Techmeme
May 20, 2014, 8:05 AM

Top News

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Twitter Is Considering a Deal to Buy SoundCloud  —  Twitter may try to buy its way out of its growth problem by making another move into music.  —  The company is considering a deal to acquire SoundCloud, the music and audio-sharing company, according to people familiar with both companies.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Angela Ahrendts' plan for the future of Apple Retail: China emphasis, mobile payments, revamped experience  —  When Ron Johnson finalized his decision to move from leading Apple's retail strategy to become the Chief Executive Officer of J.C. Penney, the executive jumped in his car to drive …
First Look Media:
NSA records every cell phone call in the Bahamas and one unnamed country, gathers call metadata in Mexico, the Philippines, and Kenya  —  Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas  —  The National Security Agency is secretly intercepting …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Inside High Fidelity, the virtual reality successor to ‘Second Life’  —  A crude hint of how physical connection could invade the online world  —  As virtual reality gains steam, the question of virtual worlds is never far behind.  Philip Rosedale is best known for online community Second Life.
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
GoPro Files For $100M IPO With 2013 Revenue Of $985.7M, Up 87.4% From The Year Prior  —  This afternoon GoPro filed its S-1 document with the SEC, detailing its financial performance as it looks to go public.  The company states that it will raise up to $100 million in the offering, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ‘GPRO.’
Christopher M. Matthews / Wall Street Journal:
Mt. Gox, other bitcoin exchanges subpoenaed over possible ties to Silk Road  —  Bitcoin Exchanges Probed Over Shuttered Drug Market  —  Mt. Gox Is Among Those Asked For Information; U.S. Prosecutors Search for Transactions Connected to Silk Road  —  U.S. authorities have opened a new front …
Rhiannon Williams / Telegraph:
Facebook introduces ‘ask’ button for relationship statuses  —  Facebook has created an ‘ask’ button feature to enquire about your friends' relationship statuses  —  Facebook stalking has reached a whole new level following the introduction of an ‘ask’ button, allowing you to enquire about someone's relationship status.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNet:
Canonical's cloud-in-a-box: The Ubuntu Orange Box  —  Summary: Canonical had an unexpected hit at OpenStack Summit: It's an Intel-powered, cloud-in-a-box.  —  When Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu Linux, made his keynote speech at OpenStack Summit in Atlanta …
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Groupon to Replace Nearly All of Its Merchants' Cash Registers With iPads  —  Groupon has long said it wants to be known as more than a deals company.  Now it's showing how.  —  Today, the company is introducing an iPad-based checkout system that it expects tens of thousands of businesses that run a Groupon promotion to use.
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
How the PCCare247 tech support scam netted the company millions, and how the FTC shut it down  —  Inside the US government's war on tech support scammers  —  Sitting in front of her PC, the phone in her hand connected to a tech support company half a world away, Sheryl Novick was about to get scammed.
Tweets: @natexanderson and @r0h1n
Dan Lyons / Billboard:
Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs' Biographer, Predicts Jimmy Iovine Will Run Apple's Content Business  —  It may not be the headphones or the streaming.  Does Tim Cook think Jimmy Iovine is the next Steve Jobs?  Apple is reportedly acquiring Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
IBM Watson Acquires Artificial Intelligence Startup Cognea  —  IBM's Watson group has announced a new acquisition today — artificial intelligence company Cognea.  IBM confirmed the acquisition via a blog post.  —  Cognea developed a cognitive computing and conversational artificial intelligence platform.
Re/code:
AT&T Says It Wants to Sell Web TV, Too  —  AT&T's proposed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV will accelerate its plans to offer an Internet television service.  —  AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson said DirecTV holds established entertainment industry relationships …
More: Wired and DSLreports
Don Reisinger / CNET News:
Amazon reportedly drops $20M in Yummy77  —  Amazon will hold a minority stake in the Chinese online food vendor but will allow it to operate as a standalone company.  —  Amazon appears to have invested millions into an online company that provides fresh food to customers across China.
Washington Post:

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More News

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Earlier Picks

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