Techmeme
April 13, 2021, 11:15 PM

Top News

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
In its April batch of patches, Microsoft fixes 108 flaws, including 19 “critical” flaws, five 0-days, and four NSA-discovered critical Exchange flaws  —  Today is Microsoft's April 2021 Patch Tuesday, and with it comes five zero-day vulnerabilities and more Critical Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
The DOJ says the FBI performed a court-approved operation to “copy and remove malicious web shells” on hundreds of hacked Exchange servers across the US  —  The FBI obtained court approval to access vulnerable computers across the United States.  —  Joseph Cox
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple announces an online event on April 20 at 10am PT, entitled “Spring Loaded”, where new iPad Pro devices and more are expected  —  Following an overnight leak by Siri, Apple today officially announced that it will be holding a special “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday …
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Siri Reveals Apple Event Planned for Tuesday, April 20  —  Siri has apparently prematurely revealed that Apple plans to hold an event on Tuesday, April 20, where the company is expected to reveal brand new iPad Pro models and possibly its long-awaited AirTags trackers.
Ari Levy / CNBC:
NASDAQ sets Coinbase's reference price at $250 per share for its direct listing, which would value the cryptocurrency exchange at $65.3B  —  - The Nasdaq said on Tuesday that Coinbase's reference price for its direct listing is $250, which would value the company around $65.3 billion on a fully diluted basis.
Bloomberg:
Mengqi Sun / Wall Street Journal:
Alphabet shareholder Trillium Asset Management pushes Google for better whistleblower protections, referencing the firing of Timnit Gebru and a 2020 NLRB report  —  Citing recent red flags, Trillium Asset Management files another shareholder proposal urging tech giant to review protections for employees voicing human rights concerns
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils Surface Laptop 4 with 13.5" and 15" displays, starting at $999 for AMD model and $1,299 for Intel, shipping April 15 in US, Canada, and Japan  —  The AMD version starts at $300 less than Intel's equivalent  —  Microsoft is refreshing its Surface lineup with the Surface Laptop 4 today …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify announces Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car, launching today for free for select US users  —  It's free, but users have to pay for shipping  —  Spotify's first gadget has landed.  Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car …
Mike Dano / Light Reading:
Comments from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile suggest they have killed their joint Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative, which aimed to establish RCS interoperability  —  The biggest wireless network operators in the US announced in 2019 that they would jointly launch a Rich Communications Services (RCS) messaging app sometime in 2020.
Shara Tibken / CNET:
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on April 28, as rumors point to Galaxy Book laptops, teasing “the most powerful Galaxy is coming”  —  Samsung is gearing up for its third Unpacked event of 2021.  On Tuesday, the company sent invitations for a virtual event scheduled for 7 a.m. PT on April 28.
Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist:
Since October, the NYPD has deployed a quadruped robot called Spot to a handful of crime scenes and hostage situations, raising fears of unwanted surveillance  —  The NYPD's robot dog is once again stirring privacy concerns and cyberpunk prophesies of some New Yorkers, after the four-legged machine …
Oversight Board:
Facebook Oversight Board will now accept appeals to remove content from Facebook and Instagram; previously, users were only able to appeal to restore content  —  From today, users will be able to appeal content to the Oversight Board which they want removed from Facebook and Instagram.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Epic Games raises $1B at a $28.7B equity valuation, including an additional $200M from Sony  —  Epic Games, the company behind global smash hit “Fortnite,” announced that it completed a $1 billion round of funding — giving it a whopping equity valuation of $28.7 billion.
The Guardian:
Facebook VP of Integrity Guy Rosen called the return of the Honduran president's disinformation campaign a “bummer” in 2019, but it continued for 11 months  —  Juan Orlando Hernández falsely inflated his posts' popularity for nearly a year after the company was informed about it
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Over 650 tech workers at the NYT announce they have formed a union to be represented by the NewsGuild of New York and are seeking union recognition from the NYT  —  Tech workers at The New York Times announced on Tuesday that they had formed a union and would ask the company to recognize it.
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Facebook is testing a free video speed dating app called Sparked, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account  —  Users will be set up on four-minute video dates  —  Facebook is testing a video speed dating app called Sparked.  The app, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account …
Jeff Dunn / Ars Technica:
Roku announces a trio of new devices: $40 Express 4K Plus streaming device, a $30 rechargeable Voice Remote Pro, and $180 Streambar Pro  —  Plus new Roku OS updates and a revised two-in-one streaming soundbar.  —  Roku on Tuesday announced its latest 4K media streamer, the Roku Express 4K+.
Ifeoma Ozoma / New York Times:
Ex-Pinterest employee Ifeoma Ozoma describes why she helped draft the Silenced No More Act, a CA bill aiming to let discriminated-against employees bypass NDAs  —  I chose not to be.  We need to end gag orders for victims of workplace abuse.  —  Ms. Ozoma is a tech policy expert …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
OnePlus Watch review: long battery life, nice finish, and low price, but no voice assistant, no always-on display, few notification options, only one big size  —  The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there's no iPhone compatibility at all.

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Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg: