Techmeme: Google updates Play policies to ban apps and ads modifying devices, require games use its in-app billing service (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web)

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August 24, 2013, 2:00 AM

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Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's Ballmer on his biggest regret, the next CEO and more — Summary: I had 15 minutes today to ask Microsoft's outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer a few questions. We talked his biggest regrets, his thinking on what's next and more. Here's Part 1. — Mary Jo Foley

More: GigaOM, Softpedia News, Computerworld, GeekWire, Digits, Windows Phone Central, eWeek, WinBeta, TechnoBuffalo, Business Insider, BGR, Tech Trader Daily, InfoWorld and CITEworld. Tweets: @inafried

Microsoft:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months — Board of directors initiates succession process; Ballmer remains CEO until successor is named. — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months …

More: kickingbear, TechCrunch, Fortune, Ars Technica, PandoDaily, Forbes, Bloomberg, ReadWrite, Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, Washington Post, Mashable, iMore, Windows Phone Central, Global Nerdy, BGR, TechHive, Reuters, on the build, VentureBeat, The Switch, The Next Web, GigaOM, BetaNews, eWeek, ZDNet, BGR India, GeekWire, Computerworld, PC World, InfoWorld, iClarified, GSM Insider, CodenameWindows, Xconomy, Betabeat, memeburn, TechnoBuffalo, Yahoo! News, Los Angeles Times, WebProNews, PhoneArena, Associated Press, Gizmodo, SlashGear and SiliconANGLE

Tweets: @mkapor, @reckless, @zissimos, @nikcub, @realdanlyons, @aaronklein, @theromit, @zacharye, @ckindel, @markpinc, @mims, @durf, @tubelite, @mattlynley, @alexia, @ed_fries, @marcoarment, @sarahfrier, @zacharye, @parislemon, @sai, @herbgreenberg, @tomwarren, @joshconstine, @levie, @fxshaw, @anildash, @edbott, @charlesarthur, @zpower and @levie

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's Ballmer: Why Microsoft doesn't want to be IBM (or Apple) and more — Summary: Microsoft's outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer talks about the CEO succession process, balancing hardware and software and why Microsoft won't ‘just’ be an IBM. — Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer is retiring within the next year.

More: CITEworld, ParisLemon, VentureBeat, Digits and Business Insider. Tweets: @jessicalessin

Microsoft:

Moving forward — Text of an internal email from Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer to employees regarding his plan to retire. — I am writing to let you know that I will retire as CEO of Microsoft within the next 12 months, after a successor is chosen.

Nicholas Thompson / Currency:

Why Steve Ballmer Failed

More: Slate, NYT Bits, New Yorker and Network World

John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:

Steve Ballmer Just Made $769 Million

More: Fortune, GeekWire, Light Reading and Engadget

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's next CEO: Who's on the short list?

More: SiliconANGLE, Communications …, TechCrunch, Business Insider and Forbes

Tweets: @thurrott, @stevekovach, @amir and @stevekovach

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

For Ballmer, Resistance Was Futile

More: ABC News. Tweets: @harrymccracken and @harrymccracken

Brian X. Chen / NYT Bits:

The Rise and Fall of Windows Mobile, Under Ballmer

More: Digits

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Beyond Ballmer: who will be Microsoft's next CEO?

Simon Bisson / CITEworld:

Ballmer is leaving at the right time as the whole IT landscape shifts

Thanks:@sbisson

Don Reisinger / CNET:

Microsoft shares rise early amid Ballmer retirement news

More: Inquirer, Computerworld, CITEworld, InfoWorld, MoneyBeat, GeekWire, Guardian, IntoMobile, ZDNet, Deadline.com, Business Insider and internetretailer.com. Tweets: @spolsky

Amir Efrati / jessica lessin:

Exclusive: Google Designing Its Own Self-Driving Car, Considers ‘Robo Taxi’ — From left, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, CEO Larry Page, and co-founder Sergey Brin in 2011. (Credit: Google) — Google Inc., which has been working on software to help major automakers build self-driving cars …

More: Gizmodo, TechnoBuffalo, Valleywag, Ubergizmo, BGR, GigaOM, Engadget, ExtremeTech, SlashGear, The Verge, Pocket-lint, jessica lessin, ReadWrite, 9to5Google, Business Insider and bizjournals

Tweets: @popmechauto, @amir, @dannysullivan, @amir, @amir and @jessicalessin

Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:

NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies — The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA. — The National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved …

More: Gizmodo, Boing Boing, PC World, Engadget, SlashGear, TechnoBuffalo, The Register, Web Host Industry Review, Wired, Hillicon Valley and TechSpot

Tweets: @stuartmillar159, @mattbova and @declanm

See also Mediagazer

iFixit:

Motorola Moto X Teardown — What does $12.5 billion dollars buy you nowadays? In Google's case, it buys Motorola, Inc. and all of its designs and patents. Is it what we would have spent the money on? Probably not, but the result of the acquisition is Motorola's first smartphone …

More: CNET, Gizmodo, Android Community, Android Authority, SlashGear, Android Phone Fans and Engadget

Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:

Moto X on other carriers and developer editions rolling out “in days”

More: IntoMobile, Ubergizmo, Engadget, pocketnow.com, Gotta Be Mobile, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, Droid Life, Android Authority, TechHive and PhoneArena. Thanks:@kevinctofel

Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:

Moto X and Motomaker launch today at AT&T Stores

More: CNET, pocketnow.com and Electronista. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

Citing Steve Jobs email, DOJ claims Apple changed in-app purchase to retaliate against Amazon — In the Apple ebooks case, the federal government wants to change the way that Apple does business — not just for ebooks, but in all content markets. — The DOJ on Friday filed a revised proposed remedy …

More: Quartz, Techdirt, Digits, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, TechnoBuffalo, iMore, Electronista, BGR, pocketnow.com, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, PadGadget, App Advice, Macworld and Associated Press. Thanks:@om. See also Mediagazer

Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:

Justice Department scolds Apple while seeking lighter e-book penalties

More: Reuters, AllThingsD and The Verge. See also Mediagazer

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Instagram's First Acquisition Is Video Sharing App Luma — Instagram has just made its first acquisition, buying both the team and technology of Y Combinator company Luma (formerly known as Midnox). Luma created a video-capture, stabilization and sharing app, which will be shut down soon.

More: Luma, AllThingsD, CNET, The Next Web, TechnoBuffalo, VentureBeat, T3 News, iDownloadBlog.com and App Advice

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google updates Play policies to ban apps and ads modifying devices, require games use its in-app billing service — Google today sent an email to third-party Android developers regarding a significant change to its Google Play Developer Program Policies. The changes affect both apps and the advertising practices that many apps use.

More: Google Operating System, Android Beat, Engadget and TechHive. Tweets: @vijayshekhar. Thanks:@epro

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Netflix May Need to Accelerate Its Spending for Original Shows — Binge viewing of original series might end up accelerating expenditures — Binge-viewing may lead to binge-spending at Netflix, which could eventually see the impact in its stock price. — What went unmentioned among …

Tweets: @christytanner

Bloomberg:

Baidu Agrees to Buy Majority Stake in Nuomi for $160 Million — Baidu Inc. (BIDU), owner of China's largest search engine, agreed to buy a majority stake in the e-commerce website operator Nuomi Holdings Inc. for about $160 million. — Beijing-based Baidu will buy about 59 percent …

More: Digits, PC World, Hollywood Reporter and Pulse 2.0

Jamie Rigg / Engadget:

iWork for iCloud beta now open to anyone with an Apple ID — First it was available to developers, then a select few who received invitations, and now the beta of iWork for iCloud is available for all. Apple's made no official announcement, but point your browser to icloud.com …

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