GadgetFreak

Twitter has removed 130 accounts that appeared to originate from Iran and were attempting to disrupt public conversation around the 2020 US Presidential debate. The social network’s Support account has revealed the deletion on the platform. It also p... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/30ihSMD via IFTTT

Since 2011, European startup studio eFounders has launched 27 companies with a focus on software-as-a-service companies trying to improve the way we work. Some of them have been quite successful, such as Front and Aircall . And the company is working on its next batch of startups. “We're particularly inspired by the new wave of productivity tools, that is ever more collaborative and flexible,” eFounders co-founder Thibaud Elziere said in a statement In exchange for financial and human resources, eFounders keeps a significant stake in its startups. Ideally, startups raise a seed round and take off on their own after a year or two. Here’s what’s coming up from eFounders. Canyon Canyon is a product for legal teams that want to ditch Word, PDF documents and emails. It starts with a central hub to hold all your drafts and documents. This way, you can track progress, get the latest document version and see the context around a document. Given that it is tailored for legal teams

As people spend less time out in the world and more time daydreaming about when a vaccine will arrive, lifestyle shoes are only gaining traction. One obvious beneficiary is Allbirds , the San Francisco-based maker of comfortable, sustainable kicks that launched in 2016 and quickly became a favorite in Silicon Valley circles before taking off elsewhere. Though the company saw its business slow this year because of the pandemic, its products are now available to purchase in 35 countries and its 20 brick-and-mortar stores are sprinkled throughout the U.S. and Europe, with another outpost in Tokyo and several shops in China. Investors clearly see room for more growth. Allbirds just closed on $100 million in Series E funding at roughly the same $1.6 billion valuation it was assigned after closing on $27 million in Series D funding earlier this year, and blank-check companies have been calling, says cofounder and CEO Joey Zwillinger. He talked with us earlier this week in a chat that h

Twitter has removed 130 accounts that appeared to originate from Iran and were attempting to disrupt public conversation around the 2020 US Presidential debate. The social network’s Support account has revealed the deletion on the platform. It also p... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/30ihSMD via IFTTT

The Economic Times : Indian startups blame Google for “unfair exploitation” of Play Store's monopoly after Google began to enforce its in-app purchasing policy with 30% commission   —  Tech giant says companies have multiple store options, can also use websites  —  Indian startups are up in arms … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3n31xVM via IFTTT

Credit: David Imel / Android Authority Google just gave away the India launch date for the Pixel 4a. The phone will land in India on October 17. It will go on sale through Flipkart. Google has finally announced the India launch date for the Pixel 4a . The mid-range Google phone that debuted in the US back in August will reach Indian shores on October 17. Google confirmed the Pixel 4a India launch while replying to a query on Twitter. It’s possible that Google’s Twitter account jumped the gun because we were initially expecting the company to announce the India availability of the Pixel 4a during the Pixel hardware event that concluded a few hours back. When that didn’t happen, we thought Google would put out an official Pixel 4a India launch announcement at a later date. Looks like the cat is finally out of the bag. Credit: Google/Twitter Where to buy the Google Pixel 4a in India and for how much? The Google Pixel 4a will be made available in India through Fli

When the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G arrive, they’ll include an early preview of Google’s new feature for the Phone app, the Duplex-powered “Hold for Me.” Mentioned during the Launch Night presentation and explained in a blog post, it lets Google Assista... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/3l33csw via IFTTT

Karissa Bell / Engadget : Facebook says, as part of its recent crackdown on QAnon and “militia” movements, it has removed 6,500 groups belonging to 300 organizations   —  Facebook has removed more than 6,500 pages and groups associated with “militarized social movements,” since the company announced … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3n65VU1 via IFTTT

Google, which reaches more internet users than any other firm in India and commands 99% of the nation’s smartphone market, has stumbled upon an odd challenge in the world’s second largest internet market: Scores of top local entrepreneurs. Dozens of top startups and firms in India are working to form an alliance and toying with the idea of launching an app store to cut their reliance on Google, five people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The list of entrepreneurs include high-profile names such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma, co-founder and chief executive of Paytm (India’s most valuable startup ), Deep Kalra of travel ticketing firm MakeMyTrip, and executives from PolicyBazaar, Sharechat and many other firms. The growing list of founders expressed deep concerns about Google’s “monopolistic” hold on India, and discussed what they alleged was unfair and inconsistent enforcement of Play Store’s guidelines in the country. The conversations, which began in recent weeks, escalate

Image: Google Google’s $799 Pixel 4 had built-in radar. The new $699 Pixel 5 does not — it ditches the sensor-laden forehead of its predecessor entirely in favor of thinner bezels and a hole-punch camera, like the $349 Pixel 4a before it. The result is more screen, but Google’s “Motion Sense” gestures and its answer to Apple’s Face ID are totally gone. But Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh tells The Verge that the Project Soli radar and gestures will return. “They’ll be used in the future,” he says. They were just too expensive for the phone that Google wanted to build this time. (He didn’t say whether they’d appear in a new phone, specifically; a recent FCC filing suggests they might come to a new Nest thermostat as well.) And let’s not get started... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2ELqNyq via IFTTT

The Pixel 5, Google’s latest Android flagship, was just announced today, and someone on YouTube has already posted an unboxing video of the new device ahead of its release ( via 9to5Google ). What’s in the box is fairly standard — there’s the phone itself, as well as a charger, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a USB-C to USB-A converter. The YouTube user who has the phone, who goes by the name Sergiu, does power it on, giving us a look at the phone’s 6-inch 2340 x 1080 OLED screen and 8-megapixel hole-punch selfie camera. Sergiu doesn’t use the phone all that much in the video, though, sticking mostly to the phone’s home screen. Sergiu also zooms in on back of the Pixel 5, showing the phone’s aluminum back, fingerprint sensor, and square... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3jjLssD via IFTTT

Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC : Facebook says it will ban Facebook and Instagram ads that seek to delegitimize the outcome of an election, including calling specific voting methods fraudulent   —  - Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will not allow any ads on its service that seek to delegitimize the outcome of an election … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2SfWS4O via IFTTT

Credit: David Imel / Android Authority In 2013, Google launched the first version of its Chromecast TV dongle. It was designed to cast smartphone apps, including video streaming apps, to big-screen televisions. Seven years later, the market for streaming TV apps has changed, and Google is changing with it. Today, it officially announced Chromecast with Google TV . So what are the similarities and the differences of Chromecast with Google TV vs Chromecast? Good question.  As you will see, the original Chromecast is still very useful. However, the new Chromecast with Google TV offers a lot more, and it’s not that much more expensive. Read more:   Best video streaming devices Chromecast with Google TV vs Chromecast: Features Back in 2013, smart televisions were still something of a novelty. The first Chromecast allowed TV owners to quickly turn it into a smart television, and inexpensively. If you had a smartphone, and your apps supported Chromecast, you could connect the d

Facebook has removed more than 6,500 pages and groups associated with “militarized social movements,” since the company announced it would crack down on QAnon and militia movements on its platform last month. Under the new rules, Facebook said it wou... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/3jk2Hd4 via IFTTT

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook will ban ads that wrongly claim victory in the US presidential race. The news comes a week after the company announced it would reject ads from Donald Trump or Joe Biden claiming a premature win on November 3rd. The policy covers ads that claim legal forms of voting — like voting by mail — will corrupt the outcome of the election. It also bans ads that claim rampant voter fraud could alter the results of the election. This is a real concern for the 2020 race. Due to mail-in voting, the electoral process is expected to take longer than in years past, and the official results likely won’t be announced on November 3rd. Experts worry that because more Democrats are expected to vote by mail than Republicans , Trump could declare an... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3ihHOOB via IFTTT

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Google introduces a new Android feature called Hold for Me, which uses Assistant to monitor held phone calls and notify the user when taken off hold   —  Google has been pushing forward the capabilities of what a smartphone can do when it comes to one of the device's most basic — if these days often overlooked — features: phone calls. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2HOxi4Z via IFTTT

Jeff Benson / Decrypt : US judge rules that Kik violated securities law in its $100M ICO from 2017, grants the SEC's motion for summary judgment against Kik   —  US District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein today granted the US Securities and Exchange Commission its motion for summary judgement against Kik Interactive … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3n4X6JX via IFTTT

Google expanded Meet’s availability earlier this year to give more people access to the video chat service in the midst of coronavirus-related lockdowns. The tech giant didn’t just make it available to everyone with a Gmail account, though, it also m... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2Sa33Y7 via IFTTT

Frank Chaparro / The Block : Coinbase offers an exit package with four to six months severance pay and six months COBRA for employees who are not comfortable with its apolitical mission   —  Coinbase is offering a package for employees seeking an exit after the release of a blog post from its CEO outlining … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2HF8SdT via IFTTT

Nilay Patel / The Verge : Sonos files another patent lawsuit against Google, alleging infringement of five wireless audio patents across the entire line of Nest and Chromecast products   —  Rocket docket, engage  —  Sonos has filed another patent lawsuit against Google, alleging that the search giant … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3cGLbgV via IFTTT

Reuters : Sources: DOJ is expected to sue Google as soon as next week and is currently urging state attorneys general to sign onto the lawsuit   —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is expected to sue Alphabet's Google as soon as next week, and is currently urging state attorneys general … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3igZYQy via IFTTT

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge : LG says its Wing smartphone will be available in the US beginning October 15 from Verizon and later this fall from AT&T and T-Mobile, starting at $1,000   —  LG's wild sliding phone won't be cheap  —  LG's wild-looking Wing smartphone has gotten a US price and release date … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2GpvgaM via IFTTT

David Meyer / Fortune : Cloudflare launches a free “privacy-first” analytics tool to rival Google Analytics that records how users engage with websites without invasive tracking   —  The cybersecurity and content-distribution company Cloudflare has become a major part of the Internet's infrastructure … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/30llNYV via IFTTT

Neuron Mobility , a Singapore-based e-scooter rental startup, announced today that it has added $12 million to its Series A. Led by Square Peg, an Australian venture capital firm and GSR Ventures, this increases the round’s new total to $30.5 million. The company, which operates in Australia and New Zealand in addition to Southeast Asian markets, first announced its Series A in December 2019. Singapore’s Neuron Mobility raises $18.5M to bring its electric scooters to more international markets Part of Neuron Mobility’s growth plans hinges on the increased adoption of electric scooters and bikes during the COVID-19 pandemic . Many people are using their cars less frequently because they are working remotely or there are movement restrictions where they live. When they do go out, electric bikes and scooters offer an alternative to public transportation and ride-hailing services for short trips. Neuron Mobility’s chief executive Zachary Wang said the company raised a Series A+ i

After the debates, there are some entertaining things to put on your TV this week. In case you missed it, we’re adding another new service to the mix with AMC+, which launches Thursday and will feature new episodes of The Walking Dead and its newest... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/3cJdOKc via IFTTT

Bloomberg : Clubhouse courted fresh controversy after a conversation with hundreds of listeners devolved into a platform for anti-Semitic comments on a Jewish holy day   —  Controversial private social app Clubhouse was again the target of criticism on Monday, after a conversation with hundreds … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3kW5YQk via IFTTT

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider : Apple and Epic Games stated in a court filing on Tuesday that their coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury   —  Apple and Epic have agreed that the coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/36jZwP4 via IFTTT

Juli Clover / MacRumors : Apple says several of its services including App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade are facing outages   —  Top Rated Comments  —  I cannot access iCloud.com.  Getting server error/verification failed from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2HEQSQR via IFTTT

In 2014, after what we described as “frequent failures,” a previous administration’s FCC attempted to change how the United States’ emergency 911 system works , including making it clear who’s responsible when multiple states inexplicably lose the ability to dial 911 at once. Some of that accountability might have come in handy this week — because we still don’t know what caused yesterday’s 911 outage. And it’s not clear anything would change even if we knew. Yesterday, 911 services reportedly disappeared in at least 14 states nationwide, some for as long as an hour and a half. Police departments and public safety agencies across the country had to hand out alternative numbers to call — and in some cases, warn residents not to dial 911... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/33fZAgR via IFTTT

Reuters : Tencent to take private NYSE-listed Chinese search engine Sogou in a $3.5B deal; Tencent had previously revealed that it had a 39.2% stake in Sogou in July   —  (Reuters) - Sogou Inc said on Tuesday shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd would take the web search firm private in a $3.5 billion deal … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3n64Rzl via IFTTT

Christina Farr / CNBC : DivvyDose, an online pharmacy competing with Amazon's PillPack and Walmart's CareZone, is acquired by UnitedHealth; source says deal was worth $300M+   —  - UnitedHealth Group has acquired DivvyDose, a competitor to Amazon-owned PillPack.  — A spokesperson declined to comment. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/36igAF9 via IFTTT

If you’re getting error messages instead of media across your Apple devices and services then you’re not alone. The company’s status page notes an outage that’s affecting many of its connected services that bring music, video and pictures to you. App... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/36hlVfZ via IFTTT

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Many Apple services were hit by outages Tuesday evening, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and Apple Arcade, according to Apple’s system status page . For all of the affected services, Apple vaguely says that “some users are affected.” However, as we were writing this article, some of the services were upgraded from being affected by an “issue” to having a full-on “outage.” Here is the full list of affected services: Find My Game Center iCloud Account & Sign In iCloud Backup iCloud Calendar iCloud Contacts iCloud Mail iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com) iWork for iCloud Photos Apple Arcade Apple Music Apple Music radio Apple TV Plus Radio App Store Apple Books Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Apple... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3i9JedS via IFTTT

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has just expanded its voice tweets feature, which lets you record a snippet of audio to include with a tweet, to more users on iOS. But perhaps more significantly, Twitter is now saying it plans to add transcriptions to voice tweets to improve accessibility, which could help address criticisms from the feature’s June 17th launch. If you want to get an idea of how voice tweets work right now, just press play on the below tweet to hear a voice clip from my colleague Tom Warren. There’s currently no way to see captions or a transcription of what he’s saying. (Note: Tom is not actually sharing exclusive next-gen console news.) Twitter just launched voice tweets. Here’s some exclusive next-gen console news p... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3kWC926 via IFTTT

Image: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has told employees that six-day workweeks will be mandatory ahead of the game’s November 19th release date, even though the studio has repeatedly and explicitly promised it would never do that, Bloomberg reports . On two separate occasions in 2019, studio co-founder Marcin Iwiński told game journalist Jason Schreier how it would address crunch, once even saying that “we want to be more humane and treat people with respect.” It seemed pretty clear from excerpts like this that mandatory crunch was not going to be part of it! Jason: If I’m a designer at CD Projekt Red and I say you know what I have kids, I have a family, I’m going to work from 10am to 6pm every day, and that’s it. Even until the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2G1CS3p via IFTTT

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet : Twitter hires Rinki Sethi as its new CISO following its July 15 hack; Sethi previously worked at cloud data management company Rubrik   —  Sethi previously served in security roles at Rubrik, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, Intuit, and eBay.  —  After leaving the position unfilled for months … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3jfEeFL via IFTTT

Wall Street Journal : Prior to their Wednesday direct listing debuts, the NYSE set reference prices for Palantir at $7.25 and Asana at $21 per share   —  Both companies are poised to do direct listings on Wednesday; only two other notable companies have done them before  —  Data firm Palantir Technologies Inc … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3jgMzJo via IFTTT

Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire : Seattle unanimously approved new regulations that would ensure Uber and Lyft drivers earn minimum wage, the second US city to establish the standard after NYC   —  Seattle became the second big city in the nation to establish a minimum wage standard for Uber and Lyft drivers on Tuesday. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3kWDciz via IFTTT