Techmeme
January 9, 2014, 8:45 PM

Top News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
New Gmail Feature Allows Anyone On Google+ To Email You & Vice Versa, But Opt Out Is Provided  —  Google is today making a change to Gmail that will further bake in Google+ to its webmail product in a way that's actually somewhat practical, though also potentially invasive.
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
It's Never Too Early To Say Goodbye  —  “You can't just quietly slip out the door,” I've been told by too many people I trust.  So okay, fine, here's this post!  —  Since you asked, TechCrunch is in a really good place right now.  —  The various numbers we use to measure ourselves …
Sam Biddle / Valleywag:
Co-Chief Eric Eldon Leaving TechCrunch  —  One half of the heavyweight duo operating Silicon Valley's industry blog of record is making his exit.  After a little over two years at the helm alongside Alexia Tsotsis, TechCrunch co-editor Eric Eldon will soon depart the site.
Cade Metz / Wired:
Overstock.com becomes the first major online retailer to accept bitcoins, will use Coinbase's payment system  —  The Grand Experiment Goes Live: Overstock.com Is Now Accepting Bitcoins  —  Overstock.com is now accepting payments in bitcoin, making it the first major online retailer to embrace …
Jungah Lee / Bloomberg:
Samsung Plans Galaxy S5 by April With Possible Eye-Scan Security  —  Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will release its Galaxy S5 smartphone by April and is considering using iris scanning technology for the first time as it readies the new high-end handset to compete with Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s latest iPhones.
GeekWire:
Surprise: Amazon tests physical retail with ‘Kindle Kiosk’ vending machines  —  LAS VEGAS — Amazon, the company that defined the world of online commerce, is venturing further into the world of physical retail — experimenting with standalone, automated “Kindle Kiosk” vending machines in selected airports and shopping malls.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Gartner: PC shipments slip 6.9% to 82.6m units in Q4, as 2013 sees the worst yearly decline in history  —  The PC market continues to be in free fall, having now seen its seventh consecutive quarter of declining worldwide shipments.  Worldwide PC shipments dropped to 82.6 million units …
Businessweek:
The Bitcoin-Mining Arms Race Heats Up  —  Joel Flickinger's two-bedroom home in the hills above Oakland, Calif., hums with custom-built computing gear.  Just inside the front door, in a room anyone else might use as a den, he's placed a desk next to a fireplace that supports a massive monitor …
Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
Snapchat apologizes for leaked user data, updates app to let you opt out of ‘Find Friends’  —  Snapchat today rolled out the security fix it promised last week, which lets users opt out of the app's “Find Friends” feature.  The feature, which let users plug in their phone number to find friends …
Matt Asay / TechRepublic:
Google's master plan for Android: More Internet users paying $6.30 a pop  —  The mobile industry is headed to Google, who is in an ideal position to clean up at roughly $6.30 per Internet user per year.  —  Forget today's smartphone profits: Apple and Samsung increasingly split those relatively evenly …
More: TheStreet.com and BGRTweets: @nytimesbitsThanks:@jasonhiner
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Nokia brings folders to Windows Phone with its Lumia Black rollout  —  Nokia is once again extending and improving Windows Phone.  While Microsoft has implemented Live Tiles across Windows Phone, Nokia is adding a new App Folder interface that allows Windows Phone users to stack apps and settings into a folder Tile on the Start Screen.
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:
Google Data Chief Says ‘Flawed’ EU Privacy Law Is Dead  —  Google Inc. (GOOG)'s top privacy official said the European Union's “flawed” attempt to overhaul data-protection rules is “dead” and urged politicians to go back to the drawing board.  —  “Europe's much-ballyhooed, and much-flawed …
Jon Russell / The Next Web:
Github acquires Y Combinator graduate Easel and its Web-based visual design service  —  Online code repository Github has completed its second acquisition to date after it snapped up Easel, a Y Combinator graduate that offers a browser-based visual tool for designing and prototyping, in an undisclosed deal.

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Alex Hern / Guardian:
Edwin Chan / Reuters: