Techmeme
May 17, 2016, 10:50 AM

Top News

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Source: Twitter will stop counting photos and links in the 140-character limit as soon as within next two weeks  —  Company said to make the change in next couple of weeks  —  CEO Jack Dorsey aims to make it easier to compose tweets  —  Twitter Inc. will soon stop counting photos and links …
Mark Harris / Backchannel:
Otto, founded by ex-Google engineers, exits stealth to sell self-driving kits for retrofitting semi-trailers  —  A group of ex-Google engineers have just launched Otto, an autonomous trucking startup  —  Otto's first vehicle is twice as long and six times as heavy as Google's cute prototype car …
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Microsoft and SAP expand partnership: Office 365 integrations, HANA on Azure  —  Microsoft is announcing today that it has deepened its partnership with fellow enterprise software vendor SAP.  The HANA in-memory database from SAP will become available on top of Microsoft's Azure public cloud on top of machines packed densely with RAM.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
MCX postpones rollout of Apple Pay rival CurrentC, lays off 30, will focus on bank deals  —  As merchants like Walmart move aheadon their own mobile payment strategies, a consortium that once counted Walmart — along with a number of other big retailers and brands — behind it, has taken a step back.
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Blockchain announces Thunder, an alternative network for enabling fast off-blockchain transactions that settle against the bitcoin blockchain at a later date  —  Blockchain, the company behind the world's most popular bitcoin wallet, has been quietly working on an interesting project called Thunder.
New York Times:
China is quietly requiring foreign tech companies to submit their products to security reviews  —  HONG KONG — Chinese authorities are quietly scrutinizing technology products sold in China by Apple and other big foreign companies, focusing on whether they pose potential security threats …
Wall Street Journal:
Inside the Final Days of LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche  —  The allegations around Mr. Laplanche also raise tough questions for the fast-growing fintech industry  —  On April 22, LendingClub Corp. founder and Chief Executive Renaud Laplanche took the stage at a New York ceremony …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Apple releases iTunes 12.4, brings back left sidebar, but doesn't address core issues with navigation and possibly makes it worse  —  Apple knows that the iTunes interface is extremely confusing and needs work.  But apparently its solution is to add even more menus.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter tests adding button to its Android app for launching Periscope broadcasts  —  In a new integration with Periscope, Twitter for Android users are beginning to see a “go live” button when they go to compose tweets, The Verge has learned.  Starting today, a small percentage of users …

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More News

Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
The Economic Times:

Earlier Picks

The Intercept:
San Francisco Chronicle:
Luke Wroblewski / Official Google Blog: