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July 21, 2021, 7:10 PM
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| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Twitter is testing a way to downvote Tweet replies on iOS to understand the types of replies users find relevant to a conversation; downvotes won't be public — Last year, Twitter's chief product officer Kayvon Beykpour confirmed that the social network was “exploring” the idea of adding a dislike button to the app.
More:
The Verge, XDA Developers, mobilesyrup.com, FrontPageTech.com, CNET, MacRumors, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, MSPoweruser, Input, Social Media Today, Techaeris, iPhone Hacks, Mashable, and Droid Life
Tweets: @twittersupport, @iglehart97, @twittersupport, @reddit, @slashdot, @shadowbiood, @rstephens, @mattblaze, @alexisohanian, @aseemru, @bonniekatewolf, @mattsclancy, @dwtpup, @chuckwendig, @chancehmiller, @godbirdart, @wongmjane, @mmdotcox, @sadcrib, @alexisohanian, @schlattfacts, @k8hutton, @appleinsider, and @dozingallium
| Ashley Carman / The Verge: |
Clubhouse is no longer invite-only as it exits beta and says the 10M people on its waitlist will be added to the app over time — The app goes wide — Clubhouse is going wide. Co-founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth announced today that the app is no longer invite-only.
More:
Clubhouse Blog, Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At, The Hill, TechCrunch, PCMag, TNW, Tubefilter, Social Media Today, CNN, 9to5Mac, Livemint, Engadget, Adweek, The Wrap, MUO, and Phandroid
Tweets: @caseynewton, @writtenbyhanna, @iwriteallday_, @sarthakgh, @wongmjane, @djnailz, and @producthunt
| Makena Kelly / The Verge: |
The FTC formally pledges to fight unlawful right-to-repair restrictions, says it will use its power to lower repair costs and support independent repair shops — It comes days after the White House endorsed similar rules — The Federal Trade Commission formally pledged to take on unlawful …
More:
Wired, Federal Trade Commission, VICE, iFixit News, Gizmodo, Android Authority, Protocol, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, Reuters, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, PCMag, Wall Street Journal, Competition Policy …, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, and Tech Xplore
Tweets: @b_fung, @sts_news, @katmburke, @jdscholten, @repaircoalition, @nfudc, @chopraftc, @mjgault, @chopraftc, @lukemiani, @jason_koebler, and @jioriku
| Jon Fingas / Engadget: |
Spanish police have arrested UK citizen Joseph O'Connor at the US' request over his alleged involvement in last year's hack of high-profile Twitter accounts — Authorities are still cracking down on participants in the July 2020 — Twitter celebrity hacks. Spanish National Police have
More:
U.S. Department of Justice, The Register, Reuters, The Verge, USA Today, AppleInsider, NBC News, New York Times, iMore, MacRumors, The West Australian, The Hill, and CyberScoop
Tweets: @campuscodi, @briankrebs, and @shanvav
| Romain Dillet / TechCrunch: |
Epic Games acquires Sketchfab, which operates a repository with 4M+ 3D assets, for an undisclosed sum; Sketchfab reduces its store commission from 30% to 12% — New York-based startup Sketchfab has been acquired by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine.
More:
Epic Games, Sketchfab Community Blog, Forbes, The Information, VentureBeat, Engadget, VRFocus, UploadVR, thegamer.com, and Road to VR
Tweets: @albn, @sketchfab, @epicnewsroom, @tinyruin, @rcamerala, @diregoldfish, @techstars, @hmltn, @jessedamiani, @nehon_42, @jackbohmart, @iveytron, @samuelbass, @jpwiseuk, @pplux, @liasae, and @balderton
| Kashmir Hill / New York Times: |
Facial-recognition company Clearview AI raises $30M Series B amid legal and ethical concerns, with new investors requesting they not be publicly identified — Clearview AI is currently the target of multiple class-action lawsuits and a joint investigation by Britain and Australia.| Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal: |
Tumblr starts testing Post+, which allows users to charge their followers a monthly fee in exchange for access to exclusive content, with Tumblr taking a 5% cut — Social platform is the latest to let users earn money from posting — Microblogging stalwart Tumblr on Wednesday began …
More:
The Verge, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, Mashable, Adweek, MUO, and Engadget
| CNN: |
Facebook hides the tag #VaccinesKill from searches, displaying a message that says it is “keeping our community safe,” two years after Instagram hid the tag — (CNN)Last week, even as it came under fire from the White House over its role in spreading anti-vaccine misinformation …
More:
Washington Post and Reason
Tweets: @brianstelter, @mzhemingway, @megynkelly, @passantino, @smgculture, @ccdhate, @markruffalo, @leeknelly, @selenagomez, @selenagomez, @selenagomez, @davidclinchnews, @greglinden, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @oliverdarcy, and @aclu. Thanks:@thekenyeung
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
YouTube says it will test a new feature that will allow viewers to shop for products directly from livestream videos, starting with a few creators and brands — YouTube will begin pilot testing a new feature that will allow viewers to shop for products directly from livestream videos.
More:
The Keyword, Search Engine Land, PYMNTS.com, Android Police, and PYMNTS.com
Tweets: @lanceulanoff and @dottotech
| Jon Porter / The Verge: |
Google Maps expands its crowdedness predictions to 10K+ transit agencies in 100 countries, and will show how crowded individual carriages are in NYC and Sydney — Expanding to ‘over 10,000 transit agencies in 100 countries’ — Google is expanding the number of cities where Maps offers information about public transport crowding.
More:
The Keyword, Android Central, Search Engine Roundtable, 9to5Google, and CNBC
Tweets: @googlemaps and @awholelottanner
| Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: |
Researchers detail two new local privilege escalation vulnerabilities, one in recent builds of Windows 10 and the preview of Windows 11, and the other in Linux — Both OSes have flaws that allow attackers with a toehold to elevate access. — The world woke up on Tuesday to two new vulnerabilities …
Source:
Qualys Security Blog and US-CERT. More:
ZDNet, Dark Reading, Candid.Technology, Forbes, Windows Central, BleepingComputer, HotHardware.com News, Tech Xplore, SlashGear, and Thurrott
Tweets: @jonaslyk, @qualys, @syst_and_deploy, and @sergeybratus
| Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch: |
Argo AI says it plans launch up to 1,000 autonomous vehicles on Lyft's network in some US cities over the next five years, starting with Miami later this year — Autonomous vehicle technology startup Argo AI and its backer and customer Ford plan to launch up to 1,000 self-driving vehicles …
More:
Ars Technica, SiliconANGLE, New York Times, PYMNTS.com, Engadget, refreshmiami.com, SlashGear, Tech Xplore, CNBC, and Reuters
Tweets: @robpegoraro and @mhbergen
| Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: |
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler: stock tokens and stablecoins backed by securities “are implicated by the securities laws and must work within our securities regime” — Stock tokens and stablecoins backed by securities might be treated as securities under U.S. law, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said.
More:
U.S. Securities …, CoinDesk, Paxos, Bloomberg, Decrypt, Reuters, and Cointelegraph
Tweets: @mayazi, @degenomix, @mdudas, @nathandeandc, @jseyff, @nikhileshde, and @coindesk
| Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet: |
Zoom says Zoom Apps and its virtual events service Zoom Events are now generally available, with 50 apps available at launch, including Asana and Dropbox Spaces — The video communications giant said the updates are designed to offer users a greater degree of collaboration …
More:
Zoom Blog, Zoom Blog, The Verge, 9to5Mac, GamesIndustry.biz, Zoom, PYMNTS.com, Engadget, SiliconANGLE, TechRepublic, and TechRadar
| MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: |
Core Scientific, which says it is the biggest bitcoin mining company in the US, says it will go public via SPAC at a valuation of around $4.3B — - Cryptocurrency mining operator Core Scientific is listing on the Nasdaq through a merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp.
More:
PR Newswire, Bitcoin Magazine, Forbes, The Block, GeekWire, and Cointelegraph
Tweets: @core_scientific, @djohnson_cpa, @michael_saylor, and @wublockchain
| Matthew Green / A Few Thoughts …: |
Apple and Google can do more to screw up the economics of NSO-style mass exploitation, and should be pressured to do so — This week a group of global newspapers is running a series of articles detailing abuses of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. If you haven't seen any of these articles …
More:
The Guardian, The Verge, VICE, Forbes, iMore, BGR, Tech Monitor, 9to5Mac, Tech Xplore, Slate, and Threatpost
| Mehul Srivastava / Financial Times: |
| Marc Vartabedian / Wall Street Journal: |
Virtually Human Studio, the startup behind Zed Run, which lets users breed and race virtual horses bought and sold as NFTs, raises $20M Series A led by TCG — Zed Run's parent company nets $20 million as media startups, NFTs surge — Virtually Human Studio, the startup behind digital …
More:
Community, The Information, Blockworks, The Block, Sportico, and Decrypt
Tweets: @rahulsood, @v_h_studio, @alexyablon, and @jjhlane
| Cameron Faulkner / The Verge: |
Oculus rolls out v31, adding Messenger Reactions, a new Security Settings panel, and a new “Invite to App” button that makes it easier to invite friends to play — Invite friends, react on Messenger, and have your passwords autofill in the Browser
More:
Oculus Blog, UploadVR, VRFocus, VRScout, and Android Central
Tweets: @robynzreality, @casandchary, @fallnphoenix, @hrafntho, and @boztank
| Anna Kramer / Protocol: |
Poll: of 750 tech workers, half are at least somewhat interested in joining a union, and ~50% say there is already interest of unionizing at their workplace — A decade ago, many tech workers seemed more concerned with their stock options than forming a union.
Tweets: @techworkersco, @bizcarson, and @alphabetworkers
| Sean Hollister / The Verge: |
Amazon unveils over 50 new features for Alexa devices to drive growth for skills developers, like featured skill cards, which are recommended on the home screen — Widgets, featured skill cards, and more — Amazon's Alexa devices are ambient computers, not the kind you use all day.
More:
TechCrunch, GeekWire, CNET, TechHive, Trusted Reviews, ZDNet, and Protocol
| New York Times: |
Robinhood plans to sell as much as a third of its initial public offering, or $770M of shares, directly to customers through its app — The stock trading app is opening its initial public offering and investor presentations to everyday investors. The risks are significant.| Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: |
Google is shutting down Google Bookmarks on September 30, 2021, and clarifies Starred locations in Google Maps will not be deleted after Bookmarks shuts down — After 16 years of service, Google is about to shut down a service that isn't very well known. On September 30, 2021 “Google Bookmarks” will be closed off for all users.
More:
TNW, Android Police, ZDNet, Android Headlines, Search Engine Land, Gizmodo, Android Police, and MacRumors
Tweets: @killedbygoogle, @ra, and @pinboard
| BBC: |
EU Commission proposes a new law that would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect details of recipients and senders — Proposed changes to EU law would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect details on the recipient and sender.
More:
CNET, ZDNet, Reuters, CoinDesk, The Daily Hodl, Tom's Hardware, and Coinspeaker
Tweets: @poppy_haze, @davidcasamep, @eu_commission, and @exiledsurfer
| Manish Singh / TechCrunch: |
Byju's acquires Epic, a reading service for kids with a presence across 90% of elementary schools in the US, for $500M — Byju's said on Wednesday it has acquired California-headquartered reading platform Epic for $500 million, the latest in a series of moves from India's most valuable startup …
More:
Bloomberg, The Economic Times, DealStreetAsia, Entrackr, Tech in Asia, and VentureBeat
Tweets: @melissafrakman, @refsrc, @ulonnaya, and @malpani
| Geoff Mayfield / Variety: |
TikTok touts two studies that show around 75% of its users discover artists on the service and around 67% seek out songs from TikTok on music streaming services — Unless you've been sleeping as long as Rip Van Winkle, you know TikTok has become the new big man on music's campus and a catalyst for pop culture.| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
Proposed bipartisan bill would require companies to notify the US government when they are hacked, and provides limited immunity to companies after reporting — - A new bill unveiled Wednesday would make some companies tell the government when they've been hacked.
More:
PYMNTS.com
| Vish Gain / Silicon Republic: |
Woebot Health, a startup offering a mental health chatbot, raises $90M Series B after its digital therapeutic solution was approved by the US FDA in May — Irish-founded Woebot built a chatbot that can bond with users and help them reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Twitter begins rolling out a preview of a revamped TweetDeck in the US, Canada, and Australia, featuring an option for wider columns, an Explore column, more — Twitter is beginning to test a completely redesigned version of TweetDeck, the company announced today.| Packy McCormick / Not Boring: |
A look at Axie Infinity, a Pokémon-like blockchain-based game in which people buy digital pets as NFTs; the game generated $12.2M revenue in June, $79M+ in July — Welcome to the 1,267 newly Not Boring people who have joined us since last Monday! Join 61,505 smart, curious folks by subscribing here:
Tweets: @zoescaman
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