Techmeme
October 31, 2013, 3:45 PM

Top News

The Official Google Blog:
Android for all and the new Nexus 5  —  Just in time for Halloween, we have two new treats for Android fans.  First, we're excited to unwrap our latest platform release, KitKat, which delivers a smarter, more immersive Android experience to even more people.  And second, we're introducing Nexus 5—a new Nexus phone developed with LG.
TechCrunch:
Android 4.4 KitKat Targets Google's Next Billion Users, Adds Pervasive Search & Improves Google Now  —  Today Google announced details of its long-awaited Android 4.4 KitKat operating system for the first time, going beyond just the candy bar branding.  KitKat is designed around three major tentpoles …
Roger Cheng / CNET:
Nexus 5 available on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile but not on Verizon, to sell in carrier stores too  —  With Nexus 5, Google finally gets flagship phone treatment  —  The Nexus franchise is finally getting a little respect.  —  Google on Thursday pulled the wraps off its latest marquee smartphone …
More: 9to5Google and IntoMobileTweets: @dannysullivan
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google's Nexus 5 with KitKat available today, starting at $349: hands-on impressions  —  Google's Nexus program has a simple goal: make the best, purest, most perfect Android phone.  And, beginning with last year's Nexus 4, Google did all that at a remarkable price, charging with no strings attached …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
New FAA Guidelines Permit More Device Use, All The Way From Take-Off To Landing  —  For years now, most of us have been quietly not turning off our phones and devices at landing and take off, and merely putting the screens to sleep and stuffing them in seat pockets instead.
Michael Winter / USA Today:
Coast Guard visits mysterious ‘Google barge’  —  Agency mum on trip and San Francisco vessel's purpose, citing “commercial confidentiality.”  —The Coast Guard on Wednesday visited the mysterious “Google barge” floating in San Francisco Bay, but the agency would not reveal anything about the tech giant's hush-hush vessel.
Alex Wayne / Bloomberg:
Google, Red Hat, Oracle contributing dozens of engineers, designers to fix HealthCare.gov  —  Google, Oracle Workers Enlisted for Obamacare ‘Tech Surge’  —  Google, Red Hat, Oracle and other companies are contributing dozens of computer engineers and programmers to help the Obama administration fix …
More: TechCrunch and ZDNet
Matt McGee / Marketing Land:
Google's Glass Accessory Store Is Coming Online (Wow.  Stuff's Expensive!)  —  Google is bringing an official accessory store for Google Glass online this evening, based on reports first shared in a private Google forum for Glass Explorers.  —  The store appears to be part of the “My Glass” …
Matt Buchanan / New Yorker:
After Walt Mossberg and David Pogue: Waiting for the Next Great Technology Critic  —  For well over a decade, the two most influential voices about consumer technology have been a sixty-six-year-old man who lives just outside of Washington, D.C. and a fifty-year-old man who resides in Westport, Connecticut.
Somini Sengupta / New York Times:
No U.S. Action, So States Move on Privacy Law  —  State legislatures around the country, facing growing public concern about the collection and trade of personal data, have rushed to propose a series of privacy laws, from limiting how schools can collect student data to deciding whether the police need a warrant to tap cellphones.
Doug Madory / Renesys:
Google DNS Departs Brazil Ahead of New Law  —  In response to recent NSA spying allegations, Brazil is pressing ahead with a new law to require Internet companies like Google to store data about Brazilian users inside Brazil, where it will be subject to local privacy laws.
More: PC World and emptywheelTweets: @netfreedom and @scharlab
Rich McCormick / The Verge:
Steam rises to 65 million active users, eclipsing Xbox Live  —  Steam now has more than 65 million active accounts.  The figure marks a 30 percent rise in players over the last year.  The video game digital download platform also boasts daily peak concurrent users of more than six million.
Rachel King / ZDNet:
Salesforce.com adds private storefront option to AppExchange  —  Summary: Essentially, the idea is to satisfy employee demands for the latest web and mobile apps within the boundaries of each IT department's rules and regulations.  —  SAN FRANCISCO—Salesforce.com's annual (and ever-growing) …
Bloomberg:
AT&T Is Said to Explore Vodafone Takeover as Soon as Next Year  —  AT&T Inc. executives are laying the groundwork internally for a potential takeover of Vodafone Group Plc next year, mapping out a strategy for a complex deal with Europe's largest mobile carrier, people familiar with the situation said.

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Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Washington Post:
Josh Lowensohn / CNET: