Techmeme: Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New “Campaign Manager” (Kara Swisher/Re/code)

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August 19, 2014, 8:50 PM

Top News

Microsoft Corporation:

Steve Ballmer steps down as board member at Microsoft — As I approach the six month mark of my retirement and your appointment as CEO, I have been reflecting on my life, my ongoing ownership of Microsoft stock, and my involvement with the company. I have reached some conclusions and wanted to share them with you.

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Netflix is now paying Time Warner Cable for direct access and faster streams — Netflix, the online streaming giant, has signed a paid peering deal with Time Warner Cable, meaning that it now has deals with the four biggest U.S. ISPs. — Time Warner Cable signed a direct interconnection deal with Netflix …

More: The Verge, Ars Technica, Macworld, Engadget, Consumerist and Gizmodo. Tweets: @gigaom. Thanks:@mathewi. See also Mediagazer

Reed Hastings / Wired:

How to Save the Net: Don't Give In to Big ISPs — The next Netflix won't stand a chance if the largest Internet service providers in the US are allowed to merge. — The Internet has — already changed how we live and work, and we're only just getting started.

More: SiliconBeat. Tweets: @netflix

Dan Frommer / Quartz:

Twitter now officially says your timeline is more than just tweets from people you follow — Many Twitter users have noticed that Twitter is now inserting tweets into their timelines that seemingly don't belong. This is not an accident. Twitter has updated its help document, “What's a Twitter timeline?”

More: The Next Web, ReadWrite, Marketing Land, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Gizmodo and Pocket-lint

Tweets: @ayjay, @kairyssdal and @tomtomorrow

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New “Campaign Manager” — As Re/code had reported in July, Uber has zeroing in on the hiring of a high-profile “campaign manager” to head its policy and communications strategy and fight what its CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick has called “an a**hole named Taxi.”

Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:

HTC One With Windows Phone: Another Great Phone You Won't Buy — The Best-Designed Android Phone Is Being Released With Windows Phone 8.1 — Windows Phone smartphones have gotten quite good, so why doesn't anyone buy them? Personal Tech columnist Joanna Stern tests the HTC One (M8) with Windows Phone 8.1 to find out.

More: Forbes and TechCrunch. Tweets: @geoffreyfowler, @whatthebit, @mims and @fmanjoo

Dana Wollman / Engadget:

HTC One M8 with Windows Phone launches exclusively on Verizon today at $99 on-contract — HTC's One M8 now available with Windows Phone, but only on Verizon — In case you've wondered what a flagship Android phone would look like if it ran Windows Phone, it looks like you'll get your chance to find out.

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Lyft COO Travis VanderZanden leaves after tensions with founders — Lyft COO Out After Tensions With Founders — According to sources close to the situation, Lyft COO Travis VanderZanden has left his job, after some level of tension with its founders. — Sources close to the situation …

More: PC Magazine, SlashGear, Fortune, Business Insider and Entrepreneur

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Sharp's Aquos Crystal: a 5-inch, 720p, edge-to-edge display smartphone lacking premium specs — Sharp's new phone for Sprint looks like something out of a sci-fi fantasy — And it's only $239 — This week, Sharp, Softbank, and Sprint announced a new line of devices called Acquos Crystal …

More: LAPTOP Mag and TechnoBuffalo

Natt Garun / The Next Web:

Sprint announces $240 nearly bezel-free 5-inch Aquos Crystal

More: Sprint, LAPTOP Mag, CNET, Gigaom, BGR, DailyTech, Phandroid, PhoneNews.com, The Verge, Gizmodo, Android Central, AndroidOS.in, dailywireless.org, AndroidHeadlines.com and 9to5Google

Ashlee Vance / Businessweek:

Intellectual Ventures lays off 140 employees, about 20% of its workforce — Mass Layoffs Hit Intellectual Ventures' Patent Factory — Intellectual Ventures, the company Silicon Valley loves to despise, is laying off about 20 percent of its employees, Bloomberg Businessweek has learned.

More: The Register, Gigaom, Re/code, GeekWire and Reuters. Tweets: @valleyhack

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Launches Photo Sphere Camera App On iOS — Google has just launched a new photo application for iOS users called Photo Sphere Camera, which allows you to take 360-degree photos, then publish them to Google Maps or other social networks. The app is an expansion of a feature …

More: Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, TUAW, Gigaom, CNET, The Verge, The Next Web, SlashGear, Gotta Be Mobile, iMore, Phandroid, Cult of Mac, 9to5Google, iClarified, BGR and Engadget

Wall Street Journal:

Snapchat working on integrating disappearing video, news and ads, with new service Snapchat Discovery — Snapchat Discussing New Content Service With Advertisers, Media Firms — Snapchat Inc., the mobile app for disappearing messages, could soon be a service for disappearing videos, news articles and advertisements.

More: Gigaom

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Mailbox for Mac Beta: fast, offers drafts, yet buggy — I burned through my inbox with Mailbox for Mac — The king is dead, long live the king — Email, right guys? Some love it. Some hate it. Some are trying to replace it. But the fact is, we all use it.

More: Mailbox, TechCrunch, Engadget, BGR, Macworld, Gigaom, MacRumors, ReadWrite, AppleInsider, VentureBeat, Wired, The Next Web, iPhone in Canada Blog and MacStories

Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:

Uber launches on-demand delivery service “Corner Store” in Washington D.C. — Uber launches on-demand product deliveries in Washington D.C. — Update 6:19 a.m. PT: Uber confirms that the service will launch today. — Uber is set to launch an on-demand product delivery service …

More: Re/code, TechCrunch, Consumerist, iMore, The Next Web, Electronista, Mashable, GeekWire, Engadget, The Verge and CNET

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

PayPal Rolls Out One-Touch Mobile Checkout For Apps — Mobile commerce today is still challenging with complicated checkout flows that see users bouncing between screens, and having to tap out their personal information on tiny screens and keyboards. PayPal today is hoping to change …

More: VentureBeat, ReadWrite, Re/code, PandoDaily, Gigaom, The Next Web and WebProNews. Tweets: @lukew

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

Delaware becomes first state to give heirs broad digital assets access — Delaware has become the first state in the US to enact a law that ensures families' rights to access the digital assets of loved ones during incapacitation or after death. — Last week, Gov. Jack Markell signed House Bill …

More: Northwest Georgia News, The Verge, Gizmodo, Telegraph, The Digital Reader, ABC News and GamePolitics blogs

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Microsoft updates OneNote for Android with support for tablets, handwriting, and new formatting options — Microsoft today updated its OneNote app for Android with optimizations specifically for tablets. You can download the new version now directly from Google Play.

More: Office Blogs, GeekWire, VentureBeat, Android Central, 9to5Google, Neowin, Engadget, WinBeta, PC World and Android Authority

Jackie Dove / The Next Web:

Blurb branches out to low-cost trade books, e-books and mass distribution via Ingram — Since its launch in 2006, Blurb, the independent publishing pioneer of print-on-demand artistic tabletop tomes and illustrated magazines, has been popular with the creative community.

More: VentureBeat

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