Techmeme: Betaworks invests in Yo seed round, says app has 2K+ developers working with API, 2M+ installs (betaworks)

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July 18, 2014, 1:05 PM

Top News

Steve Dent / Engadget:

Google won't call games with in-app purchases free anymore (updated) — The European Commission has said that while Google addressed its concerns around games with in-app purchasing, Apple has yet to offer a strategy. Following hordes of complaints by outraged parents …

More: The Verge, Guardian, AppleInsider, PandoDaily, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Inquirer, Gigaom, SlashGear, Droid Life and iPhone Hacks

Dave Lee / BBC:

EU criticizes Apple for not offering “concrete and immediate solutions” to address in-app payment issues, says Google already taking steps — Apple scolded by Europe over in-app purchase protections — Some parents have been shocked by charges for additional features in free-to-download games

More: EU Press Room, PC Advisor, iMore, Pocketnow, Electronista, iPhone in Canada Blog and Gamasutra

Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:

Bill Campbell reflects on his relationship with Steve Jobs, coaching tech's leaders, and Apple under Tim Cook — After 17 years, Bill Campbell steps down from Apple's board — Bill Campbell recalls Steve Jobs' invitation to join Apple's board of directors as the kind of request that takes your breath away.

More: Computerworld, TechCrunch, MacDailyNews, MacNN, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, iMore, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, Bloomberg, 9to5Mac, Business Insider and ABC News

Tweets: @johndoerr and @daiwaka

Apple:

Longtime Apple board member Bill Campbell retires after 17 years; BlackRock director Sue Wagner to replace him

More: Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac, Forbes, www.thehostingnews.com, MacStories, App Advice, iLounge, AppleInsider and The Verge

Matt Brian / Engadget:

Amazon's Kindle Unlimited offers all-you-can-eat e-books for $10 a month — After teasing us with a possible launch, Amazon has confirmed Kindle Unlimited, its all-you-can-read e-book subscription service. For $9.99 per month, the new service offers 600,000 books and “thousands” of audiobooks across a range of devices.

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Joins Y Combinator as Partner — Alexis Ohanian has joined Y Combinator as a partner. — I ran into the high-profile Internet entrepreneur at an event in San Francisco yesterday, where he was sporting a very hipster beard and seemed even more excited …

More: Y Combinator Posthaven and VentureBeat

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Microsoft plans to spin-off Nokia MixRadio as a standalone music streaming service, iOS and Android versions now a possibility — Nokia MixRadio spins out of Microsoft as standalone streaming music service — Personal radio app will still be preloaded on Windows Phones, but now has scope to launch on iOS and Android too

More: PC World, CNET, RAIN News, Geeky Gadgets, TIME, The Next Web and SlashGear. See also Mediagazer

Om Malik:

Elop is the latest in a string of high-profile executives moving up the ranks despite being a dud

More: Microsoft Corporation, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, MediaNama, HEXUS.net Latest Content, The Register, Global Nerdy, Guardian, Phandroid, Re/code, Tech Times, ReadWrite, The Verge, Gigaom, bit-tech.net and The Tech Report

Tweets: @pmarca and @joshconstine

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Microsoft cuts will also hit ‘shadow workforce,’ going beyond announced layoffs

More: Inquirer and Re/code. Tweets: @hkanji. Thanks:@johnhcook

betaworks:

Betaworks invests in Yo seed round, says app has 2K+ developers working with API, 2M+ installs — Yo ! — I am excited to announce that betaworks is participating in the seed round of Yo. I wanted to share a few thoughts on how I see Yo fitting into the ecosystem of services on, and beyond, phones.

More: Business Insider, The Next Web and VentureBeat

Tweets: @borthwick, @howells and @fromedome

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Forbes sells majority stake to Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments, company reportedly valued at $475M — Forbes Sells to Hong Kong Investment Group — Forbes Media, which has been on the market for about a year, has found a buyer: Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments …

More: Forbes, New York Times, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, AdAge, Fortune, Mashable and Poynter. Tweets: @fmanjoo. See also Mediagazer

Nellie Bowles / Re/code:

Airbnb Founder on Vagina Logo: “Go Ahead, Laugh All You Want” — Airbnb launched a new corporate logo yesterday, and everyone — including their dinner guests last night — had an opinion about it. — At the Verdi Club in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, many of the guests …

Tweets: @ia, @andymangold, @karaswisher, @caseynewton, @startupljackson and @nero

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Dell starts accepting Bitcoin for online purchases from consumers and small businesses in the US — Dell today announced it has started accepting Bitcoin for all items available on Dell.com (including Alienware products). The company says it is “piloting” the digital currency for consumer …

More: The Coinbase Blog, Dell Community, CoinDesk and NEWSBTC

Ginny Marvin / Marketing Land:

At Last, Google Analytics App Comes To The iPhone — Google has released its official Google Analytics app for iPhone, now available for download in the app store. — The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, though is optimized for the iPhone 5. It requires iOS 6.0 or later.

More: 9to5Google, Macgasm, TodaysiPhone.com, MacNN, TechCrunch, Mashable, App Advice, Search Engine Watch, Geeky Gadgets, WebProNews and iPhone Hacks

Jemima Kiss / Guardian:

Snowden: Dropbox is hostile to privacy, unlike ‘zero knowledge’ Spideroak — Whistleblower urges consumers to adopt more secure file storage systems which are less susceptible to government surveillance — Edward Snowden has warned against the cloud storage service Dropbox which he says is …

More: Guardian, PC World, Inquirer, Wall Street Journal, Gigaom, Business Insider, Forbes, The Register, Boing Boing, Ubergizmo and ZDNet. Tweets: @dmac1

Cromwell Schubarth / Silicon Valley Business Journal:

TubeMogul lowers IPO shares to $7, raises $43.8M ahead of first trade Friday, will list on Nasdaq as TUBE — TubeMogul IPO raises $43.8M after hitting bottom of lowered target range — It's been a rough second half start Silicon Valley area companies going public, with TubeMogul the latest …

More: TechCrunch, The Technology Chronicles, NASDAQ.com, PR Newswire, Seeking Alpha, AdExchanger and bizjournals. Tweets: @jasonlk

Mark Hearn / 9to5Google:

Rumored NVIDIA Shield tablet pictured in leaked press renders — Back in May, a device made by NVIDIA that looked like a game controller hit the FCC and sparked rumors of a follow up to the company's Shield system. Shortly after this filing surfaced, word broke that the chip maker …

More: Evleaks, GadgeTell, Android Police, Android Central, Ubergizmo, Engadget, TechnoBuffalo, AndroidGuys, BGR, Droid Life, Electronista, Android Beat and bit-tech.net

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Chrome 37 beta supports Microsoft's DirectWrite API, which improves the appearance of fonts — Fonts In Chrome For Windows Will Look Better Soon — Google released the latest beta version of its Chrome browser today, and if you're a Windows user on a machine that runs at least Vista, fonts will now look better on your screen.

More: Chromium Blog, Inquirer, Mashable, The Tech Report, Softpedia News, Techdows, 9to5Google, CNET and The Next Web

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Amazon's first Fire Phone ad is all about Amazon Prime — After announcing it a month ago, Amazon is finally about to release its first smartphone, the Fire Phone. It's now beginning to air its first commercial for the phone too, and it's one of strange choices, to say the least.

More: Mashable, Business Insider, 9to5Google, iPhone in Canada Blog, GeekWire, Geeky Gadgets, Business Insider, CNET, AdAge, SlashGear and IntoMobile

Michael Kan / PC World:

Baidu launches search engine for Brazil — China's Baidu is stepping into another major market with a search engine geared for Brazil, and is preparing to set up a research and development center in the country. — The search engine formally launched on Friday.

More: ZDNet, ecns, WantChinaTimes-News, ValueWalk and Tech in Asia

Jared Newman / PC World:

Chrome's been eating your laptop's battery for years, but Google promises to fix it — Google is just now responding to a bug in Chrome for Windows that may have been sapping users' batteries for years. — Chrome's battery drain problem was brought to wider attention by Forbes contributor Ian Morris …

More: Engadget, BGR, The Verge, Softpedia News, Ubergizmo, WinBeta and Windows Phone Central

Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:

They Might Be Tearing Down The Creamery To Build Condos — If you're involved in the startup world in San Francisco you've likely been to the Creamery on Townsend and 4th street. It's iconic, even if only recently so. — In 2012 I wrote about the Creamery in a post talking about the shift …

Tweets: @startupljackson and @caseynewton

Ian Sherr / CNET:

Oculus preparing motion controllers to complement its forthcoming goggles — Oculus to get hands on with new virtual reality gear — Facebook's virtual reality company is readying motion control prototypes for its headsets to offer a more immersive experience for consumers. — Sarah Tew

More: TechSpot, Electronista, TechnoBuffalo, Ubergizmo and Gizmodo. Thanks:@nickstatt

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Care.com Scoops Up Kid-Centric Subscription Service Citrus Lane for More Than $30 Million — Childcare marketplace service Care.com said Thursday that it had acquired Citrus Lane, an e-commerce subscription service that provides products to families with kids.

More: TechCrunch, PE Hub Blog and VatorNews

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

Google's Q2 Revenue Of $15.96B Beats, But Its Non-GAAP EPS Of $6.08 Disappoints — Today after the bell Google reported its second quarter financial results, including net revenue (ex-TAC) of $12.67 billion, and $6.08 in non-GAAP earnings per share. Google gross revenue for the period came in at $15.96 billion

More: Search Engine Roundtable, Softpedia News, Android Central and The Register

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Nikesh Arora, Google's chief business officer, leaves company to join SoftBank

More: Guardian, Bloomberg, Inquirer, TechOne3, Tech in Asia and Reuters

Tweets: @nikesharora and @sundarpichai

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