, a spokesperson said on the condition of anonymity.
Bloomberg:
Shares of Kuaishou jumped 161% in its Hong Kong debut, valuing the company at $159B, after the main rival of ByteDance in China raised $5.4B in an IPO  —  - Tencent-backed short-video startup raised $5.4 billion in IPO  — Debut performance is second best globally after Alibaba.com
Michelle Chan / Nikkei Asia:
Users in mainland China are flocking to Clubhouse, a rare space outside the country's firewall where they can speak freely with people from Hong Kong and Taiwan  —  Audio-based social-media platform becomes free-speech haven for mainland users  —  The Clubhouse app had two million users globally as of Jan. 24.
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Snap says its TikTok competitor Spotlight had 100M MAUs in January, two months after its launch, and receives an average of 175K video submissions per day  —  A surprisingly successful debut  —  Snap says its TikTok competitor, Spotlight, had 100 million users in January 2021, just two months after it launched.
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Google says Pixel users will be able to use their phone cameras to measure pulse and breath rates through the Google Fit app, starting next month  —  Like many of us, Google is getting more interested in our health.  The company is announcing today new features that will allow …
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
In a NLRB filing, the Alphabet Workers Union accuses Google vendor Adecco of violating US labor law by forbidding contract workers from discussing their pay  —  - New labor group accuses Google vendor of violating labor law  — Worker says Facebook post got her suspended by contractor
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google starts rolling out Google News Showcase in Australia, paying local and regional publishers, amid an ongoing dispute over Australia's proposed media rules  —  Google has a $1 billion plan to pay publishers for content that appears in a cross-service “News Showcase” product.
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Apptopia: since Trump was banned from Twitter, daily use of Twitter has remained remarkably consistent  —  Trump's presence on Twitter had no impact on how much people used it, contrary to the popular narrative. … For as long as Donald Trump was president, there was a common misconception that Twitter's fate was tied to his.
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
Google delists the popular Chrome extension The Great Suspender for containing malware and is disabling the extension for those who installed it  —  This afternoon, Google has delisted the popular extension The Great Suspender for containing malware and is proactively disabling the extension for those who have it.
Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:
Metalenz, a Boston-based Harvard spinout developing meta-optic lens chips, raises $10M Series A from 3M Ventures, Intel Capital, and others  —  Metalenz, a developer of meta-optic technologies for new lenses, has secured a $10 million Series A as the company looks to exit stealth …
Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:
Democratic senators' SAFE TECH Act will strip Section 230 immunity for any ads, and posts violating civil rights, antitrust, cyberstalking, human rights laws  —  The Senate bill would defend civil rights and take on a range of online harms.  —  Three top Democratic senators added to the stack …
Chris Stokel-Walker / WIRED UK:
TikTok's launch on Android TVs in France, Germany, and the UK yesterday is part of its push to diversify its audience and bring its stars into the mainstream  —  The app's arrival on smart TVs is part of a plan to diversify its audience - and bring its stars further into the mainstream

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