Techmeme
April 21, 2021, 8:50 PM

Top News

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Signal's CEO says he analyzed a Cellebrite device, used to extract data from phones, that fell off a truck, and it is full of easily exploitable security flaws  —  One of the biggest encrypted chat apps in the world just showed how a device used to decrypt messages can be hacked and tampered with.
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee:
Recording of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing to examine competition in app stores, with testimony from Apple, Google, Spotify, Tile, and others  —  Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights.  Mr. Kyle Andeer Chief Compliance Officer Apple Cupertino …
Bloomberg:
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Wall Street Journal:
EU proposes strict AI rules, regulating “high-risk” uses such as loan applications, with noncompliant companies to be fined up to 6% of annual global revenues  —  EU is proposing one of the first laws globally to regulate the use of artificial intelligence for applications like hiring and policing
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google announces updates to Meet, rolling out next month on desktop, including a new UI, improved presentation features, and background replacement  —  Background video, automatic light adjustment, and much more  —  Google is refreshing its Meet user interface next month for desktop and laptop users.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Files from REvil, which is extorting Apple supplier Quanta, appear to confirm new MacBook Pros with MagSafe, USB-C, HDMI, SD card slot, and no Touch Bar  —  Schematics stolen from Apple supplier Quanta Computer outline Apple's plans for the next-generation MacBook Pro models that are expected in 2021 …
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Instagram is rolling out tools to filter out abusive DMs based on keywords and emojis, and to block users along with any new accounts they may create  —  Facebook and its family of apps have long grappled with the issue of how to better manage — and eradicate — bullying and other harassment …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google's Ethical AI group was in turmoil long before the ouster of Gebru and Mitchell, after friction over handling of harassment and bias allegations  —  The ouster of lead researchers Gebru, Mitchell followed years of friction over how Google handled allegations of harassment and bias
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Bipartisan lawmakers introduce Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act to address police surveillance, including banning warrantless location data purchases  —  The sweeping bill has support from both Democrats and Republicans, and will address multiple forms of surveillance.  —  Joseph Cox
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
How Kosta Eleftheriou became a one-man App Store fraud squad, by looking for top grossing apps with fake user reviews and ridiculously high subscription prices  —  A one-man Bunco Squad is poking holes in Apple's App Store image  —  Recently, I reached out to the most profitable company …
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
Amazon brings its palm reader payment system to a Whole Foods location in Seattle and will roll it out to seven more stores in the coming months  —  Whole Foods will launch a palm reader payment system at its Madison Broadway location in Seattle today and has plans to roll out the biometric program …
Jason Snell / Macworld:
The new iPads have great hardware, led by M1 and mini-LED, but iPadOS lacks proper second display support and pro apps like Final Cut Pro, Xcode, and Logic Pro  —  The hardware is top notch.  The software leaves a lot to be desired.  —  MORE COLOR  —  Nobody needed to convince me that Apple's …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Apple Support article says lost AirTags will be readable by any NFC-enabled device, including Android devices, when in Lost Mode  —  After numerous rumors, Apple finally introduced AirTag during today's special event.  Apple's item tracker works based on the ultra-wideband U1 chip and relies …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Twitter rolls out the option to upload and view 4K images on Android and iOS to all users, after testing the feature earlier this year  —  Twitter finally fixes its low-res picture problem  —  Get ready for Twitter to start looking a whole lot crisper — starting today …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Collaborative design service Figma launches whiteboarding tool FigJam and adds voice chat to all of its products  —  Figma spent years in stealth before launching its web-based collaborative design tool.  Since coming into the light, the company has been iterating quickly.
Ari Levy / CNBC:
UiPath closes at $69 on its debut, valuing the company at $35.8B, after pricing shares at $56 and raising $1.34B  —  - UiPath and its investors sold about 23.9 million shares at $56 apiece, bringing in $1.34 billion in the IPO.  — The company, whose software automates repetitive office tasks …
Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal:
FTC nominee Lina Khan appeared on track to be confirmed after she signaled support for an aggressive approach to Big Tech during her hearing  —  Sen. Cruz ‘looks forward’ to working with Lina Khan, but other Republicans question her views and experience  —  WASHINGTON— Lina Khan …
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Internal memo: DOJ has formed a taskforce to combat the proliferation of ransomware attacks, targeting the entire ecosystem with prosecutions and more  —  After ‘worst year ever’ for the cyberattacks, department seeks to disrupt digital ecosystem that supports them
Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Tribal Credit, which offers credit lines to startups and SMBs in emerging markets via an AI-driven approval process, raises $34.3M in a Series A and debt round  —  The B2B payments space has seen an explosion in demand, and investor interest, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses try …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
Meet Airtable ProductCentral  —  The unified solution for managing your entire product development process in the AI era.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
Zoho Forms for successful Black Friday sales  —  Black Friday is a retail frenzy that can significantly impact your bottom line.  To make the most of this shopping bonanza, you need a strategy that not only attracts customers …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 11/04 - Apple Buying And Investing In Things
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:50 PM ET, April 21, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Evelyn Douek / The Atlantic:
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks