Techmeme: Blurb branches out to low-cost trade books, e-books and mass distribution via Ingram (Jackie Dove/The Next Web)

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August 19, 2014, 5:00 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.

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New “Campaign Manager” — As Re/code had reported in July, Uber has been 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: TechCrunch. Tweets: @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 the company's founders.

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

Liam Spradlin / Android Police:

Google to launch “YouTube Music Key”, a $10/month, ad-free subscription service with offline support — Exclusive: This Is YouTube Music Key, Google's Upcoming Subscription Service With Offline Support, Background Audio, No Ads, Free Play Music Key — Google has big plans for both YouTube and Google Play Music.

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

YouTube Music Key's differentiating feature: user uploaded content, like concert recordings and remixes

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

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

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, PC World, GeekWire, 9to5Google, Neowin, VentureBeat, Android Central, Engadget and WinBeta

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, VentureBeat, ReadWrite, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Gigaom, The Next Web, Wired and iPhone in Canada Blog

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

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Square expands its cash advance service for small businesses after deal with Victory Park Capital — Square Expands Its Cash Advance Service — Square, the e-commerce start-up, announced on Tuesday that it would broaden the scope of its cash advance program through a multimillion-dollar deal …

More: Re/code, VatorNews, VentureBeat and PE Hub Blog

Major Nelson / Xbox Wire:

First of its kind reddit experience launching on Xbox One, New MTV app and Twitch update available soon — In June we announced more than 45 new entertainment experiences coming to Xbox One and we continue to deliver on that commitment with additions like ReddX, an app that we are confident …

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

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Thalmic Reveals Its Enterprise Play For the Myo Armband, Including Google Glass Integration — Waterloo's Thalmic Labs has begun shipping the production version of its hardware to pre-order customers already, and now the company is gearing up for its full-scale enterprise play with the help …

More: BetaKit, The Next Web, Techvibes Global News, 9to5Google, CITEworld and Engadget

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Google Is Planning to Offer Accounts to Kids Under 13 — Google plans to offer accounts to children under 13 years old for the first time, a move that will take the world's largest Internet search provider into a controversial and operationally complex new market.

More: Digital Trends, Federal Trade Commission, Guardian, SiliconBeat, PC World, PC Magazine, Entrepreneur, Globe and Mail, Reuters, Tech Times, Consumerist, InvestorPlace, Forbes, Ubergizmo, USA Today, WebProNews and Digital Spy

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Verizon tops rivals in new RootMetrics wireless report, but T-Mobile gains in cities — Verizon comes out ahead of rivals AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint in nearly every category of performance — including reliability, data speeds and phone calls — in a new study of the U.S. wireless market by RootMetrics.

More: DSLreports, FierceWireless and Bloomberg. Thanks:@taylor_soper

Jamie Condliffe / Gizmodo:

Project Tango Tablet Teardown: Everything You Need For Handheld 3D — Google's Project Tango tablet is an amazing bit of hardware that made us finally realize that computer vision could be useful for regular people, too. So now that iFixit has ripped one apart, we're pretty excited to see what lurks within it.

More: iFixit, 9to5Google, ZDNet, Softpedia News, Geeky Gadgets, Android Central, SlashGear and Engadget

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