Techmeme
March 20, 2014, 3:40 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Airbnb In Advanced Talks to Raise Funding at a $10 Billion Valuation  —  Private-Equity Firm TPG Likely to Lead Funding Round for the Online Home-Rental Marketplace  —  Airbnb Inc. is in advanced talks to raise funds that would value the online home-rental marketplace at more than $10 billion …
Lorraine Luk / Wall Street Journal:
China Mobile Added About 1 Million New iPhone Users in February  —  HONG KONG— China Mobile Ltd added about one million new iPhone users last month after it started offering the popular smartphone in mid-January, Chief Executive Li Yue said Thursday.  —  The comment came hours …
Mike Isaac / Re/code:
As Messaging Wars Escalate, Social App Tango Raises $280 Million  —  Social startup Tango announced Thursday that it had raised a massive $280 million Series D round of venture funding, the latest significant move among a handful of high-profile apps all vying to own the mobile messaging space.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Gmail now always uses an HTTPS connection and encrypts all messages moving internally on Google's servers  —  Google today announced it has made security improvements to Gmail to further protect users' emails from snooping.  Gmail now always uses an encrypted HTTPS connection when you check or send email …
Katherine Rosman / Wall Street Journal:
Fitbit Now Faces a Class-Action Suit in Rash Fallout  —  A month after Fitbit issued a recall of its fitness-tracking bracelet following complaints of blisters and rashes, the startup now faces its first lawsuit.  —  The suit, filed on Monday in the Superior Court of California in the County of San Diego …
Vindu Goel / New York Times:
Twitter's new video hosting platform lets mobile users play clips with a single tap  —  Twitter Rolls Out Easier, Faster Video Playback  —  Over the past year, Twitter has worked closely with television networks and other professional video creators to upload and promote thousands …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Starbucks iPhone App With Digital Tipping And Shake-To-Pay Now Available  —  The Starbucks mobile app with digital tipping options, previewed last week, has arrived in the App Store. iPhone users can grab it now, and get the new digital tipping option if they're based in the U.S. …
JP Mangalindan / Fortune:
Pebble sold 400,000 smartwatches last year, on track to double revenues in 2014  —  CEO Eric Migicovsky walks Fortune through the smartwatch maker's successful first year.  —  FORTUNE - If Pebble is the smartwatch category's David, surely Google is its Goliath.
More: MacRumors, App Advice and AmongTechThanks:@jpmanga
PC World:
PCWorld Founder and IDG Chairman Patrick J. McGovern dies at 76  —  International Data Group (IDG) announced Thursday with great sadness that its Founder and Chairman, Patrick J. McGovern, died March 19, 2014, at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California.  —  “IDG has lost a true visionary …
eMarketer:
Driven by Facebook and Google, Mobile Ad Market Soars 105% in 2013  —  Mobile ad spending on pace to reach $31.45 billion this year  —  Last year, global mobile ad spending increased 105.0% to total $17.96 billion, according to new figures from eMarketer.  In 2014, mobile is on pace …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google-Backed Lending Club Brings Peer-To-Peer Lending To Business Loans  —  Peer-to-peer lending marketplace Lending Club is announcing a major expansion today into business loans.  —  Lending Club brings together lenders and borrowers who want to cut out banks in the process of investing among peers …
Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:
Ad platform Rubicon Project sets $108M IPO  —  Advertising platform Rubicon Project has announced terms for an initial public offering today that will have the company seeking to raise $108 million.  —  Rubicon Project operates an automated digital ad exchange that allows you to both buy and sell ads.

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Featured Podcasts

Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
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Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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BG2 Pod:
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Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
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The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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Nathan Kirsch / Legit Reviews:
Stephanie M. Lee / The Technology Chronicles:
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Levi Pulkkinen / Seattle PI: