What's Popular on Techmeme
Google overhauls Nest Aware cloud recording plan to make it simpler for users with multiple cameras, now starting at $6 per month for 30-day event history
The Pixel 4 and 4 XL will launch without free unlimited photo backups to Google Photos at full resolution, one of the original great reasons for owning a Pixel
Google says Pixel 4 and 4 XL will not be launching in India, after it failed to secure permission to use the frequency range of its gesture-sensing radar tech
Fortnite's "black hole" hiatus ends after nearly two days, as Chapter 2 arrives with new maps and gameplay features, like fishing, swimming, and new vehicles
Kids keep finding ways around Apple's Screen Time parental lock, often sharing tips and tricks online; frustrated parents say the company is slow to respond
Thimble, which offers flexible, short-term insurance to small businesses and freelancers, raises $22M Series A led by IAC
Google says the Pixel 4 won't support its Daydream mobile VR platform, which is being phased out as it also stops selling the Daydream viewer
Layer1 raises $50M from Peter Thiel and others at $200M valuation for a planned wind energy-backed bitcoin mining operation in Texas using custom cooling tech
Pixel 4's dual camera system adds better zoom capability, live-view HDR+ to fine-tune shots, revamped portrait mode, and extends Night Sight to astrophotography
Sources: Google staff are having a fiery debate on a mailing list about banning a Hong Kong protest game from Play; the issue also came up at an all hands
South Korean startup True Balance, which operates a financial services app in India for users to pay bills and offer credit to customers, raises $23M Series C
French startup Herow, which enables developers and marketers to serve contextual messages in mobile apps, adds $8M to its $10.6M Series B, closed in 2015
A look at startups like Zippin and Standard Cognition that are pitching their Amazon Go-like tech to grocery chains, sports stadiums, and convenience stores
wsj.com · 6 days ago
Microsoft Defender's Tamper Protection antivirus feature hits general availability and will be enabled by default for all users in the coming weeks
Docs and interviews show that ~44 US universities work with outside companies to data mine and rank prospective students, including tracking their web activity
DNS over HTTPS can increase user privacy by obfuscating web traffic, but it's no silver bullet as DNS resolving services will still see unencrypted requests
Pornhub removes Girls Do Porn, months after a lawsuit by 22 women and days after the channel's owners and staff were charged with federal sex trafficking counts
AMC Entertainment to unveil AMC Theaters On Demand, an iTunes-like online video store, in the US, will offer ~2,000 films for ~$3-$6 to rent and ~$10-$20 to buy
nytimes.com · 6 days ago
Libra loses Booking Holdings' support, but continues with association draft laws at Geneva meeting, appoints members from a16z, Xapo, PayU, more to its board
Walmart to make some third-party products on its site cheaper for a limited time, subsidizing the new prices, similar to the Discount Provided by Amazon program
bloomberg.com · 6 days ago
KKR acquires a majority stake in UK's largest residential gigabit broadband provider Hyperoptic, source says for £500M
Microsoft debuts the preview of its Project xCloud game streaming service for Xbox users in the US, UK, and Korea, initially with four games for Android devices
Inside Pinterest's efforts to avoid rivals' algorithm-related issues as it rolls out Home Feed Tuner, which lets users edit their activity history and interests
Reliance Jio unveils an AI-powered Video Call Assistant service that will allow businesses to automate their customer support and other communications
A flaw in Sudo, which is installed on almost every Linux OS, could let users run commands as "root" even when they are restricted; patched version now available
A look at US-based startups like CirrusMD and 98point6, which let users seek treatment from doctors for minor injuries or illnesses over text-based online chats
US private equity group Thoma Bravo agrees to buy British cybersecurity company Sophos for £3.1B
Universities across Europe are intensifying efforts to create companies around tech developed in their labs, mirroring the model pioneered by US universities
China Construction Bank says its blockchain-based platform for factoring and forfaiting services has processed $53B+ in transactions since April 2018
Fortnite has been down for nearly a day, as players speculate about what's next after having their maps sucked into a black hole, following the Season 10 event
Apple says its Tencent partnership to flag malicious sites for Safari users only applies to mainland China; hashes of URL prefixes and IP addresses are shared
Sources: Zuckerberg recently hosted off-the-record dinners with conservative figures like Tucker Carlson and Lindsey Graham to discuss free speech, partnerships
Amazon turned off its Add-On program in recent months, making low-priced items, as little as $0.75, available to Prime customers with free one-day shipping
vox.com · 7 days ago