Techmeme
May 12, 2016, 1:55 PM

Top News

Rajan Patel / Official Google Blog:
Google unveils GBoard in US, an iOS keyboard app that lets you search the web, find GIFs, emojis, places, and more from the keyboard  —  iPhone users—this one's for you.  Meet Gboard, a new app for your iPhone that lets you search and send information, GIFs, emojis and more, right from your keyboard.
Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
Apple's average app review time has fallen from 8.8 days a year ago to 1.95 days in the past two weeks  —  Average approval times reduced to two days from about nine  —  Apple is trying to keep developers loyal to iOS projects  —  Apple Inc. has cut the approval time for new submissions …
Mark Bergen / Recode:
Sources: Google's answer to Amazon Echo is code-named “Chirp” and expected to launch this year  —  ‘Okay, Google,’ your turn.  —  A product team at Google is working on a hardware device that would integrate Google's search and voice assistant technology, akin to the Amazon Echo, Recode has learned.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Western Digital officially completes acquisition of SanDisk for around $16B  —  Western Digital has now officially purchased flash memory manufacturer SanDisk after regulator approval was passed earlier this week.  The agreement between the two storage companies was originally announced last October in a deal worth nearly $19 billion.
Sam Thielman / Guardian:
Leaked documents show human intervention at almost every stage of Facebook's news operation  —  Exclusive: Leaked internal guidelines show human intervention at almost every stage of its news operation, akin to a traditional media organization  —  Leaked documents show how Facebook …
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Apple denies report that it will end iTunes music downloads within the next few years  —  The future of music is streaming, not downloads.  —  But that doesn't mean Apple, the company that essentially invented the market for music download sales, is going to stop selling downloads anytime soon.
Neil Cybart / Above Avalon:
Apple's R&D spend is $10B+, 6.8% of revenue in 2016, up from 2.6% of revenue in 2013, hinting at major new products, pivot from iPhone-dependent business model  —  People are focusing on the wrong thing when analyzing Apple's path forward in the face of slowing iPhone sales.
Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat:
Kantar: Android marketshare in Q1 grew 7.3% YoY in US, 7.1% in top five European markets, and 6% in China; Galaxy S7 said to be selling well in the US  —  As if Apple wasn't facing enough headwind this year, now comes word that Android smartphones are making big market share gains around the world.
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
What's at stake in Google and Oracle's $9.3B fair use fight over Java APIs  —  Gather round tech folks, it's time for an epic rematch between two industry giants.  At stake is not just billions of dollars in copyright claims, but also a controversial legal concept that could roil the entire software industry.

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Earlier Picks

Davey Alba / Wired:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: