Techmeme: Microsoft starts delivering Kinect for Windows v2 Developer Preview kits, including pre-release hardware and SDK (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web)

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November 22, 2013, 3:35 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple starts selling unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s in the U.S. — Apple today released an unlocked GSM version of the iPhone 5s on its online store for the United States. This version of the iPhone 5s includes the same exact capabilities of the non-unlocked models, but does not include a SIM card.

More: Gigaom, Macworld, The Switch, App Advice, MacRumors, The Next Web, Gizmodo UK, Softpedia News, iDownloadBlog.com and PhoneArena

Om Malik / Gigaom:

What is Instagram's next big thing? Messaging, perhaps — Instagram, known as a visual communication platform, is looking for way to expand its appeal to its community of 200 million (and growing) users. First it was short-form video and next up is messaging.

More: The Verge, Business Insider, Mashable and App Advice

Tweets: @pkafka, @monkbent and @sfiegerman

Thanks:@om

Joseph Volpe / Engadget:

Motorola inks deal with 3D Systems to build its modular ‘Ara’ smartphones — When Motorola threw its weight behind Phonebloks' modular smartphone concept, it pretty much signaled to the rest of the industry that the Google company was dead serious about customization.

More: GlobeNewswire, The Register, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Computerworld, TechHive, The Verge, AllThingsD, Phandroid, IntoMobile, The Next Web, SlashGear, PhoneArena and AndroidHeadlines.com

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Sheryl Sandberg Says Facebook Totally Doesn't Have a Teenager Problem — Perhaps you've heard: Facebook may — or may not — have a teen problem. — It's been the talk of the town since Facebook's last earnings call, when CFO David Ebersman admitted that in the past quarter, the company …

More: AllFacebook, CNET, Business Insider, Softpedia News and hypebot. Thanks:@deaddoe

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Sift Raises $2 Million For Its Personalized Shopping App, Now On iPhone — Mobile shopping service Sift has closed on $2 million in seed funding, the company is announcing today, alongside its launch on iPhone. The startup first emerged almost exactly a year ago as a way to leverage shopping data found …

More: VentureBeat and The Next Web

Stephen Shankland / CNET:

What Mozilla is doing with its big pile of new money (Q&A) — Mozilla has embarked on an expensive new effort to build an entirely new mobile operating system, Firefox OS, despite the dominance of Apple's iOS and Google's Android. It's a good thing Mozilla's got piles of new money on hand.

More: The Next Web, eWeek, The Mozilla Blog, Computerworld, gHacks Technology News, ZDNet, Softpedia News and OStatic blogs. Tweets: @parmy

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Microsoft to win EU okay for $7.3 billion Nokia deal: sources — (Reuters) - Microsoft is set to secure unconditional EU regulatory approval for its proposed 5.4-billion-euro ($7.30 billion) takeover of Nokia's mobile phone business, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

More: CNET and WMPoweruser

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Sir Tim Berners-Lee Blasts “Insidious, Chilling Effects” Of Online Surveillance, Says We Should Be Protecting Whistleblowers Like Snowden — The rising tides of online surveillance, and the lack of safeguards from governments to protect individuals against them, are having a disastrous effect …

More: Guardian, Gizmodo, BBC, Softpedia News, T3 News, Inquirer, The Register, Telegraph and World Wide Web Foundation. See also Mediagazer

Timothy J. Seppala / Engadget:

Some of iWork's missing features return with the latest update — Some of the features culled during iWork's 64-bit transition have reappeared with the productivity suite's latest update. To start, Pages, Numbers and Keynote for OS X are regaining their sorely missed custom toolbars.

More: CNET and Softpedia News

Michael Kan / PC World:

Foxconn invests $40 million in Pennsylvania to tap research, talent — Don't expect any U.S.-made iPhones yet, but electronics supplier Foxconn Technology Group is expanding its manufacturing presence in the nation with a new $40 million investment to tap research and talent in Pennsylvania.

More: ZDNet, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Bloomberg, CNET, Reuters and AppleInsider

Wall Street Journal:

Google in Talks to Create Prescription Lenses, Designs for Google Glass — Internet Giant Exploring Ways to Put High-Tech Eyewear in Optometry Offices — Google Inc.'s new computer-powered glasses haven't hit the shelves yet, but already efforts are afoot to keep them from becoming just a niche product for nerds.

More: TechCrunch, CNET and SlashGear

Scott Hanselman / Scott Hanselman's Blog:

Introducing node.js Tools for Visual Studio — Just when you thought it couldn't be crazier in Redmond, today they are introducing node.js Tools for Visual Studio! — NTVS runs inside VS2012 or VS2013. Some node.js enthusiasts had forked PTVS and begun some spikes of node tools for VS …

More: eWeek, TechCrunch and I Programmer

Nicole Lee / Engadget:

Google Play update showcases big-screen optimized apps on tablets — As promised a month or so ago, Google Play is implementing a few changes today that'll push tablet-optimized apps to the forefront. That is, if you're using a device not quite small enough to be considered a phone …

More: Android Developers, TechHive, Android Beat, Gigaom, Inquirer, Android Central, Phandroid, Digital Trends, Softpedia News, Pulse 2.0, AndroidHeadlines.com, SlashGear, Android Community, WebProNews and pocketnow.com

Shalini Ramachandran / Wall Street Journal:

Time Warner Cable Has Reached Out to Comcast to Discuss Deal — The Two Cable Firms Are Not in ‘Active Discussions’ … Time Warner Cable Inc. has reached out to Comcast Corp. to discuss a possible combination in recent months, in an effort by Time Warner Cable to head off a bid …

More: CNBC, AllThingsD, VentureBeat, Bloomberg, DSLreports and The Verge. See also Mediagazer

Timothy B. Lee / The Switch:

Here's how Bitcoin charmed Washington — The pair of Bitcoin hearings held this week by Senate committees could have been a disaster for the Bitcoin community. After all, Bitcoin first came to mainstream attention in 2011 when Gawker reported on Silk Road, an anonymous online marketplace …

Tweets: @stevesi and @btcfoundation

Alex Williams / TechCrunch:

Two Harvard University Alum Win Disupted Salesforce $1M Hackathon Prize At Dreamforce [Updated] — Two developers who met at Harvard University 15 years ago are the winners of the Salesforce.com $1 million hackathon for its service to create mobile reports for sales people using the Salesforce.com platform.

More: Valleywag, VentureBeat, Pulse 2.0, Business Insider and bizjournals

Tweets: @qhardy and @qhardy

Liam Boogar / Rude Baguette:

Deezer to launch in the USA in 2014 with a partner, potentially Microsoft — 2014 will be the year of US expansion for Deezer, LeFigaro confirmed finally this week. After a week of rumors around Deezer's US launch, as well as a rumor that Microsoft would acquiredthe online music streaming service …

More: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, iMore, Engadget, SlashGear, Electronista, The Verge, Cult of Mac, Gigaom, Digital Music News and hypebot

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Google invites devs over for a Chromecast hackathon plus SDK show-and-tell, updates official app — Google has slowly trickled out more authorized commercial apps that can stream to its Chromecast dongle since launch (Hulu, Pandora, and most recently HBO Go) but what about homebrew?

More: Gigaom, Android Forums …, MobileBurn.com, 9to5Google, Android Community and Google Chrome Blog

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft starts delivering Kinect for Windows v2 Developer Preview kits, including pre-release hardware and SDK — Microsoft today announced it has started delivering Kinect for Windows v2 Developer Preview kits to developers who signed up for the $399 program.

More: MSDN Blogs and TechCrunch

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Music Tech Company The Echo Nest Expands Into Ad Targeting — The Echo Nest, a “music intelligence” company whose technology powers recommendations in services like Rdio and Clear Channel's iHeartRadio, is now looking to help partners make money from advertising as well.

More: The Next Web, Business Insider, hypebot, Forbes and bizjournals. Thanks:@marnigreenberg

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Raspberry Pi now includes Mathematica and Wolfram Language for free — Wolfram wants to make it easier for would-be programmers everywhere to start learning how to code, and it's announced a new partnership today that'll have every Raspberry Pi include at no extra cost a copy of Mathematica …

More: Raspberry Pi, Stephen Wolfram Blog, CNET, I4U News, Engadget, The Register, Inquirer and ZDNet

Om Malik / Gigaom:

Qualcomm quakes: Sources say layoffs at mobile chip giant — Qualcomm, the mobile chip giant that eats competitors like Pac Man munches berries, is cleaning up its middle management ranks and is said to be making more cuts across the board in order to rein in expenses.

More: Android Beat, AndroidHeadlines.com, PhoneArena and socalTECH.com

Mike Beasley / 9to5Mac:

Dropbox updated with new design for iOS 7, AirDrop, and more — As first shown by 9to5Mac, Dropbox has updated its iOS app with an all-new design for iOS 7 and several new feature and improvements. The update brings a streamlined iPad interface, improvements to the sharing process …

Jill Duffy / PC Magazine:

Automatically rising/falling Stir Kinect smart desk now on sale for $3890, ships February — Smart Sit-Stand Desk Goes on Sale for $3,900 — My fingertips rise and fall about an inch over six seconds, as if my hands were resting on the chest of a sleeping person. But I'm touching a desk, not a human.

More: The Next Web, VentureBeat, SlashGear and Engadget. Thanks:@tallkp

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