10 things in tech you need to know today
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.
- Facebook investors want an independent investigation into Mark Zuckerberg's "outsized" power. The demand opens up a new front in the war on Mark Zuckerberg's power after independent shareholders voted overwhelmingly to oust him as chairman last week.
- Three senior Facebook security workers are out amid investigations into finances and misconduct allegations. Sources said one of the suspended workers acted in an aggressive manner - swearing at other workers, carrying a knife, and drinking in the workplace.
- Apple unveiled the next version of its iPhone software, iOS 13. The updates introduce dark mode, a rebuilt Maps app, and a slew of new photo-editing and privacy features.
- Apple is getting roasted over its $1,000 stand for a computer screen. The 32-inch Pro Display XDR monitor itself starts at $5,000, but that price doesn't include the stand - which costs another $1,000.
- A Google exec explained the difficulties of learning the tech giant's internal lingo and said there's a site just for translating code names. Google's new partnerships executive Lori Conkling said she sometimes sat in meetings at Google with no idea what was being discussed.
- The new CEO of $3.9 billion Snowflake dismissed the idea that he was brought in to hurry an IPO as "the dumbest thing I've ever heard," and says it could go public within 3 years. Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman denies that his predecessor, Bob Muglia, was removed over his reluctance to take the company public, and that he was hired specifically to rush out an IPO.
- Huawei's plan to replace Android with its own operating system is likely doomed from the start, according to mobile industry experts. Building an operating system is easy; developing the services and app ecosystem to go with it isn't, they said.
- Apple has backtracked massively and is allowing parental control apps to use a technology it called "highly invasive" just weeks ago. Apple says it will let screen-time-control apps use Mobile Device Management tech in some cases after removing them from the App Store earlier this year for using that exact same software.
- YouTube has weighed in after a Vox journalist accused YouTuber Steven Crowder of harassing him on the basis of his sexuality and ethnicity, the Verge reports. YouTube concluded Crowder calling journalist Carlos Maza a "lispy queer" - among other things - did not break its community guidelines
- Apple says although it's killing iTunes on Mac, users on Windows will still have access to their libraries. For Mac users their media will be broken up across several apps.
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