Techmeme
January 13, 2014, 9:40 PM

Top News

Google:
Google to acquire Tony Fadell's smart home startup Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash  —  Google to Acquire Nest  —  Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash.  —  Nest's mission is to reinvent unloved …
Liz Gannes / Re/code:
Google was the only serious bidder for Nest, Apple not in the mix  —  Google Acquires Smart-Home Device Maker Nest for $3.2 Billion  —  Google has acquired Nest Labs, the company founded by Apple iPod creator Tony Fadell, for $3.2 billion.  The smart-home startup makes an innovative digital thermostat, as well as a smoke detector.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Nest Says Customer Data From Devices Will Only Be Used For Nest Products And Services  —  Nest says that it's not going to just hand over its customer data to Google willy-nilly post-acquisition - in a blog post sent to TechCrunch penned by Nest founder Tony Fadell, a question and answer section at the end contains the following:
Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
Facebook acquires link-sharing service Branch for around $15 million  —  Link-sharing service Branch and subsidiary Potluck have agreed to be acquired by Facebook for around $15 million, sources familiar with the deal told The Verge.  Branch CEO Josh Miller broke the news in a Facebook post this morning, but didn't disclose a price.
Simon Khalaf / Flurry:
Mobile Use Grows 115% in 2013, Propelled by Messaging Apps  —  In November 2013, Benedict Evans, a well-respected and widely followed analyst, shared an updated version of his famous slide deck called “Mobile is Eating the World”.  This deck quickly made the rounds on social media …
Matt Mullenweg:
In role swap, Matt Mullenweg becomes Automattic's CEO, Toni Schneider to focus on new products  —  Toni Schneider & Automattic CEO  —  Eight years and one day ago I blogged about Toni Schneider joining Automattic as CEO, as I said then: … Fast-forward roughly two thousand, nine hundred …
Nate Raymond / Reuters:
Apple loses bid to block antitrust monitorship  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc lost a bid on Monday to block an antitrust monitor appointed after a judge's finding that the company conspired to fix e-book prices.  —  At a hearing, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan denied Apple's request …
Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:
A first look at the Beats Music website, with plenty of leaked screenshots  —  Beats Music is scheduled to launch its subscription service by January 21, but over the weekend, I stumbled across a beta version of the website that already let me sign up and snoop around.
Klint Finley / Wired:
Out in the Open: An NSA-Proof Twitter, Built With Code From Bitcoin and BitTorrent  —  When mass political protests erupted throughout Brazil in June, Miguel Freitas did what countless others did: He followed the news on Twitter.  Tweets revealed information he couldn't get anywhere else, including the mainstream media.
More: Daily DotTweets: @trevortimm
Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:
Sprint's ‘One Up’ early upgrade plan axed after just four months  —  Sprint's One Up early upgrade plan is no more.  With the announcement of the plan last September, Sprint joined T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon in offering a way for customers to upgrade their handset mid-contract.
Rich McCormick / The Verge:
Nokia's Android phone appears in prototype form  —  Images of Nokia's Android phone — code-named Normandy — were published in November, showing what purported to be a low-cost smartphone that would run with a custom implementation of Android.  Now another picture of the phone has appeared on Twitter …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft, GoDaddy partner on Office 365 plans for small businesses  —  Summary: GoDaddy will be offering its small-business customers a choice of three Mirosoft Office 365 plans, including one for $12.49 a month that includes desktop versions of Office.  —  Microsoft and GoDaddy are extending …
Liam Boogar / Rude Baguette:
Taxi protest in Paris turns to guerrilla warfare as Uber car attacked on freeway  —  The right to protest has always been powerfully upheld in France - whether it's protesting an immigrant's right to healthcare, the closing of a factory, or even Taxis, who have perfected the art of making their voice heard …

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