Techmeme
December 4, 2013, 8:15 AM

Top News

John Markoff / New York Times:
Andy Rubin heads up a new robotics effort in Google that includes seven acquisitions to date  —  Google Puts Money on Robots, Using the Man Behind Android  —  PALO ALTO, Calif. — In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner.
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Instagram Business Lead Emily White to Be Named COO of Snapchat  —  Emily White, the Facebook executive in charge of bringing advertising to its Instagram photo-sharing unit, is leaving to become COO of Snapchat.  —  The move is a major talent grab by the ephemeral photo and video mobile service …
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Google is building Chrome apps support for Android and iOS, beta release coming as soon as January 2014  —  Google is working on bringing Chrome packaged apps from the desktop to the mobile world.  The company is currently building a toolkit to help developers create Chrome apps for Android and iOS …
Daniel P. Howley / LAPTOP Magazine:
LG G Flex Hands-On: First Self-Healing, Flexible Smartphone  —  The future will not be flat.  That's what LG's Dr. Ramchan Woo declared as he unveiled the new LG G Flex during an exclusive press event in California.  The 6-inch handset is one of the first to offer a curved body that contours …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple, PrimeSense And Perceptive Computing Or: Why Your Phone Will See In 3D  —  Last month Apple confirmed the acquisition of Israeli motion-sensing company PrimeSense.  Initial thoughts turned towards applications in the Apple TV set-top box, but other reports that Apple was interested in its ‘mapping’ capabilities as well.
More: MoneyBeat
Daniel Cooper / Engadget:
Three UK offers free data, text and calls while roaming in the USA  —  Hey hey, it's a party in the USA, or at least, it will be for UK-to-US travelers who are signed up to Three.  The network has just announced that those intrepid pond-hoppers will be entitled to roam with their UK allowances of data, text and calls absolutely free.
Richard Nieva / CNET:
You are the query: Yahoo's bold quest to reinvent search  —  When Yahoo launched its home page redesign in February — its first such overhaul in the Marissa Mayer era — the company's chief executive sent out a jovial tweet:  —  A new experience launching on Yahoo today with a newsfeed …
More: Beyond SearchTweets: @livbarton
Hans Ku / Ptch Blog:
Dreamworks-incubated video-creation app Ptch acquired by Yahoo, shutting down January 2  —  Ptch Joins Yahoo!  —  We launched Ptch just over a year ago.  Our passion and our mission was to give you the best way to make and share beautiful movies made from the photos and videos on your phone.
Paul Mozur / Wall Street Journal:
Inside China's Version of Silicon Valley  —  Entrepreneurs, Investors Rub Elbows in Beijing's Zhongguancun District  —  BEIJING—On the outside, China's answer to Silicon Valley doesn't look the part: It's a crowded mass of electronics malls, fast-food joints and office buildings in northwest Beijing, bisected by congested highways.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
NORAD and Microsoft team on a touch-friendly Santa Claus web tracker  —  NORAD's Santa Claus tracking has officially entered the tablet era.  The defense agency has teamed up with Microsoft on an updated web-based tracker that's designed for touch-friendly browsers, including Internet Explorer 11.
Bloomberg:
China Mobile License Paves Way for World's Largest 4G Network  —  China Mobile Ltd. (941), the world's largest phone company by users, received a license to start commercial service on its fourth-generation wireless network as it tries to attract smartphone users seeking faster downloads.
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Obama administration backs patent troll bill, House vote set for this week  —  The White House has been trying to crack down on patent trolls, and today it's come out in support of a House bill that would begin to do just that.  The bill, Representative Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) Innovation Act …
Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Twitter IPO Sparks Investor Interest in Social Startups  —  DataSift Inc., a startup that makes information from social sites easier to manipulate, wasn't planning on raising money this year — until Twitter Inc.'s initial public offering prompted a surge of investor interest.

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Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Kevin C. Tofel / Gigaom:
Ben Popper / The Verge: