Techmeme
November 2, 2013, 5:30 AM

Top News

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Confirmed: Apple & Best Buy will price match Walmart's $479 iPad Air deal in stores (Staples too)  —  As it has been known to do for recent Apple product launches, Walmart announced last week that it would be offering a $20 discount on Apple's new entry-level 16GB iPad Air starting as soon as the device launches tomorrow on November 1.
Josh Lowensohn / CNET:
iPad Air tracker shows availability at up to 20 stores  —  On the hunt for Apple's new tablet today or in the near future?  There are still plenty of models available both online and in stores, but it might not stay that way for long.  —  Click to enlarge.  —  (Credit: CNET)
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.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Windows 8 drops to 7.53% market share, falling for the first time as Windows 8.1 takes 1.72% share  —  October was a big month for both Microsoft and Apple, which released new operating system versions: Windows 8.1 and OS X 10.9, respectively.  It was Microsoft that saw the biggest impact …
Jennifer Van Grove / CNET:
The preview is over: Instagram ads are here  —  Instagram will start running its first official advertisements Friday with a sponsored photo coming courtesy of fashion brand Michael Kors, the Facebook-owned company told CNET.  —  The ad, which features a watch from the brand's Timeless collection …
Julian Borger / Guardian:
GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance  —  Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies  —  The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services …
More: TechCrunch and The Verge.  Tweets: @bernardkeane and @fborgesius
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 …
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Boost Mobile to offer iPhone 5s & 5c for $100 off starting at $549/$449  —  Boost Mobile, a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, today announced pricing for its upcoming iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launch next week.  While the carrier previously announced that the device would arrive on Nov. 8 …
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 …
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Bing, Twitter Renew Deal To Include Tweets In Search Results  —  Bing has announced a renewal of its long-standing deal with Twitter to include tweets in Bing's search results.  —  The Bing-Twitter partnership began in 2009 and was renewed in 2011.  —  Tweets are primarily available …

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