Techmeme: Try before you buy: Google launches home try-on program for Glass (Jonathan Kizer/9to5Google)

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April 18, 2014, 1:25 PM

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Deep Nishar / Official LinkedIn Blog:

LinkedIn hits 300M members, 100M in US, says mobile traffic will beat desktop later this year — The Next Three Billion [INFOGRAPHIC] — We are excited to announce that we reached a big milestone today: there are now more than 300 million LinkedIn members in the world!

More: Re/code, ZDNet, VatorNews, Gigaom, Marketing Land, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Next Web, The Tell, Softpedia News and WebProNews

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Trends Debuts Email Notifications For Search Topics, Hot Searches And More — Google Trends, the informative resource that shows you what's currently popular around the web right now in and in the recent past, now offers email subscriptions, Google announced this morning.

More: Inside Search, The Next Web, 9to5Google, Search Engine Land, VentureBreak and WebProNews

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

Court rules Apple-backed Rockstar must fight case against Google in California, not Texas — Google wins a game of “Escape from East Texas,” linking Rockstar to Apple — A federal judge issued an order today decreeing that Google's court battle against a “patent troll” …

More: Computerworld, Reuters, Softpedia News, Electronista, AppleInsider and Reuters

Parmy Olson / Forbes:

Connected device companies like Nest And Fitbit start side businesses selling data to utilities and health insurers — The Quantified Other: Nest And Fitbit Chase A Lucrative Side Business — The real value in smart gadgets may be not in what they tell you but in what they say to your doctor, insurance company and utilities.

More: TechCrunch and Business Insider. Tweets: @jeffbercovici, @bupbin, @forbestech and @fitbit. Thanks:@parmy

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Facebook's Paper for iOS updated with birthdays, events, photo comments, group updates, and more — Facebook today released the first major update to its Paper for iOS app, adding a slew of new features just 10 weeks after the initial launch. You can download the new version now directly from Apple's App Store.

More: 9to5Mac and The Verge

Eva Dou / Wall Street Journal:

HTC hires former Samsung marketing chief Paul Golden, who helped create the Galaxy brand — HTC Hires Former Samsung Marketing Chief — Paul Golden Helped Create Galaxy Brand at South Korean Company — HTC Corp. is hoping to nab a bit of that Samsung shine, as it has hired …

More: Bloomberg, VentureBeat, BGR, Businessweek, Android Central, Phandroid, MobileBurn.com, CNET, The Verge and Digital Trends

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Samsung hints that Milk Music will ‘soon’ include ads, and offer a $3.99/month premium service — When Samsung introduced its first Internet radio service Milk Music in March, one of the things that stood out was that it was available free and without ads. That may change soon, according to information disclosed by Samsung today.

More: Samsung Tomorrow, Gizmodo, Engadget, Computerworld, 9to5Google, The Droid Guy, PhoneDog.com, Android Central, SamMobile, Android Community and SlashGear

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

UberX adds $1 ‘Safe Rides Fee’ for passengers, reinstates 20% commission fee for drivers — UberX customers, take note: Your rides are about to cost a little more. In an email sent to UberX Seattle drivers, the company notes a new “Safe Rides Fee,” that takes effect today.

More: Uber Blog, PandoDaily, Business Insider, CNET, Engadget, Gigaom, The Technology Chronicles and The Next Web

Tweets: @hunterwalk, @mulligan, @dsilverman, @owenthomas and @caseynewton

Robin Wauters / Tech.eu:

Tech exits in Europe Q1 2014: 49 total, Germany and Israel lead, 43.7% of acquirers from US — Everything you've always wanted to know about tech exits in Europe: Tech.eu M&A report - Q1 2014 — In early March, I stopped to take note of the flurry of (admittedly mostly small-sized) …

Thanks:@tech_eu

Don Clark / Wall Street Journal:

Globalfoundries to adopt Samsung's 14nm chip production process as the companies try to woo customers away from TSMC — Samsung, Globalfoundries Agree to Adopt Same Production Process — Unusual Alliance Could Please Chip Customers Such as Apple — Samsung Electronics Co …

More: Bloomberg, EE Times, MacDailyNews, PC World, The Register and Reuters

Eric Johnson / Re/code:

King Resolves Trademark Disputes With Two Independent Developers — Candy Crush Saga maker King has resolved its trademark disputes with the developers of two independent games, The Banner Saga and CandySwipe. — The mobile gaming giant had initially opposed Stoic's attempt to trademark …

More: Polygon, Engadget, VG247, GamePolitics blogs, GamesIndustry International, Gamasutra and Eurogamer.net

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Ubuntu 14.04 will power “first commercially available Ubuntu tablets” — From May 2013, a tablet running an early version of Ubuntu Touch. — Andrew Cunningham — Canonical today is releasing Ubuntu 14.04, a Long Term Support (LTS) edition for desktops and servers and an update to the versions of Ubuntu for phones and tablets.

More: Engadget, insights.ubuntu.com, Softpedia News, eWeek, BetaNews, Computerworld, Electronista, eWeek, V3.co.uk, ZDNet, Ubuntu Wiki, Inquirer and Liliputing

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Analytics Now Lets You Track Web And App Data In A Single View — Here is a small but important update to Google Analytics: Developers can now create a single reporting view that includes both web and app data. Google says this will help businesses that have multiple digital touchpoints …

More: Google Analytics Blog and WebProNews

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft starts letting Windows Phone developers respond to app reviews — Microsoft today announced the launch of a pilot program that lets Windows Phone developers respond to app reviews. The company says the roll-out will begin this week with a small group of developers who have been pre-selected …

More: The Windows Blog, GeekWire, Engadget, The Windows Blog, Softpedia News, WinBeta, Neowin and WMPoweruser

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

App Search Engine Quixey Acquires Competing Service Kite.io — Mobile app search engine Quixey, backed by $75 million from Alibaba, Innovation Endeavors, Translink Capital and others, has put some of those dollars to use by acquiring a smaller, competing app search startup, San Francisco-based Kite.io.

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

3 Million Customer Credit, Debit Cards Stolen in Michaels, Aaron Brothers Breaches — Nationwide arts and crafts chain Michaels Stores Inc. said today that two separate eight-month-long security breaches at its stores last year may have exposed as many as 3 million customer credit and debit cards.

More: Business Wire, Mashable, Arts & Crafts, ZDNet, WebProNews, BGR, VatorNews, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, Electronista and Reuters

Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:

Citymapper raises $10M to help you navigate on buses and trains — Citymapper, a mapping app that specializes in navigating the complexities of public transportation in big cities, has raised a $10 million Series A round led by Balderton Capital with participation from Connect Ventures, Index Ventures and Greylock Partners.

More: TechCrunch, Venture Capital, VentureBeat, Startups, London News, Pulse 2.0, Tnooz and Techworld.com

Jonathan Kizer / 9to5Google:

Try before you buy: Google launches home try-on program for Glass — Google is allowing potential Explorers to try Glass before they shell out the $1,500 to actually buy the device, according to a Reddit user by the name of clide. He posted various images of a home try-on kit …

More: Los Angeles Times, PC Magazine, Google Glass Fans, Softpedia News, TechSpot, Mashable, VentureBeat, Glass Almanac, Gigaom, TechnoBuffalo, Electronista, TechCrunch, SlashGear, Phandroid and Ubergizmo

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Microsoft's Xbox One passes 5M units sold to retailers, but Titanfall boost not enough to beat Sony — Microsoft today announced that it has sold over 5 million Xbox One consoles to retailers around the globe, but sales of the system have still lagged behind rival Sony's PlayStation 4.

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Instacart Could Raise A Big New Round Of Funding Valuing It At $400 Million — On-demand grocery startup Instacart is fielding term sheets for a big new round of funding, according to sources. We've heard the new financing could be led by a non-VC investor, and according to one source it would value the company at up to $400 million.

More: Business Insider and Re/code. Tweets: @danprimack. Thanks:@loyalelectron

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