Tech News
Tech News and Analysis from around the web
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
ServiceTitan, which offers cloud software to contractors, prices its IPO at $71 per share, above the expected range, raising ~$625M and valuing it at ~$6.3B — ServiceTitan, a provider of cloud software to contractors, priced its IPO at $71 a share on Wednesday, above the expected range.
Muyao Shen / Bloomberg:
Binance and Circle partner to promote USDC; Binance plans to list more crypto trading pairs denominated in USDC and hold USDC for its own corporate treasury — - Circle faces increased challenges in the stablecoin market — Binance will support more USDC usage on its platform
Zaheer Kachwala / Reuters:
Filing: Microsoft expects an $800M charge in Q2 2025 over GM's exit of the Cruise robotaxi business, after acquiring a minority stake in Cruise in January 2021 — Microsoft (MSFT.O) expects to record an impairment charge of around $800 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 over General Motors' …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
The Nasdaq closes up 1.8% to pass 20,000 for the first time, pushing the tech-heavy index up 33% for the year; Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta close at record highs — Alphabet and Tesla climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, closing at all-time highs alongside Amazon and Meta as the tech megacaps lifted …
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT Tech Guild, with 600+ members, reaches a tentative deal with management on a contract enhancing job security, setting flexible hybrid schedules, more — The union, which represents some 600 tech workers at the publication, had been negotiating for a contract for more than two years.
Sheena Vasani / The Verge:
Google rolls out two updates to Android's unknown tracker alerts feature, letting users pause location updates from their phone and pinpoint unfamiliar trackers — Google is rolling out two new updates to its unknown tracker alerts feature that should make it easier for Android device owners …
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Adobe reports Q4 revenue up 11% YoY to $5.61B, vs. $5.54B est., Digital Media revenue up 12%, forecasts FY 2025 revenue below est.; ADBE drops 8%+ after hours — - Fiscal year sales, profit forecasts fall short of estimates — Software maker plans a new higher-priced tier for AI tools
Wes Davis / The Verge:
The ultrawide Mac display option in visionOS 2.2 is very close to being a killer app and makes the Vision Pro's price feel a little closer to right — Since its release, I've mostly used Apple's Vision Pro like a movie theater. … Today, that's finally starting to change.
Jane Lanhee Lee / Bloomberg:
Ayar Labs, which develops optical interconnects, raised a $155M Series D from Advent Global, Light Street, Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and others at a $1B+ valuation — - Optical interconnect designer Ayar Labs raised $155 million — The California company is now valued at more than $1 billion
A valued tester of WordLand asked a series of questions, which I answered in some detail, and felt it was a good idea to post the answers here on my blog.
- Any kind of feedback you want to give is totally welcome. I'd prefer it be in the GitHub issues section so it might inspire other people to contribute.
- Re image insertion, I'm not sure it could be simpler. The goal is to get an image into the user's document. If it succeeded at doing that then I'm happy with the design. ;-)
- The target audience is writers who use WordPress. The idea is to put all the features writers need in one place, rather than scattered around the WP interface. And to use modern UI techniques you'd see in social web apps.
- I've tried to answer the questions you raised in the only way I can. For example I need to use a term for the arrows that move you through the stories you've written. They aren't all posts, but they are all drafts. I can explain that in the docs, but I seriously doubt if anyone would read them. There is a distinction and it's important to make that distinction. I also don't think it's crucial to get that one "right" -- not that I think there is a right answer to that one other than removing the feature, which I like having there because it emphasizes that we're working with a set of documents that you can edit.
- In all cases, you could raise any issue you have, I will think about what you say, but accept my response, and trust that I've incorporated your experience as data that might inspire a change in the design at some point.
- But do understand that a lot of thought has already gone into this, and a quick review by a new user is no substitute for a product design.
- I know the docs are non-existent. I am limited in the time I have and the commitments I've made. The truth is that even dedicated users won't read them. I know that by the questions they ask. But I will write the docs.
- What I suggest is you try using the product for its intended purpose, and assume that all feedback is welcome (it is) but once it has been registered, you should move on to the next thing.
- I've worked with testers many times going back a very long time. I've even hired testers. I don't take offense to critiques of the software.
BTW, if after reading this, you think you could be this kind of tester for WordLand, and you have experience with WordPress, and a site on wordpress.com, and are excited about the idea of a simple way to write and manage lots of documents in a WordPress environment, please fill out this form, I'll read it right away, and if it seems like a fit, I'll authorize your account.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple adds Layered Recordings to the Voice Memos app in iOS 18.2, for the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max; iOS 18 previously brought transcriptions to Voice Memos — Alongside the release of a host of new AI features, Apple is also updating the Voice Memos app in iOS 18.2.
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
A global outage has hit Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, starting at approximately 12:40pm ET; Meta says it's “99% of the way” to resolving the issue — Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp suffered a massive worldwide Wednesday afternoon, with services impacted in varying degrees based on user's region.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple's macOS Sequoia 15.2 update references a “MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025)” and a “MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025)” — Apple today made a mistake with its macOS Sequoia 15.2 update, releasing the software for two Macs that have yet to be launched.
Alexander Maxham / Android Headlines:
Sources: Google Pixel 9a will cost $499 for the 128GB model with Tensor G4, 8GB of RAM, a 6.3" screen with 2,700 peak nits, 5,100mAh battery, 23W wired charging — We're getting closer and closer to the Pixel 9a being announced by Google. While we've already confirmed a number of specs about the device …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple Intelligence launches outside of the US for the first time and is now available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, and South Africa — Apple Intelligence is officially launching outside of the U.S. for the first time today, as a result of the features gaining expanded language support.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google unveils the lower-latency Gemini 2.0 Flash model, which can generate images, audio, and text and use 3rd-party apps and services, rolling out in January — Google's next major AI model has arrived to combat a slew of new offerings from OpenAI. — On Wednesday, Google announced Gemini 2. Flash …
Bingeworthy has an RSS feed (not public yet), and new ratings show up in my blogroll, of course.
Many Tesla drivers wish they'd evict Elon Musk. On the other hand can your car do this?
Yesterday I did a podcast about why it's important to choose humble names for groups of developers working on open formats, using podcasting as an example. Another case in point, the Social Web Foundation, which is about ActivityPub and the Fediverse, when there are many other forms of the social web. Here's where the rubber meets the road. They're having a meeting in Brussels where people can demo their social web apps, but it's only about ActivityPub. If you have a project for Bluesky, or Threads, or non-ActivityPub Mastodon, or RSS for that matter, you should feel welcome there, regardless of what their Call For Participation says.