Techmeme
May 9, 2014, 1:20 AM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple in final talks to acquire Beats for $3.2b, deal could be announced next week  —  According to the Financial Times, Apple is in late-stage talks with Beats to acquire the music streaming and headphone maker for a deal worth $3.2 billion.  The deal could be announced as soon as next week, according to the report.
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Why Apple Is Betting Big on Beats: Hardware for Now, Streaming for Later  —  Apple is set to make the biggest purchase in its history: A $3 billion-plus deal for Beats, the company that sells high-end headphones and recently launched a streaming music service.
Harry McCracken / TIME:
My First 7 Questions About This Apple-Beats Deal (Which, By the Way, I'm Not Assuming Is Happening)  —  If it's real, here's hoping it's brilliant in a way which isn't immediately obvious  —  When you hear that Apple may buy a well-known company, it's dangerous to assume that it's going to happen.
Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:
Reporter offered pre-IPO shares by Arista Networks, considers it another sign of a tech bubble  —  Yes, we're in a tech bubble.  Here's how I know it  —  When tech startups are willing to offer almost anyone — even a journalist — shares ahead of an I.P.O., a burst isn't terribly far behind.
Sam Biddle / Valleywag:
Goodbye to Katie Cotton, the Queen of Evil Tech PR  —  After 18 years of spin, Katie Cotton, Apple's magnetically ruthless vice president of worldwide corporate communications, has left her job, and tributes from the tech press are pouring in.  What no one will admit is that we were all afraid of her.
Brad Molen / Engadget:
OnePlus One review: A $300 phone that looks, feels, and acts like a premium device  —  OnePlus One review: a $300 smartphone has never looked so good  —  Look at your phone.  If you can honestly admit that you love every single thing about it, I have good news: You can stop reading this review …
Tweets: @ac_hu
Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
Snapchat settles with FTC over misleading marketing, address book collection, security breach; no monetary penalty imposed  —  Snapchat Reaches Settlement With Federal Trade Commission  —  The disappearing act of messages on Snapchat, the mobile messaging service, has not been as foolproof as the company promised.
David Gelles / New York Times:
Omnicom-Publicis $35B mega-merger called off due to internal differences and regulatory issues  —  Ad Agency Giants Said to Call Off $35 Billion Merger  —  Omnicom Group and Publicis have called off their $35 billion merger, bringing a premature end to a deal that would have created …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Former NSA Chief Defends Stockpiling Software Flaws for Spying  —  The NSA has never said much about the open secret that it collects and sometimes even pays for information about hackable bugs in commonly used software.  But in a rare statement following his retirement last month …
Robert Graham / Errata Security:
300k servers vulnerable to Heartbleed one month later  —  It's been a month since the Heartbleed bug was announced, so I thought I'd rescan the Internet (port 443) to see how many systems remain vulnerable.  Whereas my previous scan a month ago found 600,000 vulnerable systems …
Tammy Parker / FierceWireless:
Sprint slams on the brakes for top 5% of data users in congested areas  —  Sprint's (NYSE: S) pledge of unlimited data is looking increasingly less sustainable, as the carrier maneuvers to rein in network traffic generated by its heaviest data users and ensure quality of service for the majority of its customers.
Amir Efrati / The Information:
Comcast Plots Big Push in Web Video Ads  —  As debate over Comcast's control of Internet and TV in American households plays out in front of regulators reviewing its bid for Time Warner Cable, the cable industry leader is quietly planning a major foray into the Web advertising business.
Tweets: @ericnewcomer and @amir
Ina Fried / Re/code:
ZTE Starts Selling $99 Firefox OS Phone in the U.S., Via eBay  —  While Firefox OS remains targeted at first-time smartphone buyers overseas, China's ZTE said Thursday it will start selling a model in the U.S. via eBay.  —  The ZTE Open C is listed for the “Buy It Now” price of $99.99.
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Muve Music Service Is Said to Be Up for Sale by AT&T  —  One of the most successful music subscription services in the United States may be up for grabs.  —  Muve Music, which is connected to Cricket Wireless, a prepaid wireless phone carrier, will be discontinued by AT&T …
Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
Stock Investment And Wealth Management Service Motif Investing Raises $35 Million  —  Retail investors in the U.S. looking for ways to play the stock market have several startups offering them services, and now Motif Investing has raised $35 million in late-stage funding from new backers to take its services worldwide.
Hugh Langley / TechRadar:
Project Morpheus was built into PS4 from the start - we just didn't know it  —  EXCLUSIVE It's all part of the plan … Sony caused a lot of fuss when it confirmed that there would be no way of turning off the DualShock 4's light bar (the tyranny!), but do you want to know why it was really on there?

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Earlier Picks

Aaron Levie / The Box Blog:
William Alden / New York Times: