Techmeme: Inside China's Logink, an expansive digital network for tracking global sea cargo that experts fear could give Beijing a commercial or strategic advantage (Daniel Michaels/Wall Street Journal)

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December 27, 2021, 4:00 AM

Top News

Leah Nylen / Politico:

An overview of the efforts by Google, Apple, and Amazon to offer their technology and services for connected cars — Leah Nylen is a technology reporter who covers antitrust and investigations for POLITICO. — When Ford announced that starting in 2023 its cars and trucks would come with Google Maps …

More: Slashdot

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:

Microsoft cancels in-person plans for CES, joining Google, Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and others, amid ongoing concerns over COVID-19 — Microsoft joins Intel, GM, Amazon, and Google in canceling — Microsoft is the latest company to drop a physical presence at CES, as the increased prevalence of COVID-19 spooks exhibitors.

More: Softpedia News, Benzinga, TechRadar, MobileSyrup, PCMag, TechCrunch, OnMSFT.com, TechSpot, The Hill, Insider, Android Central, Livemint, Fortune, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Android Central, CNET, Pocket-lint, France 24, The Economic Times, Forbes, and Reuters

Tweets: @jordannovet, @yoda, and @tomwarren

Yang Jie / Wall Street Journal:

While unable to meet analog chip demand, Texas Instruments hesitates to expand production capacity because of the industry's history of boom and bust cycles — Even in digital age, analog chips such as those made in Texas are essential, and they are in short supply

Tweets: @aparanjape, @pastynome, @jbathgate, and @scottlincicome

Robert Stevens / Decrypt:

OpenDAO airdrops SOS token for users of OpenSea's NFT marketplace; the token, unaffiliated with OpenSea, is up ~10x in two days as watchers debate its prospects — In brief — SOS is an airdrop from OpenDAO, distributed to people who have spent money on OpenSea transactions.

More: The Daily Hodl, Bitcoin News, Crypto Daily, Coinsights, Rabbit Hole, and Crypto Briefing

Tweets: @kingblackbored, @decryptmedia, @the_opendao, @spencernoon, and @carnage4life

Reuters:

Dutch antitrust regulator orders Apple to let dating apps in the App Store offer alternative payment systems by January 15 or face up to a €50M fine — The Netherlands' top competition regulator on Friday said Apple Inc (AAPL.O) broke the country's competition laws and ordered changes …

Sneha Shah / The Economic Times:

Research: Indian startups raised a record ~$36B in 2021, up from ~$11B in 2020; SoftBank invested $3B+ and Tiger Global was among the most active investors — India's startup ecosystem has notched up record investment of nearly $ 36 billion in privately held companies this year as demand …

Tweets: @gagan_arora1, @ettech, @ettech, and @omkar_raii

Daniel Michaels / Wall Street Journal:

Inside China's Logink, an expansive digital network for tracking global sea cargo that experts fear could give Beijing a commercial or strategic advantage — Beijing can track cargo with little-known Logink system, potentially gaining intelligence and commercial advantage

Kyle Stock / Bloomberg:

A look at sidewalk delivery robots serving students across US college campuses, an ideal proving ground with pedestrian-friendly designs and eager consumer base — Robot 509 from Starship Technologies is both patient and skittish. The autonomous machine, which resembles a Yeti cooler crossed …

Tweets: @humanprogress, @citylab, and @citylab

Reuters:

Russian court fines Google ~$98M and Meta ~$27M for repeated failure to delete content it deems illegal, Russia's first two revenue-based fines of their kind — A Moscow court on Friday said it was fining Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) 7.2 billion roubles ($98 million) for what it said was a repeated failure …

Silicon Canals:

Proxymity, a UK-based digital investor communications service for real-time virtual proxy voting and automated shareholder disclosure, raises a €27.5M Series B — Proxymity, a UK-based digital investor communications platform, has secured €27.5M in a Series B round of funding from an existing consortium of members.

More: BusinessCloud, GlobeNewswire News Room, and Finextra

Shaurya Malwa / CoinDesk:

Analysis: Terra becomes the second largest blockchain for DeFi protocols by total value locked at $18B+, up 42,000% YoY and surpassing Binance Smart Chain — Decentralized payments network Terra is now the second-largest blockchain for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in terms of total value locked (TVL).

More: Defi Llama, Decrypt, The Daily Hodl, Cointelegraph, CryptoSlate, Crypto Briefing, CryptoGlobe, Crypto Bulls and Bears, Crypto Briefing, Bankless Times, Decrypt, and CryptoPotato

Tweets: @stablekwon, @anthony, and @coindesk

Ari Paparo Dot Eth / @aripap:

[Thread] For media and advertising, Web3's focus on decentralization and tokenization solves few, if any, problems and is the last thing ad tech needs — This web3 shit is starting to annoy me, so here's a thread with my opinions on the relevance to media and advertising. 1/21 🧵

Tweets: @levie, @davlgd, @randfish, @dustinwstout, @film_girl, @jubiweb, @mandestin, @livepaola, @craw, @zachweinberg, @bznotes, @tkawaja, @dhruvapandey, @ghadjia, and @averyj

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:00 AM ET, December 27, 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.

From Mediagazer

Washington Post:

More than 500 Voice of America contractors are expected to lose their jobs by June 30; Kari Lake says 584 total employees were terminated across USAGM

Financial Times:

Sources: BT is in advanced talks to sell its 50% stake in TNT Sports UK to WBD, its joint venture partner, and could announce the deal as early as next week

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Sources: New York Sun owner Dovid Efune is launching a new “British bid” to buy The Telegraph with backing from Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking and Nadhim Zahawi

More News

Dan Taylor / Tech.eu:

Berlin-based Pliant, which offers digital corporate credit card management and accounting software, raises an €18M seed led by Alstin Capital

More: EU-Startups

Jane Zhang / South China Morning Post:

Chinese app stores had 2.78M apps in October 2021, down from 4.52M in December 2018, a 38.5% drop amid the government's new data laws and clean-up campaigns

Financial Times:

Q&A with Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison: copycat features from big rivals have not impacted the company “in any real way” and making money is not a pressing concern

Tweets: @carnage4life, @chrismatyszczyk, @edzitron, and @psb_dc

Washington Post:

Pregnancy app What to Expect says it invested significantly in content moderation, as vaccine misinformation rises in the community sections of pregnancy apps

Tweets: @picardonhealth and @afettersmaloy

Levi Sumagaysay / MarketWatch:

In January, DoorDash is reinstating its WeDash policy that has all employees, including the CEO, make deliveries or shadow customer service workers once a month

More: Blind and Forbes

Tweets: @jeffnolan, @kevindstevens, and @davidbrunelle

Yogita Khatri / The Block:

Research: centralized crypto exchanges reported over $14T in 2021 trading volume, up 689% YoY; Binance facilitated 67% of the total volume, or over $9.5T

More: CFX Magazine, Crypto Reporter, Slashdot, Bitcoinist.com, Bitcoin News, and The Block

Tweets: @koolhead17 and @_cryptocurator

Earlier Picks

Aamir Siddiqui / XDA Developers:

Leaked Android 13 “Tiramisu” screenshots show features like per-app language selection, runtime permissions for notifications, and lock screen clock layouts

FinSMEs:

Privoro, which makes security devices for smartphones, including a case with intelligent audio masking and camera blocking, raises a $30M Series B

More: Phoenix Business Journal and PR Newswire

Tweets: @jc2ventures and @privoro

Andrew Martin / Bloomberg:

The White House invites major software companies and developers to discuss improving open-source security, starting with a one-day event in January

More: CNN, SiliconANGLE, and Reuters

Tweets: @dff, @erratarob, @obra, @jvagle, @howelloneill, @weldpond, and @snlyngaas

Dan Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:

Ahead of the holidays, the biggest game releases from EA, Take-Two, and Activision have received poor reviews, capping a difficult year for the industry

Neal E. Boudette / New York Times:

Tesla agrees to release a software update that blocks its Passenger Play gaming feature while the vehicle is in motion, after the NHTSA opened an investigation

More: MUO, Insider, Associated Press, BBC, New York Post, ntmbulo.com, MobileSyrup, BGR, TechRadar, TechSpot, Pocket-lint, Newser, Mashable, Washington Post, CNBC, Gizmodo, The Register, TechCrunch, The Verge, SiliconANGLE, The Drive, TESLARATI, Jalopnik, autoevolution, Neowin, CNET, Protocol, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @jessicaroberts, @bexcran, @davidzipper, @boring_ai, @celiahodent, @darrenjohnson66, @philkoopman, @fraying, @chrismessina, @dduane, and @martinsfp