Techmeme: SEC filing shows Fox marked down value of its $160M investment in DraftKings by about 60% (Curt Woodward/BostonGlobe.com)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

February 9, 2016, 8:30 PM

Top News

Jason Tanz / Wired:

Andy Rubin's Playground is developing technology to help companies build AI-enabled devices, first available for startups in which Playground has invested — Andy Rubin Unleashed Android on the World. Now Watch Him Do the Same With AI — A couple of years ago, Andy Rubin …

More: The Verge, SlashGear, Tech Times, Engadget, Daring Fireball, The Verge, Phandroid, Graham Cluley, Gizmodo UK, playgroundblog, 9to5Google and Android Authority. Tweets: @brianroemmele. Thanks:@jasontanz

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Oculus reveals first “Oculus Ready” PCs, with bundles starting at $1499 and pre-orders beginning February 16 — Oculus reveals first “Oculus Ready” PCs, bundled starting at $1,499 — Asus, Dell, and Alienware towers certified to run virtual reality.

More: Oculus, GeekWire, Digital Trends, PCWorld, Forbes, Geek.com, destructoid, Windows Central, The Next Web and Ars Technica

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Gmail Now Warns Users When They Send And Receive Email Over Unsecured Connections — Google is marking Safer Internet Day, which falls today, by introducing new authentication features to Gmail to help better identify emails that could prove to be harmful or are not fully secure.

Eric Geller / The Daily Dot:

Obama unveils $19B Cybersecurity National Action Plan, asking Congress for 35% increase in cybersecurity funding — Obama unveils $19 billion plan to overhaul U.S. cybersecurity — President Obama on Tuesday unveiled an expansive plan to bolster government and private-sector cybersecurity …

More: Wall Street Journal, The White House, ZDNet, Wired, New York Times, Reuters, Re/code, The White House, Engadget, Linux Foundation Blogs, Forbes, Reuters, BuzzFeed, USA Today, The Verge, Access Now, SecurityWeek, The Next Web, NPR, Digital Trends, theWHIR.com, Tech Times, The Register, Wall Street Journal, Silicon Republic, CSO, CNN, Associated Press, Reuters, ZDNet, The Hill, Washington Post and Defense One. Tweets: @mkaiserncsa. Thanks:@ericgeller

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Twitter Forms A “Trust & Safety Council” To Balance Abuse Vs Free Speech — Twitter's latest step in the tricky balancing act of championing free speech without also handing a free pass to orchestrated harassment via its platform is the announcement today that it's formed a “Trust & Safety Council” …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Twitter introduces First View, new video ads placed at the top of users' timelines — Timing Is Everything: Twitter Unveils First View Ads, Videos At The Top Of Your Timeline — Twitter has been in the spotlight for the past several days over allegedly imminent (longstanding) plans to change the order of Tweets in your timeline.

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple Music launches Wednesday on Sonos wireless speakers, ending two-month beta test — Apple Music on Sonos Officially Launching Tomorrow — Sonos today announced that Apple Music will be officially available on Sonos wireless speakers starting tomorrow, ending a two month beta testing period.

More: Re/code, Digital Trends, Engadget, iMore, USA newsroom, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, TIME, Billboard, MacStories, Gizmodo Australia and New York Times

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Amazon launches free cross-platform 3D game engine Lumberyard, with Twitch integration — Amazon takes on Unity et al with Lumberyard, a free cross-platform game engine — Amazon has unveiled two new products aimed squarely at the professional game-developer fraternity: Lumberyard …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google allows Adblock Fast back in Play store, after pulling the app and slowing app updates for other ad blockers last week — Google Reverses Its Decision To Ban Ad Blocking Apps From The Google Play Store — Google appears to have reversed its earlier decision to ban ad blockers …

More: VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, Pocketnow, Ubergizmo and PhoneDog.com

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg Business:

Amazon Is Building Global Delivery Business to Take On Alibaba — New unit would connect Chinese factories with U.S. shoppers — Strategy will turn FedEx and UPS into Amazon competitors — In recent weeks, speculation has mounted that Amazon.com Inc. plans to launch a global shipping …

More: USA Today, The Awl, The Verge, Investor's Business Daily, GeekWire and Business Insider

Tweets: @mdudas and @amir

Mark Coppock / WinBeta:

Zikera, maker of Groove music player for iOS, announces Microsoft acquired its technology and brand assets — Microsoft officially acquires Zikera's Groove app for iOS — When Microsoft rebranded the Xbox Music service to Groove Music, some people thought that perhaps the Redmond company …

More: Zikera, VentureBeat, ZDNet and Windows Central

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Mac apps using Sparkle, a third-party updating service, are subject to MiTM attacks, affected apps include Camtasia, uTorrent, DuetDisplay, and Sketch — “Huge” number of Mac apps vulnerable to hijacking, and a fix is elusive — Apps that use 3rd-party updater over insecure HTTP channels subject to MiTM attacks.

More: AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog and The Next Web. Tweets: @steveriggins

Paul Thurrott / Thurrott.com:

Microsoft to now share Windows 10 release notes, debuting Windows 10 update history website — Microsoft Finally Offers Windows 10 Update Information — After months of complaints, Microsoft has finally opened a Windows 10 Update History web site that will document the changes it makes to its flagship OS.

More: The Verge, WinBeta and Petri

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Politwoops returns to US to archive politicians' deleted tweets after Twitter blocked its API access last August — Politwoops returns to the US to archive politicians' deleted tweets — After relaunching internationally last month, Politwoops is back in the US to track and post deleted tweets from politicians.

More: The Hill, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Sunlight Foundation Blog and LJ INFOdocket. See also Mediagazer

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Kickstarter just hit 100,000 successfully funded campaigns — Kickstarter hit a big milestone overnight: the successful funding of a 100,000th campaign. It's taken Kickstarter nearly seven years to reach 100,000 funded projects, but the rate at which projects are being funded is much faster than it used to be.

More: The Kickstarter Blog, VatorNews, Silicon Republic, TechSpot, Digital Trends, Tech Insider, Mashable, Kickstarter, Engadget, Crowdfund Insider and The Next Web

Tweets: @jkaz, @sacca and @ellenchisa

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's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.

Zoho:

Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up — Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Grit:

How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Lenny's Podcast:

The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence

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:

Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song

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:

Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:30 PM ET, February 9, 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.