Techmeme
February 1, 2016, 5:55 PM

Top News

Alphabet Investor Relations:
Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2015 Results  —  Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.  —  “Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
After blockbuster earnings, Alphabet is set to pass Apple as the world's most valuable public company Tuesday  —  Google passes Apple as most valuable company  —  Google-parent Alphabet passed Apple as the most valuable company in the world.  At current after-hours levels …
Alexei Oreskovic / Business Insider:
Alphabet's moonshots lost $3.6B in 2015, compared to $1.9B in 2014, while revenue rose to $448M from $327M  —  Google-parent Alphabet's moonshots lost $3.6 billion in 2015  —  Moonshots are not cheap.  —  Google parent-company Alphabet lost $3.6 billion on moonshot projects in 2015.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Google expands presidential candidate cards in search results and Now with info about candidates' positions on issues, will also offer primary voting reminders  —  Google Expanding Candidate Cards, Will Also Offer Primary Voting Reminders  —  Building on an experiment following …
John Markoff / New York Times:
Microsoft's Project Natick is an effort to develop a self-contained, underwater data center that could eliminate cooling costs and shorten deployment time  —  Microsoft Plumbs Ocean's Depths to Test Underwater Data Center  —  REDMOND, Wash. — Taking a page from Jules Verne …
Jay Yarow / Business Insider:
Twitter shares are jumping on news that Marc Andreessen and Silver Lake thought about buying it out  —  Twitter shares are jumping in pre-market trading on speculation that Marc Andreessen could partner with private equity group Silver Lake to buy the company.  —  The speculation comes from Jessica Lessin of The Information.
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer to unveil cost-cutting plan that includes up to 15% staff reduction, closure of some units  —  Yahoo's Marissa Mayer to Unveil Cost-Cutting Plan  —  Chief executive is expected to announce a cost-cutting plan that includes the closing of several units …
Facebook:
Facebook says it's now using feedback from user surveys in News Feed when selecting stories, warns some Pages will lose referral traffic  —  News Feed FYI: Using Qualitative Feedback to Show Relevant Stories  —  The goal of News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you.
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
New technologies like connected TVs, cars, bulbs, wearables, and more give government ample means to track suspects, Berkman Center study finds  —  New Technologies Give Government Ample Means to Track Suspects, Study Finds  —  WASHINGTON — For more than two years the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Samsung updates Android browser for its devices, adds support for third-party ad blocking plugins  —  Samsung's Android browser gets ad blocking capabilities  —  Samsung is today adding support for content and ad blocking plugins to the web browser preinstalled on its Android phones.
Sarah Kessler / Fast Company:
Sesame Launches A Venture Arm To Invest In Startups That Help Kids  —  In 1966, Sesame Street's founders wondered whether the prevailing entertainment technology of the time, television, could be used to educate young children.  They got their first chance to test the theory when the first show aired …
Kif Leswing / Tech Insider:
Report: Google seeking Apple-like control of Nexus phone manufacturing process, reducing involvement of hardware partners  —  Google's got a case of iPhone envy (GOOG, AAPL)  —  Google is planning to take more control over the design of its Nexus smartphones, taking steps to make the line …

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Earlier Picks

Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
Alex Dobie / Android Central: