| 3:25 PM • | Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Mozilla publishes gift guide for 70 smart devices, from drones to wearables, ranked by creepiness and security; many fail to meet Mozilla's security standards |
| 2:40 PM • | Bloomberg: Sources detail Palantir's frustration with Morgan Stanley's mutual funds, which have repeatedly lowered the valuation of their ~$3M stake, ahead of expected IPO |
| 2:25 PM • | Reuters: Tencent-backed online Chinese travel company Tongcheng-eLong launches smaller-than-expected IPO that aims to raise around $233M, down from earlier $1B estimates |
| 1:50 PM • | Bloomberg: US GAO dismisses Oracle's argument that the Pentagon's $10B cloud contract violated federal standards and unfairly favored Amazon |
| 1:45 PM • | Robert Hackett / Fortune: Maryland-based Dragos, which helps secure industrial control systems, raises $37M Series B led by Canaan Partners |
| 1:25 PM • | Rose Behar / Android Police: Google Assistant adds Routines integration into clock app, ability to reply to intercom-style Broadcasts, and a command to put devices into Do Not Disturb mode |
| 1:15 PM • | Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Google begins rolling out an updated Google My Business app on iOS and Android, letting companies create content for their profile and view customer info |
| 12:55 PM • | Naomi Gleit / Facebook: Facebook says users have now raised over $1B for nonprofit and personal causes and expands fundraising tools to Canada and Australia |
| 12:45 PM • | Dan Primack / Axios: Amazon has spawned very few successful startups in Seattle, for a variety of reasons, suggesting it is unlikely to do so in New York or Virginia |
| 12:35 PM • | Kate Rooney / CNBC: Bitcoin dropped to $5,650, its lowest level in over a year, as other major cryptocurrencies fell 10%+; total crypto market has dropped by $15B in 24 hours |
| 12:25 PM • | Vlad Savov / The Verge: Google releases Night Sight, a software update that dramatically improves low-light photos, to Pixel users |
| 12:20 PM • | Angus Berwick / Reuters: Investigation shows how ZTE helped Venezuela's government build a system, used by as many as 18M, similar to China's national identity card program |
| 12:10 PM • | Liam Tung / ZDNet: Google Chrome Lab releases Squoosh, an open source web app that can compress and reformat images to create lighter web pages |
| 11:50 AM • | Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News: AmazonBasics Microwave review: looks and works pretty much like a regular microwave, with some Alexa integration via Echo, and is good value at $60 |
| 11:35 AM • | Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: ServiceTitan, which builds a software platform for home services businesses, raises $165M Series D, at a $1.65B valuation, led by Index Ventures |
| 11:20 AM • | Chris Welch / The Verge: Amazon Fire TV Recast review: seamless integration with Fire TV and Alexa, reliable streaming, but is limited to two concurrent streams, doesn't include antenna |
| 11:05 AM • | Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: UiPath, which develops AI-based bots that automate mundane enterprise tasks, says its total Series C was $265M, up from $225M in September |
| 10:45 AM • | Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal: Internal Facebook survey shows just 52% of its staff are optimistic about its future, down 32% from last year, amid scandals and a sharp stock decline |
| 10:25 AM • | Chris Welch / The Verge: Podcasting app Pocket Casts, which was recently acquired by a public radio collective, launches a redesign and introduces new features on iOS and Android |
| 10:10 AM • | Shan Li / Wall Street Journal: Tencent beats expectations with Q3 profit of $3.39B, up 30% YoY, on revenue of $11.59B, up 24% YoY, with big gains in advertising and payment services |
| 9:45 AM • | Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet: Microsoft acquires AI and bot developer XOXCO for an undisclosed amount; XOXCO built Howdy.ai, a commercially available bot for Slack for scheduling meetings |
| 9:30 AM • | Josh Constine / TechCrunch: Uber launches rider loyalty rewards program with upgrades to nicer cars, access to premium support, and waiver on cancellations if rebooked within 15 minutes |
| 9:15 AM • | Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat: Bain Capital Ventures closes new funds totaling $1B for startups in SaaS, infrastructure, security, commerce, financial tech, and healthcare |
| 8:55 AM • | Jon Russell / TechCrunch: Netflix is testing cheaper, mobile-only subscriptions “in a few countries” including Malaysia, where it is half the price of its next cheapest package |
| 8:20 AM • | Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central: Samsung unveils 8nm Exynos 9820 chipset with a dedicated NPU for on-device AI and 8K video recording, likely to be used in next year's Galaxy S10 |
| 7:55 AM • | Andrew Tarantola / Engadget: Intel unveils Neural Compute Stick 2 for developing AI algorithms and computer vision systems locally using its Movidius Myriad X AI chip, for $100 |
| 7:30 AM • | Sarah Frier / Bloomberg: In written response to Senate Intelligence Committee, Facebook says free speech and privacy will inform any decision to return to China |
| 6:45 AM • | Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch: Ford partners with Walmart and Postmates to test autonomous grocery delivery in Miami-Dade County |
| 6:30 AM • | Ava Kofman / The Intercept: Google's plan for a smart city in Toronto is facing resistance from privacy activists, who are fighting against the commodification of their city's data |
| 5:55 AM • | Kaitlyn Tiffany / Vox: Most period-tracking apps are designed more to aid marketers and medical companies in collecting health data for ad targeting than for women |
| 5:00 AM • | Clive Thompson / Wired: AI needs to be taught everyday common sense, not just pattern recognition, to overcome the limits of deep learning and produce safer, more useful devices |
| 4:05 AM • | Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: Israel-based XM Cyber, which provides an automated service to simulate, validate, and remediate advanced persistent threats, has raised a $22M Series A |
| 2:20 AM • | New York Times: Tyler Barriss, the serial swatter responsible for the fatal Kansas hoax call, pleads guilty to federal charges, will serve between 20 and 25 years in prison |
| 2:05 AM • | Wall Street Journal: Sources provide a behind-the-scenes account of Amazon's HQ2 selection process, say the company made the decision to split HQ2 in two in September |
| 1:40 AM • | Anthony Ha / TechCrunch: IAB data shows digital ad spending in the first half of 2018 reached $49.5B, up 23% YoY, with mobile accounting for 63% of the total, up from 54% last year |
| 11:45 PM • | Louise Matsakis / Wired: Critics say Amazon's promises to bring jobs and spur economic development aren't enough to make up for the concessions it has received for its new headquarters |
| 11:25 PM • | Kevin Martin / Facebook: Facebook, Google, and Twitter are partnering in a new coalition, Tech Together to Fight the Opioid Crisis, to help those struggling with addiction |
| 11:00 PM • | Alison Frankel / Reuters: Snap says it's responded to subpoenas from the DOJ and SEC about its IPO, following a suit alleging Snap misled the public on how Instagram affected its growth |
| 7:55 PM • | Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal: Amazon says it has more than 10,000 employees working on its Alexa virtual assistant and Echo devices, up from 5,000 in September 2017 |
| 7:15 PM • | Wall Street Journal: Waymo CEO says its driverless car service will be available first in Phoenix and will charge individuals as well as businesses that want to shuttle customers |
| 7:00 PM • | Variety: Spotify launches in 13 markets across the Middle East and North Africa, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, with a fully Arabic user experience |
| 5:55 PM • | Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: Microsoft fixes a zero-day escalation of privilege bug in Windows after Kaspersky Lab researchers noticed multiple cyber-espionage groups exploiting it |
| 5:10 PM • | Steve Ranger / ZDNet: EE says it will launch 5G in 2019 in the busiest parts of London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham, and Manchester, and in 10 more cities later in year |
| 4:45 PM • | Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: Ridecell, a SaaS platform for self-driving, ride-hailing, and other mobility companies, raises Series B extension, closing the round at $60M |
| 4:00 PM • | Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge: Google's G Suite Twitter account is the latest to get hacked to promote a crypto scam, joining companies like Target, which had its account hacked this morning |
| 3:40 PM • | Financial Times: Sources: Bitmain claimed it had $1.25B in 2017 profits during the pre-IPO $400M+ Series B in June of 2018, while its IPO prospectus says it earned just ~$700M |
| 3:30 PM • | Reuters: Nigerian internet provider Main One Cable Co says it accidentally caused the problem that misrouted some Google traffic through China on Monday |
| 3:15 PM • | John Cook / GeekWire: Amazon says it will invest $230M to build a logistics-focused center in Nashville, TN that will bring 5,000 corporate jobs and receive incentives of up to $102M |
| 3:00 PM • | J. David Goodman / New York Times: Amazon to receive incentives of $1.5B+ over ten years based on creating 25K jobs in Queens, but politicians object, with some saying they will fight the deal |
| 2:55 PM • | Joshua Brustein / Bloomberg: Lime to launch a car sharing service in Seattle this week, starting with a fleet of 50 vehicles and quickly ramping that up to 1,500 cars by early 2019 |
| 2:30 PM • | Washington Post: A look at the likely factors behind Amazon's decision to choose Crystal City, VA, as one of its HQ2 locations and how it may affect the region |
| 2:00 PM • | Tom Warren / The Verge: The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is finally re-released, after data loss bugs caused it to be pulled; Microsoft says it's focusing on improving code quality |
| 1:55 PM • | Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo: Spotify will roll out its Apple Watch app in the coming week but without key features like the ability to stream music on LTE or download songs |
| 1:35 PM • | Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Facebook launches Learn with Facebook, a career development site with lessons on subjects like digital marketing, and improves its Mentorships and Jobs services |
| 1:15 PM • | Jordan Novet / CNBC: Zendesk announces Sunshine, a development platform that's free for its enterprise customers, and Sell, a CRM tool launching for $19 per user per month |
| 12:45 PM • | Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch: iFood, the Brazilian technology conglomerate Movile's food delivery platform, raises $400M from existing investors Naspers and Innova Capital |
| 12:36 PM • | Christina Farr / CNBC: DeepMind's health subsidiary, maker of an app called Streams that helps with diagnosing specific conditions, is moving under the newly-formed Google Health unit |
| 12:21 PM • | Lisa Marie Segarra / Fortune: Facebook Wants to Help People Land Their Next Job |
| 12:20 PM • | Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: Cognigo raises $8.5M Series A led by Israel-based crowdfunding platform OurCrowd for its AI-driven data protection platform |
| 12:15 PM • | Daniel Funke / Poynter: WhatsApp to distribute $50K each to 20 projects from 11 countries to research spread of misinformation on the platform; WhatsApp won't provide any user data |
| 12:10 PM • | Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: Google's Project Fi gets updated with an optional always-on VPN and a smarter way to switch between WiFi and cellular connections based on signal strength |
| 12:00 PM • | Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal: Google CFO Ruth Porat expects the company, which currently has more than 7,000 employees in New York, to double its staff in the city over the next 10 years |
| 11:45 AM • | Sara Fischer / Axios: Sources: Yahoo Finance is launching a subscription service, Yahoo Finance Premium, in Q1 2019 that a source says will likely cost $100+/month |
| 10:30 AM • | Kate Clark / TechCrunch: Poynt, a developer of smart payment terminals and an open operating system for payment terminals, raises $100M Series C |
| 10:00 AM • | Day One: The Amazon Blog: Amazon selects New York City and Arlington, Virginia for its new headquarters, receiving $1.5B in performance-based incentives from NY and $573M from VA |
| 9:45 AM • | Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Pandora launches Podcast Genome Project in beta, combining its Music Genome technology with human editorial oversight to offer podcast recommendations |
| 9:35 AM • | AJ Dellinger / Engadget: Snapchat introduces Friendship Profiles highlighting close relationships, custom Bitmoji merchandise, and Bitmoji Stories |
| 9:25 AM • | Jon Russell / TechCrunch: NetEase Cloud Music, a music streaming service by Chinese games and publishing giant NetEase, raises $600M from investors including Baidu and General Atlantic |
| 9:00 AM • | Robert Hackett / Fortune: Netskope, which helps businesses secure their data, web apps, and cloud infrastructure, raises $169M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners at a $1B+ valuation |
| 8:25 AM • | Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Motherboard: Leaked court documents show that Italian authorities have given up catching Phineas Fisher, the person who hacked the government spyware maker Hacking Team |
| 7:45 AM • | Tom Randall / Bloomberg: Source: Waymo plans to launch the world's first commercial driverless car service in December under a new brand that will compete directly with Uber and Lyft |
| 7:25 AM • | Livemint: Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal resigns after probe into allegations of serious misconduct |
| 5:40 AM • | Ian Cutress / AnandTech: Q&A: AMD CTO Mark Papermaster on the company's strategy for its EPYC server processor line and its chiplet approach of combining 7nm CPU dies with 14nm IO dies |
| 2:25 AM • | Wall Street Journal: US officials and cybersecurity firms looking for evidence of foreign interference say Russian hackers mostly sat on the sidelines during the midterm elections |
| 12:50 AM • | Nick Statt / The Verge: Apple says its T2 chip in newer Macs will run a diagnostic after some repairs that may make the computer inoperable if not repaired by Apple or its network |
| 11:15 PM • | Wall Street Journal: A look at how Palantir, which keeps losing money, is trying to turn around its business ahead of a long-delayed IPO by cutting costs and hiring more salespeople |
| 10:35 PM • | New York Times: In a letter shared by Sen. Ron Wyden, Facebook admits it ignored warnings from government-approved auditor in 2013 that its device partners may misuse user data |
| 9:31 PM • | Wall Street Journal: Sources: New York City and Northern Virginia will be the homes for Amazon's second and third “headquarters”; the announcement is expected as soon as Tuesday |
| 9:00 PM • | Wall Street Journal: Some Google services were temporarily unreachable for some users due to internet traffic being misdirected; Google believes cause was external, will investigate |
| 7:05 PM • | Corinne Reichert / ZDNet: Intel says it will make its XMM 8160 5G modem available to manufacturers in H2 2019, six months ahead of schedule, with devices using it shipping in H1 2020 |
| 6:45 PM • | Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch: GM says it will allow non-GM branded vehicles on its Maven peer-to-peer car sharing platform by mid-2019 |
| 6:10 PM • | Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: Google open-sources AI algorithms that its researchers say can distinguish between voices with 92% accuracy |
| 5:45 PM • | Williams Pelegrin / Android Authority: Acer Chromebook Spin 13 review: with fantastic build quality, great performance, comfortable keyboard, and good battery life, it bests the pricier Pixelbook |
| 3:50 PM • | Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: Firefox debuts Price Wise, an experimental price-tracking plug-in that lets users add products from Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Walmart, Home Depot to a watch list |
| 3:00 PM • | Joe Uchill / Axios: France's Macron releases an international pact on cyber warfare and security principles that over 50 nations have signed, but not the US, Australia, or China |
| 2:53 PM • | BuzzFeed News: Airbnb and eBay say they will end their forced arbitration policy for sexual harassment claims |
| 2:40 PM • | Susan Wojcicki / YouTube Creator Blog: YouTube CEO warns of unintended consequences of EU's Article 13 and says YouTube may have to block videos in the EU to avoid liability under the new directive |
| 1:55 PM • | The Keyword: Google says Gboard on Android can now use AI to suggest GIFs, emoji, and stickers that are “related to your conversation”, available globally in English |
| 1:30 PM • | Stephen Wilmot / Wall Street Journal: As companies seek more direct ways to engage customers, ad agencies like WPP face increased competition from tech consultants like Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM |
| 1:14 PM • | Alex Heath / Cheddar: Snap VP of Content Nick Bell, who joined the company in 2014 to lead Discover, says he's leaving amid a planned reorg under Chief Strategy Officer Jared Grusd |
| 12:50 PM • | Romain Dillet / TechCrunch: BlaBlaCar will offer a bus service and is acquiring Ouibus, the bus division of France's national railway company SNCF, and also announces $114M in new funding |
| 11:50 AM • | David Manners / Electronics Weekly: Infineon to acquire Dresden-based Siltectra for €124M, will use startup's Cold Split technology to split wafers, thus doubling the number of chips on them |
| 11:45 AM • | Vibhuti Sharma / Reuters: Apple's main supplier for Face ID tech, Lumentum, has slashed its revenue forecasts by about 17%; Apple's stock drops ~5% amid concerns of weak iPhone sales |
| 10:55 AM • | Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Kofax to acquire Nuance's imaging division for $400M as it continues building up its AI-based tools for automating repetitive or mundane back-office tasks |
| 10:40 AM • | Rani Molla / Recode: Smart speakers changed audio consumption habits and boosted sales of smart home devices, but hopes for adoption in areas like shopping have not panned out yet |
| 10:20 AM • | Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: Framer, an Amsterdam-based UI prototyping platform, raises $24M Series B led by Atomico, with Accel and AngelList participating |
| 9:55 AM • | Romain Dillet / TechCrunch: Facebook agrees to cooperate with France in an informal examination of its content moderation practices and give the government access to its internal processes |
| 9:20 AM • | Kurt Wagner / Recode: Sources: Imran Khan, formerly second-in-command at Snap, is working on a new e-commerce startup due to launch next year |
| 8:30 AM • | Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg: Netflix execs talk about plans to boost international growth, want to experiment with lower-priced subscriptions in countries with lower per-capita income |
| 7:55 AM • | Josh Constine / TechCrunch: Clearbanc, which provides $5K to $10M loans to startups for online marketing in exchange for revenue share, says it has raised $70M in seed and Series A rounds |
| 7:15 AM • | Yonhap News Agency: Sources: Samsung to launch the flagship Galaxy S10 in February, while Galaxy S10 with 5G support and its foldable phone called Galaxy F will launch in March |
| 5:05 AM • | Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal: A look at nascent efforts to stream video games, as latency seems set to drop even lower with the proliferation of data centers and 5G rolling out |
| 2:25 AM • | Reuters: Regulatory filing shows SoftBank Group seeks to raise ~$21B in an IPO for its Japanese mobile telecom unit on December 19 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange |
| 1:55 AM • | Eliot Brown / Wall Street Journal: Report: 1,594 US startups received initial VC funding in the first 9 months of 2018, down 40% from 2015, while median seed round was $2M, ~4X the 2013 average |
| 1:30 AM • | Bloomberg: Profile of Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, who resisted taking VC money for over a decade before finally agreeing to deals with Accel and Sequoia Capital |
| 1:10 AM • | Iris Deng / South China Morning Post: A ruling against a shareholder of Tencent's WeBank put 12.6M shares up for auction on Taobao, which, as of Nov. 2017, had processed ~610K such judicial auctions |
| 12:35 AM • | Rebecca Hill / The Register: UK's Privacy International files complaints against Oracle, Acxiom, Criteo, Quantcast, Tapad, Equifax, and Experian over potential GDPR violations |
| 12:00 AM • | Larry Dignan / ZDNet: ResMed, best known for its sleep apnea equipment and software, to acquire cloud-based electronic health records manager MatrixCare for $750M |
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirch
Don't get left behind in mediocre-CRM-land — Get the ebook on how companies are using CRM to collaborate and build lasting customer relationships.
“Smartsheet leads the pack with a balance of features and future strategy.” — Forrester names Smartsheet a leader in The Forrester WaveTM: Collaborative Work Management Tools for the Enterprise, Q4 2018. Read the report.
5 Ways to Stop Wasting Support Resources — Support can be challenging, time-consuming, and costly, but it doesn't have to be. Use AI to make your team more efficient.
Bridging the gap: Using Zoho Connect to work remotely — Telecommuting, or remote working, is a practice that has become more and more widespread among the working population. As the name suggests …
