Techmeme
February 4, 2016, 4:45 PM

Top News

Walt Mossberg / The Verge:
The quality and reliability of Apple's apps on iOS and OS X have gradually degraded over the past few years  —  Mossberg: Apple's apps need work  —  People think of Apple as a maker of excellent premium hardware.  In fact, many reviewers regard Apple devices as the best you can buy.
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg Business:
Apple Pay is now available in 2M retail locations, coming soon to Crate & Barrel, Chick-fil-A, Zappos, and Au Bon Pain  —  Apple Pay Locations Reach 2 Million, With Chick-Fil-A to Come  —  The mobile-payment service doubled in-apps purchase volume  —  Greater competition looms while consumers still skeptical
Nicole Lee / Engadget:
Official Android Blog:
Android Wear adds new gestures, speaker support, and ability to send messages using your voice  —  Android Wear: Designed for your wrist  —  You're walking to meet a friend with coffee in hand.  Or maybe it's really cold outside, so you're rocking a pair of mittens.  Or maybe you're in the middle of making dinner.
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Premium Spotify subscribers can now play music directly on Amazon Echo  —  Amazon's Echo can now play music directly from Spotify  —  Playing Spotify music on the Amazon Echo is now as easy as saying three words: “Alexa, Play Spotify.”  The e-retailer-slash-device-maker launched voice control …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube Red to launch its first original programming, three films and a series, on Feb. 10  —  YouTube Set to Premiere First Original Movies, PewDiePie Series  —  YouTube next week is set to launch its first exclusive programming — a test of how many customers will fork over $10 per month …
New York Times:
Sharp says it's leaning toward a takeover offer from Foxconn over offer from the Japanese government-backed fund INCJ  —  Sharp leaning toward takeover offer from Foxconn over offer from government-backed fund  —  NAGOYA, Japan — Sharp, the struggling Japanese technology company best known …
Lucas Ballard / Google Online Security Blog:
Chrome's Safe Browsing feature now warns users about sites with deceptive embedded content, like fake download buttons  —  No More Deceptive Download Buttons  —  In November, we announced that Safe Browsing would protect you from social engineering attacks - deceptive tactics that try …
Taylor Loren / Latergramme Blog:
Instagram Rolls Out Multiple Account Switching for Some iOS Users  —  Now You Can Add Multiple Accounts on Instagram - If You're Lucky  —  If you're using Instagram on iOS, you might have access to one of the most-requested features for Instagram - and not even know it.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Ken Yeung / VentureBeat:
Driving analytics company Zendrive raises $13.5M led by Sherpa Capital  —  Zendrive raises $13.5M to make roads safer by tracking your driving behaviors  —  Zendrive today announced that it has raised $13.5 million in funding for its technology to make transportation safer.
Robert Hackett / Fortune:
Software supply chain manager Sonatype raises $30M led by Goldman Sachs  —  Goldman Sachs Leads $30 Million Investment in Software Supply Chain Fixer  —  Imagine an auto assembly line in which each factory worker is allowed to make random supplier and part decisions.

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More News

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:
Chris Welch / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider: