Techmeme: Lyft goes after Uber's black cars with new high-end rides (Josh Lowensohn/The Verge)

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May 8, 2014, 7:15 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple in final talks to acquire Beats for $3.2b, deal could be announced next week — According to the Financial Times, Apple is in late-stage talks with Beats to acquire the music streaming and headphone maker for a deal worth $3.2 billion. The deal could be announced as soon as next week, according to the report.

Ben Popper / The Verge:

50 leading tech investors tells the FCC a pay-to-play internet would kill startups — Venture capitalist are anxiously awaiting the agency's new plan for an open internet — Would it be possible to build the next YouTube or the next Netflix if big ISPs like Comcast and Verizon were allowed …

More: The Slow Hunch, Businessweek, AllFacebook, Techdirt, Washington Post, The Next Web and Union Square Ventures

Tweets: @pakman, @om and @hunterwalk

See also Mediagazer

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Comcast is the one who should pay for network connections, Cogent claims — Internet backbone operator Cogent has long expressed its displeasure with Comcast's demands for payment in exchange for accepting Netflix video and other traffic.Comcast has argued that the data Netflix sends …

More: Re/code and ABC News. Tweets: @binarybits. See also Mediagazer

Miyoung Kim / Reuters:

Samsung's head of mobile design resigns amid lukewarm Galaxy S5 reception — Samsung Electronics replaces mobile design head — (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's biggest handset maker, has replaced the head of its mobile design team amid criticism of the latest Galaxy S smartphone.

Dan Lyons / Inbound Hub:

Apple's Katie Cotton and the art of anti-PR — Katie Cotton announced yesterday that she's leaving Apple. This is a big deal. Cotton was VP of worldwide corporate communications at Apple, and while PR people aren't always seen as super important, Katie Cotton was.

More: Daring Fireball. Tweets: @jyarow, @mattrosoff and @tcarmody

Sam Biddle / Valleywag:

Goodbye to Katie Cotton, the Queen of Evil Tech PR

More: NBC Bay Area, Fortune, The Register and Mobile Marketing Watch

Tweets: @mattdpearce, @moneyries, @mattdpearce, @calebgarling, @jeffjohnroberts, @edbott, @nealunger and @jniccolai

Jenna Wortham / New York Times:

Snapchat settles with FTC over misleading marketing, address book collection, security breach; no monetary penalty imposed — Snapchat Reaches Settlement With Federal Trade Commission — The disappearing act of messages on Snapchat, the mobile messaging service, has not been as foolproof as the company promised.

More: Federal Trade Commission, Snapchat, Re/code, CNET News, TechCrunch, The Verge, Computerworld, Washington Post, Politico, NPR, Salon, TUAW, Gawker and Business Insider

Tweets: @reckless, @nytimesbits, @reckless and @gaberivera

Tammy Parker / FierceWireless:

Sprint slams on the brakes for top 5% of data users in congested areas — Sprint's (NYSE: S) pledge of unlimited data is looking increasingly less sustainable, as the carrier maneuvers to rein in network traffic generated by its heaviest data users and ensure quality of service for the majority of its customers.

More: The Verge, Engadget, Digital Trends, Phone Scoop, Phandroid, TechHive, Stop the Cap!, dailywireless.org, DSLreports, iMore, BGR, TechSpot, MobileBurn.com and Android and Me

David Peisner / Rolling Stone:

Markus Persson, a.k.a. Notch, is gaming's biggest rock star. But he may never make a second album — Markus Persson, a.k.a. Notch, is gaming's biggest rock star. But he may never make a second album — It's a wet monday morning in Stockholm, and the door to Markus Persson's office is closed.

Tweets: @sai

Josh Lowensohn / The Verge:

Lyft goes after Uber's black cars with new high-end rides — The rideshare company uses new funds to move beyond fist-bumps and pink mustaches — On an unusually gusty San Francisco day, a beaming new white Ford Explorer sits idling in a tent in front of me.

More: Engadget, Re/code, TechCrunch, Business Insider, CNET News, PC World, GeekWire and The Next Web. Tweets: @joshconstine

Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:

Reporter offered pre-IPO shares by Arista Networks, considers it another sign of a tech bubble — Yes, we're in a tech bubble. Here's how I know it — When tech startups are willing to offer almost anyone — even a journalist — shares ahead of an I.P.O., a burst isn't terribly far behind.

More: Business Insider and Valleywag. Tweets: @pkafka, @karaswisher, @jonrussell, @jessicalessin, @pkafka, @danprimack and @startupljackson. See also Mediagazer

William Alden / New York Times:

Science Inc. buys Delicious from YouTube co-founders' Avos Systems for an undisclosed sum — YouTube Founders to Sell Delicious, a Social Bookmarking Site — The social bookmarking service Delicious has changed hands twice over the last decade, while failing to attract a mainstream audience.

More: science-inc.com, The Official Delicious Blog, The Next Web, VentureBeat, VentureBreak, WebProNews, I4U News and Mashable

Tweets: @marshallk, @myoung and @anildash

See also Mediagazer

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Online Learning Marketplace Udemy Raises $32M To Scale Up Internationally — Long time player in the online learning space, Udemy, which has built a skills-based marketplace where individual tutors can sell their skills and learners can get access to courses (both paid and free) …

More: Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, StrictlyVC and PE Hub Blog

Richard Nieva / CNET News:

California Senate approves smartphone ‘kill-switch’ bill — After failing in the state Senate two weeks ago, a bill requiring that device makers include antitheft software on phones sold in the state passes muster. — State Sen. Mark Leno and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon introducing the …

More: New York Times, 9to5Google, TechHive, Associated Press and SlashGear. Thanks:@nickstatt

Aaron Levie / The Box Blog:

Box strikes deal with GE to become the default file-sharing service of its 300,000+ employees — General Electric and User-Centric IT — I'm incredibly excited to share that General Electric has chosen Box as its corporate standard for content sharing and collaboration.

More: Business Wire, New York Times, Network World, Gigaom, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Re/code

Tweets: @stevesi, @shiraovide, @djtgallagher, @levie and @benedictevans

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Stock Investment And Wealth Management Service Motif Investing Raises $35 Million — Retail investors in the U.S. looking for ways to play the stock market have several startups offering them services, and now Motif Investing has raised $35 million in late-stage funding from new backers to take its services worldwide.

More: PandoDaily and PE Hub Blog

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Instapaper freshens up with a new logo, website redesign and text highlighting feature — Instapaper today revamped its save-it-for-later bookmarking service with a brand new logo, website design and text highlighting feature. — The typography used for the old Instapaper logo and app icon …

More: Instapaper, The Verge, Fast Company, iClarified, App Advice and VentureBeat. Thanks:@srikardr

John Koetsier / VentureBeat:

OMsignal unveils ‘biometric smartwear’ T-shirts for fitness geeks, quantified selfers, and you — What's next in mobile? Find out at MobileBeat, VentureBeat's 7th annual event on the future of mobile, on July 8-9 in San Francisco. Register now and save $400! — Smart wearables are here, and they're huge.

More: TechCrunch, PC Magazine, USA Today, MobileSyrup.com, Digital Trends, Business Insider, Wired, SlashGear, Techvibes Global News, PandoDaily and ReadWrite

Politico:

House Intelligence Committee unexpectedly passes USA Freedom Act text approved by House Judiciary — House intel surprises on NSA surveillance — The House Intelligence Committee passed a version of the USA Freedom Act on Thursday, unexpectedly approving that measure while not holding …

More: Computerworld, Reuters and NationalJournal.com

BBC:

London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber — Uber launched its car-hire service in London in June 2012 — London black-cab drivers are planning to cause gridlock in the city to protest against car service Uber. — The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers …

More: SiliconBeat, Engadget, Mashable and TechCrunch

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Amazon and USPS expand Sunday delivery to 15 more cities, will reach ‘large portion’ of U.S. this year — Amazon is bringing Sunday delivery to 15 more cities in seven states, expanding an arrangement with the U.S. Postal Service that launched last year in L.A. and New York.

More: Amazon.com, The Verge, BetaNews, ZDNet, Android Police, internetretailer.com, Business Insider, CNET News and TechCrunch

Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:

BitPay Is Raising $30M At A $160M Valuation From Index, Richard Branson — We're hearing that BitPay, a platform that processes payments in bitcoin for merchants, is raising the field's biggest round yet. The company is raising $30 million on a roughly $160 million valuation in a round led …

Thanks:@anthonyha

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Uber launches uberFAMILY, a pilot service in NYC that uses cars with child seats — Uber has announced uberFAMILY, a subset of uberX that caters to families with kids. Launching first in New York City, the service offers car seat-equipped vehicles for a $10 surcharge.

More: TechCrunch, Uber Blog, Betabeat, Engadget, TIME, TechHive, The Car Seat Lady, GeekWire and Electronista

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