Techmeme
July 17, 2014, 6:35 PM

Top News

Satya Nadella / Microsoft Corporation:
Satya Nadella's email to Microsoft employees on integration of Nokia Devices and Services  —  Starting to Evolve Our Organization and Culture  —  Last week in my email to you I synthesized our strategic direction as a productivity and platform company.  Having a clear focus is the start of the journey, not the end.
Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:
Microsoft to Shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios (Updated)  —  Microsoft will shut down the Xbox Entertainment Studios, ending an ambitious foray into original video programming.  —  The Santa Monica studio will be shuttered as Microsoft focuses on strengthening its core videogame business.
Ina Fried / Re/code:
Microsoft cutting up to 18,000 jobs by next year, 13000 starting now; a total of 12,500 from Nokia  —  Ax Falls at Microsoft as Company Looks to Cut Up to 18,000 Jobs  —  Microsoft on Thursday announced it plans to cut 18,000 jobs this year-its deepest-ever cuts-as the company looked …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft cuts to affect nearly all groups; OS Group restructuring to become more startup-like  —  Beyond 12,500 former Nokia employees, who else is Microsoft laying off?  —  Summary: The former Nokia employees who joined Microsoft in April are bearing the brunt of Microsoft's just-announced layoffs.
Matt Burns / TechCrunch:
Google:
Google Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2014 Results and Management Change  —  Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.  —  “Google had a great quarter with revenue up 22% year on year, at $16.0 billion”, said Patrick Pichette, CFO of Google.
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Nikesh Arora, Google's Top Business Executive, Is Out  —  Google's Q2 earnings report was overshadowed by news about the top of the company's org chart: Nikesh Arora, the company's longtime sales boss, is out, and headed to a top job at tech conglomerate SoftBank.
More: Business InsiderTweets: @pkafka and @pkafka
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook starts testing Buy button on News Feed ads and Page posts, not charging the select participating US businesses for now  —  Facebook Tests Buy Button To Let You Purchase Stuff Without Leaving Facebook  —  Facebook is try out letting you pay for ecommerce purchases from other businesses without leaving its site or app.
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Facebook launches Mentions iPhone app, intended for use by public figures with verified Pages  —  You Can't Use Facebook's New iPhone App — Unless You're Famous  —  Stars aren't just like us.  They need a special app to post on Facebook.  —  That's the thinking behind Mentions …
Apple:
Longtime Apple board member Bill Campbell retires after 17 years; BlackRock director Sue Wagner to replace him  —  Sue Wagner Joins Apple's Board of Directors  —  Apple® today announced that Susan L. Wagner, founding partner and director of BlackRock, has been elected to Apple's board of directors.
Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:
No signal?  GoTenna has a messaging gadget that will work in the middle of nowhere  —  For all of our dependency on mobile phones, there are still quite a few places in this world you can't get a wireless signal, from mountaintops to national parks to rural highways and even the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
CNBC:
US Copyright Office says Aereo not a cable company under terms of Copyright Act  —  US copyright officials have told Aereo that they do not consider it a “cable company” under the terms of copyright law, according to a letter obtained by CNBC.  Aereo, which lost a key Supreme Court ruling …
Michael Riley / Businessweek:
Russian hackers planted malware on poorly-defended NASDAQ servers in 2010, possibly to clone the exchange's technology  —  How Russian Hackers Stole the Nasdaq  —  In October 2010, a Federal Bureau of Investigation system monitoring U.S. Internet traffic picked up an alert.
Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:
Google planning to support Android Wear custom watch faces with new API  —  When Android Wear first launched, it was unclear whether Google was going to be offering official support for third-party watch faces.  This uncertainty definitely didn't stop developers from just going ahead and making some …

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