Techmeme: IDC forecasts ‘challenging’ year for tablets as Apple's iPad continues to lead (Neil Hughes/AppleInsider)

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May 1, 2014, 8:45 PM

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Zach Epstein / BGR:

Unmasked: The world's first clear look at Amazon's smartphone — Following a series of exclusive reports, BGR has now obtained the first unobscured image of Amazon's debut smartphone — Amazon is still more than a month away from unveiling its first own-brand smartphone, but there isn't much mystery that remains.

The Verge:

Foursquare splitting into two apps: Foursquare for discovery and Swarm for checkins — Meet Swarm: Foursquare's ambitious plan to split its app in two — To take on Yelp, Foursquare is moving beyond the check-in — Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley has spent the last year trying to convince …

Ben Gilbert / Engadget:

John Carmack's former employer claims he stole tech for Oculus VR when he left — The man who co-created Doom, who co-founded id Tech, and who later left id Tech for Oculus VR, is being accused by his former employer of taking intellectual property with him to Oculus VR.

Eric Johnson / Re/code:

Here's the Agreement Oculus Allegedly Broke, According to ZeniMax — Game publisher ZeniMax said Thursday morning that Facebook-owned Oculus VR violated an intellectual property agreement regarding its forthcoming virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. Oculus denies the claim, but here's what we know so far.

More: The Verge and SlashGear

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

OS X 10.10 emphasis planned for WWDC, iOS 8 features pushed to iOS 8.1, new Apple TV still in the works — Apple may be planning to give the next version of the Mac OS X operating system, 10.10, a larger presence than iOS 8 at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, according to sources with knowledge of the plans.

More: Gotta Be Mobile, MacRumors, App Advice, Business Insider, Ubergizmo, PadGadget, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, TechNewsWorld, TechnoBuffalo, Redmond Pie, Gizmodo, Electronista, Phones Review, Apple Bitch and Gigaom

Tweets: @justin, @jyarow, @dan_rowinski and @jyarow

Thanks:@srikardr

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Wild Rumor of Apple EarPods with Biometric Sensors Has Roots in Apple's Research — A seemingly wild rumor of Apple planning to launch new EarPods headphones with integrated heart rate and blood pressure sensors has been making the rounds today after the claim was posted on anonymous information sharing platform Secret (via Reddit).

More: Secret, LAPTOP Magazine, Guardian, Telegraph, TechnoBuffalo, Digital Trends, Mashable, SlashGear, WearablesArena, AppleTell, iPhone in Canada Blog and iPhone Hacks

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple Hiring MIT Researcher With Expertise in Ear-Worn Vital Signs Monitor

More: TechnoBuffalo and iPhone Hacks

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Amazon expands same-day delivery service to Dallas and San Francisco, extends ordering hours — Amazon Widens Same-Day Delivery Service — Amazon.com is making it even easier to skip the mall. — The e-commerce giant is set to broaden its same-day shipping service starting Thursday …

More: Mercury News, The Verge, GeekWire, The Technology Chronicles, TechSpot, internetretailer.com, Computerworld, TechCrunch and CNET News. Tweets: @shiraovide

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Indoor Positioning Startup Wifarer Not Acquired By Apple, But Its Founder Now Works There — If a CEO and co-founder quits his indoor positioning startup to work for Apple, should his staff and customers be concerned? Wifarer, a startup which offers tools to help consumers navigate malls …

More: AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, PandoDaily, iPhone Hacks, 9to5Mac, Pocketnow and MacRumors

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Snapchat adds ephemeral text messaging and live video chats — Real talk: the new Snapchat brilliantly mixes video and texting — More than just photos, Snapchat's new text and video chat feels immediate and intimate — By any measure, Snapchat has had a busy year.

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft patches IE zero-day flaw, issues special security update for Windows XP despite end of support — Microsoft today announced it is releasing an emergency patch for Internet Explorer to fix a zero-day flaw spotted in the wild. The security hole was found in IE6 through IE11 …

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

Apple, Facebook, others defy authorities, notify users of secret data demands — Major U.S. technology companies have largely ended the practice of quietly complying with investigators' demands for e-mail records and other online data, saying that users have a right to know in advance …

More: 9to5Mac

Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:

Uber gears up to launch ‘Uber Family’ service & eyes a new batch of cities (scoop) — A source tells us that Uber will soon launch “Uber Family,” a new service that caters to passengers with children. Only the highest rated Uber drivers will be selected for the new program in New York.

More: VatorNews, Business Insider and Uber Blog. Thanks:@gerrystiene

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Twitter is experimenting with a mute feature in its mobile apps — One of the most-requested features for Twitter's mobile apps may be on the cusp of arriving. Users of the company's iOS and Android clients are now seeing an option to mute accounts that they follow, preventing another user's tweets …

More: The Next Web, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, iPhone Hacks, MobileSyrup.com, Ubergizmo, The Droid Guy and TechnoBuffalo

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Groupon Goes After Costco And Sam's Club With Groupon Basics, A Portal For Home Goods — Last year, Groupon's CEO Eric Lefkovsky said that his ambition was to make the e-commerce company's Goods business more like Costco, not Amazon. Today, the company is launching a new business called Groupon Basics …

More: CNET News, Engadget, Re/code, Consumerist, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, internetretailer.com and GeekWire. Tweets: @mdudas

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

MakeSpace, The Dropbox For Physical Storage, Packs Up $8 Million Led By Upfront Ventures — NY-based MakeSpace, the Dropbox for physical objects, has today closed an $8 million Series A funding round led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund, OATV, and follow-ons …

More: Fast Company, Both Sides of the Table, VatorNews, Business Insider and PandoDaily

Tweets: @samfbiddle, @j_hutch and @pkafka

Richard Nieva / CNET:

DOJ says eBay must end ‘no poaching’ pacts with other companies — The issue dates back to 2006, when the department filed a suit against eBay for alleged agreements with the financial software company Intuit. — The Department of Justice on Thursday reached a settlement telling eBay …

More: Gigaom, The United States Department … and Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @fedcourtjunkie

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Microsoft Acquires High-Performance Cloud-Computing Company GreenButton — Microsoft today announced that it has acquired GreenButton, a U.S.- and New Zealand-based high-performance cloud-computing company that has long had a close relationship with Microsoft's Azure group.

More: MSDN Blogs, WinBeta, Forbes, VentureBeat and Windows Phone Central

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Wikipedia Has a New Boss: Lila Tretikov Named Executive Director of Wikimedia Foundation — One of the most important sites on the Internet has a new leader: Lila Tretikov is the new executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and supports its volunteer corps.

More: Wall Street Journal

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

LinkedIn Beats The Street In Q1 On Sales Of $473M, EPS Of $0.38, Raises Outlook — Amid a market correction that has seen many tech stocks lose value, LinkedIn, the social network for the working world, today reported Q1 earnings that beat analyst estimates. Sales came in at $473 million, with EPS of $0.38.

More: ZDNet, LinkedIn, VatorNews, Re/code and Tech Trader Daily

Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:

IDC forecasts ‘challenging’ year for tablets as Apple's iPad continues to lead — Though its total shipments fell year over year last quarter, Apple and its iPad still accounts for about a third of all tablets pushed to market last quarter, though research firm IDC has predicted overall tablet growth will be slow throughout 2014.

More: IDC, The Register, 9to5Mac, CNET News, The Next Web, Electronista, App Advice, 9to5Google, Computerworld and The Mac Observer

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Preliminary analysis of Google Glass teardown estimates cost of components less than $80 — Google Glass Parts Estimated to Cost Less Than $80 — Google Glass currently carries a $1,500 price tag, but the components packed tightly inside the device may cost the Internet giant a lot less …

More: PandoDaily, Wearable World News, The Register, Gigaom, Redmond Pie, Electronista and Pocketnow

Billy Steele / Engadget:

New York City looks to blanket the five boroughs with free WiFi thanks to next-gen payphones — Free public WiFi has been available in spots throughout NYC, but now the mayor's office is looking to cover all of its five boroughs with connectivity. In a press release today …

More: New York Times, NYC.gov, VentureBeat and The Verge

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