Techmeme
January 21, 2014, 11:20 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Amazon considering online live TV service, has approached at least three media conglomerates seeking rights to distribute their channels  —  Amazon Considering Online Pay-TV Service  —  Live TV Channels Would Compete With Cable, Satellite  —  Amazon.com Inc. has approached big entertainment companies …
Chris Poole / Chris Hates Writing:
Today my startup failed  —  No soft landing, no happy ending—we simply failed.  —  It's been a long four year journey, full of highs and lows.  I am simultaneously incredibly proud, and incredibly disappointed.  —  I'm incredibly proud of an amazing team and all that they have accomplished.
Jim Edwards / Business Insider:
CONFIRMED: Man Interrogated By FBI For Wearing Prescription Google Glass At The Movies  —  A man who went to the movies with his wife in Columbus, Ohio, was subjected to a terrifying hour-long interrogation by the FBI because employees at the AMC theater saw him wearing Google Glass.
Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:
Google and Apple shuttles will pay to use San Francisco's public bus stops  —  The shuttle buses that transport workers for huge tech firms like Google, Facebook, and Apple between San Francisco and Silicon Valley every day have come under heavy fire lately, but today a vote was passed unanimously …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Developer activates Apple's upcoming iOS in the Car system, shows different interface  —  Ahead of Apple's launch of iOS in the Car later this year, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has seemingly activated the feature inside what we presume is the iOS Simulator. iOS in the Car allows an iOS 7 user …
Marc Andreessen / DealBook:
Why Bitcoin Matters  —  Editor's note: Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has invested just under $50 million in Bitcoin-related start-ups.  The firm is actively searching for more Bitcoin-based investment opportunities.  He does not personally own more than a de minimis amount of Bitcoin.
Outbox Blog:
Snail mail scanning service Outbox is shutting down after less than a year  —  Outbox is Shutting Down—A Note of Gratitude  —  Dear loyal customers and Outbox supporters:  —  We announce today that we are ending the mail service, shutting down the Outbox brand, and focusing our team and resources on a totally new product.
Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Yahoo's Next Problem: Tumblr's Traffic Isn't Growing  —  The past year has been an up-and-down affair for Yahoo , with the company and its CEO, Marissa Mayer, scoring numerous PR coups while failing to make headway in its core business of selling digital advertising.
More: PandoDaily and StartupBook.  Tweets: @jeffbercovici and @nytimesbits.  Thanks:@jeffbercovici
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Yahoo Acquires Mobile Marketing Startup Sparq  —  Mobile marketing company Sparq announced on its site today that it has been acquired by Yahoo.  The company did not disclose the purchase price.  —  Yahoo declined to illustrate the deal's financial details.  Sparq's team will be joining Yahoo's Sunnyvale campus.
Jessica Livingston / Y Combinator Posthaven:
Announcing the Female Founders Conference  —  I'm delighted to announce that Kat Manalac, Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy and I are hosting Y Combinator's first Female Founders Conference on Saturday, March 1.  We're going to gather together female founders at all stages to share stories, give advice, and make connections.
More: TechCrunch, Inc.com and bizjournals.  Tweets: @paulg
Kurt Wagner / Mashable:
Pinterest Is Experimenting With GIFs  —  You may soon be pinning GIFs alongside your favorite meals and workout photos  —  A new Pinterest feature available to select pinners allows them to play GIFs within the platform, a feature that was previously unavailable  —  See also: 15 Stylish Ladies to Follow on Pinterest
Don Clark / Digits:
Mobile gaming company Kabam doubles 2013 revenue to $360M, is “seriously considering” IPO  —  Social Game Maker Kabam Continues Growth  —  Mobile videogame maker Kabam said it tallied more than $360 million in gross revenue in 2013, doubling results from the prior year …
George Anders / Forbes:
Coursera Flirts With Diplomas: Online ‘Specialization’ Is $250  —  Complete your studies at a traditional university, and you earn a cap-and-gown ceremony with a smiling dean handing you a diploma.  Wrap up online instrucxtion, and nothing so thrilling awaits.  But Coursera is about to narrow the gap.
Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:
It doesn't always end in tears: Inside Wealthfront's second orderly CEO switch  —  Adam Nash is replacing Andy Rachleff as CEO of Wealthfront — the company's third CEO in its young life.  Rachleff was the “grown up” who originally replaced founder Dan Carroll, as the company moved out of its early Web 2.0-ish “kaChing” phase.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
GitHub President Becomes CEO, CEO Becomes President In Executive Role Swap  —  So now is the time for top execs at middle-stage technology companies to trade titles with each other apparently: GitHub has just announced that co-founder Tom Preston-Werner will be taking over the role of President …

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough  —  Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
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:
Diwali 2026: Your festive planning checklist with Zoho Notebook  —  The Diwali countdown is on!  From lighting up every corner of the house to going a little overboard with the festive shopping …
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

Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
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.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on Gemini 4 and the AI compute crunch
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.
Machine Gods:
Bots Behaving Badly + Is AI Regulation On The Right Track + Kevin's Sloppelganger
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai: AI's Infinite Possibilities, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products
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.
Cheeky Pint:
How Toto Wolff built the most valuable team in F1
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:20 PM 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

Matt Brian / Engadget:

Earlier Picks

AppleInsider:
Walt Mossberg / Re/code: