Techmeme
October 8, 2013, 2:25 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Samsung Loses Bid for Presidential Veto of Apple-Won Import Ban  —  Samsung Electronics Co. must stop importing certain models of its smartphones and tablet computers after President Barack Obama's administration let stand a ban won by Apple Inc. in a patent-infringement dispute.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Office for iPad will debut after Microsoft's touch-friendly Windows version  —  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has revealed that the company is planning to bring Office to the iPad with a touch user interface.  Speaking at a Gartner event in Florida today, Ballmer said “iPad will be picked up when there's a touch first user interface.”
Steven Levy / Wired:
Nest Gives the Lowly Smoke Detector a Brain — And a Voice  —  One day in June, about 20 engineers and managers at the startup company Nest went on a field trip.  They didn't need to pack a lunch.  Their destination: a storage closet near the bathrooms at their new headquarters in Palo Alto.
Ken Yeung / The Next Web:
Nest unveils its $129 Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector, available from November  —  Connected home provider Nest is expanding its offering as launches a new product designed to redefine what you come to expect out of appliances in your domicile.  On sale this November …
Sarah Silbert / Engadget:
Google announces HP Chromebook 11 for $279, we go hands-on  —  Today Google announced some new hardware: the HP Chromebook 11.  Priced at $279, this 11-incher is available today, and we've already spent had a change to get our hands on several units.  —  The laptop is sleek and attractive …
Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
Meltdowns Hobble NSA Data Center  —  Investigators Stumped by What's Causing Power Surges That Destroy Equipment  —  Chronic electrical surges at the massive new data-storage facility central to the National Security Agency's spying operation have destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth …
Artem Russakovskii / Android Police:
All But Confirmed - Google Hangouts 1.3 Screenshots Suggest SMS/MMS Integration; Video Sharing Capabilities Coming Too  —  Several days ago, I started a series of rumor posts on my personal Google+ account discussing some Android rumors I felt were interesting enough to share …
Bloomberg:
iTunes Radio to reach UK and Canada before Pandora, also expanding to Australia and NZ in early 2014  —  Apple Said to Expand ITunes Radio to U.K. Before Pandora  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to expand iTunes Radio to English-speaking countries outside the U.S. by early 2014 …
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
Yahoo Redux: HP Says “All Hands on Deck” Needed, Requiring Most Employees to Work at the Office (Memo)  —  Computing and technology services giant Hewlett-Packard, which appears to be taking a page from Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, has quietly begun enacting a policy requiring employees to work from the office and not from home.
New Yorker:
How Lavabit Melted Down  —  On August 8th, Lavabit, newly famous for being the secure e-mail service used by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, went dark.  Its owner and operator, Ladar Levison, replaced its home page with a message: “I cannot share my experiences …
Kyle VanHemert / Wired:
Early Apple designer and Frog Design founder Hartmut Esslinger on 4 areas ripe for innovation  —  The Godfather of Apple Design Spots 4 Looming Tech Trends  —  Before there was Jony Ive, there was Hartmut Esslinger.  The founder of the influential design consultancy Frog started working …
More: Co.Design
John Cook / GeekWire:
Zulily files for $100M IPO — reveals $331M in 2012 revenue, 2.2M active customers  —  Fast-growing Zulily is looking to take the IPO plunge.  —  The Seattle company, which sells clothes, toys and accessories for babies, kids and moms, today filed to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.
Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:
Fox, Sinclair and Local TV file suit against Aereo in Utah  —  This post has been updated.  Please see details below.  —  The fight over Aereo is moving to Utah.  —  On Monday afternoon, Fox Broadcasting Co., Sinclair Broadcast Group and Local TV filed suit in federal court in Utah against Aereo …
Sean Silcoff / Globe and Mail:
BlackBerry, Kik Interactive settle lawsuit over instant-messaging app  —  BlackBerry Ltd. has settled its lawsuit against Kik Interactive, a company started by one of its former co-op students which developed a rival instant messaging application to its BlackBerry Messenger that eventually surpassed it in popularity.
Mike Rose / Gamasutra:
The Mad Catz microconsole: Out in December for $250  —  We've had the Ouya and the Nvidia Shield, while the GameStick and Amazon's own device are on the way soon.  Now Mad Catz Interactive has staked its own claim in the rapidly-expanding microconsole market, with a release date and price for its M.O.J.O. console.
Ki Mae Heussner / GigaOM:
Basis bags $12M for health-tracking watch amid growing competition in wearable tech  —  Seven months after announcing an $11.5 million Series B round of funding, Basis Science is filling its coffers once again.  On Tuesday, the startup behind the Basis health-tracking wristwatch …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Amazon's ‘Pay with Amazon’ Service Challenges PayPal For The Web's Payment Business  —  Amazon has just launched a service called Login and Pay with Amazon that lets partner sites enable a payments button that will compete with PayPal and credit cards for customer checkout.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

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Steven A. Ballmer / Microsoft: