Techmeme
January 20, 2014, 8:20 PM

Top News

Nick Summers / The Next Web:
Nest CEO Tony Fadell vows to make any privacy policy changes transparent and opt-in  —  Following last week's Google acquisition, Nest chief executive Tony Fadell has vowed to make any alterations to its privacy policy opt-in, and to be transparent about such changes to all of its users.
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:
Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions  —  Machinima campaign offered undisclosed money to videos promoting new console The line between traditional, paid advertising and organic editorial content on the Internet can sometimes be hazy.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
HP brings back Windows 7 ‘by popular demand’  —  HP really wants people to buy a Windows 7 PC instead of a Windows 8 machine.  The PC maker has been emailing customers over the weekend noting that “Windows 7 is back.”  A new promotion, designed to entice people to select Windows 7 over Windows 8 …
Kim Zetter / Wired:
Target Got Hacked Hard in 2005.  Here's Why They Let It Happen Again  —  A gang of shadowy hackers tears through the systems of big-box retailers, making off with millions of credit and debit card numbers in a matter of weeks and generating headlines around the country.  —  Target and Neiman Marcus in 2013?
Tweets: @pmarca and @pmarca
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
VLC gets iOS 7 redesign, Google Drive integration, Dropbox streaming, the ability to download files, and more  —  VideoLAN today updated VLC for iOS with a slew of new features, including a new design for iOS 7 as well as Google Drive and Dropbox features.  You can download the new version now from Apple's App Store.
David Meyer / Gigaom:
Fon pulls in $14M as it partners with Qualcomm and Facebook  —  The crowdsourced Wi-Fi network Fon is about to find its way into a whole lot more routers, as Qualcomm and others have plowed $14 million into the Spanish company.  Qualcomm in particular will bake Fon functionality into its Atheros wireless chipsets.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Ex-Vertu designer launches iBeacon competitor for Android  —  Datzing wants to turn your phone into a mobile billboard  —  Location-aware advertising was thrown into the spotlight last year when Apple launched its iBeacon service in 254 stores. iBeacon uses Bluetooth transmitters to push alerts …
Michael Mace / Mobile Opportunity:
After Nest acquisition, Google looks more like a conglomerate than a unified product company  —  Google the Conglomerate: After Nest, No Industry is Safe  —  I've spent many hours trying to puzzle out Google's product plans.  What's the logic behind Google Drive, how does Motorola fit in a software company, and on and on (link).
More: Monday Note.  Tweets: @cdixon and @cdixon

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Azure Content Understanding: Building on lessons from a decade of Document Intelligence  —  What a decade of teaching machines to read real-world documents taught us about what LLMs can and can't do.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Zoho Books now supports CT600 & Final Accounts Filing as an add-on in the FREE plan  —  Managing end-of-year filing for limited companies in the UK is often expensive and multi-layered.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Why every company now needs to think and operate like a lab team | Josh Woodward (Google Labs, Gemini, AI Studio)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Meta & Microsoft's Claude Slowdown, His Agent Leaked His Banking Info, Don't Bully Your AI
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.
Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Bringing Back Mammoths And Building Noah's Ark 2.0 | Colossal's Ben Lamm
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
The launch industrial complex
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Larry Ellison's Media Ambitions & Kevin Roose on AI's Biggest Gamble
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:20 PM ET, January 20, 2014.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:
Luke Edwards / Pocket-lint: