Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Redmi K40 Series Set to Launch Today: Here's All You Need to Know

The Redmi K40 series will launch in China today, February 25, at 7.30pm local time (5pm IST). The new series from Xiaomi is expected to include the Redmi K40 Pro and the Redmi K40 smartphones. The... https://ift.tt/2ZKZECR

Spain-based Wallapop, an online classifieds marketplace for used items and crafts, raises $191M at an $840M valuation led by Korelya Capital (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Spain-based Wallapop, an online classifieds marketplace for used items and crafts, raises $191M at an $840M valuation led by Korelya Capital  —  Through all of the last year's lockdowns, venue closures, and other social distancing measures that governments have enacted and people have followed …



ViacomCBS says Paramount+ will cost $5/month with ads and $10/month without ads; the ad tier will be available in June while the ad-free tier starts on March 4 (Richard Lawler/Engadget)

Richard Lawler / Engadget:
ViacomCBS says Paramount+ will cost $5/month with ads and $10/month without ads; the ad tier will be available in June while the ad-free tier starts on March 4  —  ViacomCBS has a ‘mountain of content’ on the way to streaming, including a ‘Halo’ series and ‘Beavis and Butthead.’



Tech retailer Fry's Electronics announces it will cease operations effective immediately, blames industry changes and the pandemic for the shutdown (Sean Hollister/The Verge)

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Tech retailer Fry's Electronics announces it will cease operations effective immediately, blames industry changes and the pandemic for the shutdown  —  Your best buys are no longer at Fry's, guaranteed  —  Fry's Electronics, one of the last big brick-and-mortar electronics store chains …



Biden signs executive order mandating a 100-day review of supply chains, including for semiconductors used in products from cars to phones and rare-earth metals (Alex Leary/Wall Street Journal)

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:
Biden signs executive order mandating a 100-day review of supply chains, including for semiconductors used in products from cars to phones and rare-earth metals  —  The president signed an executive order with the aim of eventually increasing domestic production of critical materials



Australia passes news bargaining code that will require digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local media outlets and publishers for their content (Daniel Van Boom/CNET)

Daniel Van Boom / CNET:
Australia passes news bargaining code that will require digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local media outlets and publishers for their content  —  Australia on Wednesday passed a new media law that had generated noisy pushback from internet giants Google and Facebook …



Microsoft announces industry cloud packages for financial services, available in March, and for manufacturing and nonprofits, available in June (Cherlynn Low/Engadget)

Cherlynn Low / Engadget:
Microsoft announces industry cloud packages for financial services, available in March, and for manufacturing and nonprofits, available in June  —  new Industry Cloud service with a suite of tools for the healthcare sector last year and unveiling a Retail-specific version in January, Microsoft is ready to introduce more areas of focus.



GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign; stock up 80%+ after hours (Maggie Fitzgerald/CNBC)

Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign; stock up 80%+ after hours  —  - GameStop announced Tuesday that its chief financial officer Jim Bell will resign on March 26.  — Sources familiar …



Optimism, which plans to help scale the Ethereum blockchain with a Layer 2 protocol, raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz (Michael McSweeney/The Block)

Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Optimism, which plans to help scale the Ethereum blockchain with a Layer 2 protocol, raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz  —  Optimism, a startup focused on the scalability of the Ethereum blockchain network, has raised a $25 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.



Tuesday, February 23, 2021

France eyes new regulation to restrict early renewal of smartphones

French telecoms operators Orange, Bouygues Telecoms and Altice Europe's SFR have for years been luring new customers by providing brand new smartphones in exchange for contractual commitments for a certain period of time, up to two years. https://ift.tt/3aLuYaQ

Australian lawmakers expected to pass amendments to Facebook, Google law

Australian lawmakers are expected to approve amendments to landmark legislation to force Alphabet's Google and Facebook to pay media companies for news content, despite opposition from some minor political parties. https://ift.tt/3aNj53Y

SolarWinds, Microsoft, FireEye, CrowdStrike defend actions in major hack: US Senate hearing

One of the worst hacks yet discovered had an impact on all four. SolarWinds and Microsoft programs were used to attack others and the hack struck at about 100 U.S. companies and nine federal agencies. https://ift.tt/2ZHgiTK

French antitrust investigators say Google breached its orders on talks with news publishers: Sources

In the 93-page report, known as a statement of objections, the investigators wrote that Google's failure to comply was of an exceptionally serious nature, the sources said. https://ift.tt/3qOD8EX

GameStop CFO to step down after Reddit driven stock rally

GameStop said Bell's resignation was not due to any disagreement with the company relating to its operations, including accounting principles and practices. https://ift.tt/2NZ0mcL

Singapore trials Smartphone app offering mini check-ups

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Anthropic cuts its list of unauthorized secondary market sellers from eight to four after the initial notice caused panic and pushback from investors (Yazhou Sun/Bloomberg)

Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg : Anthropic cuts its list of unauthorized secondary market sellers from eight to four after the initial notice cau...