Techmeme
October 4, 2016, 7:00 PM

Top News

Joseph Menn / Reuters:
Sources: Yahoo built system in 2015 to scan users' emails for specific string for US intel, which led to Alex Stamos resigning and noting privacy flaw in system  —  Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided …
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Government directive to Yahoo likely asked for warrantless scanning of all domestic comms; EFF lawyer says 4th Amendment implications are staggering  —  There's no good reason to have a Yahoo account these days.  But after Tuesday's bombshell report by Reuters, indicating the enormous …
David Cardinal / DxOMark:
DxOMark gives the Google Pixel's camera a score of 89, the highest ever and three points above the iPhone 7  —  Mobile Review  —  Overview  —  With an overall DxOMark Mobile score of 89, pixel, the latest Google smartphone, is the highest-rated smartphone camera we have ever tested.
Brian Rakowski / The Keyword:
Introducing Pixel, our new phone made by Google  —  Today, we announced for the first time a family of products that brings people the best of Google through hardware and software made by Google.  We're excited that the lineup features the first phone made by Google inside and out — Pixel.
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Google debuts 5" Pixel, 5.5" Pixel XL phones with integrated Google Assistant, 12.3MP f/2.0 camera, background Android updates, quick charge, no OIS for photos  —  The future of Android is here  —  Following an absolute deluge of pre-event leaks and revelations, Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are now finally official.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google says it has “no plans” for more Nexus-branded products  —  With the announcement of Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL today, there has been the question of what's happening to the long-running Nexus hardware program, which started in 2010 with the Nexus One and has been comprised …
Kevin McLaughlin / The Information:
Source: David Foster hired by Google to lead hardware development for Pixel, previously oversaw Echo, Dash development at Amazon  —  David Foster, who helped develop the Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire tablet, joined Google on Monday as vice president of product engineering in its hardware group, Google said.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Google announces $79 Daydream VR headset, Daydream View, which works with select Android phones including Pixel  —  Google's VR future looks pretty comfy.  —  Today at its October hardware/software/everything event, the company showed off its latest VR initiatives including a Daydream headset.
Clay Bavor / The Keyword:
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google announces Chromecast Ultra with 4K, HDR, and Dolby Vision Support, which is 1.8x faster than Chromecast 2 and ships in November for $69  —  Same Chromecast, more pixels.  —  SAN FRANCISCO—As part of an avalanche of Google products being released today, an upgraded Chromecast has just been unveiled.
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google debuts Home, their Echo competitor, with free 6-mo. YouTube Red subscription, Assistant and Cast integration; ships Nov. 4 for $129, pre-orders open now  —  Google Home, the company's answer to Amazon's Echo, made its official debut at the Google I/O developer conference earlier this year.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Yahoo rebrands its main mobile app as Yahoo Newsroom, a personalized news app that lets users share links to stories  —  Yahoo's homepage used to be the place where web users started their day, reading the top headlines, sports scores, stock updates, and other news.  On mobile, that's no longer always the case.

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Sources:
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
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