Techmeme: As Microsoft CEO Rumors Continue to Churn, One Thing Is Clear: Gates Will Be More Visible at Microsoft (Kara Swisher/Re/code)

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January 20, 2014, 2:20 PM

Top News

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Nest CEO Tony Fadell vows to make any privacy policy changes transparent and opt-in — Following last week's Google acquisition, Nest chief executive Tony Fadell has vowed to make any alterations to its privacy policy opt-in, and to be transparent about such changes to all of its users.

More: Ars Technica, GeekWire, SiliconANGLE, VatorNews, Engadget, The Verge, 9to5Google, TechnoBuffalo, WebProNews, Softpedia News, TechCrunch and Electronista

Tweets: @caseynewton and @boris

Tom Warren / The Verge:

HP brings back Windows 7 ‘by popular demand’ — HP really wants people to buy a Windows 7 PC instead of a Windows 8 machine. The PC maker has been emailing customers over the weekend noting that “Windows 7 is back.” A new promotion, designed to entice people to select Windows 7 over Windows 8 …

More: Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Inquirer, ZDNet, Gizmodo, Gigaom, GeekWire, PC World, VentureBeat, BGR, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, Softpedia News, SlashGear and Global Nerdy

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Fon pulls in $14M as it partners with Qualcomm and Facebook — The crowdsourced Wi-Fi network Fon is about to find its way into a whole lot more routers, as Qualcomm and others have plowed $14 million into the Spanish company. Qualcomm in particular will bake Fon functionality into its Atheros wireless chipsets.

More: Martin Varsavsky, Re/code, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, ZDNet and dailywireless.org

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

As Microsoft CEO Rumors Continue to Churn, One Thing Is Clear: Gates Will Be More Visible at Microsoft — On Friday, the latest chatter in the ongoing rumor mill that has become the Microsoft CEO search began again, with sudden noise that the new leader would be announced sometime in the next few days.

More: LiveSide.net, Ubergizmo, The Verge, memeburn, Softpedia News and CNET

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Intellectual Ventures' first ever trial is set to begin against Google's Motorola this week — Google set to face Intellectual Ventures in landmark patent trial — (Reuters) - Intellectual Ventures is set to square off this week against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit in the first trial …

More: GeekWire, SiliconBeat and Softpedia News. Tweets: @fosspatents

Rolfe Winkler / Digits:

Google removes “Add to Feedly” and “Tweet This Page” extensions after they were paid to show adware — Google Removes Two Chrome Extensions Amid Ad Uproar — Google removed two Chrome browser extensions from its web store after it was discovered the software included code …

More: Quartz, Los Angeles Times, CNET, BBC, Engadget, Help Net Security, BGR, Lifehacker, Wired.co.uk, Inquirer, Daring Fireball, BGR India, Computerworld, The Verge, Guardian, Electronista, ZDNet, Digital Trends, Cult of Mac, PC Pro, memeburn, SiliconANGLE, Gizmodo, OMG!, The Hacker News, SlashGear, The Next Web, Mashable, TechSpot and Business Insider. Tweets: @bryfitz

Luke Edwards / Pocket-lint:

Samsung Galaxy S5 new UI leaks again looking like an attractive Google Now — Samsung's refreshed UI looks almost certain now. Yet more photos have leaked online at the same time as the Galaxy S5 rumour mill gets up to speed. — We're expecting to see the new Samsung UI unveiled …

More: Engadget, BGR, Phandroid, 9to5Google, The Verge, AndroidOS.in, Android Beat, Business Insider, Inquirer, Android and Me, IntoMobile and The Next Web. Tweets: @evleaks

David Segal / New York Times:

More on Silk Road creator: FBI arrested Ulbricht before he could close laptop, Ulbricht asked agent posing as dealer to execute Silk Road employee — Eagle Scout. Idealist. Drug Trafficker? — Ross Ulbricht's last moments as a free man were noisy enough to draw a crowd.

More: SiliconBeat and The Verge. Tweets: @erickschonfeld, @nickbilton and @glennf

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions — A leaked image from the campaign e-mail sent to Machinima partners. — NeoGAF — The line between traditional, paid advertising and organic editorial content on the Internet can sometimes be hazy.

More: iGame Responsibly, CinemaBlend.com, The Escapist, Pastebin and WinBeta

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Jimmy Wales joins UK-based charitable MVNO The People's Operator as chairman, plans international expansion — Jimmy Wales' Plan to Save The World With Mobile Phones — Jimmy Wales, the founder and public face of Wikipedia would like to give $1 billion to charity, but he doesn't have $1 billion to give.

More: CNET, Guardian, The Next Web, Inquirer, Wired.co.uk, The Verge, Telegraph and Gigaom

Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:

Google Remarketing Ads Found To Violate Canadian Privacy Law; To Revamp Ad Review System By June — Google has agreed to several concessions after an investigation by Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner found Google in violation of Canada's privacy rights for the use of sensitive health history in remarketing campaigns.

More: priv.gc.ca, priv.gc.ca, Globe and Mail, Techvibes Global News, Globe and Mail, The Register, Tech Times, Bloomberg BNA, advent.es, Toronto Star and MarketingVox News & Trends

Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:

Spotify opens up merchandise-selling feature to all artists — Over recent weeks, more than 200 artists have been selling merchandise through their Spotify profiles, after the streaming music service announced a partnership with D2C firm Topspin to launch the new feature. Now it's being opened up to everyone.

More: Spotify for Artists, The Next Web, Digits, TechCrunch, Softpedia News, SlashGear and BetaNews. See also Mediagazer

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