Techmeme: Dropbox acquires Israel-based CloudOn, a developer of mobile productivity tools (Douglas MacMillan/Wall Street Journal)

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January 21, 2015, 2:15 PM

Top News

Microsoft:

Livestream: Microsoft Windows 10 media event in Redmond, Washington — Windows 10: Briefing — Join us right here on January 21 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time to learn about the next chapter for Windows 10.

The Verge:

Live blog: Microsoft unveils Windows 10 — Live from Microsoft's Windows 10 event — 4:08:56 PM PST Microsoft will be streaming the event, so follow along as you read Tom Warren right here! 12:26:20 PM PST Hey there! We'll be live from Seattle on January 21st, beginning at 9AM PT / 12PM ET.

More: VentureBeat, The Verge, Engadget, The Verge, My Nokia Blog, Seeking Alpha and Gigaom

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 …

More: The Next Web, The Verge, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, CNET, Re/code, ZDNet, MacRumors, TechCrunch, ABC News, CITEworld, GeekWire, BetaNews, Fortune, ReadWrite, 9to5Mac, The Register, BGR, Engadget, PC World and Computerworld

Owen Williams / The Next Web:

Xbox features in Windows 10: stream Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs and tablets, play together with Xbox users, GameDVR, DirectX 12 — Windows 10 is getting tight Xbox integration — At Microsoft's Windows 10 event today, the company unveiled big news for fans of the company's Xbox console.

More: TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Engadget, VentureBeat and The Verge

Nicole Lee / Engadget:

Microsoft Cortana virtual assistant is coming to the PC with Windows 10 — One of the most identifying characteristics of Windows Phone is Cortana, Microsoft's version of a virtual assistant that's reminiscent of Apple's Siri and Google Now. Now, however, the software giant is bringing …

More: The Verge, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, CNET, GeekWire, Gizmodo, The Verge, VentureBeat, CNET, Business Insider, The Next Web, Ars Technica and BGR

Tweets: @brierdudley and @maryjofoley

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Microsoft announces Surface Hub, an 84-inch 4k display with pen input, dual cameras, and microphone array — At its Windows 10 event in Redmond today, Microsoft today unveiled the Microsoft Surface Hub. Microsoft describes this Windows 10 device as an 84-inch 4K display with “integrated compute.”

More: Gizmodo, Business Insider, The Verge, The Next Web and PC World

Tweets: @venturebeat and @microsoft

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Windows 10's Mobile Debut Reveals Cross-Platform Features And Skype Integration

More: The Next Web, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Engadget and The Next Web. Tweets: @piercedavid

Owen Williams / The Next Web:

Microsoft announces Spartan, its new browser with webpage annotation and reading list features

More: 9to5Google, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Gigaom, The Verge, VentureBeat, CNET and Neowin

Tweets: @piercedavid, @stevekovach, @joannastern and @mattrosoff

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Microsoft previews Office for Windows 10 phones and small tablets

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Microsoft reveals Windows Holographic augmented reality user interface and HoloLens headset

More: Wired, The Verge, The Next Web, VentureBeat, GeekWire, Engadget and Gizmodo

Tweets: @piercedavid, @fmanjoo, @panzer, @fmanjoo and @charlesarthur

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 …

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 …

More: TechCrunch, ZDNet, App Store, MacRumors, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, FierceMobileIT News, iPhone in Canada Blog, Electronista, BetaNews, Jewish Business News, SlashGear, The Next Web, Reuters, Ubergizmo, Tech in Asia, SiliconANGLE, Gigaom and App Advice

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 …

More: CNET, Android Authority, Gigaom, Gigaom, The Verge, FreedomPop Blog, The Digital Reader, PhoneDog.com, Wall Street Journal, TWICE, Telecompetitor, Ubergizmo and SlashGear

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 …

More: TechCrunch, PandoDaily, Gigaom, MacRumors, GeekWire, The Verge, Re/code, 9to5Google, Ubergizmo, MacDailyNews, TechRadar.com, Geeky Gadgets, Street Fight, Finextra Research news and TrustedReviews

moot / 4chan:

Christopher Poole announces retirement from 4chan, says “senior volunteers” will run site — The Next Chapter — I founded 4chan eleven and a half years ago at the age of 15, and after more than a decade of service, I've decided it's time for me to move on. 4chan …

More: The Verge, VentureBeat, CoinBuzz, Gawker and International Business Times

Tweets: @moot and @4chan

See also Mediagazer

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.

More: Making Pinterest, Re/code, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat and WebProNews

WhatsApp Blog:

WhatsApp launches a desktop web app to serve Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone users — WhatsApp Web — Today, for the first time, millions of you will have the ability to use WhatsApp on your web browser. Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations …

More: The Verge, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Next Web, GSMArena Blog, and International Business Times

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 …

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 …

More: AppleInsider, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, InvestCorrectly.com, The Mac Observer, 9to5Mac, MacNN, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog and Digital Trends

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.

More: WhatsApp, Android Police, TechCrunch, BBC, Inquirer, Phandroid, PC Magazine, VentureBeat, Naked Security, bgr.in, Gigaom, Android Central, The Droid Guy, Technology Personalized and Android Beat

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 …

More: The White House, Re/code, VentureBeat, White House.gov Blog, Computerworld, USA Today and Engadget

See also Mediagazer

Cory Bennett / The Hill:

Obama calls for bipartisan effort on cybersecurity legislation in State of the Union address

More: The Register

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