Techmeme
March 9, 2021, 11:00 PM

Top News

William Turton / Bloomberg:
Hackers say they breached Verkada, accessing feeds and archives of 150K surveillance cameras inside clinics, police precincts, jails, schools, Tesla facilities  —  - Hacker group says it wanted to show prevalence of surveillance  — Video footage was captured from Sequoia-backed startup Verkada
Drew FitzGerald / Wall Street Journal:
In a privacy policy update, T-Mobile says it will automatically enroll all subscribers in an ad program informed by their online activity, starting on April 26  —  Wireless carrier tells subscribers it could share their browsing, app data and other online activity with advertisers unless they opt out
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google adds features to Chrome OS including Phone Hub, which lets Android users control aspects of their phones, like replying to texts, from their Chromebooks  —  Chrome OS is getting a bunch of new features to celebrate 10 years  —  Google is marking 10 years of Chromebooks by unveiling new features for Chrome OS today.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter's head of consumer product, on focusing on growth, deciding what to prioritize, paying for tweets, Clubhouse, and more  —  Twitter recently announced that it's going to be building a lot of new things into its product: there's Twitter Spaces …
Scott Stein / CNET:
Facebook details a 10-year vision for its AR glasses, imagining they will work alongside a wristband to measure hand and figure gestures, with haptic feedback  —  Facebook is working on a neural wristband for AR glasses, with haptic gloves in the works  —  Facebook's first pair of smart glasses is arriving this year.
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Dropbox announces plans to acquire secure document sharing startup DocSend for $165M; DocSend had raised $15.3M and has 17K customers  —  Dropbox announced today that it plans to acquire DocSend for $165 million The company helps customers share and track documents by sending a secure link instead of an attachment.
James Cridland / Podnews:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sonos introduces Roam, a $169 portable speaker, now available for preorder; Sonos also sets a goal of $2.25B in annual revenue by FY 2024  —  - CEO sees potential for company in car, headphone markets  — Home audio specialist prices new Roam portable speaker at $169
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
Q&A with Stripe's Patrick Collison on the future of technology, speeding up innovation, how research funding can be reformed, US-China competition, and more  —  In addition to being a friend and a Noahpinion subscriber, Patrick Collison is one of the world's most successful founder-CEOs.
Eugene Kim / Insider:
Shara Tibken / CNET:
Samsung announces its Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on March 17, where it's expected to unveil an updated Galaxy A series lineup  —  It's only the third month of the year, but Samsung is gearing up for its second big product launch of 2021.  The company on Tuesday sent invitations …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
The NYSE sets Roblox direct listing reference price at $45 per share ahead of its trading debut on Wednesday  —  - Roblox almost tripled payouts to developers last year, while revenue didn't quite double, as the company aims to get top creators to spend more of their time building for the app.
Sidney Fussell / Wired:
Current and former tech workers of color say companies' “diversity theater” and pledges of support provide cover for hypocritical actions by their superiors  —  Companies pledged money and support for people of color.  But some say they still face a hostile work environment for speaking out or simply doing their jobs.
Chris O'Brien / Sifted:
Leading French startup association files a privacy complaint against Apple alleging that the latest iOS is collecting users' data without their permission  —  The allegations would seem to contradict not just Apple's image as a privacy-friendly company, but also the widespread praise iOS 14 has received
Mercedes Ruehl / Financial Times:
Sources: no deep integration between Facebook and Gojek nine months after the $300M deal; source says Gojek's planned merger with Tokopedia is a factor  —  Rollout of integration between platforms delayed after $300m deal struck in June  —  Facebook's partnership with Indonesian technology start …
Jessica Conditt / Engadget:
Twitch API changes suggest it is testing a system that automatically rates streamers on a “Brand Safety Score” to pair them with advertisers  —  Twitch appears to be toying with a program that automatically rates streamers based on a handful of factors — including age …
Politico:
Sources: Biden plans to nominate Lina Khan, a legal scholar championed by anti-Big Tech activists who wrote “Amazon's Antitrust Paradox”, as an FTC commissioner  —  — President JOE BIDEN has decided to nominate LINA KHAN, a Columbia University legal scholar championed by anti-Big Tech activists …
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Dutch and Belgian police say they shut down Sky ECC, a messaging service allegedly popular with criminals, after infiltrating it in Feb, leading to 100+ arrests  —  Law enforcement agencies from the Netherlands and Belgium have shut down today Sky ECC, a company that provided …
Chris Stokel-Walker / Insider:
Source: TikTok has 3000+ staff in Europe, up from 1600 since September, with plans for 3 London offices, despite calling off London as its global HQ last July  —  - Tiktok has more than 3,000 staff across Europe, up from 1,600 since it last reported its headcount in September.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
EU approves Microsoft's $7.5B deal to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, without conditions  —  Microsoft will have 23 first-party game studios  —  The European Commission has approved Microsoft's $7.5 billion deal to acquire ZeniMax Media …
Peter Grant / Wall Street Journal:
Real estate software and data company VTS acquires Rise Buildings, which develops a mobile app for managing properties, sources say for about $100M  —  Real-estate firm VTS is buying startup Rise Buildings in $100 million deal  —  Investors are pouring money into phone apps that enable companies …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google will make it free for hotels and travel companies to appear in hotel booking links on google.com/travel, after doing the same for Shopping and Flights  —  Last year, Google made a significant change to its Google Shopping destination by making it free for e-commerce retailers to sell on Google …

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