GiveDirectly and Google.org are using AI mapping and satellite imagery to find low-income hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico and Florida and send cash payments (Adele Peters/Fast Company)

Victoria Song / The Verge:
Hands-on with Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite, rolling out now: the feature works well, texting via satellite takes a while, and users should try the demo  —  You don’t have to hold your arm up to get a signal, though there is a lot of turning around and waiting when trying to connect to satellites.

Katie Notopoulos / BuzzFeed News:
Apple’s video montages for the new Watch and iPhone 14 safety features, like satellite emergency calling and car crash detection, are ominous and unsettling  —  The newly unveiled Watch and iPhone 14 features — car crash detection, satellite emergency calling, extreme weather — all seem a little ominous.

Reuters:
China says automakers now require licenses for “smart cars” collecting mapping data, which could further complicate the local operations of companies like Tesla  —  China has said that automakers must apply for licences to collect geographic data using sensors on their intelligent vehicles …

TechCrunch:
BrandTotal and Unimania agreed to a permanent injunction banning them from using and scraping Facebook and Instagram, and will pay a “significant financial sum”  —  Facebook parent Meta has settled a lawsuit in the U.S. against two companies that had engaged in data scraping operations …

Paul Thurrott / Thurrott:
Google’s latest Pixel drop brings VPN by Google and Clear Calling to Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, automatic speaker labels in the Recorder app to Pixel 6 and up, and more  —  Google today announced the latest Pixel drop, which brings new features to Pixel phones, Pixel Watch, and Pixel Buds.

Michael Sheetz / CNBC:
SpaceX announces Starshield, expanding Starlink for military and government applications, initially focusing on imagery, communications, and “hosted payloads”  —  – Elon Musk’s SpaceX is expanding its Starlink satellite technology into military applications with a new business line called Starshield.