As Monday morning rolls in, we’re providing TechWire readers with a quick recap of the past week’s news headlines.
Notable news stories from last week included: NC State revealed more details about the rezoning request to reshape its Centennial Campus; NC IDEA awarded $350,000 in seed grants to seven NC startups; Cary-based Epic Games is taking its case against Apple to Australia, arguing Apple is in breach of the country’s consumer laws; ventilator manufacturer IPM Chirana chose Durham for its new corporate HQ; Duke is expanding its quantum computing center in Durham; eight North Carolina firms made it to Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500 list; home prices are up and selling faster in the Triangle and Charlotte; ApiJect Systems is building an $800 million “gigafactory” in Durham to manufacture vaccines; NC TECH unveiled the winners of the 2020 Tech Awards (lists here, here and here); check out our coverage of last week’s much-anticipated NC IDEA Ecosystem Summit here, here, here and here.
And, in national news: Amazon launched its digital drug store service; Apple slashed its app store fees from 30% to 15% for developers that generate less than $1 million; at over $18,000, the price of Bitcoin is nearing its previous all-time high from December 2017; Buzzfeed is buying HuffPost from Verizon; IBM is reportedly planning to cut thousands of jobs.
Keeping with our Monday “TechWire Rewind” tradition, here’s a look back at 89 local, state and national headlines as reported by WRAL TechWire last week:
MONDAY | Nov. 16 Headlines:
- Bright side of COVID: 7 factors reshape economy, create opportunities, UNC expert says
- ‘Entrepreneurs will lead the recovery from challenging times,’ says NC IDEA’s top exec at Summit
- Global, autonomous vehicle collective soars in Wake Forest
- HBO Max is coming to Amazon Fire TV – but not yet to Roku
- IBM makes another cloud deal, this time a big IT srevices and consulting firm
- Loading Dock breaks ground for new coworking center in Wake Forest
- Looking for best deals on new iPhones? Check out this list
- Looking for meetups & tech user groups? Here’s our guide to 152 in the Triangle
- NC headliners: Previewing 30+ statewide events & deadlines through Nov. 30
- NC IDEA’s virtual Ecosystem Summit kicks off today
- On the horizon: Previewing 90 events & deadlines for your December calendar
- PNC, which has big presence in Triangle, to buy Spanish bank US subsidiary for $11.6B
- PPD lands praise from partner Moderna which reports strong results for COVID-19 vaccine
- Red Hat attacks COVID-19 on 2 fronts: Partnering with WHO, artificial intelligence firm
- SpaceX launches full ‘taxi’ flight as Musk – hit by COVID – watches remotely
- Startup Rewind: From latest deals to more funding sources, headlines from Nov. 9-15
- Startup Spotlight: What a Biden presidency might mean for tech world
- TechWire Rewind: Raleigh No. 3 Tech Town; Epic-Apple lawsuit update; Centennial Campus vision + 78 more headlines
- Triangle gene editing startup AgBiome spins off group to life science portfolio firm
- Triangle’s coworking market keeps changing – our Startup Guide offers latest info
- Triangle headliners: Previewing 50 webinars & events coming up rest of this month
- UNC researchers believe a mutation may make COVID-19 more vulnerable to a vaccine
TUESDAY | Nov. 17 Headlines:
- Amazon Pharmacy launches – your prescriptions via home delivery
- Charlotte fintech startup targeting philanthropic sector raises millions in new funding
- E-cig users may be at greater risk for flu, COVID than smokers says UNC study
- Epic can now add real-time facial expressions to Fortnite, other games (+ watch a video of tech works)
- Fortnite, Epic Games deliver more than 1 billion hours of streaming – but is Apple ban hurting?
- Injectable cholesterol drug may boost cancer immunotherapies, Duke researchers say
- Inside Centennial Campus rezoning request – Here’s what NCSU wants
- In the LimeLight: The Launch Place picks 8 startup finalists for Big Launch Challenge
- Invest like Warren Buffett? Here’s his latest big bets on stocks – pharmas, T-Mobile
- Silicon Valley online grocer offering free delivery is expanding to Triangle
- Syneos Health names veteran pharma IT exec as chief information officer
- Tesla faces continuing federal safety investigation – but it’s headed for S&P 500
- Toshiba names new CEO for commerce solutions group in RTP
- Triangle lands a new corporate HQ – a ventilator manufacturer
- Triangle startups land 6 of 7 $50,000 NC IDEA grants
- Wake Tech invests in esports arena, with eye on national championship competition coming to Raleigh
WEDNESDAY | Nov. 18 Headlines:
- Apple slashes app store fees to 15% for new small business program – won’t apply to Epic
- Bandwidth, Credit Suisse, Stratifyd, LearnPlatform, mesur.io, Lex Loci earn NC TECH awards
- Bitcoin heading toward record highs in price ($20,000) and in circulation ($300B)
- Carteret County makes a name for itself as a retirement haven
- Construction begins for Duke University’s new quantum computing center
- Deloitte Tech Fast 500 includes 8 NC firms from Triangle, Charlotte
- DUALBOOT PARTNERS: The Carolina’s tech problem
- Epic’s Tim Sweeney takes Fortnite legal battle against Apple to Australia
- Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s startup aims to organize your contacts
- Fresh from raising $200M, British biotech with an HQ in Raleigh mulls targeting COVID-19
- Get Spiffy rolls out another new product: Digital Service for auto dealers
- Gig East Virtual Summit 2020 underway featuring wide variety of speakers, subjects
- How do we achieve greater board diversity? Here are solutions to make this happen
- How do we ‘reset’ ecosystems? Empathy and equality are crucial, says Fed official
- IBM keeps up ‘cloud’ attack with acquisition of application management tech startup
- NC IDEA spells out aggressive agenda for Black Entrepreneurship Council
- Triangle’s start-up ecosystem fosters the birth and growth of businesses of all types
- Twitter launches ‘Fleets’ – tweets that disappear in 24 hours
THURSDAY | Nov. 19 Headlines:
- Apple is paying another $113M to settle more iPhone battery cases
- BuzzFeed acquires HuffPost in multi-part digital media deal with Verizon
- Fortnite returning to Apple devices soon through chip maker NVIDIA’s GeForce network
- Gene editing success could turn Triangle startup Locus Biosciences into a billion dollar unicorn
- ‘Gigafactory’ campus for vaccine production, hundreds of jobs coming to Triangle
- Homes selling faster and at higher prices in Triangle, Charlotte despite pandemic
- JPMorgan: ‘American horror story’ could be coming for Wall Street investors
- JPMorgan upgrades Cree for ‘pole position’ in electric vehicle market; stock surges
- NC TECH honors startups, several firms, individuals with annual awards
- New ‘Home Swap’ program aims to help buyers, sellers make deals faster, easier
- New wireless, implantable chip from NCSU could help fight Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
- Syneos Health ups fund raising to $600M, eyes more acquisitions
- Tech firms are slashing jobs – here’s how to save money without cutting off heads
- ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ heading to HBO Max just in time for Christmas
FRIDAY | Nov. 20 Headlines:
- A big day for Triangle women in tech: Hundreds tune in xElle Ventures pitch event
- After modifying crops to kill pests the bugs adapt – what will farmers do now?
- BUILDING1: Home sellers in the triangle see a ‘V-shaped’ recovery
- Don’t expect our economy to ever be the same again – here’s why, says NCSU economist
- Dr. Joseph DeSimone, IBM’s Tim Humphrey win NC Tech Beacon awards
- Epic Games CEO ignites a firestorm by comparing his Apple lawsuit to civil rights movement
- Fed, US Chamber criticize Trump admin for pulling plug on COVID loan programs
- Founder of bioengineered human tissue firm Humacyte takes over as CEO, leaves Yale U.
- GM accelerates plans on electric vehicles, promises better and cheaper batteries
- IBM is moving to cut thousands of jobs, reports and workers say
- Labor Dept. orders Lenovo to pay employee $108,152 for violating family leave act
- Lilly signs gene editing deal worth up to $555M with Durham’s Precision BioSciences
- The roaches are scrambling: Apple’s cut in fees shows Big Tech is on the run
- The Triangle’s November 2020 Live, Work & Play Report by CBRE | Raleigh
- ‘This winter will be grim:’ JPMorgan warns economy will ‘contract again’
Weekend Reading:
- Can bitcoin – which is sizzling in price – replace gold? Yes, says big investor
- FDA approves first drug to treat rare disease that causes rapid aging in children
- IBM apologizes 52 years later for firing transgender pioneering engineer
- Work-from-home plan pays people $10,000 to move to Tulsa – here’s how it works
