Techmeme: Smule's karaoke app update now lets you make music videos with friends (Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web)

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October 31, 2014, 12:10 AM

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Tim Cook / Businessweek:

Tim Cook publicly acknowledges he's gay, says giving up his personal privacy is worthwhile if it helps others struggling with their sexual orientation — Tim Cook: “I'm Proud to be Gay” — Throughout my professional life, I've tried to maintain a basic level of privacy.

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Thank you, Tim Cook — Why we're not “moving on” from the Apple CEO's big statement today — In a way, what Tim Cook said today felt inevitable. At least since 2008, when Owen Thomas asked the question in Gawker, a steady accretion of reporting has suggested Apple's chief executive is gay.

More: Mercury News, USA Today, New York Times, Fortune, SlashGear, VatorNews, Business Insider and Mashable

Tweets: @smcbride, @erynofwales and @gcaweir

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Google's robotics lead and Android founder Andy Rubin leaving the company to start an incubator for hardware startups, will be replaced by James Kuffner — Former Android Leader Andy Rubin Leaving Google — Rubin Is Starting an Incubator for Startups Interested in Building Technology-Hardware Products

Dave McNary / Variety:

Seth Rogen Set as Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs Biopic — Seth Rogen has been set to star as Steve Wozniak opposite Christian Bale in Sony's Steve Jobs biopic. — Variety reported on Oct. 15 that Bale was in talks to star in “Jobs,” Sony's biopic about the late Apple co-founder.

More: The Wrap, MacRumors, BGR, CNET, AppleInsider, The Verge, Gizmodo, Macworld, Mashable, iDownloadBlog.com, TechnoBuffalo, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac, Pocket-lint, TUAW, App Advice, SlashGear, iMore and Business Insider

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Apple No Longer Rejecting Calculator Widgets From The App Store — The maker of a popular iOS app and widget, PCalc, which took advantage of iOS 8's support for Notification Center Widgets, was recently told by Apple that his handy app would be pulled from the App Store due to the fact that …

More: 9to5Mac, iMore, Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, SlashGear, iLounge, iPhone in Canada Blog, InvestorPlace, BGR, iPhone Hacks, AppleInsider, App Advice, TUAW and Mashable

Tweets: @stevestreza and @nateboateng

Garett Sloane / Adweek:

Instagram ads arrive in the form of 15-second autoplay spots from Disney, Activision, Lancome, Banana Republic, and the CW — Instagram's Video Ads Are Finally Live, and Here Are 4 From Major Brands — Disney, Activision and Banana Republic among early buyers

More: TechnoBuffalo, The Verge, SlashGear, Marketing Land, TechCrunch, AllFacebook, NBC News, SocialTimes, VentureBreak, App Advice, Tech Times, Ubergizmo, iMore, Macworld, Mashable, MobileSyrup.com, Wall Street Journal, Inquirer and Engadget

Yoree Koh / Wall Street Journal:

Twitter demotes Daniel Graf, elevates Kevin Weil to lead consumer product group — Twitter Demotes Product Chief Daniel Graf — Kevin Weil Becomes Fifth Product Head in As Many Years — Twitter Inc. has demoted its new head of product, Daniel Graf, just six months after his much-touted hire away from Google Inc.

More: The Verge, Mashable, Re/code and Gigaom

Tweets: @mathewi, @rsarver, @mikeisaac, @peteskomoroch, @cnbcsocial and @emilychangtv

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Yahoo poaches Amazon ad exec Lisa Utzschneider, naming her SVP of Sales for the Americas — Yahoo Poaches Amazon Ad Exec Lisa Utzschneider, Ned Brody Takes Ad Tech Role — Some executive musical chairs and an interesting poach/hire at Yahoo, announced today.

More: Business Wire, Yahoo, The Technology Chronicles, AdExchanger, Bloomberg, Business Insider and Re/code

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

uBeam Nabs $10 Million In Funding From Upfront Ventures To Make Wireless Charging A Reality — Wireless power seems like one of those things everyone always dreams about. I mean, how great would it be to have your phone just charge while it's sitting in your pocket with no need to plug it in?

More: Both Sides of the Table, Re/code, PE Hub Blog, Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Tweets: @pmarca. Thanks:@allisonchampion

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

LinkedIn posts Q3 net loss of $4.26M, sales up 45% YOY to $568M, EPS $0.52 — LinkedIn Q3 Beats The Street, Sales Of $568M, EPS $0.52 — In a quarter that has seen a mixed set of results for social networks Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn today reported its quarterly results …

More: LinkedIn, ZDNet, Tech Trader Daily, Reuters, AdExchanger, Bloomberg, Reuters, WebProNews and Associated Press

Pamela Rolfe / Hollywood Reporter:

Spain passes LPI law allowing publishers to charge aggregators that link to news stories; effective January 2015 — Spain Passes Much-Debated Intellectual Property Law — Critics complain of an unenforceable Google tax and missed opportunity for clear anti-piracy law

More: New York Times, Agence France-Presse, Gizmodo, The Local, Telecompaper and The Verge

See also Mediagazer

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Mark Zuckerberg to host first public “Community Q&A” on Facebook Nov 6, taking questions now — Ask Mark Zuckerberg Anything During His First Public “Community Q&A” On Facebook Nov 6 — Most people have a burning question to ask about Facebook, whether they're one of its 1.35 billion users or not.

More: Mark Zuckerberg, Engadget, Computerworld, Q&A with Mark, The Technology Chronicles, Electronista, Marketing Land, The Next Web and The Verge

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

Alphaworks, The Equity Crowdfunding Platform From Betaworks, Brings On Erin Glenn As CEO — Today the folks at Alphaworks, the equity crowd-funding platform branched out of betaworks, are announcing leadership changes, with Erin Glenn taking the lead as CEO.

More: betaworks and Crowdfund Insider

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

IDC: Tablet shipments grew 11.5% in Q3 2014, but leaders Apple, Samsung, and Asus all lost market share — The tablet market continues to grow, albeit not as quickly as before. Q4 2013 saw 53.8 million units ship worldwide, up 11.5 percent from 47.6 million the same quarter last year.

More: TechCrunch, BetaNews, ZDNet and The Digital Reader

Roberto Baldwin / The Next Web:

Smule's karaoke app update now lets you make music videos with friends — Karaoke is experiencing a rise in popularity. As a society, we've seen that singing in public, both on TV and YouTube, isn't as weird as our parents led us to believe. In fact, it could lead to to fame and riches.

More: VentureBeat and 9to5Mac

RT:

Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg found guilty in Denmark on charges that he illegally accessed Danish social security numbers — ‘Largest hacking case’: Pirate Bay founder and his accomplice found guilty in Denmark — The founder of the Pirate Bay torrent site has been found guilty in …

More: TorrentFreak, The Local, Gizmodo, Wired, The Register, International Business Times, Mashable, Newsweek, RIA Novosti, SC Magazine, Capital OTC, PC World and Electronista

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Kamcord gameplay recording platform gets into mobile gaming competitions starting with SEGA — Kamcord, the mobile gameplay recording platform that offers developers an easy way to implement cross-platform gameplay recording and sharing features, is today announcing its next big push in mobile gaming: competitions.

More: Tech in Asia, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, e27, Business Insider and Inside Mobile Apps

Aldrin Calimlim / App Advice:

Any.do adds premium plan with unlimited file attachments sizes for $5/month or $45/year — Popular to-do app Any.do goes 2.0 with new collaboration and note-taking features — Nearly two years and five months after its launch on iOS, the popular to-do app Any.do has just been updated to version 2.0.

More: The Next Web, Gigaom, Examiner, Android Police, 9to5Mac, AndroidHeadlines.com, Engadget, The Verge, Droid Life, Inside Mobile Apps and TechCrunch

Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:

Google Play Books improves non-fiction reading with “Skim” mode, “Quick bookmarks” tool, and notes browsing — Google Play Books Updated To Make It A Better eReader For Students, Chefs, And Others Who Read Huge Books — Most eReader apps tend to be built …

More: Official Android Blog, Gigaom, The Verge, VentureBeat, Engadget and 9to5Google

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