Sources: many Apple store employees continue to discuss unionizing; Apple has started to record its September event; opinion: iPadOS delay was probably worth it  —  Apple made the right call to push back iPadOS 16, but the move could create new issues for users and developers.

[Thread] Via iRobot, Amazon, one of the most powerful data collection companies on Earth, will get another vast and intrusive set of data about people's homes  —  1. Hello. Amazon today announced it would pay $1.7 billion to acquire iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum. It may be the most dangerous, threatening acquisition in the company's history. A thread.

Fitbit plans to end PC and macOS syncing on October 13, 2022, moving file transfers to its smartphone app, and local music and playlists to Deezer and Pandora  —  One way you synced the very first Fitbit devices was by connecting a dock to your desktop computer and plugging in the tracker.

A look at the data Tesla collects from its 3M vehicles: breadcrumb GPS trails and gateway log files, using the data to develop Autopilot, and who owns the data  —  Logs and records of its customers' journeys fill out petabytes—and court case dockets  —  You won't see a single Tesla cruising …

Tom Alberg, an early Amazon investor and Madrona Venture Group co-founder, who was a key figure in shaping the Pacific Northwest's tech economy, dies at 82  —  Tom Alberg, co-founder of the venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group and an early investor in Amazon.com Inc., has died.  He was 82.

China's Baidu secures permits for Apollo Go, a fully driverless commercial robotaxi service in Chongqing and Wuhan operating mainly in zones with revamped roads  —  Chinese internet giant Baidu has secured permits to offer a fully driverless commercial robotaxi service, with no human driver present …

SoftBank reports a ~$17.23B loss for Vision Fund in Q1, as the value of its tech portfolio fell, including SenseTime and Uber, following a record Q4 loss  —  SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) on Monday posted a 2.33 trillion yen ($17.23 billion) loss at its Vision Fund unit in the April-June quarter as the value of its tech portfolio slid.

After the draft ruling reversing Roe, location data company Tapestri says two companies asked to buy device data revealing users who visited abortion clinics  —  Myriad state restrictions on accessing or performing abortions prompt some companies to pledge not to share sensitive mobile-phone data

Online crypto casinos like Stake are luring gamers into gambling, sometimes to the point of bankruptcy, with celebrity endorsements and sponsored Twitch streams  —  Enneric Chabot, 26, didn't start gambling until he saw his favorite gamers doing it online.  —  Three years ago …

[Thread] How Apple's App Tracking Transparency blew up the digital ad ecosystem, bolstering the company's ad business while positioning it as a privacy champion  —  APPLE ROBBED THE MOB'S BANK: How Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy blew up the digital advertising ecosystem, bolstering its ads business while positioning itself as a champion of consumer privacy. A masterclass in corporate strategy. (1/X) https://mobiledevmemo.com/...

At least four top executives associated with a Chinese state-owned semiconductor fund, which has invested $30B to date, have been arrested on corruption charges  —  The arrests of several top semiconductor fund executives could force the government to rethink how it invests in the sector.