Techmeme
September 2, 2021, 8:10 AM

Top News

Apple:
Apple will let developers of “reader” apps worldwide link to a website to set up or manage accounts early next year, closing an antitrust investigation by Japan  —  Apple will let developers of “reader” apps around the world link to an external website to set up or manage an account beginning early next year
Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
Sources: Apple is facing an antitrust investigation in India over forcing developers to use its in-app payment system  —  Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is facing an antitrust challenge in India for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary …
The Verge:
Apple's updated rules allowing web signup links appear to apply only to apps that don't make much money for Apple, like Netflix and Spotify  —  It's for apps that don't make Apple any money anyways  —  While vocal app developers accused Apple last week of spinning a lawsuit settlement …
Kait Sanchez / The Verge:
Twitter launches Super Follows for iOS, letting a select group of US test users charge either $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 per month for their tweets  —  Select users in the US can now charge for tweets  —  Twitter is starting to roll out Super Follows, its new feature that lets users charge for subscriber-only content.
Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
Ireland's Data Protection Commission, on behalf of the EU, fines WhatsApp €225M for privacy violations, the second-largest under GDPR; WhatsApp will appeal  —  Regulators say chat-service unit failed to disclose fully how it collected and shared data about its users
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Apple says Arizona and Georgia will be first to support adding IDs to Wallet in iOS 15, with six states, including Utah, Maryland, and Iowa, expected to follow  —  Apple's plan to digitize your wallet is slowly taking shape.  What started with boarding passes and venue tickets later became credit cards …
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Filing: SEC sues Satish Kumbhani, the founder of now-defunct BitConnect, and a promoter over alleged $2B crypto fraud scheme; Kumbhani's location is unknown  —  The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday sued the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform BitConnect …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft announces an online-only Surface hardware event for September 22, where an updated Surface Duo and Laptop are expected  —  New Surface hardware is on the way  —  Microsoft is holding a special Surface hardware event on September 22nd.  The software maker has started sending media invites …
Jarrod Doherty / Twitter:
Twitter introduces Safety Mode, which blocks harassing accounts for seven days, in beta for some English-language accounts  —  Feeling safe on Twitter looks different for everyone.  We've rolled out features and settings that may help you to feel more comfortable and in control of your experience …
David McLaughlin / Bloomberg:
Source: the DOJ is preparing to file a second antitrust lawsuit against Google by the end of this year, targeting Google's digital ads business  —  U.S. antitrust officials are preparing a second monopoly lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.'s Google over the company's digital advertising business …
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Texas Senate passes bill banning social media companies with 50M+ users from censoring users' political views; Gov. Abbott is expected to sign it into law  —  But experts argue it's unconstitutional  —  Texas is one step closer to enacting a law that would make it more difficult …
Amy Lewin / Sifted:
French grocery delivery startup Cajoo raises $40M Series A from Carrefour and others and plans an expansion into Europe early next year  —  Landing a supermarket as a strategic investor gives Cajoo an edge, argues Capoul.  —  “Some competitors have much more money than us, but we have an advantage in Carrefour,” he says.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
FTC bans “stalkerware” company Support King, whose Android app allegedly secretly harvested users' location and other data, from the surveillance business  —  - The Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to ban what it called a “stalkerware app company” and its CEO …
Joe Williams / Protocol:
Sources: Andy Jassy overruled an internal recommendation to fire a top AWS executive after a probe of claims the executive made discriminatory comments in 2019  —  Amazon CEO Andy Jassy intervened to prevent the firing of a top executive after an internal HR report recommended …
Bloomberg:
HomeLight, which offers AI-powered tools for home buyers, sellers, and real estate agents, raises $100M led by Zeev Ventures at a $1.6B valuation  —  Real estate technology company HomeLight has more than tripled its valuation to $1.6 billion, vaulting it to so-called unicorn status.
Tweets: @orenzeevThanks:@ivanlevingston
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Swedish startup Stravito, which offers cloud-based market research tools, raises €12.4M Series A led by Endeit Capital  —  Market research and insights are often underutilized assets for enterprises but it's usually too hard to find content and there's a lot of duplication, or information isn't used well.
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
Profile of Li Jin, an aggressively pro-worker VC who founded Atelier Ventures, which manages $13M, to invest in influencer-related startups  —  Li Jin, 31, began backing creators years ago.  She has raised her own fund to invest in influencer-related start-ups.

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Zoho:
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Oscar Gonzalez / CNET: