Techmeme
January 21, 2015, 2:45 PM

Top News

Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Windows 10 will be free for the first year for Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 users  —  Microsoft will offer free Windows 10 upgrades from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 7 for one year  —  REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft will be providing some Windows users with free upgrades …
Owen Williams / The Next Web:
Microsoft announces Spartan, its new browser with webpage annotation and reading list features  —  This is Spartan, Microsoft's new browser to challenge Google Chrome  —  At Microsoft's Windows 10 event today, the company unveiled its all new browser that will be alongside Internet Explorer in the next OS: Spartan.
Nicole Lee / Engadget:
Jessi Hempel / Wired:
Hands on with Microsoft's holographic goggles Project HoloLens  —  Our Exclusive Hands-On With Microsoft's Unbelievable New Holographic Goggles  —  It's the end of October, when the days have already grown short in Redmond, Washington, and gray sheets of rain are just beginning to let up.
Stuart Dredge / Guardian:
Apple acquires UK startup Semetric, which runs music analytics service Musicmetric  —  Apple buys the British startup behind music analytics service Musicmetric  —  Company helps record labels track digital sales, streams and social stats, and could become part of Beats Music relaunch
Bloomberg:
Sources: Samsung to drop Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and use its own chip in next Galaxy smartphone  —  Samsung Said to Drop Qualcomm Chip From Next Galaxy Smartphone  —  Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will use its own microprocessors in the next version of the Galaxy S smartphone …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
FreedomPop launches unlimited WiFi with 10M hotspots across US for $5/month  —  FreedomPop Turns On Unlimited Wi-Fi Across The US For $5/Month  —  FreedomPop, the startup that is trying to steal users away from mobile carriers by offering free, basic cellular voice and data plans …
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Dropbox acquires Israel-based CloudOn, a developer of mobile productivity tools  —  Dropbox Dips Into Israel With CloudOn Buy  —  Acquisitive tech startup Dropbox just gobbled up another young app maker to bolster its European expansion.  —  The cloud-storage provider on Tuesday closed …
Steven Musil / CNET:
Amazon ends its mobile-wallet beta six months after launch  —  Amazon to fold its mobile-wallet app beta on Wednesday  —  The closure comes amid rocky efforts by tech companies to expand into the financial industry.  —  Amazon will pull the plug on its Amazon Wallet beta on Wednesday …
Serena Saitto / Bloomberg:
Sources: Uber raises $1.6B in convertible debt from Goldman Sachs' clients  —  Uber Said to Raise $1.6 Billion in Convertible Debt to Expand  —  Uber Technologies Inc. raised $1.6 billion in convertible debt from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)'s wealth management clients …
More: Business InsiderTweets: @kevinroose
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Pinterest Acquires Machine Learning Commerce Recommendation Engine Kosei  —  Facebook knows who you were.  Google knows what you want now.  But Pinterest yearns to know what you want next, which is “exactly” why it acquired recommendation engine startup Kosei, Pinterest's head of engineering Michael Lopp tells me.
Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:
Users of 3rd-party WhatsApp clients reportedly being banned from the service for 24 hours  —  WhatsApp is one of the most-used messaging apps in existence, and today countless users of the service have taken to Google+ and Twitter to report that they're being banned from the service for 24 hours.
Bloomberg:
Apple Steps Up Lobbying in Washington to Counter Government Scrutiny  —  Tim Cook recently traveled to an unfamiliar destination for an Apple Inc. (AAPL) chief executive officer: The U.S. Capitol.  —  During the trip last month, Cook posed for a photo with Senator Orrin Hatch …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Vessel Signs More YouTube Stars to Subscription Service, Launches Limited Beta Test  —  Vessel, the digital subscription-video startup founded by ex-Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, has signed more than a dozen YouTube stars and other partners to its service as it opens up the service in an invitation-only beta test.
Alan Yuhas / Guardian:
White House breaks own State of the Union embargo for online audience  —  Obama administration posts full text of president's speech before its own media embargo in unprecedented decision targeting internet-savvy readers  —  The White House posted the entire text of President Obama's 2015 State …

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