Techmeme: Tesla built a sophisticated autonomous driving system, but its advancements are incremental (Chris Ziegler/The Verge)

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October 20, 2014, 4:20 AM

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Parmy Olson / Forbes:

Microsoft plans to launch a fitness-focused wearable in the next few weeks with more than two-day battery life, multi-platform support — Microsoft Plans To Launch A Wearable Device Within Weeks — Microsoft is gearing up to launch a wearable device within the next few weeks, Forbes has learned.

More: BetaNews, VentureBeat, USA Today, The Verge, CNET, Japan Today, GeekWire, Connectedly, Gizmodo, PC World, Neowin, SlashGear, App Advice, Business Insider, WMPoweruser and Seeking Alpha. Tweets: @tomwarren. Thanks:@aatilley

Bloomberg:

IBM Agrees to Pay Globalfoundries $1.5 Billion to Take Chip Unit — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) agreed to pay Globalfoundries Inc. $1.5 billion to take an unprofitable chip-manufacturing unit off its hands, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

More: New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Gigaom, Re/code, Tech Trader Daily, VentureBeat, TheStreet.com and Business Insider

Tweets: @fmbutt, @thestalwart, @felixsalmon, @tomgara, @iankar_ and @pmarca

Chris Welch / The Verge:

This is the Fitbit Surge, a $250 ‘superwatch’ with built-in GPS — GPS and heart rate monitoring headline Fitbit's next flagship wearable — Fitbit is preparing to launch three new fitness trackers in the coming weeks. Two of those will be the Charge and Charge HR.

More: Gizmodo UK, Engadget, CNET, Digital Trends, Connectedly, The Wearable Stuff, Gizmodo and App Advice

Tweets: @piercedavid and @ow

Kevin Roose / New York Magazine:

Marc Andreessen on the evolution of Silicon Valley and technology's impact on the economy — Marc Andreessen on Why Optimism Is Always the Safest Bet — The Netscape creator turned Silicon Valley sage on why optimism is always the safest bet. — It's not hard to coax an opinion out of Marc Andreessen.

Tweets: @codinghorror, @caseynewton, @seldo, @pkafka and @semil

Brian Stucki / Macminicolo Blog:

2014 Mac mini: RAM is not user-replaceable, no dual-drive server version — A look at the 2014 Mac mini — We've been working extensively with Mac minis for nearly 10 years. (Yes, we're nearing the tenth anniversary for the more-popular-than-you-think Mac.)

More: TechCrunch, BetaNews, Engadget, SlashGear, Ubergizmo, AppleInsider, MacNN and MacRumors. Tweets: @drunknbass

Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

Amid pressure from activist investors, Marissa Mayer to detail Yahoo's cost-cutting plan and acquisitions strategy during Tuesday's earnings call — Yahoo CEO Set to Refresh Turnaround Plan — Firm to Release Quarterly Results Tuesday, Detail Its Current Efforts

More: VentureBeat, Bloomberg, Business Insider and Seeking Alpha

Chris Ziegler / The Verge:

Tesla built a sophisticated autonomous driving system, but its advancements are incremental — Tesla's autopilot isn't special (but it's still cool) — An important non-revolution for self-driving cars — “We've been able to accelerate autopilot and bring it to market faster …

More: Engadget

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Pressing Fwd.us: How Silicon Valley's $50 Million Bet on Immigration Stalled — When President Barack Obama decided in early September to postpone immigration reform, it marked the beginning of the end of Joe Green's tenure as the head of one of Silicon Valley's most ambitious political groups …

Gideon Rosenblatt / Medium:

Google's information processing and Amazon's transaction processing platforms are headed for a collision in the battle to dominate local retail — The Google—Amazon Retail Slugfest — Two competitors, seemingly in different businesses, now determine the future of shopping.

Christopher Breen / Macworld:

Remembering Macworld Expo: Why we went to the greatest trade show on earth — This morning IDG announced that Macworld Expo (later known as Macworld/iWorld) is going on hiatus. How permanent this break is depends entirely on whether those running the show can find a financial model …

Tweets: @settern

Dante D'Orazio / The Verge:

Latest leak gives best look yet at Motorola's Droid Turbo — Motorola's next Verizon-exclusive Android phone hasn't been announced, but a number of leaks have left very little to the imagination. Now we're getting our best look yet at the device, called the Droid Turbo.

More: Ubergizmo, Gizmodo, Android Central and Engadget. Tweets: @evleaks

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