Techmeme
April 18, 2014, 5:30 AM

Top News

Jan Senderek / Loom:
Dropbox acquires Loom, will shut it down and migrate users to Carousel by May 16  —  Loom is joining Dropbox  —  We have some exciting news that we wanted to share with you.  Loom is now officially part of Dropbox, and we couldn't be happier to join forces!
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
UberX adds $1 ‘Safe Rides Fee’ for passengers, reinstates 20% commission fee for drivers  —  UberX customers, take note: Your rides are about to cost a little more.  In an email sent to UberX Seattle drivers, the company notes a new “Safe Rides Fee,” that takes effect today.
Kim Zetter / Wired:
Grams, a Tor-accessible search engine for contraband, aims to be the Google of Dark Web  —  New ‘Google’ for the Dark Web Makes Buying Dope and Guns Easy  —  The dark web just got a little less dark with the launch of a new search engine that lets you easily find illicit drugs and other contraband online.
More: TechSpot, The Verge, Gizmodo and SC MagazineTweets: @wired
The Sonos Blog:
Sonos software update lets it connect completely wirelessly, $50 Bridge unit no longer needed  —  Our Vision for Rock-Solid Wireless, Evolved  —  From the archives: drawing of the original Sonos architecture, 2003.  —  We created the Sonos Wireless HiFi System to provide music lovers …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Launches “Nearby Friends” With Opt-In Real-Time Location Sharing To Help You Meet Up  —  Today Facebook begins rolling out a new opt-in feature called Nearby Friends.  It lets friends see approximately how far away you are from them, and you can share your exact, on-going location with them for a limited time.
Bertel King, Jr / Android Police:
Unfinished ‘Easy Unlock’ Feature Creeps Into Chrome OS Dev  —  A new feature has snuck into the Chrome OS dev channel that, while not yet fully baked (okay, it's still mostly a block of ice), could one day allow users to unlock their Chromebooks automatically just by having their phone in close proximity.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Ubuntu 14.04 will power “first commercially available Ubuntu tablets”  —  From May 2013, a tablet running an early version of Ubuntu Touch.  —  Andrew Cunningham  —  Canonical today is releasing Ubuntu 14.04, a Long Term Support (LTS) edition for desktops and servers and an update to the versions of Ubuntu for phones and tablets.
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
GoogolPlex intercepts Siri commands, lets it control third-party apps like Spotify and Google Maps  —  College kids gave Siri new powers and now you can too  —  We already know Apple is working on improving Siri, but gosh dangit, the folks in Cupertino just aren't moving as fast as some would like.
Brad Chacos / PC World:
Apache OpenOffice hits major 100 million downloads milestone in under 2 years  —  Microsoft's Office may be the go-to productivity suite in the business world, but there's apparently plenty of room out there for challengers to thrive: On Thursday, the Apache Software Foundation announced …
Martyn Williams / PC World:
Exclusive: Google's Project Loon tests move to LTE band in Nevada  —  Google has expanded its Project Loon tests to the Nevada desert and, for the first time, into licensed radio spectrum.  —  Google declined to comment on the secret trials, but a local official confirmed they are related to Project Loon …
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
Instacart Could Raise A Big New Round Of Funding Valuing It At $400 Million  —  On-demand grocery startup Instacart is fielding term sheets for a big new round of funding, according to sources.  We've heard the new financing could be led by a non-VC investor, and according to one source it would value the company at up to $400 million.
Alex Hern / Guardian:
Tor may be forced to cut back capacity after Heartbleed bug  —  The secure service may have to remove vulnerable servers affected by the bug, the network's co-founder warns  —  Tor, the secure networking service, may have to close down an eighth of its capacity as a result of the Heartbleed flaw.
Josh Ong / The Next Web:
Microsoft's Xbox One passes 5M units sold to retailers, but Titanfall boost not enough to beat Sony  —  Microsoft today announced that it has sold over 5 million Xbox One consoles to retailers around the globe, but sales of the system have still lagged behind rival Sony's PlayStation 4.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
One Medical Group Raises $40M To Help Reinvent The Doctor's Office  —  Disruptive primary care medical practice One Medical Group, is announcing $40 million in growth capital led by Redmile Group, with participation from current institutional investors.  The company previously raised $77 million …

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Is AI just hype?  —  Find out how top enterprises use Tribe to get real business results.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Zoho:
All new Zoho Workerly 2024  —  Staffing businesses around the world face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their temporary workforce.  With a constantly shifting job market and changing staffing needs …
Comprehensive.io:
Browse salary data from 3,000 startups for free  —  Click for FREE, immediate access to real-time compensation benchmarking data.  Paid version helps HR automate comp reviews and communicate total compensation to employees.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Henry Shukman, Lessons from an Authentic Zen Master
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Wed. 03/27 - Hulu Comes To Disney+; WWDC Gets A Date
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 5:30 AM ET, April 18, 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

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Kelton Lynn / The Twitter Blog: