Techmeme: Hands-on with the Pixel 7 Pro's Real Tone, which claims to render skin tones more accurately in photos, compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max (Chris Velazco/Washington Post)

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January 2, 2023, 5:25 AM

Top News

Chris Velazco / Washington Post:

Hands-on with the Pixel 7 Pro's Real Tone, which claims to render skin tones more accurately in photos, compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max — Google is trying to make its phone cameras more inclusive. We put it to the test against its rivals.

Tweets: @mindofsamliao, @gpanger, @onlyjust30ya, @tressiemcphd, @hartoutwest, @gettingsome, @silkyd67, @washingtonpost, @cpassariello, and @thelilynews

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

A look at the longest tech boom so far, including crypto's rise and fall, VR falling short of its hype, the marketplace economy's growth, pizza robots, and more — From pizza robots to the crypto meltdown, the long bubble has shown us the hilarious, the regrettable, and the unexpectedly triumphant

Tweets: @wsj

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:

A look at what 2023 may bring for crypto regulation in the US and globally, as bankruptcies stretch into the new year, attracting lawmakers and criminal probes — CoinDesk's policy team predicts the issues and topics that may take center stage over the next 12 months.

More: Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Mastodon: @ev@fosstodon.org. Tweets: @nikhileshde, @nikhileshde, @nikhileshde, @nikhileshde, and @coindesk

Matthew Smith / Wired:

A look at the use of AI to design and test games, such as to tune difficulty, find world geometry flaws, and sniff out situations that make it impossible to win — The next generation of video game characters could be powered by AI, making them more engaging and challenging.

More: Barry's Newsletter. Tweets: @wired and @mcdreamyai

New York Times:

Employment in tech occupations grew 12% YoY to a record 6.39M in November 2022, as workers eye banking, retail, health care, and manufacturing amid tech layoffs — Most tech jobs are now in mainstream industries like health care, banking and retail, which are increasingly in need of workers with digital skills.

Tweets: @hadip, @carnage4life, @dealbook, @andrenaleen, @dialogcrm, @stevelohr, @scottlincicome, @nytimestech, @nytimestech, @nytimestech, @chiefmartec, and @stevelohr

Chloe Cornish / Financial Times:

A look at the impact of the funding crunch on India's tech startups, which raised $24.7B from January to November 2022, down 35% YoY, per data provider Tracxn — Funding crunch has triggered mass job cuts of up to 25,000 at country's once-thriving tech companies

Tweets: @parijatjha47, @copperlife, @catcheronthesly, @johnreedwrites, @sushantsin, @financialtimes, and @financialtimes

Wall Street Journal:

A look at the rise and fall of Alameda Research, whose troubles began well before the crypto crash as the firm took big gambles, winning some and losing plenty — Trading firm took big gambles, winning some and losing plenty; ‘complete lack of a risk-management framework’

More: Inside Bitcoins. Tweets: @thecompoundnews, @realjonbovi, @wsj, @ryder_ripps, @pauly0x, @misruleoflaw, @ceostroff, and @eliotwb

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Sam Bankman-Fried will likely plead not guilty to fraud and other charges at a January 3 hearing; SBF returns to Twitter to deny he moved Alameda funds

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

A profile of Matrix, an open-source, decentralized protocol for messaging interoperability that saw its network's users double in 2022 to at least 80.3M — After years of walled gardens, cross-pollination could be in sight — Interoperability and decentralization have been major themes in tech this year …

Tweets: @hannan_rai, @rschuler10, @psawers, @alexanderchopan, @michaelguimarin, and @hyoondae

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Experts weigh in on Meta's decision on whether to lift Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram bans; a source says the announcement will be made after January 7 — Tech giant's policy chief Nick Clegg due to rule this month whether to revoke ban on former US president

More: SiliconANGLE and Reuters

Tweets: @accountabletech, @accountabletech, and @news_by_nick

Washington Post:

Sources: Meta is struggling to move hardware manufacturing out of China; after abandoning its smartwatch plans, the company is still working on a wrist wearable — The company needs China's factories as it pushes to become a hardware producer — SAN FRANCISCO — For more than a year …

More: iPhone in Canada Blog, Financial Times, and Slashdot

Tweets: @tguemes, @pstasiatech, @gary__dubya, @pitts_man, @fungaichiposi, @rnaudbertrand, @geoffreyfowler, and @lizzadwoskin

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:

Leaked screener copies of big movies tend to surface at year's end, but didn't in 2022, probably due to more security, streaming, and shorter release windows — Screeners are advance copies of recent movies that are generally sent out to critics and awards voters for review.

More: BetaNews. Tweets: @waxy and @martinsfp

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:

A look at 2022's worst breaches, leaks, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, and digital takeovers, including at least two Twilio breaches — The year was marked by sinister new twists on cybersecurity classics, including phishing, breaches, and ransomware attacks.

More: U.S. Cyber Command, Wall Street Journal, Department of Homeland …, Healthcare IT News, Security Intelligence, and WeLiveSecurity

Tweets: @tguemes, @mcdreamyai, @nash, @iravoodoo, and @gadgetlab

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:25 AM ET, January 2, 2023.

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From Mediagazer

The Wrap:

Trump says he authorized the Commerce Department to impose a “100% Tariff” on movies “produced in Foreign Lands”, saying they are a “National Security” threat

Washington Post:

After VOA director said staff can begin a “phased return”, an appeals court stays the preliminary injunction that allowed VOA and USAGM staffers to go back

CPB:

In response to Trump's EO, CPB CEO says CPB is “not a federal executive agency subject to the President's authority” but a private nonprofit corporation

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More News

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:

Verizon decommissioned its 3G network on December 31, the last major US carrier to do so after AT&T and T-Mobile turned off their services in February and March

Tweets: @civex, @sturmen, @aadetugbo, @natoa, @moseskemibaro, and @ants000

Jared Gans / The Hill:

Google agrees to pay $29.5M to settle lawsuits with Washington DC and Indiana over its location tracking practices, after paying nearly $392M to 40 US states

More: Engadget, Mashable, Associated Press, The Economic Times, Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia, The Indianapolis Star, TheDCLine.org, The Hacker News, CNET, The Verge, and PCMag

Tweets: @agkarlracine, @agtoddrokita, @agkarlracine, @agtoddrokita, and @michaeleaves

Mariella Moon / Engadget:

Grubhub agrees to pay $3.5M to settle a lawsuit filed by the District of Columbia for illegally charging hidden fees and using deceptive marketing techniques

More: Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia, ABC News, TheDCLine.org, PCMag, The Verge, and Mashable

Tweets: @agkarlracine, @basti, and @agkarlracine

Alexandra Alper / Reuters:

A judge sets the first pre-trial hearing in the FTC's case against Microsoft's $69B bid to take over Activision Blizzard for January 3, 2023

More: MSPoweruser, Thurrott, Engadget, The Week, Wccftech, Appuals.com, International Business Times, and WinBuzzer

Jenni Reid / CNBC:

A look at ABBA Voyage, the hit London concert performed by 3D digital avatars of the band created from motion capture, as its producers plan a global expansion

Earlier Picks

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Meta acquires Netherlands-based Luxexcel, which 3D prints prescription lenses for smart glasses; Meta and Luxexcel reportedly worked together on Project Aria

More: BigTechWire, The Verge, Engadget, Forbes, Appuals.com, Metaverse Post, and The Brussels Times

Anton Shilov / Tom's Hardware:

Report: AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and others are slashing their TSMC orders, which could reduce the contract manufacturer's Q1 2023 sales by an estimated 15% QoQ

More: TechSpot, Appuals.com, and Neowin

Tweets: @shahinkhan, @gameoverthirty, @vadimyuryev, and @vettechtrader

Ari Levy / CNBC:

Ernst & Young: US tech IPO deal proceeds plummeted 94%, from $155.8B in 2021 to $8.6B in 2022; FactSet: no tech IPO raised $1B in 2022, compared to 15 in 2021

More: Bloomberg. Tweets: @davemcclure and @trengriffin

Wall Street Journal:

Predictions for 2023: Apple's AR/VR headset debut, Big Tech belt tightening, Netflix password crackdown, AI in more tech tools, less talk of crypto, and more

More: Livemint

Mastodon: @mimsical@mastodon.social. Tweets: @uradn, @anderscorr, @wsj, @cathyhackl, @joannastern, and @mims

Brian Merchant / The Atlantic:

Meta's dramatic implosion, Elon Musk's Twitter train wreck, and Amazon's labor uprising show that 2022 was not just a disastrous year, but a reckoning for tech