Techmeme: Scribd overhauls its ebook subscription service to help you find interesting reads (Josh Ong/The Next Web)

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August 7, 2014, 1:20 PM

Top News

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

Google partners with Barnes & Noble for same-day book deliveries from stores in West LA, SF Bay Area, and Manhattan — Google and Barnes & Noble Unite to Take on Amazon — Google and Barnes & Noble are joining forces to tackle their mutual rival Amazon, zeroing in on a service …

More: The Digital Reader, VentureBeat, CNET, Re/code, GeekWire, USA Today, TechCrunch, The Verge, Wired, SlashGear, Consumerist, TIME, Gigaom, Wall Street Journal, bizjournals, 9to5Google, TechnoBuffalo, Gizmodo, Engadget, The Next Web, Bookseller news and Fortune

Tweets: @nytimesbits and @levie

See also Mediagazer

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google adds 36 university campuses across the US and Canada to Street View — Google today announced it has added 36 new university campuses across the US and Canada to Street View in Google Maps. Want to go on a tour of a school without actually driving there and you know, walking? Done.

More: Google LatLong, BetaNews, GeekWire and 9to5Google

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook Buys Secure Server Technology Provider PrivateCore — Facebook announced this morning it has acquired PrivateCore, a Palo Alto-based secure server technology company. The deal does not appear to be solely an acqui-hire, as Facebook says that it plans to deploy PrivateCore's technology …

More: The Next Web, Re/code, iMore, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, and Electronista

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft turns its Xbox One into a digital TV tuner with $40 adapter for Europe — Microsoft is planning to release a digital TV tuner adapter to allow European Xbox One owners to turn their consoles into a TV set-top box. Launching in October in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK …

More: Xbox Wire, Gigaom, Engadget, VentureBeat, The Next Web, Ubergizmo, WinBeta, Gotta Be Mobile, Windows Phone Central and Neowin

Nick Bilton / New York Times:

uBeam wireless charging technology, which uses ultrasound to charge portable electronics, expected to be on shelves within 2 years — Wireless Charging, at a Distance, Moves Forward for uBeam — LOS ANGELES — When Meredith Perry, 25, started studying astrobiology at the University of Pennsylvania …

More: Business Insider, Engadget, Electronista, Liliputing, Android Authority, Softpedia News, Ubergizmo, Laughing Squid and The Next Web. Tweets: @arrington

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:

Apple details ‘Siri for Mac’ desktop virtual assistant in new patent application — While Apple's Siri has been an iOS staple since 2011, the tech has yet to make the jump to OS X. An exhaustive new patent filing, however, details a system very similar to the iOS virtual assistant that can perform dictation …

More: Gizmodo, CNET, MacRumors, BGR, TechCrunch, Gotta Be Mobile, TechnoBuffalo, Business Insider, MacDailyNews and Cult of Mac. Thanks:@mikeycampbell81

Sue Decker / HBR.org:

Ex-Yahoo president Sue Decker on investing in Alibaba and learning from doing business in China — An Insider's Account of the Yahoo-Alibaba Deal — Editor's note: When the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba goes public, as it will soon, Yahoo will earn many times its significant original stake …

More: SiliconBeat. Tweets: @peterschloss

Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

Google to Boost Encrypted Websites in Rankings — Move Aims to Prod Developers to Adopt Technology That Protects Against Hackers — Google Inc. wants to reward websites that are more secure. — The world's most popular search engine said it is now giving bonus points in its ranking algorithm to Web pages that are encrypted.

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's Windows ‘Threshold’ expected to add virtual desktops, drop charms — Summary: Microsoft is going to do more than reintroduce a Start menu as part of its plan to make Windows 9, a k a ‘Threshold,’ more appealing to Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 users.

More: WinBeta, The Verge, Engadget, CITEworld, BGR, Computerworld, PC World, TechnoBuffalo, ExtremeTech, Geek.com, Gotta Be Mobile, Gizmodo, ITProPortal, The Tech Report, SuperSite for Windows, Windows Phone Central, Softpedia News and Neowin

Katherine Clarke / NY Daily News:

Microsoft in talks for flashy Fifth Ave. store: sources — Tech giant would go head to head with Apple on prime Manhattan retail strip — Tech giant Microsoft is in negotiations to open its first ever New York City retail store on Fifth Ave., sources told the Daily News.

More: ZDNet, DailyTech, Business Insider, The Verge, MacDailyNews, Gizmodo, iPhone, BGR, Softpedia News, Neowin, WinBeta, Patently Apple, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac and 9to5Mac

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

DHS background check contractor USIS hacked, personal information of employees likely stolen — DHS contractor suffers major computer breach, officials say — A major U.S. contractor that conducts background checks for the Department of Homeland Security has suffered a computer breach …

More: USIS Media Release, Ubergizmo, Help Net Security, USA Today, CNET, Nextgov, Boing Boing, RT, CNN, Associated Press, SecurityWeek, Wall Street Journal, ZDNet and Reuters

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Scribd overhauls its ebook subscription service to help you find interesting reads — All-you-can-read subscription ebook service Scribd has received an overhaul with new smart discovery features that should help you browse for new content to read. The new look launches today on the Web …

More: VentureBeat, The Verge and The Scribd Blog. Thanks:@2blyndsey

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Yelp lied about review policies to inflate stock price, lawsuit claims — An investors' class action lawsuit against Yelp could help reveal whether rumors about the company's ad practices, which have never been proven, are true. — Yelp, a site that lets consumers post reviews of local businesses …

More: Marketing Land, Reuters, WebProNews, SocialTimes, Consumerist, Understanding Google …, Wall Street Journal and ABC News

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

Krebs says report on the theft of 1.2B email accounts is “for real”, having seen the data — Q&A on the Reported Theft of 1.2B Email Accounts — My phone and email have been flooded with questions and interview requests from various media outlets since security consultancy …

More: Schneier on Security, Bloomberg, Washington Post, PC World, IT World Canada, Tech2, SC Magazine, Trend Micro, Inc, Geek Beat, Graham Cluley Security News, Mashable, TheDomains.com, Softpedia News, VentureBeat, Federal Computer Week, eWeek and Fox News. Tweets: @ahess247

Andre Meister / netzpolitik.org:

Gamma FinFisher hacked: 40 GB of internal documents and source code of government malware published — “Try before you buy! One free license key for the first taker!” — A hacker claims to have hacked a network of the surveillance technology company Gamma International and has published 40 gigabytes of internal data.

More: The Register, ZDNet, Neowin, Network World and Softpedia News

Tweets: @ioerror and @fredericjacobs

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