Techmeme
November 20, 2014, 10:30 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Google, Rockstar agree to settle patent litigation: filing  —  (Reuters) - Google Inc has agreed to settle litigation with patent consortium Rockstar, though terms of the deal were not disclosed in a court filing made public this week.  —  Rockstar, which counts Apple Inc as an investor …
Dennis Schaal / Skift:
Sources: Amazon to launch hotel booking service in January 2015  —  Exclusive: Amazon to Get Into Hotel Booking With Launch of Travel Site  —  Amazon.com is poised to launch its own travel service, featuring booking at independent hotels and resorts near major cities, Skift has learned.
Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:
PCH International In Talks To Buy Fab For $15 Million  —  Multiple sources have confirmed that Fab is in talks to sell to PCH International for $15 million in a half cash and half stock deal.  —  Contractual agreements are in the very early stages between the two companies (and these things could always fall apart).
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
Foxconn will spend $2.6B to build dedicated Apple display plant in Taiwan  —  Foxconn to Build Dedicated Apple Display Plant in Taiwan  —  Foxconn Technology Group will spend NT$80 billion ($2.6 billion) over the next two years on a new factory in Taiwan to supply displays exclusively for a client.
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Uber's Massive Fundraising Drive Forges Ahead Despite Scandal  —  A recent controversy ensnaring Uber doesn't appear to be lessening the company's appeal to investors as it moves forward with plans to raise one of the largest venture-capital funding rounds in history.
More: Business Insider and ReadWriteTweets: @scottthurm
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Former Fake Steve Jobs and HubSpot content marketer Dan Lyons to head up Valleywag in January  —  Dan Lyons Used to be Fake Steve Jobs.  Now He's the Chief Valleywag.  —  Valleywag's chief editor Nitasha Tiku just left for the Verge.  Here's her replacement: Dan Lyons …
Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:
Google launches Contributor, a subscription service that lets users contribute to participating sites and turn off Google ads  —  Google launches Contributor, a crowdfunding tool for publishers  —  Google is launching a new service for websites called Contributor, which allows users to sign …
Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon leases 470,000 square-foot, 12-story space in midtown Manhattan for next 17 years  —  Amazon to Lease Entire Manhattan Building, Hinting at Retail Ambitions  —  Amazon.com agreed to lease 470,000 square feet of space in midtown Manhattan from Vornado Realty Trust …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Airbnb Rolls Out Million-Dollar Liability Insurance Program For Hosts  —  Airbnb today announced an additional liability insurance program that will provide U.S. hosts with up to $1 million worth of protection in the case a guest is accidentally injured anywhere in a host's building or on their property during their stay.
Jeff Barr / Amazon Web Services Blog:
Amazon's enterprise storage and sharing service Zocalo gets iOS, Android apps, 5TB file support  —  Amazon Zocalo Update - Mobile Apps + 5 TB Files  —  I have a couple of pieces of good news for current and potential users of Amazon Zocalo.  Both items are available now and you can start using them today.
More: ZDNet and VentureBeat
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Jaunt VR Releases Its First Content With App That Puts You On Stage With Paul McCartney  —  Jaunt wants to give you something to watch on makeshift virtual reality headsets like Google Cardboard, Dodocase, and Mirage.  So today the 360-degree camera and VR production software maker launches …
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Billboard Top 200 album chart will incorporate streaming data starting Dec. 3 from services including Spotify, Beats Music, Google Play, Xbox Music  —  Billboard, Changing the Charts, Will Count Streaming Services  —  Streaming music services like Spotify have brought big changes to the music industry.
Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:
Comcast testing feature to track technicians in real-time; trials begin outside Boston this week, will be rolled out nationally 2015  —  Comcast is testing a way to tell you exactly when the cable guy is coming  —  Comcast is trying out a way to let customers track technicians.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Corning announces Gorilla Glass 4, designed to better withstand sharp drops on rough surfaces  —  Corning's Gorilla Glass 4 aims to protect your phone from deadly drops  —  It's unlikely we'll see a truly impervious smartphone screen anytime soon, but Corning says it's getting us closer.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Netflix takes up 9.5% of upstream traffic on the North American Internet  —  ACK packets make Netflix an upload monster during peak viewing hours.  —  We've written a lot about how Netflix takes up a gigantic share of Internet traffic.  During peak viewing hours, Netflix accounts …
Husain Sumra / MacRumors:
Sony Drops Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs Movie, Universal May Take Over  —  Despite Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs movie being in the casting process and moving towards full fledged production, Sony Pictures has dropped the movie and put it “in turnaround”, which allows another large studio to purchase the movie and take over, reports Deadline.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Dropbox's Carousel photo software comes to iPads and the web  —  In April, Dropbox launched Carousel, a standalone app for storing and managing photos and videos on your phone.  Designed as a single place to view your life's memories, until now Carousel has only been available for the smallest screen in your life.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

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