Techmeme
January 7, 2016, 6:05 AM

Top News

Emily Steel / New York Times:
Netflix launches in 130 additional countries, now available in 190 countries worldwide, excluding China, Crimea, North Korea, and Syria, stock up 9%  —  At CES, Netflix Announces Worldwide Expansion of Streaming Service  —  Netflix went live with its streaming television service …
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:
Pre-orders open for Oculus Rift consumer edition, on sale for $599, shipping in March; orders already backlogged until May  —  Virtually a reality: Oculus Rift goes on sale for $599  —  Pre-orders are open ahead of March ship date for consumer version  —  After dozens of trade-show demos …
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Nextbit announces first wave of GSM Robin smartphones will ship February 16  —  Nextbit's cloud-savvy smartphone ships on February 16th  —  Good news if you've been sitting on pins and needles waiting for Nextbit's Robin smartphone to ship: it's nearly ready for action.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
More than 180,000 people have now registered drones with the FAA  —  Anyone who purchased a drone after December 21st must register with the Federal Aviation Administration, and the number of Americans who have done so is now solidly into the six digits.  At a press conference …
Owen Williams / The Next Web:
Microsoft will stop supporting Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 on January 12  —  Web developers rejoice; Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 die on Tuesday  —  Internet Explorer has long been the bane of many Web developers' existence, but here's some news to brighten your day: Internet Explorer 8 …
Biz Carson / Business Insider:
Sources: Yahoo to lay off at least 10%, or 1,000+ of its employees, as early as this month  —  Yahoo is prepping to lay off 10% or more of its workforce  —  Major layoffs will be coming to Yahoo as part of its planned reorganization to get its business back on track.
Johana Bhuiyan / BuzzFeed:
Uber agrees to overhaul privacy and security practices and pay a $20K fine in settlement over “God View” with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman  —  Uber Settles With New York Attorney General Over “God View” Tracking Program  —  The ride-hailing company agrees to overhaul …
Shira Ovide / Bloomberg Business:
Despite recent reports of cuts by iPhone suppliers, Apple remains most profitable company in S&P 500  —  No Midlife Crisis for Apple  —  Shira Ovide is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering technology.  She previously was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.  —  AS OF 15:41 EST
Apple:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Assist, a chatbot for Messenger, Slack, Telegram, SMS offering free travel and shopping services, launches  —  Assist Has No App.  It's A Free Travel/Shopping Chat Bot For SMS And Facebook Messenger  —  You don't care who delivers dinner or drives you home as long as it gets done fast.

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: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
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.
Hard Fork:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
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.
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:05 AM ET, January 7, 2016.

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.

More News

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Andy Greenberg / Wired: