Techmeme
February 4, 2016, 3:05 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
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:
Cisco: Internet traffic will pass a zettabyte this year driven by mobile, will double again in 2019; 5.5B people will own a mobile device by 2020  —  Phones Will Drive Internet Traffic Past the Zettabyte Mark This Year  —  It's no real secret that the rise in the world's Internet traffic …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Mozilla to end Firefox OS smartphone support after version 2.6, no staff involvement beyond May  —  Mozilla has brought further clarity to the future of Firefox OS on smartphones today, with the news that development will cease after the release of version 2.6 of the operating system.

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More News

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Nicole Lee / Engadget:
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:

Earlier Picks

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat: