Techmeme: Game-rental service Gamefly now getting into movies to compete with Netflix (Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat)

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March 3, 2014, 9:15 PM

Top News

Microsoft Corporation:

Microsoft CEO announces departure of Tony Bates and Tami Reller, names Mark Penn Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Capossela CMO — Satya Nadella announces changes to senior leadership team — In the past month, I've had the opportunity to talk with many of you - in person, on Yammer …

More: Computerworld, LiveSide.net, Re/code, PC Magazine, BetaNews, Business Insider, Computerworld, CNET, Ars Technica, Associated Press, ParisLemon, GeekWire, Businessweek, The Next Web, TechCrunch, TechnoBuffalo and The Baffler

Tweets: @thurrott, @nilofer and @tomwarren

Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:

Microsoft puts creator of ‘Scroogled’ ads in charge of strategy

More: Microsoft Corporation and Forbes

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana will support nicknames, “Notebook” system for accessing personal info, Google Now-like notifications — This is Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri — Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update will include Cortana …

More: xda-developers, TechnoBuffalo, VentureBeat, PC Advisor, Windows Phone Central, DailyTech, App Advice, GeekWire, Electronista, iPhone in Canada Blog, SlashGear and TechSpot

Tweets: @acarboni, @dannysullivan, @tomwarren and @phunnel

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft wants Xbox Live to power Android and iOS games — Xbox Live is primarily used in Microsoft's consoles and Windows or Windows Phone games for achievements, friend lists, and game matchmaking. While Microsoft has experimented with achievements on iOS and Android recently …

Robert McMillan / Wired:

The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin's $460 Million Disaster — From a distance, the world's largest bitcoin exchange looked like a towering example of renegade entrepreneurism. But on the inside, according to some who were there, Mt. Gox was a messy combination of poor management, neglect, and raw inexperience.

More: VentureBeat, PandoDaily and TheDomains.com

Tweets: @courtneynash, @andreasdotorg and @jerrybrito

Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:

MtGox code posted by hackers as company files for bankruptcy protection

More: ZDNet, Dzoba.com, TechCrunch, BGR, The Next Web, CoinDesk, Los Angeles Times, We Live Security and BBC. Tweets: @fosspatents

Paul Liberatore / Marin Independent Journal:

Twitter installing century-old log cabins from Montana in dining room of SF headquarters — Lib at Large: Novato contractor supplies century-old log cabins for new Twitter headquarters — WHAT'S NEW IS old at Twitter's new San Francisco headquarters. — The high-tech firm has a new look …

More: Business Insider, The Verge, Associated Press, Gawker and Mashable

Tweets: @jbenton, @mat, @calebgarling, @kevinroose, @edbott, @mikeisaac, @dangillmor and @karaswisher

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Apple CarPlay in-car initiative debuts with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo — iOS in the Car rebranded with Siri, Maps and third-party music apps all included — Apple has a number of automotive partners for CarPlay. — Apple has rebranded its iOS in the Car initiative as CarPlay …

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Volvo Shows Apple CarPlay In New Video, Says Wi-Fi Connectivity Is “Coming Soon”

More: MacStories, Mercury News, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gizmodo and dailywireless.org

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

First third-party CarPlay apps: Spotify, Beats, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, no maps alternatives

More: Digital Media Wire, Wired, PC Advisor and Computerworld

Marc Andreessen / Andreessen Horowitz:

Marc Andreessen: “I dispute all accusations that I have violated any of my duties to eBay shareholders” — My Statement on eBay Director Role and Governance — False and misleading accusations have been made against eBay and against me in my role as an eBay director.

More: eBay Inc, ValueWalk, New York Times, BuzzFeed and GeekWire

Carl Icahn / Shareholders Square Table:

Marc Andreessen's conflicts on eBay are “clear and insurmountable”

More: Mercury News, CNET, The Next Web and TechCrunch

Eva Dou / Wall Street Journal:

Apple Hiring Engineers in Asia to Speed Product Launches — Tech Company Wooing Workers From HTC, Other Rivals — TAIPEI— Apple Inc. is hiring hundreds of new engineers and supply-chain managers in China and Taiwan as it attempts to speed up product development and launch a wider range of devices.

More: VentureBeat, eWeek, PadGadget, The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, Ubergizmo, iPhone in Canada Blog, Cult of Mac, Phandroid, AppleInsider, DailyTech and iDownloadBlog.com …

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Bill Gates regains world's richest title with net worth of $76B — Forbes today released its annual rankings of the world's richest, and there's a familiar face back on top. — After a four-year hiatus, Bill Gates is once again the world's richest with a net worth of $76 billion — up from $67 billion last year.

More: Forbes, CNET, The Technology Chronicles, BBC, WebProNews, ABC News, Wonkblog, Guardian, Consumerist, TIME, The Verge and USA Today

Tess / Uber Blog:

What Goes Up Must Come Down: Introducing Surge Drop — Last Monday, in his keynote address to the Launch Festival, our CEO Travis hinted at a new feature that would “help smooth out the demand spike” at busy times for driver-partners and give riders an option for bypassing surge.

More: GeekWire, TechCrunch, The Verge, VatorNews and Business Insider. Tweets: @loyalelectron

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Game-rental service Gamefly now getting into movies to compete with Netflix — Updated at 3:40 p.m. PST with a response from Gamefly CEO Dave Hodess. — Video game rental service Gamefly has launched a new movie rental business that will take on Netflix's disc-by-mail business.

More: Engadget, SlashGear and Gigaom Research

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Justice Department Backs Broadcasters in Aereo Dispute — In a Supreme Court filing Monday, the Justice Department backed broadcast networks in their fight against online video streaming startup Aereo. — Justice Department lawyers argued that Aereo's broadcast television streaming service infringes …

More: Gigaom, CNET, Yahoo Tech, Los Angeles Times, Broadcasting & Cable and SlashGear. Tweets: @anildash. See also Mediagazer

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:

Samsung spent nearly $20M on ad time during Oscars; Galaxy Note 3 used for Ellen's selfie shot — Behind Oscar Selfie: Samsung's Ad Strategy — Marketer Spent Nearly $20 Million on Ad Time—and Got Product Placement for Galaxy Phone — Samsung Electronics Co. likely spent nearly $20 million …

More: TechCrunch, Ubergizmo and Phandroid

Tweets: @clairecm, @wsjasia and @ntwood

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Ellen Was On Stage At Oscars With Samsung, Backstage With iPhone

More: The Register, Business Insider, PandoDaily, Gizmodo, ClickZ, Los Angeles Times, blog.chron.com, Examiner and Gotta Be Mobile. Tweets: @markgurman

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Police hid use of cell phone tracking device from judge because of NDA — A police department in Florida failed to tell judges about its use of a cell phone tracking tool “because the department got the device on loan and promised the manufacturer to keep it all under wraps,” …

More: Wired, Gizmodo, ACLU and Hit & Run. Tweets: @sharonvak

Eric Johnson / Re/code:

Zynga Aims for Reinvention With New Mobile Push — Last April, Zynga told shareholders that 2013 would be a “transition year” as the company focused more of its efforts on mobile, where it had fallen behind as competitors like King and Supercell ran up the App Store charts.

More: Zynga Company Blog, VentureBeat, Inside Mobile Apps, Reuters, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Bloomberg, San Francisco Chronicle and Polygon

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Self-Destructing And Encrypted Message App Wickr Raises $9M Series A Led By Alsop Louie — Microsoft's Cortana Gets A Sneak Preview, Looks Like A Circle And Will Call You Whatever You Want — The sale of WhatsApp to Facebook for $19 billion and the heightened awareness of data security …

More: VentureBeat, VatorNews, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @pkedrosky

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft to start nagging Windows XP users about April 8 end-of-support date — Summary: With Windows XP's end-of-support date just over a month away, Microsoft is turning up the warning volume. — On March 8, Microsoft will begin notifying Windows XP users via a pop-up notification …

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Facebook Is Advertising Facebook, Again — Facebook sells $7 billion worth of ads a year. Turns out it can make some pretty slick ones, too: Unlike that weird, properly mocked “Chair” ad it tried out two years ago, the spots in its new batch make plenty of real-world sense …

More: Mashable and CNET. Tweets: @johnpaczkowski and @mikeisaac

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple seemingly turns to Tumblr to promote the iPhone 5c — Apple appears to have taken to Tumblr to start up a new advertising campaign for the iPhone 5c. The campaign is called “Every color has a story,” and the webpage called “ISee5c” appeared within the past couple of days.

More: NEWS.com.au, BGR, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog and IntoMobile

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