Techmeme
February 2, 2015, 10:35 PM

Top News

Brad Stone / Bloomberg Business:
Google developing its own Uber competitor, likely in conjunction with driverless car project  —  Exclusive: Google Is Developing Its Own Uber Competitor  —  The two companies are going to war over self-driving taxis  —  Don't Miss Out — … Uber faces an ever-growing cast of adversaries …
John Biggs / TechCrunch:
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars  —  Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch.
Tim Higgins / Bloomberg Business:
Apple plans to invest $2B in GT Advanced Arizona plant to convert it into a data center  —  Apple to Convert Failed Arizona Sapphire Plant Into Data Center  —  Don't Miss Out —  (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. plans to invest $2 billion to convert an Arizona factory into a data center …
Bloomberg Business:
RadioShack in Talks to Sell Half Its Stores to Sprint, Shutter the Rest  —  Don't Miss Out —  (Bloomberg) — RadioShack Corp. is preparing to shut down the almost-century-old electronics chain in a bankruptcy deal that would sell about half its stores to Sprint Corp. and close the rest …
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
In Net Neutrality Push, F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating Internet Service as a Utility  —  The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission this week is widely expected to propose regulating Internet service like a public utility, a move certain to unleash another round …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Pebble has now sold over 1 million smartwatches; new hardware and software are planned for this year  —  New hardware and software are planned for this year  —  While Google and Apple have been getting the lion's share of attention for smartwatches lately, indie darling Pebble …
Danny D. / SamMobile:
Samsung sends out invitations to March 1 event, hints at curved design for Galaxy S6  —  Samsung starts sending out press invitations for March 1st, hints at curved design  —  Press invites for an event scheduled for March 1st have finally started making rounds.
Vindu Goel / New York Times:
Twitter tests instant timeline, which shows tweets to new users who haven't followed anyone  —  Twitter Displays Its Value With Instant Timeline for New Users  —  Anyone who has created a Twitter account knows how difficult it can be to get value from the service.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Google, Microsoft, and Amazon pay maker of Adblock Plus to have their ads whitelisted  —  Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are paying to get around Adblock Plus  —  Some of the web's biggest companies have been paying to get around Adblock Plus, according to a new report from Financial Times.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp Voice-Calling Feature Spotted In The Wild  —  Select Android users are reporting they've happened upon a new voice-calling feature in their WhatsApp mobile applications, indicating that the company is testing the addition ahead of its expansion into territory currently dominated by apps like Skype and Viber.
Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:
IDC: Tablet shipments decline for the first time in Q4 2014, leaders Apple and Samsung both lose market share  —  Tablets shipments have declined year over year for the first time.  —  In the fourth quarter of 2014, 76.1 million tablets shipped worldwide, according to the International Data …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Sony Sells MMO Publisher And EverQuest Creator Sony Online Entertainment  —  Sony has sold Sony Online Entertainment, the studio and publisher that created EverQuest (and, to a large extent, the modern MMO genre), in a deal that will see it owned by investment management firm Columbus Nova and rebranded as Daybreak.
Biz Carson / Gigaom:
Reddit fires lead Notes engineer, says launch delayed until cryptocurrency law and technology improve  —  After key engineer leaves, what will happen to Reddit Notes?  —  A company changing its project outline for a year isn't surprising, nor is laying off staff — except when that the project …
Lucian Constantin / Computerworld:
Flash Player faces its third zero-day flaw in a month, updates coming  —  Adobe Systems warned users that hackers are exploiting another unpatched vulnerability in Flash Player — the third one in the past month — to infect computers with malware.  —  There are reports that the vulnerability …
Steven Musil / CNET:
Lenovo third-quarter profit beats estimates on smartphone boost  —  Net income declines 4.6 percent to $253 million but comes in better than expectations after Motorola acquisition.  —  Lenovo recorded third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as it expanded its footprint in the smartphone market.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Foursquare's original chief technical officer is the latest to leave the company  —  The company's first hire is moving on to “somewhere new”  —  Foursquare's original chief technical officer has left the company after more than five years, The Verge has learned.
Rachel King / ZDNet:
Salesforce-backed Apttus raises $41M for contract management software  —  Summary:Along with Salesforce itself, Apttus serves over 300 of Salesforce's enterprise customers, including 70 Fortune 500 companies.  —  Salesforce.com's Internet of Things innovation fund is off and running …

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Earlier Picks

Kevin Dallas / Building Apps for Windows: