Techmeme
November 2, 2013, 12:05 PM

Top News

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:
Netflix starts testing 4K videos, wants to launch Ultra HD next year  —  Netflix quietly added a handful of 4K HD videos to its catalog this week to prepare itself for a wider launch of ultra high-definition video content in the coming months.  So far, the titles added to the catalog …
Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech:
iPad Air Delivers 24 Hours of Battery Life as LTE Hotspot  —  A year ago during my review of the LTE iPad 3 I decided to find out how long the iPad would last as a personal hotspot.  With the display off and a single notebook tethered wirelessly to the iPad downloading at a constant 50KB/s …
Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech:
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Firmware Update Improves Battery Life  —  Shortly after general availability of the Surface Pro 2, Microsoft pushed out a firmware update that allowed the Marvell WiFi solution to drive down to even lower power states.  I spoke with Microsoft after the update went live …
Tweets: @codinghorror
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft to spend $405 million on Windows marketing, aims for 16 million tablet sales  —  Microsoft started a huge advertising campaign for Windows 8 and Surface during its launch last year, but the company is reportedly planning to spend even more this year for Windows 8.1.
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google just pulled a “Facebook Home”: KitKat's primary interface is Google Search  —  One of the headline features of Android 4.4 is a revamped home screen and app launcher.  The icons are bigger, there is more transparency, and the app drawer makes better use of the screen real estate.
Jon Russell / The Next Web:
RIP iGoogle: Google's personalized Web portal service has now closed down  —  RIP another Google service: iGoogle, the company's personalized Web portal product, finally bit the dust today, some eight months after its shutdown was announced.  —  iGoogle has slipped into the darkness quietly …
Jared Newman / TechHive:
Sprint takes Nexus 5 pre-orders, offering $50 phone to new subscribers  —  Getting over your fear of commitment can save you a couple hundred bucks.  Sprint is offering Google's new Nexus 5 smartphone for just $50—provided you don't mind locking yourself into the carrier for the next two years.

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Earlier Picks

Jennifer Van Grove / CNET: