Techmeme
June 12, 2014, 10:15 PM

Top News

Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S: 8.4-inch for $399, 10.5-inch for $499, available in July, still following Apple's lead  —  Samsung's razor-thin Galaxy Tab S takes another run at the iPad  —  The 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S tablets arrive next month  —  For a long time, Samsung's been trying to take down the iPad.
Samuel Gibbs / Guardian:
Samsung bets big on fingerprint scanning in its war with Apples iPad  —  New Galaxy Tab S is thinner, lighter and first to use a high-resolution OLED screen, but is it enough to beat the iPad Air?  —  Samsung has beaten Apple to a fingerprint-reading tablet with the launch …
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S First Look: It's Like a Huge Galaxy S5  —  There may be 10 different Samsung tablets on sale right now—yes, 10, and that's just in the U.S.—but I couldn't really tell you what's special about any.  The company is hoping to change that with the all-new Galaxy Tab S …
Natt Garun / The Next Web:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Twitter Media Head Chloe Sladden is Leaving  —  Chloe Sladden, the high-profile Twitter executive in charge of the company's media unit, is leaving the company.  Sladden told her team about her plans today, according to sources familiar with company.  Sladden's departure is not unexpected …
Kara Swisher / Re/code:
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.
More: ITProPortalTweets: @kevinmarks
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 …
Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:
US will auction bitcoins seized from Silk Road, bidders must deposit $200,000  —  The United States government announced Thursday that it will sell the nearly 30,000 bitcoins it seized last year from Silk Road, a notorious online marketplace for drugs and hitmen, in a 12-hour auction on June 27.
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.
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
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Messenger Adds Tap-And-Hold Video Sharing, Another Snapchat Feature  —  Why tell with text when you can show with video?  Facebook Messenger is diving deeper into visual communication with a new option to instantly record and send short videos, similar to Snapchat.
More: App Advice
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.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
PayPal Launches PassPort To Lure More International Sales From Merchants  —  PayPal and its owner eBay have been through a few tough rounds in the ring these last few months, facing calls from Carl Ichan to split the company (finished for now), a Twitter encounter with a departing …
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 …

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Earlier Picks

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Chris Welch / The Verge: