Techmeme
January 21, 2014, 9:45 AM

Top News

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Analysts' estimates for iPhones sold last quarter range from 50M to 60M, or 55.3M on average  —  How many iPhones did Apple sell last quarter?  —  The analysts' estimates range from 50 million to nearly 60 million.  Average: 55.3 million.  —  FORTUNE — There's a lot chatter …
Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:
Verizon agrees to buy Intel's failed internet TV project  —  After publicly announcing and failing to follow through with a big plan to launch a set-top box, Intel is selling the project to Verizon.  The telecoms company will purchase assets of Intel Media, a division set up to develop “over the top” TV services.
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO  —  Okay, I'm calling it: if you're using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop.  Why?  Because over time it's become a more and more spammy practice, and if you're doing a lot of guest blogging then you're hanging out with really bad company.
Walt Mossberg / Re/code:
Beats Music Streams With a Human Touch  —  For years and years, people have predicted that subscription streaming music services would eventually overtake paid download services in the hearts of average consumers.  The theory was that people would rather pay monthly for access to all the music …
Terence Kawaja / Re/code:
Color by Numbers: A new valuation framework for the Ad Tech sector  —  Ad-Tech Valuation: Color by Numbers  —  This past summer, trade press commentary focused on the impending doom of the ad-tech space, pointing to the industry's fragmentation and noting the underperformance of recent IPOs: Millennial Media, Tremor Video and YuMe.
More: AdExchanger and ExchangeWire.comTweets: @cdixon and @pkafka
JC Torres / SlashGear:
Initial D-Wave 2 quantum computer benchmarks show mixed results  —  Google gives an update on D-Wave 2 quantum computer benchmark status  —  As a tech company, Google has been known to branch out into different areas of interests, from self-driving cars to smart wearable technology and, more recently, to robotics.
David Talbot / MIT Technology Review:
In Developing Countries, Google and Facebook Already Defy Net Neutrality  —  In much of the world, the concept of “net neutrality” generates less public debate, given there's no affordable Net in the first place.  —  Net neutrality—the idea that all Internet traffic should generally be treated equally …
More: Wired, BGR and Dice News
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Expedia Lost 25% Of Their Search Visibility In Google Possibly Over Unnatural Links  —  The major travel website, Expedia, seems to have lost 25% of their search visibility in Google according to Search Metrics.  It appears that drop was due to an unnatural link penalty …
More: Search Engine Roundtable and SkiftTweets: @whatthebitThanks:@forrestkoba
Nick Wingfield / New York Times:
Spammers use automated calls and caller ID masking to extract sensitive personal data  —  Swindlers Use Telephones, With Internet's Tactics  —  SEATTLE — Phone swindles are practically as old as the telephone itself.  But new technology has led to an onslaught of Internet-inspired fraud tactics …
MSDN Blogs:
Microsoft Research adopts Open Access policy for publications  —  In a recent interview with Scientific American, Peter Lee, head of Microsoft Research, discussed three main motivations for basic research at Microsoft.  The first relates to an aspiration to advance human knowledge …
Ben Thompson / stratechery:
While Dropbox leads in consumer adoption, Box's early focus on enterprise sales a key strength  —  Battle of the Box  —  The problem with the old thin client model was the assumption that processing power was scarce.  In fact, Moore's Law and the rise of ARM has made the exact opposite the case - processing is abundant.
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.
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.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI that works  —  Tribe builds tech for top AI companies.  Get in touch to learn how our bench of 500+ engineers and researchers can accelerate your roadmap.
Kulkan Security:
Hire Kulkan as your penetration testing partner  —  Kulkan prioritizes deep-dive manual security reviews, dissecting your software and infrastructure to find issues that once remediated can truly reduce security risk.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: ZPortals Web Portals for Zoho  —  Our App Spotlight brings you hand-picked apps to enhance the power of your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all apps, integrations, and extensions.
Mastodon:
Donate to Mastodon  —  Mastodon gGmbH, the non-profit behind the open-source software powering the social web, relies entirely on support from users like you.  Donate directly with a credit card or through Patreon.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (#52)
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 04/15 - Onshoring And Halving
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:45 AM ET, January 21, 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

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Earlier Picks

Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:
Tom Warren / The Verge: