Techmeme: Easy Unlock feature in Chrome OS may potentially skip password prompt when phone is nearby (Bertel King, Jr/Android Police)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

April 18, 2014, 5:45 AM

Top News

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Dropbox acquires two more startups: collaborative document tool Hackpad and photo sync app Loom — As It Becomes an App Platform, Dropbox Gobbles Up More Than One App Startup Per Month — Once a simple way to move stuff around between devices and people, Dropbox now wants to be a platform …

More: Engadget, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Gigaom

Tweets: @bluechoochoo, @dmac1 and @jessicamckellar

Jan Senderek / Loom:

Dropbox acquires Loom, will shut it down and migrate users to Carousel by May 16 — Loom is joining Dropbox — We have some exciting news that we wanted to share with you. Loom is now officially part of Dropbox, and we couldn't be happier to join forces!

More: The Next Web, I4U News, Tech City News, Y Combinator Universe, TUAW, VatorNews, Wall Street Journal, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone Hacks, The Verge, ReadWrite, Macworld, SlashGear, ZDNet, MacStories, ParisLemon, Electronista, App Advice and VentureBeat

Tweets: @spencerchen and @roidrage

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, Gigaom, CNET, The Technology Chronicles, The Next Web and Engadget

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

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Launches “Nearby Friends” With Opt-In Real-Time Location Sharing To Help You Meet Up — Today Facebook begins rolling out a new opt-in feature called Nearby Friends. It lets friends see approximately how far away you are from them, and you can share your exact, on-going location with them for a limited time.

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Grams, a Tor-accessible search engine for contraband, aims to be the Google of Dark Web — New ‘Google’ for the Dark Web Makes Buying Dope and Guns Easy — The dark web just got a little less dark with the launch of a new search engine that lets you easily find illicit drugs and other contraband online.

More: TechSpot, The Verge, Gizmodo and SC Magazine. Tweets: @wired

Bertel King, Jr / Android Police:

Easy Unlock feature in Chrome OS may potentially skip password prompt when phone is nearby — Unfinished ‘Easy Unlock’ Feature Creeps Into Chrome OS Dev, Will Potentially Skip The Password Prompt If Your Phone Is Nearby — A new feature has snuck into the Chrome OS dev channel that …

More: 9to5Google, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Pocketnow and SlashGear

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: Google Glass Fans, TechCrunch, Gigaom, TechnoBuffalo, VentureBeat, Glass Almanac, Electronista, Phandroid, SlashGear and Ubergizmo

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.

Tweets: @fitbit, @forbestech, @bupbin and @jeffbercovici. Thanks:@parmy

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, eWeek, BetaNews, Softpedia News, Computerworld, insights.ubuntu.com, Electronista, Inquirer, eWeek, V3.co.uk, ZDNet and Liliputing

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

The Sonos Blog:

Sonos software update lets it connect completely wirelessly, $50 Bridge unit no longer needed — Our Vision for Rock-Solid Wireless, Evolved — From the archives: drawing of the original Sonos architecture, 2003. — We created the Sonos Wireless HiFi System to provide music lovers …

More: TechnoBuffalo, App Advice, Digital Trends, Gigaom Research, TechCrunch, Electronista, CNET, The Verge, Gizmodo, TechSpot, SlashGear and Engadget

Chris Velazco / Engadget:

GoogolPlex intercepts Siri commands, lets it control third-party apps like Spotify and Google Maps — College kids gave Siri new powers and now you can too — We already know Apple is working on improving Siri, but gosh dangit, the folks in Cupertino just aren't moving as fast as some would like.

More: Wired, LAPTOP Magazine, Gizmodo, NEWS.com.au, BGR, SlashGear, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, CITEworld, Lifehacker, TechSpot, TechCrunch and 9to5Mac

Martyn Williams / PC World:

Exclusive: Google's Project Loon tests move to LTE band in Nevada — Google has expanded its Project Loon tests to the Nevada desert and, for the first time, into licensed radio spectrum. — Google declined to comment on the secret trials, but a local official confirmed they are related to Project Loon …

More: VentureBeat

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.

Thanks:@loyalelectron

Matt Buedel / Journal Star:

Twitter account impersonating Peoria, Illinois mayor leads to police raid, arrests — Fake Peoria mayor Twitter account prompts real raid of West Bluff house — Police searched a West Bluff house Tuesday and seized phones and computers in an effort to unmask the author of a parody Twitter account …

More: TechEye, Digital Trends, Ars Technica, Business Insider and Gigaom

Tweets: @sarahgfink, @tjangelo and @jonathanwpeters

Brad Chacos / PC World:

Apache OpenOffice hits major 100 million downloads milestone in under 2 years — Microsoft's Office may be the go-to productivity suite in the business world, but there's apparently plenty of room out there for challengers to thrive: On Thursday, the Apache Software Foundation announced …

More: The Apache Software … and Softpedia News. Thanks:@bradchacos

Alex Hern / Guardian:

Tor may be forced to cut back capacity after Heartbleed bug — The secure service may have to remove vulnerable servers affected by the bug, the network's co-founder warns — Tor, the secure networking service, may have to close down an eighth of its capacity as a result of the Heartbleed flaw.

More: SiliconANGLE, Threatpost, Ars Technica, Engadget, ITworld.com, BetaNews, The Register, Inquirer and Help Net Security. Tweets: @briankrebs

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, Softpedia News, The Windows Blog, Neowin, WMPoweruser and WinBeta

Greg Sterling / Marketing Land:

Could “Liking” A Brand On Facebook Waive Your Legal Rights? — There is a very disturbing trend in the world of corporate terms and conditions. Consumers (and small merchants) are increasingly being forced by fine-print clauses into binding arbitration to resolve disputes with companies.

More: New York Times, Naked Security, eWeek, Gizmodo, Mashable, Gawker, Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com and Business Insider. Tweets: @binarybits

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

One Medical Group Raises $40M To Help Reinvent The Doctor's Office — Disruptive primary care medical practice One Medical Group, is announcing $40 million in growth capital led by Redmile Group, with participation from current institutional investors. The company previously raised $77 million …

More: VentureBeat, PE Hub Blog, Re/code, silicontap.com, VatorNews and Forbes

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.

More: PlayStation.Blog, Xbox Wire, The Verge, VentureBeat, WinBeta, DualShockers, MCV: Home Stream, SlashGear, Ubergizmo, Joystiq, The Official Microsoft Blog, Polygon, CNET and Forbes

Tweets: @heyheyesj and @xboxp3

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:

Fast, affordable law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

F5:

Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit — Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23. Register now to save your spot.

Zoho:

Say hello to Zia Answer Bot: Your organization's knowledge, on-demand in every Zoho Lens session. — Imagine your technician is halfway through a live remote assistance session.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:

Building the most AI-pilled engineering team in the world | Fiona Fung (Manager of the Claude Code and Cowork Teams)

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Big Technology Podcast:

Are AI Glasses Over?, Big Technology Audience Questions, Alex Stamos on AI Cybersecurity

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

The Upstarts Podcast:

Mutiny's Jaleh Rezaei: Walking Away From Millions In Software To Grow Even Faster With Sales AI

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.

Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.

Hard Fork:

'Hard Fork' Live, Part 3: Differing Visions of an A.I. Future

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.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

Access:

The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

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.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:45 AM ET, April 18, 2014.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.