Techmeme: Facebook replaces its inbox for messages with the interface of the web version of Messenger (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

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January 18, 2017, 3:35 PM

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Google acquires Fabric, Twitter's mobile app development tool suite, and its team; Fabric will join Google's Developer Products Group — Google is taking over Twitter's mobile app developer platform Fabric, as well as its Crashlytics crash reporting system, Answers mobile app analytics …

More: Fabric Blog, The Firebase Blog, The Twitter Blog, Bloomberg, TheStreet.com, GeekWire, ZDNet, 9to5Google, Business Insider, USA Today, Engadget, VentureBeat, Digits Blog, SocialTimes, and Fortune

Tweets: @jeffseibert, @anildash, @joshconstine, @marcoarment, @mhbergen, @mulligan, @ingridlunden, @inafried, @jeffseibert, @fabric, @mulligan, and @anildash

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Slack debuts new threaded messages feature on all platforms; conversations are attached to specific messages and show in the “flex pane” sidebar on desktop, web — Evolving beyond chat — Slack today is rolling out message threads inside its familiar chat window …

More: Slack, VentureBeat, Windows Central, Engadget, The Next Web, TechCrunch, ZDNet, ZDNet, On MSFT, Wired, Mashable, MacStories, and Fortune

Tweets: @slackhq, @fxshaw, @sean_a_rose, @laurengoode, and @harrymccracken

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

How Slack overcame the design challenges in making Threads, two years in the making, including notifications, inline vs. broken-out threads, and more

More: Six Colors. Tweets: @jehunter5811, @fastcompany, and @pkafka

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Report: Google bringing its Android One program for budget smartphones with timely software updates to the US; the first such device is expected before mid-year — Google's Android One platform was originally designed to provide low-cost Android devices to developing markets without the stuff …

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google app for Android updated with offline search, will queue offline searches and run them when a connection becomes available — One area of focus that Google has been particularly working on for its apps and services has been better offline functionality.

More: Google, The Next Web, VentureBeat, PhoneDog.com, Greenbot, Digital Trends, ZDNet, SlashGear, TechCrunch, BetaNews, Android Central, Engadget, Ubergizmo, The Tech Portal, and Android Police

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Department of Labor sues Oracle over discriminatory pay and hiring practices — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Oracle for discriminatory employment practices, the government body announced on Wednesday. The Department of Labor specifically states that the company has “a systemic practice” …

More: United States Department …, BuzzFeed, Computerworld, Fortune, Silicon Valley Business …, and ZDNet

Josh McConnell / Financial Post:

YouTube rolls out group chat feature for its iOS and Android apps that allows discussion around videos as they play, arriving first in Canada — Canadians share more videos online than any other nation so it's fitting that YouTube is unveiling its latest social feature in this country.

More: Official Google Canada Blog, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, BetaNews, The Next Web, and Android Central

Sean O'Kane / The Verge:

Starship Technologies partners with Postmates and DoorDash to test deliveries by its largely self-driving robots, in California and Washington D.C. respectively — Postmates and DoorDash are the first commercial partners Stateside — A small number of Americans will soon be able to have food …

More: TechCrunch, DoorDash Blog, Quartz, Digital Trends, Engadget, Silicon Valley Business …, Axios, MacRumors, Fortune, SiliconBeat, and Mashable

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Mozilla unveils new logo, font, and design — Mozilla today revamped its “brand identity”: a new logo, font, color palette, language architecture, and imagery. This is the first time the company, first founded in February 1998, has done such thorough brand refresh.

More: The Mozilla Blog, Android Police, CNET, BetaNews, The Tech Portal, The Next Web, and The Verge. Tweets: @rauschma

Mehedi Hassan / MSPoweruser:

Internal Windows 10 Mobile build shows Microsoft is planning an e-book store for Windows 10 devices, likely to debut with Creators Update in April — Microsoft is working on a new a store for e-books in Windows 10. The software giant actually started building in features related …

More: Laptop Mag, The Verge, The Tech Portal, BetaNews, Tech Times, Softpedia News, Ubergizmo, Windows Central, PCWorld, The Digital Reader, Ars Technica, ZDNet, On MSFT, and Neowin. Tweets: @gcaughey

Mehedi Hassan / MSPoweruser:

Microsoft is testing feature that brings Cortana to the lock screen on Android — Cortana recently got a pretty sweet update for Android and iOS, bringing a much cleaner and prettier user design. If you use Cortana on your Android phone, you might be glad to know that Microsoft is making …

More: TechCrunch, PCWorld, The Verge, Digital Trends, Droid Life, Phandroid, Softpedia News, Ubergizmo, InvestorPlace, Neowin, SlashGear, On MSFT, Android Authority, and Android Beat

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook replaces its inbox for messages with the interface of the web version of Messenger — Just under two years ago, Facebook introduced a web interface for its private chat application, Messenger. Now, Facebook is integrating that same web app into the desktop version of Facebook …

More: Facebook

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Roku revamps its mobile remote app, adding “What's On” content discovery, more — Fresh on the heels of introducing new TV models at CES, and touting its 13 percent share of the smart TV market, Roku today is rolling out a revamped mobile application aimed at making it easier …

More: The Official Roku Blog, Tech Times, Ubergizmo, SlashGear, 9to5Mac, TechSpot, Digital Trends, 9to5Google, Android Police, and Engadget. Thanks:@ravichandrans25

Qualcomm:

Qualcomm responds to FTC charge, says it will contest complaint and that it has not withheld or threatened to withhold chip supply — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint today against Qualcomm in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

More: DSLreports, Investor's Business Daily, PC Magazine, iDownloadBlog.com, Light Reading, Softpedia News, Pocketnow, SiliconANGLE, AnandTech, bit-tech.net, CNET, BBC, USA Today, and Ars Technica. Tweets: @rdr0b11

Ian King / Bloomberg:

FTC accuses Qualcomm of forcing Apple to use its chips exclusively in return for lower licensing fees, and thus unfairly cutting out competitors

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