Techmeme
November 20, 2013, 4:35 AM

Top News

Polygon:
Xbox One review: impresses with strong launch titles, succeeds as an entertainment hub  —  Xbox One: The Review  —  The Xbox 360 that exists in 2013 bears little resemblance to the console that Microsoft launched in 2005.  It's so different, in fact, that it helps to think of the company's …
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Overview: Here's how Skype will work on the Xbox One  —  Back in May, Microsoft first announced Skype would be bundled with the Xbox One.  Since then, we've seen glimpses of Skype working on the console, but nothing major as the company was still working hard to nail down as much functionality as possible.
More: Ars Technica and Gigaom
John Herrman / BuzzFeed:
The Great Snapchat Mirage  —  We don't know a single useful number about the hottest company in tech .  Why Snapchat may be much smaller than it sounds.  —  Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images  —  Every few months, since late 2012, Snapchat has released a new number to the public.
TechCrunch:
Reverse Engineering Snapchat's Size Is Impossible...But Here Goes  —  Acquirers and investors fear (missing out on) what they don't understand.  That's one reason Snapchat might not be revealing its user count.  But everyone wants to know.  The problem is that ephemeral messaging isn't like posting to Facebook or texting.
Tweets: @mattzeitlin and @jwherrman
Lance Whitney / CNET:
Brian X. Chen / NYT Bits:
Carriers Reject a ‘Kill Switch’ for Preventing Cellphone Theft  —  Lawmakers in San Francisco and New York are pushing cellphone makers to adopt a so-called kill switch that would allow users to deactivate their phone remotely, discouraging criminals from stealing phones.  But the cellphone carriers are not on board.
Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:
Twitter backtracks and removes option to let users receive direct messages from any follower  —  Last month, Twitter quietly rolled out a new feature to give users the choice to receive private messages from any of their followers, but that option has now been removed.
Alex Wagner / Android and Me:
Nexus Wireless Charger now available from Google Play Store for $49.99  —  Looking to accessorize that shiny new Nexus 5?  Google is happy to oblige.  The company just added its official Nexus Wireless Charger to the virtual shelves of the Google Play Store.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Peter Delevett / Mercury News:
Changes afoot at DFJ: Tim Draper won't be partner in next fund but denies he's leaving  —  Venture firm DFJ denies report that co-founders Tim Draper and John Fisher are on the way out  —  Venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson is denying a report by Fortune Magazine that co-founders Tim Draper …
More: Fortune, AllThingsD and DigitsTweets: @timdraper
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox One SmartGlass lets you snap apps from your phone or tablet  —  Microsoft has started rolling out an Xbox One version of its SmartGlass app for Windows Phone.  While many of the features, including remote control and SmartGlass companions, are the same as the separate and existing SmartGlass …
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Twitter for Android and iOS get search filters, toggle between top and all tweets, trends and events timeline  —  Twitter today updated its apps for Android and iOS with a slew of new features, focusing in particular on search and discovery.  You can download the new version now directly from Google Play and Apple's App Store.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Wikipedia wants PR firm to stop paid editing services, hints at lawsuit  —  For months, Wikipedia has been battling a company called “Wiki-PR,” which purportedly sells paid editing services on the well-known online encyclopedia.  In October 2013, Wikipedia announced it blocked or banned hundreds of editor accounts in response.
Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:
Google releases ‘sneak peek’ of Glass app development kit  —  Back at SXSW, Google announced the Glass Mirror API — the first step in allowing developers to build apps, or “Glassware” for its wearable computing device.  Now, developers will have a whole new set of tools at their disposal: the long-awaited Glass Development Kit (GDK).
DoctorBeet:
LG Smart TVs logging USB filenames and viewing info to LG servers  —  Earlier this month I discovered that my new LG Smart TV was displaying ads on the Smart landing screen.  —  After some investigation, I found a rather creepy corporate video advertising their data collection practices to potential advertisers.

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Russ Frushtick / Polygon:
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