Techmeme: Data virtualization firm Primary Data comes out of stealth, announces $63M funding, brings on Steve Wozniak as chief scientist (Cromwell Schubarth/Silicon Valley …)

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November 19, 2014, 8:10 PM

Top News

Al Franken:

Senator Al Franken asks Travis Kalanick for answers on privacy and targeting journalists — Dear Mr Kalanick: — I am writing in regard to reports of recent comments and actions by top Yber executives concerning journalists. The reports suggest a troubling disregard for customers' privacy including …

More: Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Business Insider, The Next Web, TechCrunch, The Hill, PandoDaily, Fortune, Mashable and Bloomberg Politics. See also Mediagazer

BuzzFeed:

Uber investigating its New York GM Josh Mohrer for tracking journalist's location without consent; internal “God View” tool makes tracking customers easy — “God View:” Uber Investigates Its Top New York Executive For Privacy Violations — In the wake of a BuzzFeed News story …

Maya Kosoff / Business Insider:

Uber investor Ashton Kutcher defends digging into “shady” journalists' private lives — Ashton Kutcher Defends Uber Against ‘Shady Journalist’ — Ashton Kutcher Lenovo's newest ‘product engineer’ — One day after Uber's SVP of business suggested his company spend millions …

More: BuzzFeed and Raw Story. Tweets: @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @stevekovach, @paulcarr, @llsethj, @pandodaily, @paulcarr, @danprimack, @mikeisaac, @patrickc, @llsethj, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @profjeffjarvis, @stevekovach, @paulcarr, @paulcarr and @chris_ciaccia. See also Mediagazer

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Firefox drops Google as default search engine, signs five-year deal with Yahoo — Today, Yahoo and Mozilla announced a five-year partnership that would make Yahoo the default search engine for Mozilla's Firefox browser on mobile and desktop. The agreement also sets the stage …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Apple Relabels “Free” Download Buttons On iTunes And Mac App Store To “Get” Following Pressure from EC — Across the iTunes and Mac App Stores today, a minor but also notable change is taking place with regard to how Apple is marketing its iOS and Mac applications.

More: 9to5Mac, PC World, Re/code, Six Colors, The Verge, Ubergizmo, Pocketnow, InvestorPlace, iMore and Mashable

Cromwell Schubarth / Silicon Valley Business Journal:

Data virtualization firm Primary Data comes out of stealth, announces $63M funding, brings on Steve Wozniak as chief scientist — Primary Data emerges from stealth at Demo with Woz as chief scientist — The Los Altos company raised about $63 million in funding to help in their plan …

More: ZDNet, Gigaom, eWeek, Wall Street Journal, The Register, VentureBeat, bizjournals and PE Hub Blog

Ryan Whitwam / Android Police:

Android Lollipop's Trusted Places removes need to unlock device in select geographical areas — Google Play Services Update Adds Trusted Places Feature To Lollipop's Smart Lock — Smart Lock in Lollipop encompasses both trusted face and trusted devices, but a new option is joining the party—trusted places.

More: 9to5Google, Computerworld, Daring Fireball, BGR, TechSpot, PC World, Gizmodo, Electronista, MobileSyrup.com, The Verge and Gizmodo

Tim Higgins / Bloomberg:

Apple still committed to bringing jobs to Mesa, Arizona, plans to repurpose the sapphire plant — Apple Sticking With Arizona Plan After Supplier Falters — Apple Inc. (AAPL) has told officials in Mesa, Arizona, that it's committed to bringing jobs and manufacturing to the area …

More: AppleInsider, MacRumors, iMore, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac, PadGadget, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, The Register, iLounge and TechnoBuffalo

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:

Google acquires RelativeWave, makes its mobile prototyping software Form, normally $79, free for Mac — RelativeWave acquired by Google, makes its mobile app prototyping software free for Mac — RelativeWave, the company behind the mobile app prototyping software Form, today announced it's joining Google.

More: RelativeWave, VatorNews, TechCrunch, iMore, VentureBeat and The Next Web

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Beats Music to Be Bundled Into iOS Early Next Year, Will Remain Paid Subscription Service — As part of Apple's revamp of its recently acquired Beats Music streaming service, the company plans to bundle Beats directly into iOS, reports Financial Times.

More: Financial Times, 9to5Mac, PandoDaily, NEWS.com.au, AppleInsider, VatorNews, PC Magazine, New York Times, BBC, VentureBeat, TUAW, Engadget, MacDailyNews, The Verge, Gizmodo, SlashGear, Pocketnow, TechCrunch, Neowin, Ars Technica, BGR and Electronista

Tweets: @jbrodkin, @joshconstine and @joshconstine

See also Mediagazer

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Kik Messenger Takes $38 Million in Funding, Buys GIF Startup Relay — Messaging app Kik has raised $38.3 million in new funding and acquired Relay, a messaging network focused on sending and receiving GIFs. — The round was led by Valiant Capital Partners, and included new investors Millennium Technology …

More: Kik Messenger, TechCrunch, iPhone in Canada Blog, Techvibes Global News, VatorNews, Wall Street Journal, BetaKit and CNET

Lara O'Reilly / Business Insider:

Apple partnering with Rubicon Project to sell iAds through company's automated marketplace — Apple Is Planning To Turn Around iAd By Venturing Into Programmatic For The First Time — Apple's mobile advertising unit iAd is moving into programmatic advertising for the first time by partnering …

More: Re/code, AppleInsider, SlashGear and MacDailyNews

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

Salesforce Slips On Weak Guidance, Despite Beating On Both Revenue And Profit In Its FQ3 — In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, Salesforce reported revenue of $1.383 billion, non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.14, a GAAP net loss of $38.92 million, and a GAAP loss per share of $0.06.

More: Re/code, Fortune, Tech Trader Daily and Business Insider

Shara Tibken / CNET:

Samsung shifts gears again with Tizen, now targeting $100 phone market, taking on Android One — Tsk, tsk, Tizen: How Samsung's OS stumbled — and aims to rise again — The Korean electronics giant is shifting gears again with its troubled mobile operating system, now aiming for affordability …

Mark Hearn / 9to5Google:

Motorola's $25 Keylink will help you find your misplaced smartphone with the push of a button — Between the release of the Moto X, Droid Turbo and taking on a new taskmaster, Motorola Mobility has been extremely busy. With no signs of slowing down, the former Google company just announced …

More: Engadget, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Android Police, Gizmodo, The Verge, Geek Beat, Android Central, Android and Me, Pocketnow and AndroidGuys

Dennis Fisher / Threatpost:

Google Removes SSLv3 Fallback Support From Chrome — Google has released Chrome 39, fixing 42 security vulnerabilities and removing support for the fallback to SSLv3, the component that was the target of the POODLE attack revealed last month. — When the POODLE attack was disclosed …

More: Google Chrome Releases, VentureBeat, Digital Trends, iDownloadBlog.com, ZDNet, Gotta Be Mobile, SC Magazine and iMore

Jeffrey Burt / eWeek:

Qualcomm to Build ARM-Based Server Chips — Qualcomm, the world's top mobile chip maker, is ready to get into the crowded ARM-based server chip business. — At the company's annual analyst day Nov. 19 in New York, CEO Steve Mollenkopf said company engineers have been working on the technology “for some time.

More: CNET, The Register, ZDNet, Tech Trader Daily, Gigaom and Nasdaq

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Amazon's $39 Fire TV Stick starts shipping today, but new orders won't arrive before January 15 — As expected, Amazon today started shipping its $39 Fire TV Stick to fill preorders. Yet if you preordered the streaming device in the last few days or want to order it now, don't expect to see it before January 15, 2015.

More: Amazon.com, The Next Web, Digital Trends, Android Police, TechCrunch, Gotta Be Mobile, eWeek, IntoMobile, Electronista, WebProNews, SlashGear, Engadget and Android Central

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google's New Bookmarking Interface, Formerly Called “Stars,” Goes Live In Chrome Beta — Last month, Google quietly launched its new bookmarking service previously called Stars on the Chrome Web store as a free download. Today, the company says it's integrating the feature into the Google Chrome browser.

More: The Next Web, Google Chrome Blog, VentureBeat and 9to5Google

Amy Gesenhues / Search Engine Land:

Google News Displaying “Suggested For You” Stories Customized To Match Your Interests — Google News founder Krishna Bharat used his Google+ account to announce a new “Suggested for you” feature in Google News. — According to his post, Google News will now include a “Suggested for you” …

More: 9to5Google, Search Engine Roundtable, The Next Web and Marketing Pilgrim

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Viber messaging app launches Public Chats to let you follow live conversations of celebrities — Messaging App Viber Takes A Step Into Social Networking With New Public Chats Feature — A lot of messaging apps have been highlighting how their services are a great way for people …

More: Wired, MobileSyrup.com, TechSpot, NDTV Gadgets, The Drum, The Next Web, Ubergizmo, New York Times and Mashable

Tweets: @viber and @viber

Justin Fenton / Baltimore Sun:

Prosecutors withdraw key evidence in robbery case to avoid revealing how police used phone tracking technology — Judge threatens detective with contempt for declining to reveal cellphone tracking methods — Baltimore prosecutors withdrew key evidence in a robbery case Monday rather …

More: Ars Technica, Blog of Rights and Slate

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus & iPad Air 2 lose out to Samsung & Surface in detailed color accuracy analysis — Following its detailed reports on displays used in the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, today DisplayMate published a scientific analysis of color accuracy for the six best mobile displays it's tested this year.

More: DisplayMate, MacRumors, AppleInsider, TechnoBuffalo, MacDailyNews, TUAW, Android Police, BetaNews, Wired and PC World

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