Techmeme: Google X Founder Sebastian Thrun Has Left His Role As Google VP And Fellow (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

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September 24, 2014, 8:05 AM

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Lisa Bettany / snap snap snap:

Comparing photos taken with Camera+ using all iPhone versions, from the original to iPhone 6 — How does the iPhone 6 camera compare to previous iPhone cameras? — In the past seven years, each new advancement in iPhone camera technology has made dramatic improvements to image quality.

More: The Verge, AppleTell, SlashGear, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gizmodo, iDownloadBlog.com, Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, TechCrunch and 9to5Mac

Tweets: @bill_gross, @timtrueman and @caseynewton

Kelly Hodgkins / MacRumors:

Some iPhone 6 Plus Owners Accidentally Bending Their iPhones in Pockets — As highlighted in a few reports shared in the MacRumors forums, a small but growing number of iPhone 6 Plus owners have reportedly bent their phones after carrying the devices in their pockets just days after launch.

Philip Kollar / Polygon:

Blizzard cancels its next-gen MMO Titan after seven years — Blizzard has officially canceled development on its mysterious next-generation massively multiplayer game Titan. The company confirmed the news to Polygon in a recent interview. — This revelation comes after at least seven years …

Chris Martin / PC Advisor:

Samsung exits laptop market in Europe “for now” after decline in PC market — Exclusive: Samsung exits laptop market including Chromebooks — Following in the path of Sony and its Vaio PCs, Samsung has decided to exit the laptop market stopping sales of Ativ Windows …

More: ZDNet, Guardian, ITProPortal, CNET, Gigaom, DailyTech, bit-tech.net, GSMArena Blog, Ubergizmo and Engadget

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Mobile Wallet Laughingstock Clinkle Finally Launches To Let You Pay Friends And Earn “Treats” — After 17 months of jokes about vaporware college payments startup Clinkle, its iOS and Android apps finally launched today at a few colleges. Clinkle lets you pay friends, get a pre-paid Visa …

More: Valleywag, Business Insider, ReadWrite, PYMNTS.com, The Next Web and Gigaom

Tweets: @sammywalrusiv, @delrey, @danprimack, @calebgarling, @stevekovach, @caseynewton, @delrey, @drew, @mr_cso, @flyosity, @ow, @capndesign, @johnpaczkowski, @mikeisaac, @sarahnemerson, @rrhoover and @rrhoover

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / ZDNet:

iOS 8 crash rate 78 percent higher than iOS 7 — Summary: iOS 8 is showing higher levels of instability compared to iOS 7, with older devices being more susceptible to crashes than the new iPhone 6. — Adrian Kingsley-Hughes — If you're looking for stability, then iOS 8 might not be the direction you want to be going in.

More: BGR, InfoWorld, Macworld, Bloomberg, Ubergizmo, Gotta Be Mobile, StreetInsider.com, ReadWrite, TUAW, InformationWeek, ValueWalk and Network World

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

Amazon brings Kindle Unlimited to the UK, an all-you-can-eat book subscription service for £7.99 a month — Two months after Amazon launched its e-book subscription service in the US, the internet giant has quietly introduced the offering to UK readers too.

More: Engadget, Inquirer, Guardian, iMore, App Advice and Electronista

See also Mediagazer

Margaret Rhodes / Wired:

Stack's Alba smart bulb adapts to sunlight and your household habits to conserve energy — Ex-Tesla and NASA Engineers Make a Light Bulb That's Smarter Than You — Sometime in early 2013, one of the supply chain engineers at Tesla leaned back in his chair and took a look around the Silicon Valley office.

More: Engadget

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Karma Rolls Out An LTE Version Of Its Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Hotspot, Pre-Order For $99 — Karma, makers of the small, portable Wi-Fi hotspot that lets you pay-as-you-go, contract free, for the data you use ($14/1 GB), is now accepting pre-orders for its latest device, the Karma Go portable LTE Wi-Fi hotspot.

More: Karma | Blog, Electronista, SlashGear, The Next Web, The Verge, VentureBeat, Cult of Mac, Engadget, Gigaom, FierceWireless and Android Police

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Google X Founder Sebastian Thrun Has Left His Role As Google VP And Fellow — Sebastian Thrun has left the building — the Google X building, that is. The founder of search giant Google's factory to develop and build “moonshot” technologies, who launched the company's driverless car project …

More: Wall Street Journal, Re/code, Beyond Search, EdSurge, SlashGear, GeekWire and 9to5Google

Sam Altman / How to Start a Startup:

First lecture of the Stanford course “how to start a startup” with Sam Altman and Dustin Moskovitz now online — Lecture 1: Welcome, and Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part I — Why to Start a Startup. Sam Altman , View Sam's Slide Deck. Dustin Moskovitz , View Dustin's Slide Deck.

Tweets: @trengriffin

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Samsung says Galaxy Note 4 will debut in Korea on Sept 26, be on sale in 140 markets by the end October — Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Note 4, the latest version of its popular ‘phablet’ range, will go on sale from September 26, initially in its home country Korea.

More: Samsung Tomorrow, The Korea Times, BetaNews, Wall Street Journal, Tech in Asia, Android Authority, Associated Press, SlashGear, SamMobile, Android Central, Neowin, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechnoBuffalo, Digital Trends and Mashable. Tweets: @jonrussell

Jessica E. Lessin / The Information:

Former Apple retail chief and ex-J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson to launch on-demand delivery service for gadgets — Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup — The godfather of Apple's retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by getting rid of stores.

More: Digital Trends, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, iMore, MacRumors and Business Insider

Steven Musil / CNET:

Bitcoin-mining company Butterfly Labs shut down by FTC — Company marketed specialized computers designed to produce the cryptocurrency but delivered useless machines, according to an FTC complaint. — A bitcoin-related company that allegedly engaged in deceptive marketing …

More: Federal Trade Commission, ZDNet, Gigaom, SlashGear, Guardian, Forbes, NEWSBTC, The Register, The Verge, VentureBeat, Data Center Knowledge, Gizmodo and CoinDesk

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

FTC sues Bitcoin miner maker Butterfly Labs, alleging fraudulent and deceptive practices

More: Valleywag

CBC News:

Netflix refuses CRTC demand to hand over subscriber data — Video streaming company not ‘in a position to produce competitively sensitive information’ — Netflix was ordered last week to give confidential subscriber data to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

More: Michael Geist Blog, SlashGear, Financial Post, Globe and Mail, CityNews, Toronto Star and Techdirt

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:

Facebook's internet connectivity drones to begin testing next year, to deploy within 2-5 years — Facebook Lays Out Its Roadmap for Creating Internet-Connected Drones — A still from an promotional video showing how Facebook and Internet.org will deliver internet access via — aerial drone.

More: SlashGear

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Business Goals Platform BetterWorks Leaves Stealth With $15.5M Led By KPCB — BetterWorks, a new, cloud-based platform designed to help employees set and reach business goals — and the newest project from gamification pioneer Kris Duggan of Badgeville — is coming out of stealth today …

More: Forbes

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

iPhone 6 costs an estimated $200 to $247 in parts and labor to build, 6 Plus $216 to $263; profit margins 69-70%; Samsung supplies 40% of A8 chips — Teardown Shows Apple's iPhone 6 Cost at Least $200 to Build — Apple spends $200 to $247 in parts and labor to build an iPhone 6 …

More: Businessweek, Business Insider, iPhone in Canada Blog, BGR, iDownloadBlog.com, Mashable, Associated Press, Ars Technica and VentureBreak

Tweets: @ryan and @benedictevans

Ryan Smith / AnandTech:

Apple's A8 SoC: GX6450 4-core GPU, enhanced Cyclone CPU cores, 4MB L3 Cache

Ben Popper / The Verge:

Wink announces Relay, a $300 wall-embedded touchscreen for controlling smart home devices — How one tiny startup is winning the race to power your smart home — For decades the smart home has been a tantalizing dream just out of reach. There are hundreds of connected devices on the market …

More: Digital Trends, Co.Design, LinuxGizmos and ReadWrite. Tweets: @generalelectric. Thanks:@benpopper

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

PayPal integrates Bitcoin processors BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin for merchants in the US and Canada — PayPal today announced partnerships with three leading Bitcoin payment processors: BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin. The eBay-owned company wants to help digital goods merchants accept Bitcoin payments …

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