Techmeme
March 31, 2017, 7:15 AM

Top News

Joe Durbin / UploadVR:
Facebook says Oculus co-founder and Rift creator Palmer Luckey is leaving the company and will be “dearly missed”  —  Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey, the man behind the Rift concept and its first prototypes, is leaving the company three years after selling to Facebook.
Sarah Jeong / Motherboard:
Twitter has botched its new @-reply feature by hiding nuance that comes with ordered usernames and making it onerous to untag people  —  Twitter has rolled out its new @-replies to me about three or four times now, ambushing me with its unspeakable badness on the iPhone app or web Twitter.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter stops counting @-reply usernames toward 140 character limit on web and mobile, now showing them above tweet's text, nearly a year after sharing the idea  —  Nearly a year ago, Twitter announced it would begin distancing itself from the requirement that all tweets could only contain 140 characters …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook debuts personal fundraising, limited to six categories at launch including medical and education, and adds donate buttons in Facebook Live for Pages  —  Facebook today announced it's expanding its set of online fundraising tools to include its own GoFundMe competitor …
Nate Rau / The Tennessean:
RIAA report: streaming music in 2016 grew 68% YoY to bring in 51% of total revenues in music market, as total retail sales hit $7.7B, up 11.4% YoY  —  The U.S. music industry, which was beguiled two decades ago when online music service Napster invaded college campuses …
Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:
Google's tool for booking fitness classes and spa appointments, Reserve with Google, is now available across the US  —  Google's little-known tool for booking fitness classes and spa appointments, Reserve with Google, is now available across the U.S.  —  When the service first launched in December …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft says it will sell customized “Microsoft Edition” versions of Galaxy S8, S8+, which will be bundled with Office, Cortana, more, at its US retail stores  —  Microsoft-customized versions of Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones will be available for purchase in Microsoft retail stores in the U.S.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft says HoloLens has 150 apps one year after dev kit launch; Elizabeth Hamren, former chief marketing officer at Oculus, will head marketing for HoloLens  —  MIcrosoft has hired Elizabeth Hamren, the former CMO of Oculus VR at Facebook, to run a new dedicated Mixed Reality marketing team.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Uber now lets you adjust pickup location after booking a ride and adds new customer support options for drivers  —  Uber talked about a few of the changes coming to help improve its relationship with drivers during a press call last weekheld to address a number of concerns, including regarding its leadership and culture.

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