Techmeme: American Eagle, Target, and other retailers follow Wal-Mart in opening labs in Silicon Valley (Anne D'Innocenzio/Associated Press)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

November 17, 2013, 12:25 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple Stores to implement iBeacon location technology to improve service, boost sales — iOS 7's flashy launch earlier this year with an entirely new design and streaming music functionality overshadowed a breakthrough new feature: iBeacons, a location-based technology with profound implications for industries such as retail.

More: iMore, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, App Advice, MacRumors, I4U News, iDownloadBlog.com and iClarified

Tweets: @howardlindzon, @markgurman and @markgurman

Chris Davies / SlashGear:

Apple reportedly acquires PrimeSense, company behind original Kinect 3D sensor tech, for $345 million — Apple reportedly buys Kinect tech-creator PrimeSense — Apple has reportedly acquired PrimeSense, the motion-tracking company responsible for the technology in the original Xbox 360 Kinect …

More: MacRumors, The Verge, The Next Web, VentureBeat, iMore, Business Insider, GeekTime, Forbes, TechnoBuffalo, Reuters, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, everythingiCafe, iDownloadBlog.com, Yankee Sabra Limey, Softpedia News and App Advice

Tweets: @markgurman and @joshblake

PR Newswire:

PlayStation 4 Sales Surpass 1 Million Units In North America In 24 Hours — Gamers Immerse Themselves In a New Era of Gaming and Entertainment Only Available on the PS4 system—Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that the highly anticipated launch of the PlayStation®4 …

More: The Verge, HotHardware.com News, Joystiq, Softpedia News, IGN and destructoid

Tweets: @yosp and @amboyes

Adario Strange / Mashable:

Some PlayStation 4 Owners Reporting Defective Consoles — Sony's PlayStation 4 has been widely praised by reviewers as a significant step up from its predecessor, but some early consumers are reporting major problems with the console — Most of the reports are popping up as reviews on Amazon, as well as on Sony's own support forum.

More: The Verge, SlashGear, Tapscape and The Next Web

Anne D'Innocenzio / Associated Press:

American Eagle, Target, and other retailers follow Wal-Mart in opening labs in Silicon Valley — Retailers Take On Silicon Valley — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Software engineers wearing jeans and flip flops test the latest smartphone apps. Walls and windows double as whiteboards where ideas are jotted down.

Tweets: @andreawass and @qthrul

Nick Wingfield / New York Times:

Case of Georgia Tech professor illustrates risks in taking university research commercial — Reaching for Silicon Valley — Joy Laskar was not what you'd typically think of as a threat to public safety. — At the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where he was a professor …

Tweets: @nytimesbusiness and @xamat

Glenn Peoples / Billboard:

Rap Genius and Sony/ATV Reveal Licensing Deal (Exclusive) — Rap Genius, the online lyric site with financial backing from Silicon Valley heavyweights, has signed its first licensing deal. Billboard has learned the Brooklyn-based startup has a licensing agreement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

More: NME, A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, The Trichordist, Digital Trends, The Verge and hypebot

Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech:

Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed — I suppose there's only one way to start this review, and that's by looking back at last year's iPad mini review. In that review I had a section dedicated to the possibility of an iPad mini with Retina Display.

More: PC Magazine, Engadget, Ars Technica, iPhone in Canada Blog, Daring Fireball, SlashGear, LAPTOP Magazine and MacRumors. Tweets: @drbarnard

Derrick Harris / Gigaom:

How Amazon is building substations, laying fiber and generally doing everything to keep cloud costs down — If there's anyone still left wondering how it is that large cloud providers can keep on rolling out new features and lowering their prices even when no one is complaining about them …

More: NYT Bits

Ashlee Vance / Businessweek:

Several companies race to build specialized chips for mining Bitcoins — Bitcoin Mining Chips, a High-Tech Arms Race — The easiest way to get a Bitcoin is to buy one. You can join drug dealers, speculators, and the curious by hopping onto an online exchange and purchasing one unit …

More: Valleywag. Tweets: @bw, @valleyhack and @valleyhack

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Google opens Winter Wonderlab pop-up shops showcasing latest gadgets — Google is opening a series of pop-up shops for the holiday season to show off the Nexus 7, Chromecast, and the latest Chromebooks. The shops, called Winter Wonderlabs, are in six cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Sacramento, Washington, DC, and Paramus, NJ.

More: Mashable, Business Insider, AllThingsD, TechnoBuffalo, 9to5Google, Pocket-lint, SiliconBeat and Droid Life

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Twitter Ditches Redesign Involving Swipeable Streams, Reverts Alpha & Beta Testers To Old, Four-Button Interface — Twitter's tests involving a new mobile interface that would do away with the app's standard four buttons in favor of a “swipeable” menu at the top, have come to a halt.

More: Softpedia News and Engadget

Sponsor Posts

Clay:

Turn any GTM idea into reality — Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.

Soxton:

AI-powered law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

Zoho:

Why now: Building cloud infrastructure that the UAE can rely on — For years, the main question in the UAE was whether organizations should adopt cloud technology. Today, cloud adoption is no longer up for debate.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:

"Engineers are becoming sorcerers" | The future of software development with OpenAI's Sherwin Wu

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Cheeky Pint:

Ben Thompson from Stratechery on AI ads, the end of SaaS, and the future of media

Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.

Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:

The Billionaire Button w/ Tim Wu

Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.

Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.

Great Chat:

No one won the AI Bowl

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Big Technology Podcast:

Who's Winning The AI Race? + Software's Future — With Sridhar Ramaswamy

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:25 PM ET, November 17, 2013.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.