Techmeme
June 12, 2014, 5:20 PM

Top News

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Google in talks with Virgin Galactic for stake in Sir Richard Branson's $2B space tourism venture  —  Google In Talks To Take Virgin Galactic Stake  —  Virgin Galactic flights are due to begin this year  —  Google is in talks with Virgin Galactic about a deal that will hand it crucial access …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Prime Music service debuts: Ad-free streaming, 90K albums, 1M songs, but few hits  —  Amazon Turns On Prime Music Streaming, Sans Current Hits  —  There have been a lot of murmurs that Amazon would turn on a new music streaming service this week, and it looks like that's just what it quietly did a little while ago.
Cotton Delo / AdAge:
Facebook to use web browsing history for ad targeting, will not honor do-not-track browser setting but offer opt-out and other privacy controls  —  Facebook to Use Web Browsing History For Ad Targeting  —  Company Also Rolls Out Beefed-up Privacy Controls, but Won't Honor Do-Not-Track Browser Setting
Chris P. / PhoneArena:
Metal Samsung Galaxy F gets snapped next to the Galaxy S5, boasts LG G3-like slim bezels  —  Somebody, somewhere, appears to have somehow gotten his hands on the yet-unreleased Samsung Galaxy F (previously referred to as Galaxy S5 Prime), and, so far, he's had a fun time teasing us.
Nick Statt / CNET News:
Yves Behar-designed smart cup Vessyl measures caffeine, sugar, and calories in beverages, ships in early 2015 for $200  —  Vessyl smart cup can tell Coke from Pepsi  —  This powerful, sensor-fitted cup identifies what you're drinking and tells you how it affects your health and hydration needs.
Kara Swisher / Re/code:
Twitter COO Steps Down From Job on Twitter, But Stays as Strategic Advisor  —  Ali Rowghani, COO of Twitter, resigned from his job at the social networking site, announcing the move in a tweet.  But he is not leaving the company  —  Re/code had reported yesterday that the exec was under fire inside …
Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:
New study suggests patent trolls really are killing startups  —  New study estimates $22 billion in VC funding was lost due to troll lawsuits.  —  Patent reform advocates have long argued that “patent trolls”—companies that do nothing but sue over patents—are harmful to innovation, not just a plague on big companies.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Huawei launches its first webstore in US, starts selling self-branded unlocked Ascend Mate2  —  Can this Chinese phone giant make it in America?  —  Huawei launches its first self-branded phone and webstore in the US  —  If you were to ask the average American consumer to name a company …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Here's the iPad split-screen app mode Apple is working on in iOS 8 (video)  —  As we reported in May, Apple is working on a split-screen multitasking feature for iPad apps for a version of iOS 8.  The feature, akin to the key productivity function on the Microsoft Surface …
Kelly Hodgkins / MacRumors:
Redesigned Skype 5.0 for iPhone Launching Today  —  Microsoft announced earlier this week that it was close to releasing a new version of its Skype for iOS app with a streamlined design and improved performance.  Arriving as projected, the new Skype 5.0 for iPhone is rolling out now in the iOS App Store.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
SiSense Raises $30M More To Bring Big Data Analytics To Businesspeople  —  SiSense, a business intelligence startup that is among those making big data analytics accessible to ordinary business users (and not just data scientists) is today announcing more funding: a $30 million Series C round led …
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Intel loses court challenge against $1.44 billion EU fine  —  (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Intel (INTC.O) lost on Thursday its challenge against a record 1.06-billion-euro ($1.44 billion) fine handed down by European Union antitrust regulators five years ago for blocking rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N).
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Starbucks starts rolling out wireless phone chargers nationwide  —  Starbucks plans to install Powermat's wireless charging stations at its coffee stores across the US.  After a small pilot run with these “Powermat Spots” — small circles that are seamlessly implanted in tables and counters …

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