אסף מגידש - בשורה אחת

Ripple may be a great blockchain-based tech for banks, but the valuation of its XRP token reflects the unlikely hope it becomes a global reserve cryptocurrency (Kyle Samani/Forbes) אסף מגידש

Three interrelated macro themes dominated this year in tech: the breakout of crypto, beginning of the end of white male dominance, and the backlash against tech (Fred Wilson/AVC) אסף מגידש

Iran blocks access to Instagram and Telegram apps amid anti-government protests (Ben Kentish/The Independent) אסף מגידש

Analysis of code from the top 10K websites on Alexa finds that 30.5% employ anti-ad blocking measures, many of which are hidden from the sites' visitors (Devin Coldewey/TechCrunch) אסף מגידש

How Sweden, Norway, Finland prepare for AI-driven automation: employer-financed placement programs for those laid off, big public spending on social safety nets (Peter S. Goodman/New York Times) אסף מגידש

Reports say Iranian authorities have cut off internet access to mobile phones as anti-government protests spread across the country (The Times of Israel) אסף מגידש

Telegram, citing ToS, suspends public channel that incited violent anti-government protests in Iran; Telegram is a major platform with ~40M users in Iran (Theodore Schleifer/Recode) אסף מגידש

Startups are seeking an alternative route to internet access via VPNs and mesh networks, amid net neutrality repeal, but the projects are as yet unproven (Douglas MacMillan/Wall Street Journal) אסף מגידש

Apple makes $29 iPhone battery replacement price effective immediately, rather than in late January, but warns initial supplies of some batteries may be limited (Ina Fried/Axios) אסף מגידש

OKCupid's rating sinks as users rebel over new 'real name' policy (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch) אסף מגידש

Ripple surged 50%+ on Friday and is now valued at ~$85B, surpassing Ethereum's market cap and becoming the second-most valuable cryptocurrency (Evelyn Cheng/CNBC) אסף מגידש

How quantum computers will speed up the breaking of public-key cryptography and how "post-quantum cryptography" researchers are trying counter that threat (Joshua Holden/Nautilus) אסף מגידש

Amazon's "Alexa everywhere" strategy is winning the smart speaker battle and Apple's delayed and high-priced HomePod may not be able to compete (M.G. Siegler/500ish Words) אסף מגידש

Nielsen: Netflix's "Bright", which had a ~$90M budget, had 11M viewers on its opening weekend, roughly equivalent to $99M at the box office (Crayton Harrison/Bloomberg) אסף מגידש

Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio to buy Reliance Communications' spectrum, tower, fiber optic, other telecom infrastructure assets; sources say for $3.75B (Reuters) אסף מגידש

Sensor Tower: consumers spent $196M on apps across the Google Play and App Store on Christmas Day, up 12.3% YoY (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch) אסף מגידש

Gamers say deadly shooting of a man Thursday night by Wichita police was the result of a swatting prank (Brian Krebs/Krebs on Security) אסף מגידש

Gamers say deadly shooting of a man Thursday night by Wichita police was the result of a swatting prank (Nichole Manna/Wichita Eagle) אסף מגידש

Pavel Lerner, an executive of Bitcoin exchange Exmo who was kidnapped in Ukraine, was released after paying $1M+ ransom in bitcoins, according to a Ukrainian MP (Financial Times) אסף מגידש

AT&T says all 50 states will participate in FirstNet wireless broadband network for emergency responders, funded with $6.5B over 5 years by federal government (Anjali Athavaley/Reuters) אסף מגידש

In a tweet, President Donald Trump calls on the United States Postal Service to charge Amazon "much more" in postage fees (Justin Sink/Bloomberg) אסף מגידש

Samsung, LG, HTC, and Motorola say that they do not slow down phones with older batteries (Victor H./PhoneArena) אסף מגידש

Two Romanians arrested for hacking Washington DC police surveillance cameras just days before President Trump's inauguration (BBC) אסף מגידש

Huawei's Ken Hu expects 2017 revenue to rise 15% to ~$92B, the firm's slowest growth in 4 years, amid shipment of 153M smartphones for 10%+ global market share (Sijia Jiang/Reuters) אסף מגידש

Facebook says it removed Chechnya's Ramzan Kadyrov's accounts due to US sanctions, prompting questions on why others, like Venezuela's Maduro, are still active (Megan Specia/New York Times) אסף מגידש

LastPass issues an update to fix security vulnerability in its Authenticator app for Android that allowed access to 2FA codes (Dylan/Hacker Noon) אסף מגידש

States including New York will attempt their own net neutrality legislation in 2018, testing a provision in the FCC's order that bans states from doing this (Karl Bode/Techdirt) אסף מגידש

Apple posts explainer of its device battery power management practices and their noticeable effects for users, like longer app launch times, slower scrolling (Apple Support) אסף מגידש

Analysis finds that the 50 most viral fake news stories on Facebook in 2017 generated more shares, reactions, and comments than those of 2016 (Craig Silverman/BuzzFeed) אסף מגידש

Android apps in the upcoming Chrome OS 64 update will be able to run in the background (Robby Payne/Chrome Unboxed) אסף מגידש

SoftBank confirms it has bought a stake in Uber; sources say it will buy a minimum of 14% of Uber at a $48B valuation, down from its last valuation of $70B (Mike Isaac/New York Times) אסף מגידש

Apple says it will issue an iOS software update in early 2018 with new new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery (Nilay Patel/The Verge) אסף מגידש

Apple publishes letter to customers apologizing for slowing down iPhones with older batteries, will offer $29 battery replacements for a year (Apple) אסף מגידש

China's central bank announces plans to limit payments from static barcodes to ~$76/person/day; Alipay and Tencent say they approve of the new regulations (Financial Times) אסף מגידש

Google's mixed 2017 hardware launches, from the stellar Pixelbook to the average Pixel 2 and awful Pixel Buds, highlight why it's losing ground to rivals (Alex Cranz/Gizmodo) אסף מגידש

Google removes Pixel C, released in December 2015, from the Google Store; Pixel C was the only Android tablet the company sold (Ryan Whitwam/Android Police) אסף מגידש

Sources: SoftBank agrees to buy a ~15% stake in Uber at a valuation of $48B, down 30% from its most recent valuation of ~$70B (Wall Street Journal) אסף מגידש

South Korean government says people who trade cryptocurrencies must use their real name, as it seeks to curb speculation, following ban on ICOs in September (Raymond Zhong/New York Times) אסף מגידש

Mark Zuckerberg's US tour was part of a political campaign to help bolster the company's reputation as anti-tech sentiment grows, not a presidential run (Axios) אסף מגידש

How restaurants are using the internet and social platforms to research guests and customize their dining experience (Kristin Tice Studeman/Vogue) אסף מגידש

Sources: Apple and Amazon are in discussions on investing in Saudi Arabia; Apple in talks with Saudi foreign investment authority for licensing Apple Stores (Katie Paul/Reuters) אסף מגידש

Chinese bike-sharing company Hellobike announces ~$153M in new funding, bringing Series D total to over $500M (Steven Millward/Tech in Asia) אסף מגידש

CIRP: iPhone X accounted for ~30% of US iPhone sales during the first 30 days of availability while iPhone 8 and 8 Plus made up ~40% of sales in the same period (Chance Miller/9to5Mac) אסף מגידש

In 2017, India's IT industry saw tens of thousands of layoffs amid slowdown in revenue, increasing automation, which is making many entry-level IT jobs obsolete (Ananya Bhattacharya/Quartz) אסף מגידש

How Helios and Matheson Analytics, which raised $60M to grow MoviePass, plans to make $9.95/mo service profitable using data from its rapidly growing user base (Brooks Barnes/New York Times) אסף מגידש

Privacy advocates say Congress is debating FISA's Section 702 reform without key info from intel agencies about how the warrantless surveillance program works (Louise Matsakis/Wired) אסף מגידש

Twitter blocked a bot that exposed accounts posting racist messages while impersonating Jews after the impostors reported harassment, unsolicited replies, spam (Yair Rosenberg/New York Times) אסף מגידש

CB Insights: ten largest tech companies in US were involved in $2.7B worth of health care equity deals in 2017, up from $277M in 2012 (Natasha Singer/New York Times) אסף מגידש

Pilot program in Guangzhou, one of China's largest cities, allows residents to link their national ID cards to Tencent's WeChat, may roll out nationwide in Jan. (Gabriel Wildau/Financial Times) אסף מגידש

LG and HERE announce partnership to create a telematics product aimed at autonomous vehicles (Darrell Etherington/TechCrunch) אסף מגידש