Techmeme: Verizon tops rivals in new RootMetrics wireless report, but T-Mobile gains in cities (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)

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August 19, 2014, 2:35 PM

Top News

Microsoft Corporation:

Steve Ballmer steps down as board member at Microsoft — As I approach the six month mark of my retirement and your appointment as CEO, I have been reflecting on my life, my ongoing ownership of Microsoft stock, and my involvement with the company. I have reached some conclusions and wanted to share them with you.

More: The Verge, The Next Web, GeekWire, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal and WinBeta

Tweets: @geekwire, @alex, @stevebmicrosoft, @mattrosoff, @mattrosoff, @jguynn, @benthepcguy and @fxshaw

Liam Spradlin / Android Police:

Google to launch “YouTube Music Key”, a $10/month, ad-free subscription service with offline support — Exclusive: This Is YouTube Music Key, Google's Upcoming Subscription Service With Offline Support, Background Audio, No Ads, Free Play Music Key — Google has big plans for both YouTube and Google Play Music.

Dana Wollman / Engadget:

HTC One M8 with Windows Phone launches exclusively on Verizon today at $99 on-contract — HTC's One M8 now available with Windows Phone, but only on Verizon — In case you've wondered what a flagship Android phone would look like if it ran Windows Phone, it looks like you'll get your chance to find out.

More: HTC Blog, BGR, TechCrunch, Associated Press, BetaNews, Inquirer, 9to5Google, The Verge, CNET, Gigaom, blog.laptopmag.com, GeekWire, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, Re/code, Gizmodo, ABC News, Pureinfotech, dailywireless.org, Blogging Windows, Softpedia News, AnandTech, IntoMobile, SlashGear, Gotta Be Mobile and WMPoweruser. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:

HTC One With Windows Phone: Another Great Phone You Won't Buy — The Best-Designed Android Phone Is Being Released With Windows Phone 8.1 — Windows Phone smartphones have gotten quite good, so why doesn't anyone buy them? Personal Tech columnist Joanna Stern tests the HTC One (M8) with Windows Phone 8.1 to find out.

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @mims, @fmanjoo and @whatthebit

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Lyft COO Travis VanderZanden leaves after tensions with founders — Lyft COO Out After Tensions With Founders — According to sources close to the situation, Lyft COO Travis VanderZanden has left his job, after some level of tension with its founders. — Sources close to the situation …

More: Business Insider and Entrepreneur

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

PayPal Rolls Out One-Touch Mobile Checkout For Apps — Mobile commerce today is still challenging with complicated checkout flows that see users bouncing between screens, and having to tap out their personal information on tiny screens and keyboards. PayPal today is hoping to change …

More: ReadWrite, VentureBeat, PandoDaily, Re/code, The Next Web and Gigaom

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Mailbox for Mac Beta: fast, offers drafts, yet buggy — I burned through my inbox with Mailbox for Mac — The king is dead, long live the king — Email, right guys? Some love it. Some hate it. Some are trying to replace it. But the fact is, we all use it.

More: TechCrunch, Engadget, VentureBeat, ReadWrite, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Gigaom, The Next Web, Wired, iPhone in Canada Blog and MacStories

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New “Campaign Manager” — As Re/code had reported in July, Uber has been zeroing in on the hiring of a high-profile “campaign manager” to head its policy and communications strategy and fight what its CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick has called “an a**hole named Taxi.”

More: Uber Blog, New York Times, Politico, Gigaom, Fortune, GeekWire, The Technology Chronicles, Business Insider and Valleywag

Tweets: @noamscheiber, @bradstone, @jyarow and @danprimack

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Google Is Planning to Offer Accounts to Kids Under 13 — Google plans to offer accounts to children under 13 years old for the first time, a move that will take the world's largest Internet search provider into a controversial and operationally complex new market.

More: Federal Trade Commission, Guardian, SiliconBeat, PC World, PC Magazine, Consumerist, Reuters, Forbes, Tech Times, USA Today, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, Digital Spy, ZDNet, Mashable, Neowin, The Register and CNET

Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:

Uber launches on-demand delivery service “Corner Store” in Washington D.C. — Uber launches on-demand product deliveries in Washington D.C. — Update 6:19 a.m. PT: Uber confirms that the service will launch today. — Uber is set to launch an on-demand product delivery service …

More: Re/code, The Verge, GeekWire, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Consumerist and Mashable

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Square expands its cash advance service for small businesses after deal with Victory Park Capital — Square Expands Its Cash Advance Service — Square, the e-commerce start-up, announced on Tuesday that it would broaden the scope of its cash advance program through a multimillion-dollar deal …

More: Re/code, VatorNews, VentureBeat, PE Hub Blog and WebProNews

Steve Lohr / New York Times:

Big data scientists spend a lot of their time in cleaning, collecting, and preparing unruly data — For Big-Data Scientists, ‘Janitor Work’ Is Key Hurdle to Insights — Technology revolutions come in measured, sometimes foot-dragging steps. The lab science and marketing enthusiasm tend …

More: Forbes. Tweets: @scrawford and @inkblurt

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Verizon tops rivals in new RootMetrics wireless report, but T-Mobile gains in cities — Verizon comes out ahead of rivals AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint in nearly every category of performance — including reliability, data speeds and phone calls — in a new study of the U.S. wireless market by RootMetrics.

More: DSLreports, Re/code, FierceWireless, Bloomberg and BBC. Thanks:@taylor_soper

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft updates OneNote for Android with support for tablets, handwriting, and new formatting options — Microsoft today updated its OneNote app for Android with optimizations specifically for tablets. You can download the new version now directly from Google Play.

More: Office Blogs, Office Blogs, VentureBeat, Engadget, WinBeta and Android Central

Barb Darrow / Gigaom:

DataGravity says it's time for your storage to smarten up already — Paula Long, co-founder of EqualLogic, is back at it again, this time applying integrated search and analytics to your storage so it's no longer a black box. — DataGravity, the thus-far secretive startup co-founded …

More: Data Center Knowledge, eWeek, TechCrunch and Wall Street Journal. Thanks:@gigabarb

Major Nelson / Xbox Wire:

First of its kind reddit experience launching on Xbox One, New MTV app and Twitch update available soon — In June we announced more than 45 new entertainment experiences coming to Xbox One and we continue to deliver on that commitment with additions like ReddX, an app that we are confident …

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Sprint Launches New Price War, Debuts $100 Family Plan — Sprint on Monday announced new family rate plans allowing up to 10 lines to share 20 gigabytes worth of data for $100 per month. — It's the first move in what is expected to be far more aggressive pricing under newly named CEO Marcelo Claure.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Launches Photo Sphere Camera App On iOS — Google has just launched a new photo application for iOS users called Photo Sphere Camera, which allows you to take 360-degree photos, then publish them to Google Maps or other social networks. The app is an expansion of a feature …

More: Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, BGR, iMore, 9to5Google, Cult of Mac and iClarified

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