Techmeme: Facebook Forces Users Worldwide To Download Messenger For Mobile Chat (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)

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July 29, 2014, 10:00 AM

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Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Forces Users Worldwide To Download Messenger For Mobile Chat — Over the next few days, Facebook will stop allowing messaging in its main iPhone and Android apps, and force all their users around the world to download its standalone Messenger app. Facebook first started forcing users …

Richard Padilla / MacRumors:

Apple Launches Retina MacBook Pros with Faster Haswell Processors, More RAM Standard — As indicated over the weekend and yesterday, Apple today launched refreshed 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros.The new notebooks feature faster versions of Intel's Haswell processors …

More: Apple, ZDNet, BGR, Gigaom, USA Today, Macworld, AppleInsider, LAPTOP Magazine, The Next Web, BetaNews, iMore, Inquirer, Gizmodo, TechnoBuffalo, AnandTech, AppleInsider, MacStories, Electronista, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, TIME, TUAW, Gearburn and SlashGear. Tweets: @joannastern

Andy / TorrentFreak:

UK police start placing anti-piracy warning ads on copyright-infringing websites — Police Begin Placing Warning Adverts on ‘Pirate’ Sites — For a year, City of London Police have been working with the music and movie industries on initiatives to cut down on the consumption of pirated content online.

More: BBC, CNET, TechCrunch, Gigaom, Inquirer, The Next Web, PC Pro, Neowin and Wired.co.uk

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Flipkart raises $1 billion to strengthen its bid to own India's e-commerce space — It's turning into quite a year for Flipkart. Today the e-commerce company from India has confirmed the much-reported rumor that it has raised $1 billion in fresh investment, as it eyes new verticals …

More: Quartz, The Economic Times, TechCrunch, DNA India, New York Times, The New Indian Express, NDTV Profit, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Hindu Business Line, BGR India and MediaNama. Tweets: @flipkart

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Windows comes to Raspberry Pi-style board in Microsoft/Intel project — Sharks Cove. — Microsoft — Even Microsoft wants a piece of the development board market made famous by Arduino and Raspberry Pi. — Microsoft has teamed up with Intel and hardware maker CircuitCo to design the $300 …

More: MSDN Blogs, Inquirer, Engadget, WinBeta, ITProPortal, Softpedia News, bit-tech.net, Gizmodo, SlashGear, Wired.co.uk, The Register, Microsoft News and PC Pro

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

Hackers Plundered Israeli Defense Firms that Built ‘Iron Dome’ Missile Defense System — Three Israeli defense contractors responsible for building the “Iron Dome” missile shield currently protecting Israel from a barrage of rocket attacks were compromised by hackers and robbed of huge quantities …

More: Guardian, The Register, Washington Post, Wired.co.uk, The Hacker News, RT, Nextgov, Gizmodo, Business Insider and ITProPortal. Tweets: @joshconstine

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:

This Is What Tech's Ugly Gender Problem Really Looks Like — Shortly after Kathryn Tucker started Red Rover, an app that showcases local events for kids, she pitched the idea to an angel investor at a New York tech event. But it didn't go over well. When she finished her pitch, the investor said he didn't invest in women.

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @cindygallop, @sarahfrier, @danshapiro, @taralach, @jenna, @collision and @tonyromm

John Cook / GeekWire:

Rhapsody tops 2 million paid subscribers, expands music service overseas with mobile deals — Rhapsody — one of the pioneers in the online music arena — said today that it has topped two million paying subscribers for its Rhapsody and Napster music services.

More: The Next Web, Engadget, TechCrunch, Tech Times, Softpedia News, PC World, New York Times, Music Ally, Associated Press, Gigaom, Re/code, Guardian, CNET and Los Angeles Times

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Enterprise Investments Surge To Over $5.4 Billion — After years of backing headline-grabbing consumer internet deals, it seems that venture capitalists are paying more attention (and more money) to the seemingly staid and stodgy enterprise technology companies (the businesses that sell technology to make businesses work better).

Tweets: @qthrul

Jared Sinclair:

“Unread” app sales show how hard it is for indie developers to earn a living from paid-up-front apps — A Candid Look at Unread's First Year — To my knowledge, indie developers don't publish the kind of numbers that you'll find in this post.

More: Marco.org, Benjamin Mayo, tyler.io and inessential.com

Tweets: @cdixon and @cdixon

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Twitter Won't Unveil New Growth Metrics for Q2 Earnings — Twitter reports its Q2 earnings tomorrow afternoon, which means investors will be judging whether Dick Costolo has fixed his growth problem. — One thing they won't see or hear about, though, will be a new set of metrics from Twitter describing the company's reach scale.

More: Guardian, Marketing Land and Business Insider

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Uber Gets Down To Business With New Travel Expense Tools And Concur Integration — On-demand ride-hailing service Uber has spent four years building a perfect transportation alternative to taxis and black car services in cities around the world. But until today it's just been focused on consumer travel.

More: NPR, The Next Web, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Tnooz. Tweets: @teroojanpera. Thanks:@ryanlawler

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

Yelp for iPhone now lets you add 12-second videos to your reviews, Android to follow soon — While the move isn't exactly surprising, Yelp has announced that it is now opening its mobile apps to user-generated videos to help create more engaging, visual reviews.

More: Yelp Official Blog, Digital Trends, Wired.co.uk, Business Insider, CNET, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, Neowin, 9to5Mac, SmallBusiness.com, App Advice, WebProNews, 9to5Google and MacRumors

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:

Apple drops cross-appeal, forever accepts denial of injunction in first Samsung case — While a global, comprehensive settlement of the patent spat between Apple and Samsung has not materialized yet, the dispute continues to lose steam every month, and noticeably so.

More: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, Electronista, The Register, MacDailyNews, SamMobile, App Advice and iPhone in Canada Blog

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft pits Siri against Cortana in new Windows Phone 8.1 ad — Microsoft is focusing on Apple's Siri digital assistant in one of the first Windows Phone 8.1 commercials. It's another return to the Mac vs. PC war, as Microsoft choses to mock Siri in an effort to showcase Cortana for the first time.

More: ZDNet, Softpedia News, WinBeta, Tech Times, Gigaom, AppleInsider, Gotta Be Mobile, Pocketnow, Business Insider and CNET. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

AT&T, Verizon offer HBO with basic cable and internet for $40-50; still no cable-free option — Why HBO and Pay TV Still Aren't Getting Divorced — Reminder: You still can't get HBO without paying for other TV channels, too. — But you can still get a cheapish package that includes HBO …

More: Bloomberg, BGR, Deadline.com and VentureBeat. See also Mediagazer

Craig Karmin / Wall Street Journal:

Most Hilton locations worldwide will let customers unlock rooms with their smartphones by 2017 — Hilton Books Upgraded Technology — Hotel Guests Will Be Able to Use Smartphones as Keys or to Choose Rooms at Properties World-Wide — Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is placing …

More: Hilton, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, The Verge, SlashGear, Android Authority, BGR, TechSpot, TUAW, Gizmodo and Forrester Blogs

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