Techmeme: HTC hires former Samsung marketing chief Paul Golden, who helped create the Galaxy brand (Eva Dou/Wall Street Journal)

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April 18, 2014, 11:10 AM

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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.

More: Uber Blog, Business Insider, PandoDaily, CNET, Engadget, Gigaom, The Technology Chronicles and The Next Web

Tweets: @mulligan, @hunterwalk, @dsilverman, @owenthomas and @caseynewton

Eva Dou / Wall Street Journal:

HTC hires former Samsung marketing chief Paul Golden, who helped create the Galaxy brand — HTC Hires Former Samsung Marketing Chief — Paul Golden Helped Create Galaxy Brand at South Korean Company — HTC Corp. is hoping to nab a bit of that Samsung shine, as it has hired …

More: Bloomberg, VentureBeat, BGR, MobileBurn.com, Businessweek, Phandroid, CNET, The Verge, Android Central and Digital Trends

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, SC Magazine and Gizmodo. Tweets: @wired

Parmy Olson / Forbes:

Connected device companies like Nest And Fitbit start side businesses selling data to utilities and health insurers — The Quantified Other: Nest And Fitbit Chase A Lucrative Side Business — The real value in smart gadgets may be not in what they tell you but in what they say to your doctor, insurance company and utilities.

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @fitbit, @forbestech, @bupbin and @jeffbercovici. Thanks:@parmy

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

App Search Engine Quixey Acquires Competing Service Kite.io — Mobile app search engine Quixey, backed by $75 million from Alibaba, Innovation Endeavors, Translink Capital and others, has put some of those dollars to use by acquiring a smaller, competing app search startup, San Francisco-based Kite.io.

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

3 Million Customer Credit, Debit Cards Stolen in Michaels, Aaron Brothers Breaches — Nationwide arts and crafts chain Michaels Stores Inc. said today that two separate eight-month-long security breaches at its stores last year may have exposed as many as 3 million customer credit and debit cards.

More: Business Wire, BGR, Arts & Crafts, ZDNet, VatorNews, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, Electronista and Reuters

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Analytics Now Lets You Track Web And App Data In A Single View — Here is a small but important update to Google Analytics: Developers can now create a single reporting view that includes both web and app data. Google says this will help businesses that have multiple digital touchpoints …

More: Google Analytics Blog and WebProNews

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.

More: Engadget, Softpedia News, insights.ubuntu.com, eWeek, BetaNews, Computerworld, Electronista, eWeek, V3.co.uk, ZDNet, Ubuntu Wiki, Inquirer and Liliputing

Jonathan Kizer / 9to5Google:

Try before you buy: Google launches home try-on program for Glass — Google is allowing potential Explorers to try Glass before they shell out the $1,500 to actually buy the device, according to a Reddit user by the name of clide. He posted various images of a home try-on kit …

More: PC Magazine, TechSpot, Google Glass Fans, Mashable, Softpedia News, VentureBeat, Glass Almanac, Gigaom, TechCrunch, TechnoBuffalo, Electronista, Phandroid, SlashGear and Ubergizmo

Robin Wauters / Tech.eu:

Tech exits in Europe Q1 2014: 49 total, Germany and Israel lead, 43.7% of acquirers from US — Everything you've always wanted to know about tech exits in Europe: Tech.eu M&A report - Q1 2014 — In early March, I stopped to take note of the flurry of (admittedly mostly small-sized) …

Thanks:@tech_eu

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.

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft starts letting Windows Phone developers respond to app reviews — Microsoft today announced the launch of a pilot program that lets Windows Phone developers respond to app reviews. The company says the roll-out will begin this week with a small group of developers who have been pre-selected …

More: The Windows Blog, Engadget, The Windows Blog, Softpedia News, WinBeta, Neowin and WMPoweruser

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

Court rules Apple-backed Rockstar must fight case against Google in California, not Texas — Google wins a game of “Escape from East Texas,” linking Rockstar to Apple — A federal judge issued an order today decreeing that Google's court battle against a “patent troll” …

More: Computerworld, Electronista, Softpedia News, Reuters, AppleInsider and Reuters

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.

More: Re/code. Tweets: @danprimack. Thanks:@loyalelectron

Bertel King, Jr / Android Police:

Easy Unlock feature in Chrome OS may potentially skip password prompt when phone is nearby — Unfinished ‘Easy Unlock’ Feature Creeps Into Chrome OS Dev, Will Potentially Skip The Password Prompt If Your Phone Is Nearby — A new feature has snuck into the Chrome OS dev channel that …

More: Computerworld, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, SlashGear, Pocketnow and We Live Security

Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:

Citymapper raises $10M to help you navigate on buses and trains — Citymapper, a mapping app that specializes in navigating the complexities of public transportation in big cities, has raised a $10 million Series A round led by Balderton Capital with participation from Connect Ventures, Index Ventures and Greylock Partners.

More: TechCrunch, Venture Capital, VentureBeat, Startups, London News, Pulse 2.0, Tnooz and Techworld.com

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 …

More: VentureBeat

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 …

More: The Apache Software … and Softpedia News. Thanks:@bradchacos

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Dropbox acquires two more startups: collaborative document tool Hackpad and photo sync app Loom — As It Becomes an App Platform, Dropbox Gobbles Up More Than One App Startup Per Month — Once a simple way to move stuff around between devices and people, Dropbox now wants to be a platform …

More: stratechery, Engadget, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Gigaom

Tweets: @bluechoochoo, @dmac1 and @jessicamckellar

Jan Senderek / Loom:

Dropbox acquires Loom, will shut it down and migrate users to Carousel by May 16

More: Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, iPhone, I4U News, Y Combinator Universe, TUAW, Tech City News, VatorNews, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, ReadWrite, SlashGear, ZDNet, iPhone Hacks, MacStories, Macworld, The Verge, ParisLemon, Electronista, App Advice and VentureBeat

Tweets: @spencerchen and @roidrage

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