Techmeme: What Does the Recent Tech Stock Downturn Mean? The Truth Is Nobody Knows. (Kara Swisher/Re/code)

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April 20, 2014, 10:25 AM

Top News

Nick Statt / CNET:

Exclusive: Nike fires majority of FuelBand team, will stop making wearable hardware — The sportswear company has decided that only software has a future in the company's technology vision. That means cutting the FuelBand, and those who helped make it.

James Temple / Re/code:

Nike Denies FuelBand Shutdown, but Layoffs Could Reveal New Cracks in Wearables Market — Nike confirmed a “small number” of layoffs in its digital sports division, but attempted to tamp down a CNET report late Friday that said the company was shuttering the hardware side of its FuelBand team.

More: Edible Apple, Business Insider, I4U News, TechCrunch, Owened, Neowin, App Advice and Mashable. Tweets: @nickstatt

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Facebook's dedicated unfollow button triples unfollows as users tire of original friend model — Facebook's friend problem — Why can't the social network adapt to how we make (and lose) friends? — When I arrived at the University of Michigan in fall 2007, everybody said “Facebook me.”

More: teendrama and Gizmodo. Tweets: @carlfranzen and @caseynewton

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Aereo's CEO on the future of Netflix, TV sports and the public airwaves — In 2012, Chet Kanojia set out to take on TV's goliaths with a slingshot full of tiny antennas, but he never imagined things would go so far so fast. Aereo, the start-up he created, is going before the Supreme Court …

More: SCOTUSblog, Yahoo! News and Quartz. See also Mediagazer

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

What Does the Recent Tech Stock Downturn Mean? The Truth Is Nobody Knows. — In his new book on high-frequency trading, “Flash Boys,” Michael Lewis opens with the very simple premise he gleaned from watching the stock market crash in October of 1987: — “If you ever needed proof …

More: Trends, Beyond Search and Fortune

Tweets: @tonyromm and @trengriffin

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Samsung data center fire causes outage, errors on smart TVs and phones (update: fixed) — Seeing an error message on your Samsung phone, tablet or Smart TV today? You're not alone, as the Samsung.com website appears to be down and owners worldwide have reported anything from error messages …

More: wikitree.us, TND - The Next Digit and Myce.com

Sharif Sakr / Engadget:

Sony Xperia Z2 review: a big, powerful slab of a phone — It's been nearly three years since I reviewed the Xperia Neo, manufactured by what was then Sony Ericsson. The Neo represented just the second generation of Xperia phones running on Android, from a period when Sony was finding …

More: Forbes, Pocket-lint, Guardian and CNET

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Galaxy S5's finger scanner marks an early milestone in the FIDO Alliance's efforts to eliminate passwords — The plot to kill the password — The world's most powerful companies want you to log in with fingerprints and eyescans — Last Friday, Samsung's new Galaxy S5 arrived with an unexpected and underhyped feature.

Tweets: @mparekh, @nytimesbits, @mikalfm and @hamburger

Rod Boshart / Quad City Times:

Microsoft brings $1.13 billion data center to Iowa — DES MOINES — Central Iowa is emerging as an economic magnet for high-tech data centers, state and local leaders declared Friday after plans were unveiled for global computer giant Microsoft to phase in a $1.13 billion regional data center over the next four to five years.

More: Computerworld, Neowin, GeekWire, HotHardware.com News, WinBeta and VentureBeat

Megan Geuss / Ars Technica:

Digital Public Library of America to add millions of records to its archive — Aquarium, Battery Park, New York City [Postcard], ca. 1931. This is just one of the many resources you can find online through the DPLA website or through apps using its API. — New York Aquarium Postcards collection …

More: Digital Public Library …, opensource.com, John Palfrey and Wired Campus. Tweets: @jsb. See also Mediagazer

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:

Analyst consensus is that quarterly iPad sales might decline slightly compared to last year — How many iPads did Apple sell last quarter? — The analysts' estimates range from 15 million to nearly 22 million. Average: 19.3 million. — FORTUNE —Although the heyday of the iPad …

More: 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, TND - The Next Digit, App Advice, MacDailyNews, TechnoBuffalo, MacNN, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog, Business Insider and PadGadget

Tweets: @jyarow and @benbajarin

Karl Bode / DSLreports:

Experian: Nearly a fifth of Americans who use Netflix or Hulu don't subscribe to cable TV — Cord Cutting on The Rise, Especially Among the Young — Cord cutting is on the rise, according to a new study by Experian Marketing Services. According to the report, the number of cord cutters …

More: The Huffington Post, Business Insider, PC Magazine, ReelSEO Video Marketing, Salon and ReelSEO Video Marketing

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