Techmeme: FTC ends first case against a “patent troll” with a slap on the wrist (Joe Mullin/Ars Technica)

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November 8, 2014, 4:55 AM

Top News

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Asus ZenWatch to go on sale in US on November 9th at Best Buy for $199 — Asus To Begin Selling Android Wear-Powered ZenWatch In The U.S. Nov. 9 — The Android Wear smartwatch collection is expanding, with a host of new devices hitting pre-holiday season after their initial debut this summer.

Financial Times:

Uber looking to raise another $1B, at a higher valuation than the $17B secured during June round — Uber looks to raise another $1bn — Uber is not done with fundraising this year. The San Francisco car-hailing service is in early talks with investors about raising at least $1bn in new capital …

More: Wall Street Journal, Re/code, GeekWire, Business Insider, VentureBeat, Gigaom and Mashable

Tweets: @mikeisaac and @fmanjoo

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:

In unsealed court documents, Apple says it “bent over backwards” for GT Advanced, which accuses Apple of “bait-and-switch strategy” — GT Bankruptcy Provides Rare Look at Apple's Relationship With Suppliers — Apple is known for its incredibly tough contract terms …

More: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, I4U News, MacRumors, Globe and Mail, The Register, Reuters, The Mac Observer, TUAW, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Ars Technica, Patently Apple and iPhone in Canada Blog

Jordan Maglich / Forbes:

Texas Man Arrested For $4.5 Million Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme — A Texas man has been arrested on wire fraud and securities fraud charges for his operation of what authorities allege was a Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme that raised millions of dollars through a purported online digital hedge fund.

More: Department of Justice, CryptoCoinsNews and Ars Technica

Signe Brewster / Gigaom:

Report: Elon Musk eyeing partnership to launch 700 internet satellites — Sources told the Wall Street Journal that Musk is working with Google's former satellite executive to build a factory that could pump out small satellites. — SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk's next venture …

More: Wall Street Journal, CNET, Ars Technica and The Verge. Tweets: @qthrul

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Unfollow Your Most Annoying Facebook Friends And Pages With “News Feed Settings” — Face it. You've accepted friend requests from some weirdos and over-sharers. Luckily, today Facebook's launched a News Feed Settings tool that shows the friends and Pages taking up the most space in your Feed …

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Uber hires Tom Fallows, who led Google's same-day delivery service Google Express — Uber Hires Google's Same-Day Delivery Boss — Tom Fallows, head of the Google Express same-day delivery service, is leaving for a job at Uber, multiple sources told Re/code. — Google confirmed Fallows's departure.

More: Wall Street Journal, 9to5Google and CNET

Jennifer Kaplan / Bloomberg:

United Airlines spending $120M to equip restaurant and gate seats with iPads by 2015 in its main terminal in NJ's Newark Liberty International Airport — United Woos Fliers to Newark With IPads: Globetrotter — For travelers awaiting some of the tardiest departures in the U.S. …

More: SlashGear, Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, Patently Apple, iPhone in Canada Blog, Electronista, iMore, MacRumors, MacDailyNews and TUAW

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

FiLIP 2, A Smartwatch For Kids, Arrives Today At AT&T For $100 — Will Santa stuff children's stockings with smartwatches this holiday season? That's the hope for Filip Technologies which is today launching its FiLIP 2 smartwatch for kids at AT&T stores and online at ATT.com for the discounted launch price of $99.99.

More: AndroidHeadlines.com. Tweets: @markgurman

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Lyft COO Travis VanderZanden was in talks with several board members to replace CEO Logan Green before leaving for Uber — Exclusive: Ex-Lyft COO, now at Uber, says was in talks to replace Lyft CEO — (Reuters) - The former chief operating officer of Lyft had been in discussions …

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

This is Vudu Spark, Walmart's very own Chromecast competitor — Walmart is getting ready to sell its very own streaming stick, but the device is very much a one-trick pony. — Add Walmart to the list of companies that's trying to sell you a Chromecast-like HDMI streaming stick …

More: TechnoBuffalo, Phandroid, Mashable, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, Ubergizmo, Tom's Guide, The Verge, TechSpot, Electronista, Engadget, SlashGear, PC World and Liliputing. Thanks:@bizcarson. See also Mediagazer

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

FTC ends first case against a “patent troll” with a slap on the wrist — Jay Mac Rust, pictured here in 2006, has reached a deal with the FTC after sending out 9,000 patent demand letters. — Super Lawyers — Last year, Congress held a vigorous debate over so-called “patent trolls.”

More: Federal Trade Commission, The Hill, Reuters, New York Times, Slate, CFO, Techdirt, Bloomberg, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Washington Post, Gigaom and Consumerist

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