10 things in tech you need to know today (FB, SNAP, GOOG, CSCO)

Mark Zuckerberg

Good morning! Here is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.

1. Facebook is changing the way the News Feed works in six countries. Media organisations that don't pay to have their posts promoted will only see their content show up in users' Explore tab, but not the main feed.

2. Snap reportedly overestimated the demand for its Spectacles. There might be "hundreds of thousands" of unsold units, even though CEO Evan Spiegel previously said it had beaten expectations.

3. A number of users are reporting delays in the estimated shipping time of the Pixel 2 smartphone. Google will offer the affected customers a free Live Case, which normally costs $40 (£30).

4. Tech evangelist Robert Scoble is leaving his virtual reality startup Transformation Group following a number of sexual assault allegations. Cofounder Shel Israel will keep running the company on his own.

5. IT and networking giant Cisco is buying software maker BroadSoft for about $1.9 million (£1.4 million). The move comes as part of an effort to further expand its reach both in software and cloud services.

6. Amazon is shutting down its five-year old Amazon Wine division. The dedicated service's purpose will now be fulfilled by Amazon Prime, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods, which will keep selling a variety of wines at different price points.

7. Images of HTC's upcoming flagship smartphone have leaked. The tentatively named "U 11 Plus" looks similar to the standard U 11, but has far less bezel, a bigger screen, and a fingerprint reader relocated to the phone's back.

8. A new teardown revealed how Google's Pixel smartphone obtained its IP67 water and dust resistance certification. The Mountain View firm didn't just cover the device with a special waterproof coating, but apparently covered the inside of the ports with particular gels typically used in off-roading vehicles.

9. New lines of code inside the Google Search app suggested that the company is working on a touchscreen-enabled, Amazon Echo Show-like device. The tabletop, previously codenamed "Manhattan," is now referred to inside Google's code as "Quartz."

10. Snap updated the Snapchat app on iOS. The new version allows users to share external links inside the chat, and also temporarily disable location sharing for Snap Map without having to turn it off completely.

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