Techmeme
February 21, 2014, 7:00 PM

Top News

TechCrunch:
TestFlight Owner Burstly Acquired By Apple  —  Burstly, the makers of an in-app ad management platform called SkyRocket and the parent company of popular mobile app testing platform TestFlight, has been acquired, we're hearing.  Though we're working to get more information on this now …
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Sources say Amazon readying an Android-based Web TV box competing with Apple TV and Roku, for March rollout  —  Amazon Gets Its TV Box Ready, Again  —  Amazon is gearing up to take on Apple and Roku, again.  —  Industry sources say Amazon is getting ready to launch a Web TV box …
Paul Graham / Y Combinator Posthaven:
Sam Altman for President  —  I'm delighted to announce that Sam Altman has agreed to become president of Y Combinator starting next batch.  I'll continue to do office hours with startups, but Sam is going to lead YC.  —  Why the change?  Because YC needs to grow, and I'm not the best person to grow it.
Colleen Taylor / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman Taking Over As President Of Y Combinator, Replacing Paul Graham At The Helm  —  After nine years at the helm of Y Combinator, Paul Graham is stepping away from his leadership role at the famed Silicon Valley startup incubator.  Taking over as Y Combinator's president is Sam Altman …
Tweets: @loyalelectron
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Crypto weaknesses in WhatsApp “the kind of stuff the NSA would love”  —  Poor implementation of SSL encryption could be a boon to eavesdroppers.  —  WhatsApp, the mobile messaging app developer that Facebook is acquiring for $19 billion, may be an attractive addition to the social network …
Bloomberg:
Roku Said to Be Weighing Initial Public Offering in U.S. in 2014  —  Roku Inc., the maker of set-top boxes that connect TVs to the Internet, is weighing an initial public offering in the U.S. this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.  —  A decision to move ahead hasn't been made …
More: GigaomTweets: @pkafka
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Finally Lets You Block Other Members  —  LinkedIn has at last added a long-requested feature with the introduction of member blocking.  This adds a new privacy control to the service, which lets you restrict access to your profile, direct interactions, and network activity …
Lee Hutchinson / Ars Technica:
Harvard supercomputing cluster hijacked to produce dumb cryptocurrency  —  Love of money can cause people to do unwise things—like stealing time on your university's resident supercomputer to mine crypto-coins.  The Harvard Crimson is carrying the story of someone who did exactly that …
Laura Northrup / Consumerist:
Fitbit Voluntarily Recalls Rash-Inducing Force Wristbands  —  Since the first reports of contact dermatitis caused by Fitbit Force movement trackers surfaced on the company's forums (and gained publicity when Consumerist broke the story last month) customers have asked that the company recall the trackers.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Airbnb hosts must install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors by end of 2014  —  Hosts can request free detectors, first-aid kits, and safety information cards  —  As Airbnb's housing rental service continues to grow in popularity, the company wants to ensure that all guests have a safe stay.
Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:
Sprint launches Wi-Fi calling, turning the Galaxy Mega, S4 Mini into IP phones  —  In the next few weeks, Sprint customers with a Samsung Galaxy Mega or a Galaxy S4 Mini will get an over-the-air software update that will turn their devices into IP phones - at least when they're connected to Wi-Fi networks.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Secret Adds Subscribe/Unsubscribe Options, Post Flagging, Unlinking And More  —  Hot anonymous social network Secret has just pushed an update for its app that addresses a number of issues and improves performance.  The new version allows users to subscribe or unsubscribe to any Secret post by swiping left …
More: Medium, tech.co and The VergeTweets: @ryanlawler
Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:
Direct connection between Comcast and Netflix networks suggests peering agreement reached  —  Breaking: Netflix and Comcast have reached a peering agreement  —  Consumers' troubles with online video may be subsiding — at least for Comcast customers.  Comcast and Netflix appear to have resolved …
Brad Stone / Businessweek:
Invasion of the Taxi Snatchers: Uber Leads an Industry's Disruption  —  Ray Markovich started driving a taxi in Chicago three years ago after shuttering his struggling wireless phone store.  Driving a cab wasn't particularly gratifying or lucrative—he had to pay $400 a week just to lease his 2011 white Ford Escape.

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