Techmeme: Yahoo acquires self-destructing messaging app Blink and entire team, will shut app down (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

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May 14, 2014, 11:20 AM

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Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

iPhone 6 with larger, sharper 1704 x 960 resolution screen in testing — Apple is preparing to release a new iPhone with a larger screen later this year, and while multiple reports have indicated that the screen will be larger, the exact dimensions of the screen and its resolution have so far been guesswork.

More: AppleInsider, iMore, MacRumors, BGR, TechCrunch, DailyTech, Geeky Gadgets, App Advice, Softpedia News, VentureBreak, SlashGear and iLounge. Tweets: @markgurman

Adam Pash:

Switching from iPhone to Android loses incoming iMessages, senders still get delivery receipt — iMessage purgatory — I recently switched from an iPhone to Android, and discovered shortly thereafter that my phone number was still associated with iMessage, meaning that any time someone …

More: 9to5Mac, Gigaom, VentureBeat, PandoDaily, Business Insider, iLounge, SlashGear and App Advice

Tweets: @adampash and @jasonh

Andreessen Horowitz:

SaaS company valuations should be based on customer acquisition cost and lifetime value, not revenue and EPS — Understanding SaaS: Why the Pundits Have It Wrong — Tune into any cable network stock market channel and the airwaves resonate with one consistent theme: SaaS companies are simply too expensive.

Tweets: @shiraovide, @stevesi, @monkbent, @cdixon and @rsarver

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Yahoo acquires self-destructing messaging app Blink and entire team, will shut app down — Yahoo Acquires Self-Destructing Messaging App Blink, Which Will Soon Disappear — Blink, a mobile messaging application that lets users share self-destructing messages, has been acquired by Yahoo, TechCrunch has confirmed.

More: Reuters, Inquirer, The Register, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Blink!, TechHive, WebProNews, ZDNet, Mashable, TIME, Softpedia News, VentureBeat, ITProPortal, BBC, Electronista, SlashGear and The Next Web

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Letter from major ISPs urges FCC not to reclassify broadband as a utility — Internet Providers Strike Back on Net Neutrality — In a surprise to no one, Internet providers warned federal regulators that treating broadband like phone lines will stunt future investments and service upgrades.

More: Gigaom, Ars Technica, GamePolitics blogs, TechCrunch and Electronista. See also Mediagazer

Dominic Rushe / Guardian:

FCC considers treating cable firms like utilities in net neutrality debate

More: Quartz, Gizmodo, Broadcasting & Cable, NY Daily News, PC Magazine, Mashable and Washington Post

Tweets: @gigibsohnfcc, @gigibsohnfcc, @gigibsohnfcc, @gigibsohnfcc, @craignewmark and @gigibsohnfcc

See also Mediagazer

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Stealth startup alert: Skype co-founder ventures into health and wearables with Project Florida — Skype's co-founder Janus Friis is looking to take on Fitbit with a new data-heavy health and wellness-focused wearable device, and he's assembled a high-profile team to do so …

Amir Mizroch / Wall Street Journal:

Google's Legal Blow: What ‘the Right to Be Forgotten’ Means — What's the bottom line? — The court's decision means that individuals can ask Google or other search operators to take down links to web pages that are published by third parties, such as newspapers, containing information relating to them.

More: Wired, Facebook, Slate, BBC, memeburn, eWeek, Mercury News, New York Times, Associated Press, Wired.co.uk and LJ INFOdocket

Charlie O'Donnell / This is going to be Big:

The Economics of a Small VC Fund — Two years ago I started a fund. For the fund to be viable, it had to be at least $5 million, but somewhere in the neighborhood of $8-10 million would have been perfect. Thankfully, that's what I raised—$8.3 million. — So how does it work?

Tweets: @dianemulcahy, @mdudas, @dherman76, @mikejmahon, @monicajselby, @mebarber and @christiegeorge

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Here's What It's Like to Go for a Ride in Google's Robot Car — The Google self-driving car has come a long way. On a demo excursion through Google's Mountain View campus and surrounding neighborhoods today, the white Lexus self-driving test vehicle I rode in was much less of a conservative driver than I anticipated.

More: The Verge, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, Financial Times, detroitnews.com, Reuters and NBC Bay Area. Tweets: @inafried

Federico Viticci / MacStories:

Apple's iOS Human Interface Guidelines Now On The iBooks Store — Previously available on the web from Apple's developer portal, the company's iOS Human Interface Guidelines are now on the iBooks Store as a free download (via Dave Addey). The 20 MB guide is compatible with iPads …

More: 9to5Mac, App Advice, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, SlashGear, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, The Mac Observer, MacNN and MacRumors. Tweets: @daveaddey

Takashi Amano / Bloomberg:

iPhone market share in Japan is 36.6% in year ending March, up from 25.5% a year earlier — Apple Boosts Japanese Market Share After NTT Docomo Sells IPhone — Apple Inc. (AAPL) boosted its share of the Japan mobile-phone market to more than a third after the country's largest wireless carrier started selling the iPhone.

More: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, App Advice, Geeky Gadgets, MacRumors, Cult of Mac, Electronista and Geeky Gadgets

Steve Lohr / New York Times:

Consumer Watchdog objects to Eric Schmidt's appointment to NY's “Smart Schools” advisory group, citing “unlawful conflicts of interest” — Eric Schmidt Has an Interest. Is It a Conflict? — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York last month appointed a three-person commission …

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

Research study classifies the many reasons for why people favorite tweets — Why We Favorite Tweets, According To Science — An ‘ official ’ taxonomy of faving behaviors. — Sometime around 2013, Twitter-obsessives became fixated on favoriting. It started with the evolution of Twitter's platform …

Tweets: @vivian, @delsweil and @nytimesbits

Lewis Scrafton / Guardian:

Google Maps adds public transport data across UK — Partnerships with National Express, Traveline and local tram and ferry firms have provided 17,000 routes across the country through Google's popular mapping tool — Travellers across Great Britain can now use Google Maps to plan …

More: The Next Web, TechCrunch, Electronista, Pocket-lint, Inquirer, Techie News, Softpedia News, The Register, Skift, CNET News, 9to5Google, Scotsman, Gizmodo UK and Engadget

Chris Kohler / Wired:

Microsoft Had No Choice but to Yank Kinect From Xbox One — Xbox One just got dis-Kinected: Microsoft said this morning that on June 9, it will begin selling a $400 version of its Xbox One console that does not include the Kinect camera peripheral. — This would seem to confirm …

More: Polygon, ReadWrite, The Verge, AfterDawn.com, Technabob, Techdirt, Expert Reviews, Geeky Gadgets, Guardian, Geeky Gadgets, Ubergizmo, VG247 and The Register. Tweets: @tha_rami

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Google starts selling Glass to anyone (in the US) with $1,500 to burn — Forget an Explorer program or attendance at either a developer conference or golf tournament, Google has just announced it's opening sales of the Glass headset to all (in the US). As long as they're in stock and you have $1,500 …

Stig Øyvann / ZDNet:

Apple's ‘convoluted and unclear’ iCloud agreements break Norwegian law, says watchdog — Summary: Norway's Consumer Council has filed a complaint about iCloud 8,600 word EULA. — The Norwegian Consumer Council has filed a complaint over the terms and conditions of Apple's iCloud service …

More: forbrukerradet.no, iMore, Gigaom and EurActiv

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Good news for privacy: Fewer servers sending e-mail naked, Facebook finds — Server-to-server e-mail encryption using the STARTTLS protocol has reached an important tipping point that hardens the majority of messages Facebook sends its users against wholesale snooping by well-financed adversaries …

More: Facebook, PC World and Gigaom

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

New Zealand requires network operators to register with cops, give spies oversight of their network ops — Juha writes, “When the rest of the world decides to scrutinise and dial down mass surveillance of Internet users, New Zealand does the opposite. From now on, network operators …

More: iTnews.com.au and ZDNet

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Windows Store updated with persistent navigation bar, multiple featured titles, and shared app identities — Microsoft today updated the Windows Store, which ships on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices, with enhancements “that address customer feedback and make it a lot easier to find the apps you want.”

More: Windows Experience Blog, LAPTOP Magazine, Liliputing, CNET News, Softpedia News, Neowin, WinBeta, Engadget, TechCrunch, PC Magazine, Windows Phone Central, gHacks Technology News, WMPoweruser and Tom's Hardware Guide. Thanks:@epro

Ben Fox Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

Google Glass Materials Cost $152, IHS Says — Firm Says Materials Are a Small Slice of Glass's Price—but Much of Cost Can Come From Engineering and Development — IHS Inc. this week came out with a new product teardown of Google Glass, saying the digital headset's hardware …

More: Press Release, Re/code, bizjournals, Digital Trends, Softpedia News, TechRadar.com, Computerworld, PC Magazine and Fortune

Richard Padilla / MacRumors:

Apple Preparing HD Audio Playback for iOS 8 Alongside New In-Ear Headphones and Lightning Cable — Apple is said to be introducing high definition audio playback in iOS 8 alongside new versions of its In-Ear Headphones and Lightning connector, according to a report from Mac Otakara (Google Translate).

More: Gotta Be Mobile, Softpedia News, whathifi.com News, Gizmodo UK, ValueWalk, Developer News, Jobs … and Digital Trends. Tweets: @chrismessina

Anthony Myers / ReadWrite:

Salesforce Finally Connects Heroku To Its Cloud — Salesforce finally connected the powerful Heroku cloud application platform to its own database layer on Tuesday with the release of the Heroku Connect tool. The move was promised last year when the company debuted its Salesforce1 mobile app …

More: TechCrunch, The Register, SD Times and toptechnews.com

Phil Libin / Evernote Blog:

Evernote announces 100M registered users, says it spent less than $0.01 per user on ads — We Have 100 Million People to Thank — We're humbled and thrilled to announce that Evernote now has over 100 million total users! — There are two ways to look at this.

More: VatorNews, Conversation Agent and VentureBeat

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