When strong PC “demand signals” began appearing early in the pandemic, “all of us who have exposure to the PC market were wondering” if the robust sales were a “short-term” phenomenon, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su told a virtual Credit Suisse investor conference Monday. “As we've now gone through the last six or seven months, we spent a lot of time talking to our customers” and their customers, she said. “This is more of a longer-lasting situation where the PC has just become essential.” One per household makes sense “if you're only using it an hour in a day,” said Su. “Now it's really about one PC per person.” AMD sees 2021 as “a growth year for PCs, which perhaps we haven't heard in a while,” she said. Its product portfolio is “very focused on some of these higher-end feature sets” that will bode well for “our long-term share-gain prospects,” she said.

Uber closed on its all-stock transaction to buy on-demand delivery platform Postmates, said the ride-hailing company Tuesday. “The two companies have begun the process of integrating U.S. operations,” it said. “As we bring together Uber Eats and Postmates, we're kicking off a regional listening exercise (first virtually and later with in-person sessions when safe to do so) across North America” to better understand merchants’ needs, blogged Stephane Ficaja, head-Uber Eats, U.S. and Canada. “We’ll be partnering with restaurant associations and chambers of commerce to make sure the right folks are in the room, and that our answers are accountable to you.” The goal is to give “restaurants -- and increasingly other types of merchants -- a bigger seat at the table to provide feedback on products in development, policy decisions, and more,” said Ficaja.

A 45% spike in Thanksgiving Day broadband consumption tracked with holiday suspension of Zoom conferencing limits, emailed OpenVault Monday. Zoom lifted the 40-minute limit on free Zoom accounts for all meetings for an 18-hour period “so your family gatherings don’t get cut short.” Average broadband consumption per subscriber was 15.59 GB on Thanksgiving vs. 10.77 GB in 2019. The usage was 9.7% above that on the previous Thursday, it said.

Cyber Monday was on track to become the highest online spending day, said Adobe Analytics Monday, after Black Friday crushed records, soaring 22% to $9 billion. Black Friday was the No. 2 e-commerce day ever, lagging only Cyber Monday 2019. Consumers spent $3.6 billion via smartphones, a 25% increase and 40% of total online spending. Top-selling electronics were Apple's AirPods and Watch, Amazon Echo smart speakers and Samsung TVs. Best Buy advised customers of possible shipping delays, a situation stakeholders have been warning about.

The Supreme Court discussed what constitutes a computer crime, in a case concerning a former police officer who allegedly accepted a bribe to access license plate information. Nathan Van Buren is appealing a 2017 conviction on violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. SCOTUS received briefs from groups concerned about Van Buren’s interpretation of the law and what it could mean for privacy, said Justice Samuel Alito during Monday’s oral argument in Van Buren v. U.S. Government employees and citizens could potentially access highly personal information to make money, break the law or harass people if Van Buren prevails, groups said. In response to a question from Alito, Van Buren’s attorney Jeffrey Fisher said Congress wasn’t concerned about that when passing CFAA, only computer hacking, though lawmakers may want to regulate or criminalize the activity Alito described. The statute is designed to cover “serious breaches of trust,” like looking up personal information without authorization, said Deputy Solicitor General Eric Feigin. Before the court is whether a person authorized to access information on a computer for certain purposes violates CFAA if that user accesses “the same information for an improper purpose.” Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the distinctions Fisher tried to make. Thomas used the example of a car rental employee using GPS information to track a spouse rather than a vehicle, asking whether that would be a violation. The car rental employee is entitled to the GPS information, though there may be a breach of company policy, said Fisher: The question is whether the user is entitled to obtain the information. Justice Elena Kagan said a key question is what “so” means in the statute, referencing its definition of “exceeds authorized access,” which refers to information the “accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter.” Fisher says it means “by accessing a computer,” she said, while Feigin said it means “by using your access.” Fisher has a point, Kagan said: “He is saying that what that prevents is using the statutes as to cases where you could obtain the information in a nondigital manner.”

Rules barring USF recipients from using equipment suppliers that were deemed national security risks should be “technology neutral,” asked the Telecommunications Industry Association in calls last week with aides to FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, per filings posted Wednesday in docket 18-89. “Follow this time-honored technology neutral approach in determining what equipment and services can be used by U.S. providers to replace at-risk equipment.” Some language in the FCC’s draft item “could be read as promoting certain solutions over others,” TIA said.

Intuit must divest Credit Karma’s tax business to buy that company for $7.1 billion, DOJ said Wednesday. The divestiture will “preserve competition for digital do-it-yourself” tax preparation products, DOJ said. Intuit, creator of TurboTax, would need to divest the tax business to Square, the department said: “Today’s divestiture to Square, another highly successful and disruptive fintech company, ensures that taxpayers will continue to both benefit from this competition and benefit from new innovative financial service offerings from both Intuit and Square.” Intuit is “very excited to reach this important milestone,” said CEO Sasan Goodarzi.

Consumers are using different types of payments as they try to shop safely in person and online during the holidays, found the Electronic Transactions Association and Strawhecker Group (TSG). Nearly three-fourths of U.S. consumers will use electronic payments as their first choice, including traditional credit/debit cards, contactless cards and digital wallets. Eight in 10 have used one-click payment, 37% frequently. TSG cited a 9% increase in spending using credit/debit cards Feb. 1-Nov. 1, with COVID-19 accelerating the shift to cards and digital payments. Since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., spending on credit and debit cards jumped 32% in grocery and retail stores. The survey of 961 consumers was fielded Nov. 9-11.

Home Depot settled with more than 40 states Tuesday for $17.5 million over a 2014 data breach that affected some 40 million customers. The settlement requires the company to “tighten its information security program to prevent future breaches,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D): It includes “a comprehensive information security program to protect the integrity and confidentiality of consumers’ personal information.” The company is glad to “put this matter behind us and continue to focus on serving our customers,” a spokesperson emailed, citing free identity protection services, free credit monitoring for customers and heavy investment since 2014. Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro (D) noted the agreement requires employing a “duly qualified Chief Information Security Officer” reporting to senior executives and directors. “The data security measures required by this settlement will help protect the personal information of Marylanders and other consumers throughout the country,” said Maryland AG Brian Frosh (D).

FAA is accepting comment for 30 days on proposed certification of 10 unmanned aircraft systems as “special class aircraft,” the agency said Monday. The agency published Federal Register notices for 3D Robotics, Airobotics, Amazon, Flirtey, Flytrex, Matternet, Percepto, Telegrid, Wingcopter and Zipline electric-powered drones weighing 5 to 89 pounds.