Techmeme: How and why startups like Lyft and Quora are increasingly taking big late-stage investments (New York Times)

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April 14, 2014, 5:05 PM

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Peter Bright / Ars Technica:

Windows Phone 8.1 review: a magnificent smartphone platform — It's a 0.1 update that feels like a 2.0 update. — For the growing number of Windows Phone users, Windows Phone 8 was a frustrating release. The major difference between Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 was invisible to end users …

More: Windows Phone Central, The Verge, Engadget, Re/code, eWeek, Internet2Go, GeekWire, ZDNet, Neowin, Pocketnow, PC World, Gizmodo, CNET, ZDNet, MobileBurn.com, WMPoweruser, Gigaom, TIME, Mashable, SlashGear, TechCrunch, SuperSite for Windows, Liliputing, ReadWrite and FierceWireless. Tweets: @arstechnica

Rene Ritchie / iMore:

Windows Phone 8.1 is somehow working with Apple's Passbook...? — When Apple introduced Passbook in iOS 6 they billed it as a way to store all your tickets, coupons, boarding passes, loyalty programs, and other cards all in one place. It's hard to imagine they expected that place …

More: AppleInsider, Gigaom, MacRumors, TechCrunch, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks and Electronista. Tweets: @tomwarren

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview now available to download — Windows Phone 8.1 now available to download — After 18 months since the last major Windows Phone update, Microsoft is finally releasing Windows Phone 8.1 to developers today. The software maker detailed the update …

Jessica Dolcourt / CNET:

Cortana vs. Siri vs. Google Now: An early look at how Cortana stacks up (hands-on)

More: Windows Phone Central, TechHive, Gizmodo, ZDNet and Search Engine Land

Wall Street Journal:

Google buys Titan Aerospace, the maker of high-altitude drones Facebook was considering — Google Buys Drone Maker Courted by Facebook — Internet Giant to Acquire Titan Aerospace — Google Inc. said Monday it agreed to buy Titan Aerospace, a startup maker of high-altitude drones …

More: TechCrunch, AllFacebook, ABC News, Computerworld, New York Times, Re/code, VentureBeat, Ars Technica, PC Magazine, PandoDaily, PC World, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, 9to5Google, The Verge, Business Insider, dailywireless.org and SlashGear

Tweets: @levie and @mikeisaac

Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

Google considering giving a boost in its search-engine results to websites that use encryption — Google May Push Sites to Use Encryption — A powerful voice at Google wants websites to be more secure. — In a move that experts say could make it harder to spy on Web users …

More: Search Engine Land, Mercury News, TheHill, PC World, 9to5Google, The Verge, ZDNet, BetaNews, SlashGear, Gigaom, Geeky Gadgets, WebProNews and VentureBreak. Tweets: @dannysullivan. Thanks:@bryfitz

Mitchell Baker / The Mozilla Blog:

Greylock's Chris Beard joins Mozilla's Board of Directors, becomes interim CEO — Mozilla Moving Forward — Mozilla finds itself in the midst of an unexpected leadership transition. Along with my fellow board members Reid Hoffman and Katharina Borchert, I am pleased to announce …

More: The Register, VatorNews, Computerworld, ZDNet, VentureBeat, Re/code, TechCrunch, CNET, New York Times, SiliconBeat and WebProNews. Tweets: @cbeard

Todd Spangler / Variety:

UPDATED: Relativity Offers Up to $1.1 Billion for Maker Studios, In Move to Outflank Disney — Maker Studios is in the center of a bidding war: Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media has staged a surprise late-hour plan to acquire the YouTube multichannel network operator for up to $1.1 billion in stock …

More: multichannel.com, TheStreet.com, Tubefilter, Wall Street Journal, Business 2 Community, Boston Herald, Mashable, Hollywood Reporter and SeekingAlpha.com. Tweets: @pkafka. See also Mediagazer

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Thanks But No Thanks, Maker Studios Tells Relativity

More: Wall Street Journal and VentureBeat

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Early internal document reveals Android was initially designed without touchscreen support — Here's What Android Looked Like Before the iPhone — One of the more interesting documents that came to light during the Apple-Samsung document last week was an early internal Google document …

More: AppleInsider, Daring Fireball, Computerworld, MacDailyNews, The Register, blog.chron.com, Phandroid, Business Insider, BGR, Gizmodo, Engadget and Guardian

Tweets: @stroughtonsmith and @stroughtonsmith

New York Times:

How and why startups like Lyft and Quora are increasingly taking big late-stage investments — Rich Start-Ups Go Back for Another Helping — Quora, a question-and-answer website, didn't need to raise money. It had barely touched $60 million in venture capital that it accepted just two years ago.

More: StrictlyVC. Tweets: @dgelles, @bijans and @mikeyang

Kwame Opam / The Verge:

Heartbleed bug responsible for theft of 900 Canadian tax ID numbers — Canada's taxpayers may be the first victims of the Heartbleed bug that put the web on high alert last week. According to the Canada Revenue Agency, 900 social insurance numbers (SINs) were stolen by hackers exploiting the security vulnerability.

More: cra-arc.gc.ca, PC World, CBC News, PandoDaily, Computerworld, The Register, Help Net Security, The Next Web, Globe and Mail, BetaKit, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Financial Post

Alistair MacDonald / Wall Street Journal:

Canadian Government Says Public Websites up and Running

More: Reuters

Erin Griffith / Fortune:

How Zuck met Oculus: The story behind Facebook's big bet on virtual reality — CEO Brendan Iribe recounts the steps leading up to the $2 billion deal. — FORTUNE - Mark Zuckerberg's acquisitions have a formula: They never, ever leak because they come together quickly.

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @cdixon and @eringriffith

Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:

Facebook is reportedly prepping an e-money service, and is close to getting approval in Ireland — Facebook wants to be more than a social network — it is planning to facilitate financial services in the form of electronic money and remittances, the Financial Times reports (as spotted first by Benedict Evans).

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Netflix streaming speeds on Comcast jump 65 percent after controversial deal — Netflix customers on Comcast are already seeing the benefits of a controversial pact between the streaming service and cable provider. Comcast jumped five spots in Netflix's ranking of ISP performance for the month of March.

More: Quartz, Engadget, Gigaom, Netflix US & Canada Blog, PandoDaily and DSLreports. See also Mediagazer

Ben Popper / The Verge:

How Cool Planet founder Mike Cheiky convinced Silicon Valley to invest in his shoddy science — The inventor of everything — How an egotistical genius convinced Silicon Valley to invest hundreds of millions in his shoddy science — It's a sunny morning in Camarillo, California …

More: Gigaom

Colleen Taylor / TechCrunch:

Y Combinator Adds Four New Partners, Including Stripe CEO Patrick Collison — Y Combinator is announcing today the addition of four new partners to its roster, as part of its larger push for more growth under new president Sam Altman. — Altman announced in a blog post this afternoon …

More: Y Combinator Posthaven

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Did Microsoft just kill its anti-Google ‘Scroogled’ campaign? — Summary: A Microsoft Corporate Vice President claims Microsoft is ‘done’ with its ‘Scroogled’ campaign. But is the company really Scroogled out? — Has Microsoft quietly done away with its anti-Google “Scroogled” campaign?

More: 9to5Google and Yabbly

Nick Wingfield / New York Times:

A profile of Benchmark venture capitalist Richard Barton — The Art of ‘Something From Nothing’ — SEATTLE — Entrepreneurs are lucky to have one big score. Richard Barton has had a string of them, by repeatedly asking the same simple question: What piece of marketplace information do people crave and don't have?

Tweets: @nickwingfield, @jeffjarvis and @trengriffin

Mike Isaac / Re/code:

As Lockup Date Looms, Twitter Says Its Big Shareholders Aren't Selling Anytime Soon — As an important date for Twitter shareholders looms, the company's top brass wants Wall Street to know one thing: They're in it for the long haul. — Dick Costolo, Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey …

More: TechCrunch, New York Times, BuzzFeed, VatorNews, TechCrunch, Business 2 Community and Softpedia News. Tweets: @sacca. See also Mediagazer

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Beauty And E-Commerce Brand Julep Raises $30M To Disrupt The $160B Cosmetics Industry — Julep, a cosmetics and beauty brand and e-commerce platform, has raised $30 million in Series C financing; Azure Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Maveron all participated in the round.

More: VentureBeat, GeekWire, Business Insider, PE Hub Blog and Wall Street Journal

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