Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Observable, which develops data visualization tools and aims to build a GitHub-style community, raises $10.5M Series A led by Sequoia Capital and Acrew Capital (Jared Newman/Fast Company)

Jared Newman / Fast Company:
Observable, which develops data visualization tools and aims to build a GitHub-style community, raises $10.5M Series A led by Sequoia Capital and Acrew Capital  —  Creating sophisticated data visualizations may not be for everyone, but a startup called Observable is trying to make the process a bit less impenetrable.



Elon Musk's SpaceX to press ahead with Starlink tests, delays commercial service

SpaceX will continue beta testing its satellite-based broadband service Starlink into next year, the company said late Tuesday, indicating commercial service would not likely be offered in 2020 as previously planned. https://ift.tt/368e57Q

Amazon's cloud service sees widespread outage

Amazon.com Inc's widely used cloud service, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is experiencing a large-scale outage, the company said, affecting users ranging from websites to software providers. It has also affected the ability to post updates to its service health dashboard, the company said. https://ift.tt/3l9Evu2

Bitcoin falls 6% in Asian trade

Bitcoin dropped to $17,657.53 on Thursday, down 5.74 percent on the day, after losing $1,074.9 from its previous close. https://ift.tt/365HnDX

France orders tech giants to pay digital tax

France's finance ministry has sent out notices to big tech companies liable for its digital service tax to pay the levy as planned in December, the ministry said. France suspended collection of the tax, which will hit companies like Facebook and Amazon, early this year while negotiations were underway at the OECD https://ift.tt/39ffefI

Salesforce in talks to acquire workplace app Slack: Report

Cloud-based software company Salesforce is in talks to acquire workplace messaging app Slack as it seeks to expand its offerings to businesses, people familiar with the matter said. Salesforce's bid comes as Slack struggles to fully capitalize on the switch to remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic. https://ift.tt/37dNqWs

Europe's largest tech conference to return as in-person event in 2021

Europe's biggest technology conference, the Web Summit, will return to Lisbon in full force as a massive in-person event in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to go fully online this year. https://ift.tt/3nSqWRu

France Orders Tech Giants to Pay Digital Service Tax

France's finance ministry has sent out notices to big tech companies liable for its digital service tax to pay the levy as planned in December. https://ift.tt/3q588Ao

Tech Giants May Be Forced to Break Up if They Breach New EU Rules

Tech giants that break new EU rules aimed at curbing their powers could face fines, be ordered to change their practices, or even be forced to break up their European businesses, the bloc's digital... https://ift.tt/3q1R3Y5

Slack in Talks to Be Acquired by Salesforce: Report

Salesforce plans to buy corporate messaging platform Slack, according to a report, leading to a jump in stock prices for the young company. https://ift.tt/3leqKus

How import hurdles may be hurting Apple and Xiaomi

India’s tight control of quality clearances for electronic goods from China slowed the import of Apple’s new iPhone model last month and held up other products made by companies like Xiaomi, according to two industry sources. https://ift.tt/2V0QBLF

TikTok Sale Deadline Extended to December 4 by US Treasury

The US Treasury said it had extended by seven days the November 27 deadline given to the Chinese owner of TikTok to sell the popular social media platform's American business. https://ift.tt/3mkpnLK

Tech startups have 'good news' for the industry: Fastest-growing, what's changed & more

https://ift.tt/376EYbH

Filing: Xerox PARC accuses Facebook and Twitter of patent infringement, including through tools both companies use to slow the spread of misinformation (Matthew Bultman/Bloomberg Law)

Matthew Bultman / Bloomberg Law:
Filing: Xerox PARC accuses Facebook and Twitter of patent infringement, including through tools both companies use to slow the spread of misinformation  —  A Xerox Corp. subsidiary has accused Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. of infringing several of its patents, including through tools …



Micromax in 1b First Sale in India Today via Flipkart, Company Site

Micromax In 1b will be available for purchase through Flipkart as well as the Micromax website. The phone comes in 4GB RAM + 64GB storage configuration, and this version is priced at Rs. 7,999. https://ift.tt/2HCPJd3

Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)

New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...