Techmeme: Speed-Reader Startup Spritz Closing $3.5M Seed (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

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March 11, 2014, 10:20 PM

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David Kushner / Rolling Stone:

The Flight of the Birdman: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out — How did a chain-smoking geek from Hanoi design the viral hit Flappy Bird - and why did he walk away? — By — Last April, Dong Nguyen, a quiet 28-year-old who lived with his parents in Hanoi, Vietnam …

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

iOS 8: Apple polishes Maps data, adds public transit directions service — Apple is readying an upgraded version of its iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Maps application for the next major release of iOS in an effort to battle Google for mobile maps supremacy, according to sources briefed on the plans.

James Robinson / PandoDaily:

Google buys the ghost of Green Throttle Games, as TV arms race gathers speed — Four months after Santa Clara-based Green Throttle Games slowly shuffled off this mortal coil, PandoDaily has confirmed that its parts and labor have been quietly scooped up by Google as a possible asset …

More: Re/code, Ars Technica, 9to5Google, Pocket-lint, Gamasutra and Android Central

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Disney Ponders the Biggest Big Media YouTube Bet Yet: Buying Maker Studios — Disney has been talking to Maker Studios about an acquisition that would value the YouTube network at $500 million or more, according to people familiar with the negotiations. — A deal isn't guaranteed.

More: Financial Times, ReelSEO Video Marketing, Tubefilter, Deadline.com, PE Hub Blog and Business Insider. See also Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:

Amazon hopes to boost MP3 sales with limited music streaming service for Prime members — Amazon Working on Music-Streaming Service — To Spur Song Purchases, Limits Would Be Placed on Listening — Amazon.com Inc. is hoping to offer an on-demand music-streaming service to customers …

More: CNET, Business Insider, The Verge, TechnoBuffalo and SlashGear. Tweets: @gregbensinger

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Amazon's TV streaming box to ship with Netflix and Hulu Plus apps — Amazon's Roku competitor, which could be unveiled any day now, won't just peddle the company's own video streaming service: The device will also have apps for direct competitors including Netflix and Hulu Plus on board, according to multiple sources.

More: GeekWire and SlashGear

John Paczkowski / Re/code:

Apple Gets Final Okay for New Union Square Store in S.F. — Apple has been given the all clear to move ahead with construction on its new flagship store in San Francisco's Union Square. After months of negotiations, the store's lengthy approval process came to an end Tuesday …

More: AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and Cult of Mac

Bloomberg:

Beats Music raise $60M-$100M to fund new music and features in challenge to Spotify — Jimmy Iovine's Beats Music Is Said to Raise Up to $100 Million — Beats Music LLC, the subscription streaming service from rapper Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine, raised a second round of funding …

More: Billboard, VentureBeat, Gigaom, Los Angeles Times, Digital Music News, Bloomberg, hypebot and Mashable

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Collaboration Software Maker Jive Explores Sale — Jive, the enterprise-focused software company that makes social communication and collaboration tools, has explored a sale during the last several months, sources familiar with the matter tell Re/code. — These sources say the company …

More: CITEworld, ZDNet, GeekWire, Business Insider and Reuters

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Speed-Reader Startup Spritz Closing $3.5M Seed — Spritz, a Boston-based startup that's been developing a speed-reading technology in stealth since 2011, is in the process of closing a $3.54 million seed funding round. Investors include Denis O'Brien, investing through his telco company Digicel.

More: Engadget, Telegraph, The Atlantic Online, Sydney Morning Herald, Examiner, The Boston Globe, QR Code Press, Truthdig, hngn.com, VCPOST, PalmAddict, Nextgov and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Apple Continues Pursuit Of IT And Education With Improvements To Its ‘Secret’ Loyalty Pricing — If you're unfamiliar with Apple's Loyalty Program, we'll forgive you. It's not all that well publicized and for pretty good reason. It only kicks in if you're the kind of person who spends …

More: Digital Trends, Macworld, iPhone in Canada Blog, PC Magazine, Cult of Mac, Gigaom, Electronista, App Advice, AppleInsider, MacRumors and Breaking Apple News …

Andrew Harris / Bloomberg:

Mt. Gox U.S. Affiliate's Assets Frozen by U.S. Judge — Mt. Gox Inc., the American affiliate of the bankrupt Bitcoin exchange that lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of virtual currency, had its U.S. assets frozen by a federal judge in Chicago.

More: Reuters, Ars Technica, The Register and Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg:

Discovery and Eric Schmidt Back Tapp, Platform for $10-Per-Month Web Video — Reportedly in Talks With Sarah Palin for a New Pay Channel Online — Fingerpaint — Former TV executives Jeff Gaspin and Jon Klein are starting an online video service with backing from Discovery Communications …

More: The Wrap, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and TVNewser

GSMArena.com:

Leaked ad says two rear cameras on the new HTC One will allow post-shot focusing, 3D effects — EXCLUSIVE: here's why the HTC One 2014 has two cameras — HTC experiments with cameras to set its One phones apart and The All New One will have two cameras but we didn't know why until now.

Bill Gurley / Above the Crowd:

A Deeper Look at Uber's Dynamic Pricing Model — Over the course of the past year, many writers have offered their perspectives on Uber's dynamic pricing strategy. Perhaps the only consistency is that people have deeply passionate views on this topic. However, there are still many misperceptions …

More: Business Insider, GeekWire and Tech Trader Daily

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Feinstein: CIA searched Intelligence Committee computers — The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday sharply accused the CIA of violating federal law and undermining the constitutional principle of congressional oversight as she detailed publicly for the first time how the …

More: New York Times, Guardian, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Bloomberg, Associated Press, NationalJournal.com, Business Insider, Techdirt, CNN and The Switch

Tweets: @benadida, @charlie_savage, @dangillmor, @ggreenwald and @binarybits

John McDermott / Digiday:

Twitter testing click-to-call button which allows mobile users to call advertisers directly — Twitter tries to prove its ads drive sales — As part of its continued effort to evolve and broaden its advertising capabilities, Twitter is now touting itself as a platform for effective direct response advertising.

More: Wall Street Journal, AllTwitter, Marketing Land, Marketing Pilgrim, Street Fight and The Verge. See also Mediagazer

Matthew Miller / ZDNet:

Jawbone releases UP 3.0 app for Android with support for new UP24 band — Summary: Just a couple months after the iOS release, Jawbone is now rolling out their UP 3.0 app for Android devices so you can now use the UP24 band with your favorite Android device. — Matthew Miller

More: Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch, Gotta Be Mobile, iMore, CNET, Gigaom, BGR, VentureBeat and WebProNews

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Updates Chrome Web Store With Support For Paid Extensions And Themes, Free Trials For Packaged Apps — Google made a couple of updates to its Chrome Web Store today and with these, developers can now use the store to offer free trials for packaged apps (which are able to run offline).

More: Google Developers Blog, The Next Web and Engadget. Thanks:@_trendspotter

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Mother sues Google over kids' apps after 5-year-old son buys $65 worth of virtual currency — A New York woman whose child spent $65.95 on digital “Crystals” has filed a lawsuit on behalf of other parents across the U.S., claiming the Google Play store is full of games and apps that lure children into spending money.

More: Electronista, SiliconBeat, SlashGear, Pocketnow, Phandroid, The Switch, The Next Web and BGR

Deborah Gage / Wall Street Journal:

Metamorphic Ventures raises ~$70M second fund, aims to bridge New York and Silicon Valley — Aiming to Bridge Silicon Valley and New York, Metamorphic Ventures Closes Second Fund — Silicon Valley may be the world's center of technology, but New York City drives a lot of other industries that need tech.

More: Metamorphic Ventures, VentureBeat, PE Hub Blog and StrictlyVC

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Attackers trick 162,000 WordPress sites into launching DDoS attack — Technique allows lone attacker hidden in the shadows to wage crippling attacks. — Security researchers have uncovered a recent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that used at least 162,000 WordPress-powered websites to knock another site offline.

More: Sucuri Blog, The P0ison News, Inquirer, SC Magazine, Softpedia News and Help Net Security

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