Techmeme
June 11, 2015, 6:40 AM

Top News

Xiaoyun Zhang / The Twitter Blog:
Twitter simplifies blocking multiple accounts by letting users share and import block lists  —  Sharing block lists to help make Twitter safer  —  Today we're making it possible to share block lists on twitter.com.  This new, advanced feature makes blocking multiple accounts easy, fast and community driven.
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Google creates and funds Sidewalk Labs, a startup developing and incubating tech to improve urban life, headed by former deputy mayor of NYC Daniel L. Doctoroff  —  Sidewalk Labs, a Start-Up Created by Google, Has Bold Aims to Improve City Living  —  Google's ambitions and investments …
Nate Swanner / The Next Web:
Apple Music will stream at 256kbps, below the ‘industry standard’ 320kbps  —  Arriving June 30, Apple Music is going to try and curate tracks with a human touch.  It won't stream them at the highest possible bitrate, though.  —  Apple has confirmed Apple Music's streaming bitrate is 256kbps.
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
iOS 9 code hints 1080p, 240fps, flash coming to iPhone FaceTime cameras  —  Code found in the first iOS 9 developer betas reveals that Apple is planning to support some significant camera features and upgrades with the new software version.  Presumably planned for the next iPhone hardware version …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Reddit bans ‘Fat People Hate’ and other subreddits under new harassment rules  —  In the wake of a new anti-harassment policy, Reddit is banning a handful of its worst communities.  “Our goal is to enable as many people as possible to have authentic conversations and share ideas and content …
Wall Street Journal:
Critics say that startups' use of vague, unconventional, and non-GAAP financial terms inflate their valuations  —  Tech Startups Woo Investors With Unconventional Financial Terms — but Do Numbers Add Up?  —  Critics say the practice is inflating some companies' valuations
Ian Sherr / CNET:
Video game console maker Ouya in talks to be acquired by Razer  —  Video game console maker Ouya is in negotiations to sell itself, possibly to Razer  —  The company, whose app store was pitched as the go-to place for small and independent developers, is negotiating for all employees to remain with the company after the sale.
Jessica Conditt / Engadget:
Twitch rolls out a private-message system called Whisper  —  Psst.  We heard something about Twitch that you might enjoy.  Lean in.  A little closer.  A little closer.  Perfect: You can now send private messages to friends on Twitch, even if your buddies are watching different streams than you at the time.
Tom Maxwell / 9to5Google:
Gmail for Android now has Oauth support for Yahoo and Microsoft accounts  —  Google killed its stock email app in favor of Gmail with the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop, but they also made it possible to connect email accounts from other providers including Microsoft and Yahoo.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Marriott to offer guests access to their Netflix accounts at all properties by the end of 2016  —  Marriott is letting guests watch Netflix on their hotel TV  —  Netflix subscribers staying at Marriott hotels in the US will soon be able to log in to their Netflix accounts just like at home.
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google on iOS and Android can now use geolocation to answer “When does this restaurant open?” or “How long is this river?”  —  [WATCH] Google's Amazing Location-Aware Search Finds Answers About Nearby Places  —  How tall is that tower in front of you?
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Challenges Pinterest With News Feed Buy Button For Shopify Merchants  —  Facebook wants its ads to sell you stuff directly so you never have to click away to another app or site.  Until now, Facebook was testing a Buy Button that does that with just a few selected test merchants …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft Acquires Application Management Service BlueStripe  —  Microsoft today announced that it has acquired BlueStripe, an application management service that helps enterprises monitor and troubleshoot applications that have been deployed across different operating systems, data centers and cloud environments.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook's Messenger platform gets its first game with Doodle Draw, a Draw Something clone  —  Facebook's Messenger Platform Gets Its First Game  —  Facebook Messenger's quest to own all the ways you connect with friends is now expanding to games.  Today I spotted “Doodle Draw Game” …

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More News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Earlier Picks

Darren Pauli / The Register:
Dana Wollman / Engadget:
Sam Biddle / Gawker: