Techmeme: How Firefox OS for mobile devices got started, developed carrier and vendor partnerships, and then was blindsided by cheap Android phones (George Anders/MIT Technology Review)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

May 25, 2015, 10:40 PM

Top News

Stephen Fry / Telegraph:

Jony Ive talks about his new role as Apple's chief design officer as he relinquishes day-to-day management duties to Richard Howarth and Alan Dye — When Stephen Fry met Jony Ive: the self-confessed tech geek talks to Apple's newly promoted chief design officer

Mike Beasley / 9to5Mac:

Tim Cook memo: Jony Ive to remain responsible for overall design, Alan Dye moves to VP of UI design, Richard Howarth to VP of industrial design, starting July 1 — Jony Ive promoted to ‘Chief Design Officer,’ handing off managerial duties July 1st [Tim Cook Memo] — Alan Dye, Jony Ive, and Richard Howarth

More: TIME, The Verge, Fone Arena, Redmond Pie, iDownloadBlog.com, Pocketnow and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @harrymccracken, @mattgarrahan, @reckless, @markgurman and @dangillmor

Bloomberg Business:

Sources: Charter may announce it is buying Time Warner Cable for $55.1B tomorrow, Bright House Networks will also be merged into the combined company — Charter Near Deal for Time Warner Cable at $195 a Share — Charter Communications Inc. is near an agreement to buy Time Warner Cable Inc …

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Sources: Twitter has held talks to acquire Flipboard in an all-stock deal valued at over $1B, but talks are now stalled — Twitter Has Held Talks to Acquire Flipboard — Twitter has been engaged in an ongoing series of talks to acquire Flipboard, according to multiple sources with knowledge …

More: The Next Web, SiliconANGLE, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Ubergizmo and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @sbermo, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @rafat and @stephenhall_

See also Mediagazer

Liam Spradlin / Android Police:

An exclusive early look at the new standalone Google Photos app on Android — An Exclusive Early Look At The New Google Photos App — We've been hearing for a very long time - virtually ever since Vic Gundotra left Google+, with more rumors springing up recently - that Photos …

More: The Next Web, TechSpot, BGR, Pocketnow, 9to5Google, Tech Times, SlashGear, VentureBeat, TechnoBuffalo, Digital Trends, Fone Arena, Android and Me, MobileSyrup.com, Ubergizmo, PhoneDog.com and Engadget. Tweets: @chrismlacy

Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:

What could launch at Google I/O 2015: Android M, Chromecast 2, standalone photos product, more — Google Tracker 2015 (I/O edition): Android M, Chromecast 2, and lots more — SPOILER ALERT! We recap upcoming Google projects that could launch at I/O 2015.

More: Ubergizmo, Business Insider and BGR. Tweets: @chrismlacy

Juliette Garside / Guardian:

Philip Zimmermann moves his mobile encryption startup Silent Circle from US to Switzerland to avoid surveillance — Philip Zimmermann: king of encryption reveals his fears for privacy — The creator of PGP has moved his mobile-encryption firm Silent Circle to Switzerland to be free of US mass surveillance.

Tweets: @privacyprof, @alex, @codinghorror, @dtunkelang, @vmosco, @hivecomm and @adamhrv

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Instagram sends “Highlights” email digests to re-engage users, its first promotional emails — An Aging Instagram Tries To Win Us Back With Email “Highlights” — Four and a half years is a lot of pretty pictures. Instagram isn't as young as it used to be, and it doesn't want long-time users to slip away from its app.

More: Telegraph, Guardian, SlashGear, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, Fone Arena, MobileSyrup.com, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, Ubergizmo, Engadget, PC Magazine and The Next Web. Tweets: @joshconstine

Ryan Whitwam / Android Police:

Source: 5.2" LG Angler and 5.7" Huawei Bullhead Nexus phones coming this year, no new tablet — [Rumor] No Nexus Tablet In 2015, But Two Phones—A 5.2-Inch LG (Code Name Angler) And A 5.7-Inch Huawei (Code Name Bullhead) — The Nexus 6 was a break from the past for the Nexus program …

More: PhoneDog.com, Ausdroid, Android and Me, Fone Arena, Ubergizmo, Phones Review, MobileSyrup.com and Pocketnow

Chance Miller / 9to5Google:

Google Hangouts Chrome app updated w/ redesigned interface, OS X support — Google today updated its Hangouts Chrome app with an entirely new interface. Perhaps more notably than that, the app has support for Mac OS X users in addition to the trio of Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.

More: Bidness Etc, Android Authority, Mayur Kamat, Droid Life, TechSpot, The Next Web, Android Police and Lifehacker

Stacey Higginbotham / Fortune:

Alarm.com, a security and home automation cloud service provider with 2.3M customers, files for $75M IPO — Alarm.com files to raise $75 million through initial public offering — Security and home automation company Alarm.com, riding the interest in the smart home …

More: RTTNews, Greentech Media, Wall Street Journal and Seeking Alpha

George Anders / MIT Technology Review:

How Firefox OS for mobile devices got started, developed carrier and vendor partnerships, and then was blindsided by cheap Android phones — Firefox Maker Battles to Save the Internet—and Itself — Mozilla helped an open Web flourish in the 2000s. Now it's struggling to play a meaningful role on mobile devices.

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.

Zoho:

Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more — Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:

2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control

Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.

Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.

BG2 Pod:

AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

Great Chat:

The stories we told ourselves in 2025

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Grit:

How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:40 PM ET, May 25, 2015.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.