Techmeme
April 19, 2021, 10:00 PM

Top News

About Facebook:
Facebook says it will start testing Live Audio Rooms in Groups and expects to roll out the feature to everyone on the Facebook app by the summer  —  Storytelling helps people build meaningful bonds: we all have stories to share with our friends, our communities, and the world at large.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Brian Fung / CNN:
In a letter to Congress, Apple says it has approved Parler's return to the App Store, following moderation improvements by Parler  —  Washington (CNN Business)Apple has approved Parler's return to the iOS app store following improvements the social media company made to better detect …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Sony backtracks on removing PS3 and Vita digital stores, saying it was “the wrong decision”; PSP store will still shut down on July 2  —  The PSP store is still shutting down on July 2nd  —  Sony has announced that it'll be keeping its PS3 and PlayStation Vita digital storefront open “for the foreseeable future.”
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Facebook expands a tool to let users export posts and notes to Blogger, Google Docs, and Wordpress and calls for new guidelines on data flows between services  —  - Facebook announced Monday it's expanding a tool that allows users to transfer their data to other services.
Reuters:
UK says it will intervene in SoftBank's sale of ARM to Nvidia on national security grounds  —  The UK government will look into the national security implications of U.S. group Nvidia's (NVDA.O) purchase of British chip designer ARM Holdings, it said on Monday, raising a question mark over the $40 billion deal.
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Sensor Tower: Clubhouse was downloaded 2.7M times in March, a 72% decline from February's 9.5M+  —  After pulling in 9.5 million downloads in February, Clubhouse only had 2.7 million downloads in March, according to new data from Sensor Tower  —  Is the party on Clubhouse already dying out?
Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit shares a preview of Reddit Talk, a Clubhouse-like social audio feature for subreddits coming to iOS and Android; moderators can join a waitlist to try it  —  Sign up now to get on the waitlist  —  Reddit unveiled its take on a Clubhouse-like social audio product on Monday, called Reddit Talk.
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
The Bank of England and the UK Treasury jointly create a taskforce to explore a potential central bank digital currency  —  Quick Take  — The Bank of England and HM Treasury have jointly created a CBDC taskforce.  — They will explore a potential digital currency in the U.K.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Facebook details moderation steps around the trial of Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering George Floyd, including designating Minneapolis a “high-risk location”  —  It's designated Minneapolis a ‘high-risk location’  —  Facebook says it's taking extra moderation measures around …
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Mastercard says it will buy digital identity verification company Ekata for $850M  —  The move will bolster Mastercard's digital identity and security platform and framework.  —  Mastercard said it will acquire Ekata for $850 million in a deal that will bolster its identity verification technology.
Cameron Faulkner / The Verge:
Fitbit unveils Luxe, a $150 fashion-focused fitness tracker coming this spring with a wide range of bands, up to 5 days of battery life, and an OLED touchscreen  —  It features up to five days of battery life per charge  —  Fitbit has announced its new Luxe fitness tracker that looks like a more fashion-focused take on the Inspire 2.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says xCloud game streaming service will launch on iOS and PC Tuesday as an invite-only beta via browsers, available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers  —  An invite-only beta begins for xCloud via the web  —  Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) will officially arrive on iOS and PC tomorrow, April 20th.
Nina Nanji / BBC:
Facebook says employees can continue permanently working from home, even after July 2021, subject to approval from managers  —  Facebook says its employees can continue working from home, even as other tech giants appear to be going off the idea.  —  The social media company told the BBC it thinks remote work is “the future”.
More: AppleInsiderTweets: @tekkie
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
What to expect from Apple's April 20 event: refreshed iPads, including Pro model with mini-LED display, 3rd-gen Pencil, AirTags, iMacs in different colors, more  —  Apple is planning to hold its first event of 2021 on Tuesday, April 20, and it's looking like it will be an iPad-centric event.

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