Techmeme
May 13, 2013, 3:45 PM

Top News

Steven Levy / Wired:
New Android Boss Finally Reveals Plans for World's Most Popular Mobile OS  —  For the past few years, Sundar Pichai has been part of a tag-team routine staged at Google's annual I/O developer conference.  Pichai, a Googler since 2004, would present on behalf of Google's Chrome division …
CBS News:
Bill Gates on Steve Jobs: We grew up together  —  We've seen plenty of Bill Gates on television, but we'd never seen him get emotional before.  It was a striking, yet subtle moment in Gates' 60 Minutes interview this week when Charlie Rose asked him about his longtime business rival, the late Steve Jobs.
Sean Buckley / Engadget:
Samsung ready for 5G rollout in 2020, has reportedly pulled down 1Gbps in tests  —  LTE might be all the rage right now, but next generation mobile technology is already in the works.  According to Korea's Yonhap News Agency, Samsung has successfully tested its 5G platform, pulling down data at 1Gbps in recent tests.
Drew Olanoff / TechCrunch:
Google Unifies Its Free And Paid Storage Options, Gives You 15GB To Share Between Drive, Gmail And Google+ Photos  —  Until now, you've had to track your free storage on Google products separately.  It was just another thing that Google hadn't brought together to make it easier on users.
Nate Hoffelder / The Digital Reader:
Confirmed: Amazon Bought Liquavista - Color Kindle to Follow?  —  For the past four months I have been saying that Amazon was in the market to buy Samsung's screen tech company Liquavista, and today I do believe the rumors have come true.  —  New filings from the Netherlands Chamber …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon Now Offers Amazon Coins Virtual Currency On Kindle Fire, Gives $5 In Free Coins To All Users  —  E-commerce leviathan Amazon today is taking a step into social gaming: Amazon Coins, its new virtual currency, is now live in the U.S. To kick it off, Amazon announced that it would put $5 worth …
David McLaughlin / Bloomberg:
Apple, Google Pressed by N.Y. Over Handheld Device Thefts  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) are among technology companies being asked by the New York attorney general to take steps to deter thefts of iPhones and other handheld devices and eliminate a black market for the products.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Intelligent To Do List App Any.DO Raises $3.5 Million, Will Further Expand Into Personal Productivity Space  —  Q: Why does a to do list application need $3.5 million in funding?  A: Because it's becoming more than a simple to do app.  Today, Any.DO one of the more popular to do list applications …
Xperia Blog:
Xperia ZR announced: 4.6-inch 720p display, IP58 water resistant, 13MP camera with dedicated camera button  —  Sony has unveiled the Xperia ZR (C550X 'Dogo') and our previous report was right on the money with the specs.  The Xperia ZR has a 4.55-inch OptiContrast display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution and 319 PPI.
Horace Dediu / asymco:
iTunes users spending at the rate of $40/yr.  —  In the latest quarter the iTunes top line grew by 32%.  Additional newly reported items:  — Quarterly revenues topped $4 billion (a new high) and the company suggests that this rate is maintainable by stating it has a “$16 billion annual run rate”.
Casey Johnston / Ars Technica:
Facebook Home flagship phone, HTC First, may be discontinued  —  Facebook's HTC First, the smartphone herald of Facebook Home, will be discontinued by carrier partner AT&T, according a report from BGR Monday.  The phones, released just over a month ago, will be returned as unsold inventory to HTC …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
With Windows Blue, Microsoft may (finally) do the right thing  —  Summary: Call it capitulation.  Call it listening to customers.  But whatever you call it, making Windows 8 more usable with expected coming Blue tweaks is a positive, not a negative.  —  Mary Jo Foley
Ellie Powers / Android Developers Blog:
All Google Play Developers Can Now Reply to User Reviews  —  There are a lot great things a developer can do to promote their app, but the best way for your app to take off is when a really happy user tells their friend about your app, who tells their friend, who tells someone else — you get the picture.
More: Engadget, The Next Web and PhoneArena.  Tweets: @panzer
Nick Summers / The Next Web:
Could this be the Lumia 925, Nokia's highly-anticipated ‘Catwalk’ device?  —  Rumors about a new flagship smartphone from Nokia, codenamed ‘Catwalk’, have been circulating on the Internet for some time.  Less than 24 hours before the company holds a dedicated Lumia event in London …

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