Techmeme: Apple is like a movie studio: blockbuster franchise products followed by sequels (Walt Mossberg/Re/code)

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April 22, 2014, 5:35 PM

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Zach Epstein / BGR:

Amazon's phone requires tilt gestures to navigate apps and menus, can capture notes with OCR — EXCLUSIVE — BGR reveals everything you could possibly want to know about Amazon's smartphone! — An exclusive in-depth look at the unique software that will power Amazon's upcoming smartphones

Walt Mossberg / Re/code:

Apple is like a movie studio: blockbuster franchise products followed by sequels — Why Apple Is Like a Movie Studio — Steve Jobs has been dead for about two and a half years now, and it's hard not to notice that the regular parade of game-changing Apple products for which he was famous seems to have disappeared with him.

More: The Register, iPhone in Canada Blog, LIVEdigitally, 9to5Mac, TechnoBuffalo, Macworld, BGR and Ars Technica

Tweets: @monkbent, @johnpaczkowski and @bajarin

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Apple Opens OS X Beta Testing To All Users With New Seed Program — Evernote CEO Details His Company's Plans For A Wearable Future — Before today, you needed a developer account to help test Apple's upcoming software releases before they hit the general user population.

More: The Loop, Macworld, GeekWire, The Verge, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, Engadget, VentureBeat, iMore, The Next Web, iPhone in Canada Blog, Daring Fireball, Lifehacker and Gizmodo. Tweets: @parislemon

David Bellona / The Twitter Blog:

Twitter makes new web profiles available to all users — Your new web profile is here — Today, the new web profile experience is rolling out to all users around the world. — Get the new profile now. If you need some creative inspiration for your new header image, select one of the custom headers from our library.

More: VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Laughing Squid, Re/code, WebProNews, VentureBreak, Mashable, Gizmodo, SlashGear and Wall Street Journal

Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

Weebly raises $35M from Tencent and Sequoia Capital at a valuation of $455M — Weebly Valued at $455 Million Amid Website-Building Boom — Weebly has been valued at $455 million in a new round of funding from investors eager to cash in on a recent boom in website-creation services.

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @stevenlevy and @paulg

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

As WhatsApp Hits 500 Million Users, CEO Jan Koum Preaches Focus — While waiting to hear whether European regulators will clear its $19 billion acquisition by Facebook, the mobile messaging app maker WhatsApp hit a big milestone yesterday: It has 500 million active monthly users.

More: WhatsApp Blog, The Verge, The Next Web, Business Insider, USA Today, TIME, Android Police, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog and bgr.in

Tweets: @jennydeluxe, @teroterotero and @benedictevans

David Pierce / The Verge:

Lytro's new Illum light-field camera targets professional photographers, costs $1599 — Lytro changed photography. Now can it get anyone to care? — An exclusive look at the company's new Illum camera — “Okay, can I take it out of the box now?” — Lytro product director Colvin Pitts wants …

More: Engadget, TIME, Wired, Re/code, Macworld, CNET, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Fortune, Laughing Squid, VentureBeat, Electronista, TechSpot, Mashable, Imaging Insider, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, blogs.ft.com, Softpedia News, GeekWire, Ars Technica, TechCrunch, USA Today, PC Pro and Co.Design

Tweets: @mattbuchanan, @jasonrosenthal and @joshuatopolsky

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

AT&T creates $500M joint venture for a Netflix-style TV service — AT&T, the nation's second largest broadband provider and wireless company, is getting into the streaming business with a $500 million joint venture created to acquire, invest in and launch a Netflix-style video streaming service.

More: AT&T, Variety, Re/code, TechCrunch, StrictlyVC, CNET, Engadget, Ars Technica, TorrentFreak, BGR, Electronista, VentureBeat, The Verge, Plagiarism Today, socalTECH.com, Bloomberg, Mashable and dailywireless.org. Tweets: @bfeld. See also Mediagazer

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's new, new Windows cadence: Once a year is not enough — Summary: What comes after Windows 8.1 Update? Sources say a second update is on its way, and that Microsoft's unified OS group is picking up the delivery pace. — Just a year ago, Microsoft officials were crowing about Windows' much improved delivery cadence.

More: Computerworld, Digital Trends, LiveSide.net, PC Pro, BetaNews, Windows Phone Central, Neowin, InfoWorld, WinBeta and Gotta Be Mobile

Re/code:

The Supreme Court Loves the Cloud. It's Not Sure About Aereo. — All of those arguments about Aereo's case and its impact on the future of cloud computing? — It turns out the Supreme Court was listening. — As attorneys for the Web TV service and the TV networks who are suing it argued …

More: New York Times, TechCrunch, CNNMoney.com, SiliconBeat, Gigaom, Computerworld, Reuters, ZDNet, Electronista, Deadline.com, Guardian, The Wrap, CNET, NationalJournal.com and Gigaom Research

Tweets: @acedtect and @adrjeffries

See also Mediagazer

Dan DeSilva / 9to5Mac:

Apple Stores launch in-store iPad trade-in program on Earth Day — In its continued full-court Earth Day press, Apple is expanding its Reuse & Recycling program to help responsibly recycle more devices and get current generation devices into the hands of more customers.

More: 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Telegraph, iPhone Hacks, PadGadget, iPhone in Canada Blog and Electronista. Tweets: @jordankahn. Thanks:@apollozac

Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:

Cisco, Netgear router patch for backdoor vulnerability merely hides it, does not fix it — Easter egg: DSL router patch merely hides backdoor instead of closing it — Just what you wanted for Easter: a re-gifted backdoor from Christmas. — First, DSL router owners got an unwelcome Christmas present.

More: Computerworld, Geek.com, TechEye and Electronista. Tweets: @fkarlitschek

Adam Satariano / Bloomberg:

Study: households spent 10% less at Amazon in states where online sales tax introduced — Amazon Sales Take a Hit in States With Online Tax — Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is taking a hit in states that are collecting an online sales tax. — In one of the first efforts to quantify the impact …

More: Marketing Land, internetretailer.com, The Daily Caller, SlashGear, Business Insider and USA Today. Tweets: @bloombergnews. See also Mediagazer

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Durov, Out For Good From VK.com, Plans A Mobile Social Network Outside Russia — In the drawn-out game of will-he, won't-he, Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte.com, Russia's top social network with over 100 million users, is now out for good from the company with an unceremonial dismissal conveyed via a newswire report.

More: The Moscow Times, Ars Technica, TechPresident, BBC, Daily Dot, Bloomberg View, The Daily Caller and Softpedia News. Tweets: @vpkivimaki

Miriam Elder / BuzzFeed:

CEO Of “Russian Facebook” Says He Was Fired And That The Social Network Is Now In The Hands Of Putin Allies

More: The Verge, Business Insider, Lastest ITProPortal news and RT

Cassandra Khaw / The Verge:

LG's G Watch is always-on and water resistant — LG revealed more information about the upcoming G Watch on its new website. The smartwatch will come in two colors: stealth black and champagne gold. On top of having what is being described as an always-on screen, the G Watch will purportedly be both water and dust resistant.

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Exclusive: YouTube Product Head Shishir Mehrotra Likely to Depart — Moving to Advisory Role — Shishir Mehrotra, YouTube's head of product and a longtime Google exec, is likely to depart the company, and has moved to an advisory role at the premium online video powerhouse.

Tweets: @hunterwalk

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google To Offer Targeted Mobile App Install Ads In Search And YouTube; Expands App Deep Linking To AdWords — Google is announcing today its plans to offer targeted app install ads on mobile search and YouTube, following moves made by other tech industry companies, including Facebook and more recently Yahoo and Twitter.

More: Inside AdWords, Inside AdWords, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, VentureBeat, Search Engine Watch, Marketing Pilgrim, The Next Web, Forbes, 9to5Google and Mashable

Mark Hearn / 9to5Google:

Nest Thermostat now available from Google Play — Yesterday, Google's newly acquired thermostat system made an appearance on a Play Store support page. This led many to believe that the search giant would soon offer its smart climate controller at its online marketplace, alongside its other in-house products.

More: TechCrunch, Droid Life, PC Magazine, Ars Technica, Android Police, BGR, Droid Life, The Verge, Android Central and Gizmodo

BBC:

Reddit removes r/Technology from high-exposure “default subreddits” list after censorship row — Reddit downgrades technology community after censorship — Technology is no longer listed at the top of new Reddit members' screens — Social news site Reddit has downgraded the status of its …

More: PC Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Daily Dot and memeburn

Tweets: @anjiecast and @rj_gallagher

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Verizon's data breach report: Point-of-sale, Web app attacks take center stage — Summary: Hotels, retailers and restaurants really need to lock down their point-of-sale systems, but don't have to sweat Web app attacks as much as financial services companies do.

More: Re/code, ABC News, Fortune, PC World, SecurityWeek, The Register, Softpedia News, Inquirer, SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg, We Live Security and Reuters

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

Aol Mail Hacked With Spoofed Accounts Sending Spam — It's not just you. Aol Mail was hacked affecting an untold amount of accounts that were seemingly spoofed. The Twitter hashtag #aolhacked is filled with first-hand accounts of spam being sent from either the hacked email account …

More: AOL Help, TechSpot, Associated Press, SC Magazine, Computerworld, Gigaom and Los Angeles Times. Thanks:@brianalvey

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

YC Ends YCVC In Favor Of Raising From LPs, Will Now Invest $120K For 7% Equity — Y Combinator is making some big changes today with its equity structure and YCVC program. The incubator will now end its YCVC partnership with Khosla, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Maverick Capital …

More: Y Combinator Posthaven, Wall Street Journal and Y Combinator Universe

Rachel King / ZDNet:

AT&T's Q1: Business revenue down but still saved by cloud, other IP services — Summary: AT&T also added 64,000 business U-verse high speed broadband subscribers during the first quarter. — Following reports that it is breaking into the streaming TV business, à la Netflix …

More: Tech Trader Daily, about.att.com, Tech Trader Daily, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and TechnoBuffalo

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Danny Boyle in Talks to Direct Steve Jobs Movie, Leonardo DiCaprio Eyed to Star (Exclusive) — Danny Boyle, left, and Leonardo DiCaprio — “The Beach” director is said to want to reteam with DiCaprio on the Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic of the iconic Apple co-founder.

More: PC Magazine, SiliconBeat, Gawker, Digital Trends, Cult of Mac, TechSpot, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Gizmodo and WebProNews

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