Techmeme: Uber Wants to Be In Charge of Your Student Loan Debt (Kevin Montgomery/Valleywag)

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November 20, 2014, 8:45 AM

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Al Franken:

Sen. Al Franken asks Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for answers on privacy, God view tool, discipline for Emil Michael, and tracking journalists — Dear Mr Kalanick: — I am writing in regard to reports of recent comments and actions by top Uber executives concerning journalists.

Maya Kosoff / Business Insider:

Uber investor Ashton Kutcher defends digging into “shady” journalists' private lives

More: A+ (a plus), Guardian, Business Insider and BuzzFeed

Tweets: @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @aplusk, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @paulcarr, @pandodaily, @llsethj, @stevekovach, @llsethj, @patrickc, @profjeffjarvis, @stevekovach, @mikeisaac, @danprimack 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 …

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Default search engine for Firefox in Europe remains Google, Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China — Mozilla CEO: It Wasn't Money — Yahoo Was The Better Strategic Partner For Firefox — Mozilla CEO Chris Beard says when presented with deals of “equivalent economics” to power search in Firefox, Yahoo was the better partner.

Chris Welch / The Verge:

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. Today the company is announcing Gorilla Glass 4, the latest revision of its signature cover glass.

More: Re/code, BGR and Engadget

Kevin Montgomery / Valleywag:

Uber Wants to Be In Charge of Your Student Loan Debt — Uber is already pushing subprime car loans onto their drivers. Now the ethically-challenged on-demand car service wants to manage their drivers' student loan debt too. — Multiple tipsters tell Valleywag that the company quietly rolled …

More: Engadget, TUAW and Nelson's Weblog

Tweets: @silvermanjacob, @profjeffjarvis and @mikeisaac

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: Marketwired, SiliconANGLE, Gigaom, ZDNet, Tech Times, eWeek, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Tech Times, The Register and PE Hub Blog

Martin Beck / Marketing Land:

Forrester: brands should invest more on their own websites, and Instagram or Pinterest, instead of Facebook and Twitter — Forrester Says Marketers Are Wasting Resources on Facebook, Twitter — Because of low reach and engagement on the major social networks, report suggests that brands …

More: Wall Street Journal, Forrester Research, Business Insider, ITBusiness.ca, Marketing Pilgrim and Search Engine Land. Tweets: @r

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Developers In China Can Now Make Money Via Google Play Apps (But Not In China) — Google has announced that developers based in China can now make money from apps listed on the Google Play Store. The update covers 130 international markets but not China itself, however.

More: The Information, Android Developers Blog, Electronista, GamesIndustry.biz, 9to5Google, New York Times, The Next Web, Tech in Asia and Seeking Alpha

Andrew Grush / Android Authority:

Report: Google hopes to launch Play app store in China, moderating its approach with Beijing

More: Wall Street Journal, Engadget, VentureBeat and Android Police

Joshua Goldman / CNET:

Parrot's Bebop smartphone-controlled drone will be available Dec. in the US for $499 — Parrot Bebop drone lands in December for $499 — The company's new smartphone-controlled quadcopter, first announced in May, is finally flying into stores. — If you're dying for a more affordable …

More: Parrot news, Tom's Guide, ITProPortal, RTTNews, TechCrunch, Yahoo Tech, Mashable, PCMag Australia robotics …, SlashGear, Gizmodo and MacRumors

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: Forbes, Gizmodo, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Re/code, PC World, Six Colors, The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, Ubergizmo, InvestorPlace, Pocketnow, GamesIndustry.biz, iMore, Mashable and TUAW

Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:

Fitbit users can view their data in Apple's Health app with $0.99 3rd-party app Sync Solver — Fitbit users can finally view their data in the Health app thanks to 99 cent sync tool — A 99 cent app finally allows owners of Fitbit activity trackers to view their data in Apple's Health app.

More: AppleInsider, App Advice, MacNN, TUAW, MacRumors, iDownloadBlog.com and iPhone in Canada Blog

Jessica Guynn / USA Today:

Facebook shuttle bus drivers vote to join Teamsters union — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook shuttle bus drivers voted late Wednesday to join the Teamsters union. — The vote was 43-28. — The union drive was part of a growing campaign in Silicon Valley to secure better pay and working conditions for service workers.

More: Teamsters, PC World, Wall Street Journal, The Register, Bloomberg, CNET, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CBS San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, Valleywag and Business Insider. Tweets: @claudiakincaid

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

Cisco expects to pay $188M to Rockstar, the Apple-owned patent licensor — Cisco is preparing to dole out a serious chunk of cash to settle its patent lawsuit with Rockstar, a patent-holding company created out of the ashes of Nortel, a Canadian telecom. — The $188-million pre-tax charge …

Ian Paul / PC World:

Watching shows online is more common now, Flurry says, but TV's hardly dead yet — We're all spending more time with smartphones and tablets. So much so that the “second screen” may now be the “first screen,” depending on the data you read. — Mobile analytics and advertising firm Flurry released …

More: Flurry Insights, Businessweek, Yahoo, Business Insider, Marketing Land, SocialTimes, Gamasutra, Marketing Land and GeekWire

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: Inquirer, PC World, Engadget, ZDNet, Tech Trader Daily, Gigaom, Nasdaq, CNET and The Register

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