Techmeme: Steve Ballmer steps down as board member at Microsoft (Microsoft Corporation)

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August 19, 2014, 7:55 PM

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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.

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Netflix is now paying Time Warner Cable for direct access and faster streams — Netflix, the online streaming giant, has signed a paid peering deal with Time Warner Cable, meaning that it now has deals with the four biggest U.S. ISPs. — Time Warner Cable signed a direct interconnection deal with Netflix …

More: The Verge, Ars Technica, Engadget, Macworld, Consumerist and Gizmodo. Tweets: @gigaom. Thanks:@mathewi. See also Mediagazer

Reed Hastings / Wired:

How to Save the Net: Don't Give In to Big ISPs — The next Netflix won't stand a chance if the largest Internet service providers in the US are allowed to merge. — The Internet has — already changed how we live and work, and we're only just getting started.

More: SiliconBeat. Tweets: @netflix

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New “Campaign Manager” — As Re/code had reported in July, Uber has 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.”

Dan Frommer / Quartz:

Twitter now officially says your timeline is more than just tweets from people you follow — Many Twitter users have noticed that Twitter is now inserting tweets into their timelines that seemingly don't belong. This is not an accident. Twitter has updated its help document, “What's a Twitter timeline?”

More: Wall Street Journal, The Verge, The Next Web and Gizmodo

Tweets: @ayjay, @kairyssdal and @tomtomorrow

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: PC Magazine, Fortune, SlashGear, Business Insider and Entrepreneur

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: @geoffreyfowler, @whatthebit, @mims and @fmanjoo

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

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, Gigaom, CNET, The Verge, The Next Web, Engadget, SlashGear, Gotta Be Mobile, iMore, Phandroid, Cult of Mac, 9to5Google, iClarified and BGR

Natt Garun / The Next Web:

Sprint announces $240 nearly bezel-free 5-inch Aquos Crystal — Sprint on Tuesday announced its latest smartphone, the nearly bezel-free Sharp Aquos Crystal. — The Aquos Crystal features a 5-inch edge-to-edge 720p display, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage packed in a 10mm-thick body.

More: Sprint, LAPTOP Mag, CNET, Gigaom, BGR, Phandroid, Wall Street Journal, PhoneNews.com, The Verge, Gizmodo, Android Central, AndroidOS.in, dailywireless.org, 9to5Google and AndroidHeadlines.com

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Sharp's Aquos Crystal: a 5-inch, 720p, edge-to-edge display smartphone lacking premium specs

More: LAPTOP Mag

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: Mailbox, TechCrunch, Engadget, BGR, Macworld, Gigaom, MacRumors, ReadWrite, AppleInsider, VentureBeat, Wired, The Next Web and iPhone in Canada Blog

Ashlee Vance / Businessweek:

Intellectual Ventures lays off 140 employees, about 20% of its workforce — Mass Layoffs Hit Intellectual Ventures' Patent Factory — Intellectual Ventures, the company Silicon Valley loves to despise, is laying off about 20 percent of its employees, Bloomberg Businessweek has learned.

More: Re/code, GeekWire, Gigaom and Reuters. Tweets: @valleyhack

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, PC World, GeekWire, 9to5Google, VentureBeat, Android Central, Neowin, Engadget, WinBeta and Android Authority

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, iMore, CNET, TechCrunch, Consumerist, The Next Web, Electronista, Mashable, GeekWire, Engadget and The Verge

Wall Street Journal:

Snapchat working on integrating disappearing video, news and ads, with new service Snapchat Discovery — Snapchat Discussing New Content Service With Advertisers, Media Firms — Snapchat Inc., the mobile app for disappearing messages, could soon be a service for disappearing videos, news articles and advertisements.

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: VentureBeat, ReadWrite, Re/code, PandoDaily, Gigaom, The Next Web and WebProNews. Tweets: @lukew

Jamie Condliffe / Gizmodo:

Project Tango Tablet Teardown: Everything You Need For Handheld 3D — Google's Project Tango tablet is an amazing bit of hardware that made us finally realize that computer vision could be useful for regular people, too. So now that iFixit has ripped one apart, we're pretty excited to see what lurks within it.

More: iFixit, 9to5Google, Softpedia News, Geeky Gadgets, ZDNet, Android Central, SlashGear and Engadget

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

FunPlus Group sells its game subsidiary to Chinese holding company for $960M — FunPlus Group, the creator of mobile-social games like Family Farm, has agreed to sell its game subsidiary to publicly traded Zhongji Holding for $960 million. — Above: Dan Fiden

More: Inside Mobile Apps, Wall Street Journal, CNET and The Technology Chronicles

Jackie Dove / The Next Web:

Blurb branches out to low-cost trade books, e-books and mass distribution via Ingram — Since its launch in 2006, Blurb, the independent publishing pioneer of print-on-demand artistic tabletop tomes and illustrated magazines, has been popular with the creative community.

More: VentureBeat

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, Businessweek, Town Square, VatorNews, VentureBeat and PE Hub Blog

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 …

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