US Commerce Dept. data shows it issued ~$103B in export licenses for semiconductors and other products to suppliers of Huawei and SMIC from Nov. 2020-April 2021 (Kate O'Keeffe/Wall Street Journal)

Kate O'Keeffe / Wall Street Journal:
US Commerce Dept. data shows it issued ~$103B in export licenses for semiconductors and other products to suppliers of Huawei and SMIC from Nov. 2020-April 2021  —  Commerce Department data shows that suppliers of the blacklisted Chinese tech companies maintained access to U.S. products including semiconductors

Source: South Korea's online payment service Kakao Pay raised $1.3B in its Seoul IPO after pricing shares at $76.60, the top of a marketed range (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Source: South Korea's online payment service Kakao Pay raised $1.3B in its Seoul IPO after pricing shares at $76.60, the top of a marketed range  —  - Online payment firm priced IPO at top of the marketed range  — Regulators have been stepping up scrutiny over tech firms

New 16-Inch MacBook Pro Carries a Special Mode for Performance Boost

Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) powered by the M1 Max chip will come with a new 'High Power Mode' to offer a performance boost to users. The new feature will, however, neither be a part of... https://ift.tt/3nl0vW2

Windows 11 Gets a Fix for AMD Ryzen Processor Latency Issue, More Bugs

Microsoft has released the Windows 11 Build 22000.282 update. The changelog clearly states that Microsoft addresses the L3 caching issue affecting performance in some applications on devices that have... https://ift.tt/3nlU2dq

Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale 2021: Best Deals on Smartwatches, Bands

Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2021 is live, and if you are looking to purchase a smartwatch or a fitness tracker, here are some great options with huge discounts on Amazon that you can check out.... https://ift.tt/3E8PBtw

Tech Platform Powering NFT Marketplaces Bags $20 Million in Funding

Mojito tech platform for NFT marketplaces that is is also powering Sotheby's upcoming metaverse project has raised another $20 million in a fresh round of investments. https://ift.tt/3pnyEat

Maria Ressa discusses the role of social media in the rise of polarization, her interactions with Zuckerberg and Sandberg in 2017, Frances Haugen, and more (New York Times)

New York Times:
Maria Ressa discusses the role of social media in the rise of polarization, her interactions with Zuckerberg and Sandberg in 2017, Frances Haugen, and more  —  The journalist, whose reporting has taken on the president of the Philippines and the C.E.O. of Facebook, discusses the “atom bomb” …

Snap and TikTok testifying for the first time before Congress next week shows how lawmakers' oversight has fixated on a few major platforms thus far (Cristiano Lima/Washington Post)

Cristiano Lima / Washington Post:
Snap and TikTok testifying for the first time before Congress next week shows how lawmakers' oversight has fixated on a few major platforms thus far  —  Happy Thursday!  We'd like to welcome you to the merriest season of all: NBA opening week.  —  Below: Facebook's Oversight Board speaks out, and the Roku-YouTube tiff is rekindled.

Electrified cars hit almost a fifth of EU Q3 vehicle sales

Nearly one in five vehicles sold in the European Union in the third quarter was an electrified model as sales continued to soar while fossil-fuel cars slumped, according to sales data released on Friday by a trade organization. https://ift.tt/3m2DWGa

Twitter acquires group chat app Sphere

In a bid to strengthen its Communities, micro-blogging site Twitter has acquired a chat app called Sphere, which was co-founded by British serial entrepreneur Nick D'Aloisio. https://ift.tt/3nbUJpK

Facebook's oversight board seeks details on VIPs' treatment

Facebook's semi-independent oversight board says the company has fallen short of full disclosure on its internal system that exempts high-profile users from some or all of its content rules. https://ift.tt/3jqimKi

Twitter Now Allows All Users to Host Their Own Space

Twitter Spaces is now open to all iOS and Android users. With the latest update, all users - irrespective of the number of followers - can hold discussions on Twitter. Users can create a Space by... https://ift.tt/2Xzkfwf

Facebook Messenger Introduces New AR Group Effects for Video Calls and Rooms

Facebook Messenger is rolling out Group Effects feature for Facebook Messenger video calls and Messenger Rooms. Facebook Messenger users will be able to choose from a library of over 70 Group Effects... https://ift.tt/3joWHSu

Valkyrie Futures ETF Gets US SEC Nod to Start Trading on Nasdaq

The US SEC has approved the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF making it the second futures-based Bitcoin ETF that will start trading after ProShares bitcoin ETF launched earlier this week. https://ift.tt/2ZbOiev

Redmi Watch 2 Teased to Have a Larger AMOLED Display Over Predecessor

Redmi Watch 2 will feature a larger AMOLED display over the one available on the original Redmi Watch, a teaser posted by Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi has confirmed ahead of its official launch. The new... https://ift.tt/3E5WprO