Techmeme
March 16, 2021, 10:30 AM

Top News

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Chinese state broadcaster says Xi Jinping ordered regulators to increase oversight of internet companies, crack down on monopolies, and promote fair competition  —  - Comments from top leader follows fintech, antitrust actions  — Regulators are said to set their sights on Tencent after Ant
Financial Times:
Sources: Tencent and ByteDance are testing a new tool called CAID, developed by the China Advertising Association, to bypass Apple's IDFA ad privacy changes  —  ByteDance and Tencent see if they can keep tracking iPhone users with solution created by state-backed group
James Vincent / The Verge:
Instagram says it introducing new policies to limit interactions between teenagers and adults, including banning adults from DMing teens who don't follow them  —  Teen users will also be shown safety prompts when messaging ‘suspicious’ adults  —  Instagram is introducing …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google announces second-generation Nest Hub with sleep tracking, powered by a Soli radar chip, for $100, shipping from March 30  —  In deciding to not put a camera on what was initially called the Home Hub, Google made its first Assistant Smart Display ideal for nightstands.
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
Signal app and website are unavailable in China but the app is still available in the App Store; Greatfire says Signal's website was banned on March 15  —  Chinese users of the instant messenger Signal knew that the good times wouldn't last long.  The app, which is used for encrypted conversations …
Leah Nylen / Politico:
Internal FTC docs: 2013 decision not to pursue a Google antitrust investigation was based on faulty logic and a misunderstanding of the internet's potential  —  A decade ago, a surging Silicon Valley giant was making plans to dominate the internet.  Given a chance to stop it …
Ryan Weeks / The Block:
Trading platform eToro says it will go public via SPAC, valuing the company at $10.4B and raising $650M  —  Quick Take  — The investment platform is merging with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V  — The SPAC merger follows years of speculation about the fintech firm going public
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Nvidia confirms that a now-removed driver for developers to test the Windows Subsystem for Linux could unlock RTX 3060's Ethereum cryptomining performance  —  Nvidia probably didn't mean to do this  —  Nvidia implemented a special system to reduce the hash rate of Ethereum mining on its new RTX 3060 graphics card last month.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
iOS 14.5 beta code suggests Apple is working on a method for delivering standalone iOS security updates  —  Among all the new features introduced with iOS 14.5, which had its fourth beta released today to developers, there are also some changes hidden in the operating system's internal codes.
News Corp:
News Corp says it has reached a three-year deal with Facebook to provide news to Facebook users in Australia through the Facebook News product  —  Expands News Corp-Facebook Connection, Which Began With Deal In US  —  New York, NY (March 15, 2021) - News Corp announced today that it has reached …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Hacker paid a company called Sakari $16 to reroute a reporter's texts and used SMS 2FA to break into his accounts, showing the need for regulation of SMS tools  —  A gaping flaw in SMS lets hackers take over phone numbers in minutes,by simply paying a company to reroute text messages.  —  Joseph Cox
Bloomberg:
Huawei says it will start charging Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers royalties for 5G patents, a potentially lucrative scheme as US sanctions bite  —  - Executives pledge to charge rates below its competitors  — Company is keen to expand its clout in global 5G networking
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
ByteDance has posted at least 12 job listings related to semiconductors, including hardware and software engineers in Shanghai and Beijing  —  The standout Chinese startup ByteDance Ltd. has begun hiring employees for a possible push into semiconductors, exploring an expansion well beyond …
More: Reuters
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
In a secret 2016 NLRB settlement in Virginia, Amazon swore off threatening and intimidating workers, tactics that it has deployed to dissuade workers in Alabama  —  In a secret settlement in Virginia, Amazon swore off threatening and intimidating workers.  As the company confronts increased labor unrest …
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Report: UK tech startups raised a record $15B in 2020, higher than any country besides US ($144B) and China ($44.6B), and $8B in the first three months of 2021  —  Tech sector pulls away from France and Germany despite pandemic and Brexit challenges  —  The UK tech sector attracted record investment …
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Report: iPhone 12 lineup lags behind 25 Android phones in 5G download speeds; Samsung accounts for 60% of top 25 5G performers with Galaxy S21 5G at the top  —  A new report from Opensignal paints a rough picture for how 5G performance on the iPhone 12 lineup stacks up against Android smartphones in the US.
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft releases one-click Exchange On-Premises Mitigation Tool to help businesses that don't have expertise easily patch recently disclosed vulnerabilities  —  Microsoft has released a one-click Exchange On-premises Mitigation Tool (EOMT) tool to allow small business owners to easily mitigate …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Boston-based Appfire, which develops apps to enhance collaboration tools like Atlassian's Jira and Confluence, raises $100M, following $49M in June 2020  —  Appfire, a Boston-based provider of software development apps, announced Tuesday that it has received a $100 million investment from growth private equity firm TA Associates.
More: Appfire

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Micah Lee / The Intercept:
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
IDC:
Tyler Sonnemaker / Business Insider Australia:
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Nick Statt / The Verge: