Techmeme
April 22, 2021, 11:08 PM

Top News

Michael Grothaus / Fast Company:
Apple executives detail privacy and anti-stalking protections built into AirTags and insist they are designed just to track items, not people or pets  —  Apple's “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday offered a bonanza of new hardware announcements, including some unexpected ones.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Apple AirTag hands-on: works very well with a thoughtfully designed system, beautiful with a plastic body that serves as a speaker, but get scuffed easily  —  They work super well, and they're one more thing keeping you on the iPhone  —  I was starting to get really worried that I wouldn't find my friend.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to include upgrades to notifications, Lock Screen, and iMessage, a redesigned iPad Home Screen, and more privacy protections  —  - New privacy tools, updates to iMessage app also planned  — Company to show software updates at June developer conference
Steve Kovach / CNBC:
Report: Apple is working on upgrades to iMessage with the eventual goal of making it more like a social network, to better compete with WhatsApp  —  - Apple is working on enhancements to iMessage that will help it compete with the more robust social networking features in Facebook's products, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Consumer Reports says it was “easily” able to trick Tesla's Autopilot system to operate without anyone in the driver's seat  —  Consumer Reports says, ‘Under no circumstance should anyone try this’  —  Consumer Reports said Thursday it was “easily” able to trick Tesla's Autopilot system …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches a series of global News Feed ranking tests to solicit user feedback on posts they're seeing and what posts users find valuable  —  Facebook may be reconfiguring its News Feed algorithms.  After being grilled by lawmakers about the role that Facebook played in the attack …
BuzzFeed News:
An internal Facebook report found it failed to take appropriate action against Stop the Steal groups before Capitol riot, saying it should “do better next time”  —  Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of a House of Representatives committee that his company …
Financial Times:
Sources: Apple plans to expand its ad business and add a second ad slot in the App Store search page even as it introduces privacy rules crippling ads by rivals  —  New privacy rules deal a huge blow to how the mobile advertising industry works  —  Apple will expand its advertising business …
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Chris Poole, founder of 4chan, has left Google; he joined the company in 2016 and jumped between several different roles during his five years  —  - Chris “Moot” Poole has left Google five years after his hiring made waves.  — Poole is best known as the “boy-genius” …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Intel reports Q1 revenue of $18.6B, flat YoY, vs. $17.90B est., Data Center Group revenue of $5.56B, down from $6.99B YoY, and PC unit volumes were up 38% YoY  —  - Intel's first-quarter earnings are the first with CEO Pat Gelsinger at the helm.  — He's already announced a turnaround …
Crystal Tse / Bloomberg:
Confluent, an event streaming platform based on Apache Kafka, says it has filed confidentially for a US IPO; Confluent was last valued at $4.5B in April 2020  —  Confluent Inc., an event streaming platform, has filed confidentially to go public in the U.S.  —  The company said in a statement …
More: Reuters
Andy Robinson / VGC:
Sony confirms it is testing PlayStation Plus Video Pass, which lets PS Plus subscribers access over 20 movie and TV shows from Sony Pictures, in Poland  —  POLISH USERS HAVE ACCESS TO VIDEO CONTENT FROM TODAY; NO NEWS ON OTHER MARKETS YET  —  Sony Interactive Entertainment …
Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
SCOTUS slashes FTC's power to seek monetary awards in court, banning a tool that it used to fine tech and other companies engaged in unfair business practices  —  - Ruling eliminates tool agency had used to collect billions  — Unanimous decision is a triumph for business trade groups
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Snap Q1: revenue of $770M, up 66% YoY, DAUs up 22% YoY to 280M, and free cash flow hit $126M, its first quarter of free positive cash flow as a public company  —  - Snap's stock rose in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported its first-quarter results despite beating Wall …
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
Marty Swant / Forbes:
Atmosphere TV, a streaming service that provides audio-optional content supported by ads, raises $25M Series B from Valor Equity at a valuation of $275M  —  It's been more than a year since many Americans have sat inside a bar or restaurant, casually watching a silent TV play in the background.

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