Techmeme: Microsoft updates Bing homepage with HD backgrounds, image captions, and new Office Online menu (Emil Protalinski/VentureBeat)

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November 20, 2014, 3:20 PM

Top News

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Google launches Contributor, a crowdfunding tool for publishers — Google is launching a new service for websites called Contributor, which allows users to sign up and pay anywhere from $1 to $3 a month to sites that they visit frequently. In return for contributing, they won't see any Google ads on those sites

More: Gizmodo, Engadget, 9to5Google, The Next Web and ECPM BLOG. Thanks:@mathewi. See also Mediagazer

Al Franken:

Sen. Al Franken asks Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for answers on privacy, God view tool, discipline for Emil Michael, and tracking journalists — Dear Mr Kalanick: — I am writing in regard to reports of recent comments and actions by top Uber executives concerning journalists.

More: StrictlyVC, SiliconBeat, Re/code, The Hill, TechPresident, Haywire, ReadWrite, Business Insider, TechSpot, Street Fight, Washington Post, TechCrunch, PandoDaily, Mashable, Business Insider and Bloomberg Politics

Tweets: @dannysullivan and @declanm

See also Mediagazer

Napier Lopez / The Next Web:

Uber hires former IBM Chief Privacy Officer to carry out internal review — From controversial statements from executives to concerns over its users' data privacy, it's been a rough week for Uber. — It's now trying to do some damage control. The company announced today that it has hired …

More: Fortune, The Verge and ZDNet

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Corning's Gorilla Glass 4 aims to protect your phone from deadly drops — It's unlikely we'll see a truly impervious smartphone screen anytime soon, but Corning says it's getting us closer. Today the company is announcing Gorilla Glass 4, the latest revision of its signature cover glass.

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Billboard Top 200 album chart will incorporate streaming data starting Dec. 3 from services including Spotify, Beats Music, Google Play, Xbox Music — Billboard, Changing the Charts, Will Count Streaming Services — Streaming music services like Spotify have brought big changes to the music industry.

More: Billboard, 9to5Google, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, ParisLemon, The Verge, App Advice, Forbes, Fortune, VatorNews, Business Insider and WebProNews. See also Mediagazer

Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:

iOS 8.1.1, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2: A little faster, kind of, sometimes — It took a lot of work to find the promised performance and stability improvements in iOS 8.1.1 for Apple A5 devices like the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the iPad Mini, and the iPod Touch. — Andrew Cunningham

More: BGR, MacRumors and iPhone in Canada Blog

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Exodus of revived Valleywag's original team complete as Nitasha Tiku heads to The Verge to bolster Silicon Valley coverage — Valleywag Lead Editor Nitasha Tiku Joins The Verge — Less than one month ago, Nitasha Tiku was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Gawker's tech lifestyle section, Valleywag, in place of Sam Biddle.

More: FishbowlNY and Poynter. Tweets: @nicknotned, @nitashatiku and @nitashatiku. See also Mediagazer

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Former Fake Steve Jobs and HubSpot content marketer Dan Lyons to head up Valleywag in January

Tweets: @stevekovach, @edbott, @jyarow, @fromedome, @nichcarlson and @glennf. See also Mediagazer

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Dropbox's Carousel photo software comes to iPads and the web — In April, Dropbox launched Carousel, a standalone app for storing and managing photos and videos on your phone. Designed as a single place to view your life's memories, until now Carousel has only been available for the smallest screen in your life.

More: The Next Web, 9to5Mac, iMore, Engadget and Gizmodo. Tweets: @mattlynley

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Netflix takes up 9.5% of upstream traffic on the North American Internet — ACK packets make Netflix an upload monster during peak viewing hours. — We've written a lot about how Netflix takes up a gigantic share of Internet traffic. During peak viewing hours, Netflix accounts …

More: Sandvine, Re/code, VideoNuze Analysis, Variety, CNET, Light Reading, The Huffington Post, TIME and DSLreports. Tweets: @chairmanpowell. Thanks:@srikardr. See also Mediagazer

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Amnesty International, EFF, Privacy International release an open source spyware detection tool for Windows — Amnesty, EFF, Privacy International Put Out Free Anti-Surveillance Tool — Resistance is digital. Human rights charity Amnesty International is one of several organizations behind …

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Default search engine for Firefox in Europe remains Google, Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China — Mozilla CEO: It Wasn't Money — Yahoo Was The Better Strategic Partner For Firefox — Mozilla CEO Chris Beard says when presented with deals of “equivalent economics” to power search in Firefox, Yahoo was the better partner.

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Firefox drops Google as default search engine, signs five-year deal with Yahoo

More: The Mozilla Blog, Computerworld, eWeek, Search Engine Watch, ZDNet, InvestorPlace, Search Engine Roundtable, Slate, ReadWrite, gHacks Technology News, TechCrunch and The Next Web

Tweets: @dangillmor and @dannysullivan

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Square Register, Sans Payments And Hardware, Now Works Globally On Android And iOS — Last week, when Square started pre-orders for new chip-based card-reading hardware to upgrade its older mag-stripe readers, we noted that it seemed only a matter of time before the company would finally turn …

More: Town Square, CNET, The Verge, The Next Web, Engadget and iMore. Tweets: @ingridlunden. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:

Foxconn will spend $2.6B to build dedicated Apple display plant in Taiwan — Foxconn to Build Dedicated Apple Display Plant in Taiwan — Foxconn Technology Group will spend NT$80 billion ($2.6 billion) over the next two years on a new factory in Taiwan to supply displays exclusively for a client.

More: MacRumors, Pocketnow, TodaysiPhone.com, Bidness Etc, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, iClarified, iMore, Electronista, Cult of Mac, Patently Apple, AppleInsider and iDownloadBlog.com. Thanks:@srikardr

Roberto Baldwin / The Next Web:

The Basis Peak can now share heart rate data with 3rd-party apps, notifications from phone coming in December — The Basis Peak's heart rate monitor now works with third-party apps — The Basis Peak doesn't try to replicate a smartphone on your wrist. Instead, it's meant mainly for fitness and sleep tracking.

More: TechCrunch, CNET, Engadget, Re/code and Electronista

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Microsoft updates Bing homepage with HD backgrounds, image captions, and new Office Online menu — Microsoft today updated the Bing homepage with high-definition backgrounds, image captions, and a new Office Online menu. Unlike other Bing rollouts, this one isn't gradual: The new features are available worldwide today.

More: Search Blog, Search Engine Land, The Next Web, WinBeta, WebProNews and The Fire Hose

Kia Kokalitcheva / VentureBeat:

Amid Uber controversy, taxi-hailing app Flywheel raises $12M, adds new management — At the end of Uber's first full day of PR wreckage on Tuesday, one of my bosses announced she was downloading taxi-hailing app Flywheel and deleting Uber's app — like many have tweeted they have done.

More: TechCrunch, Wired, Macworld, GeekWire, TIME, CNBC, CNNMoney.com, Forbes, Network World, Inc.com, Mashable and San Francisco Examiner …

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:

Washington Post launches twice-daily tablet editions on Amazon Fire app — The Washington Post tablet app for Kindle Fire is a highly visual news experience aimed at a national and international readership. It offers two editions a day, as well as updates for breaking news. (The Washington Post)

More: Amazon.com, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, blogs.ft.com, Engadget, The Next Web, CNNMoney.com, Fast Company, bizjournals, PandoDaily, Gizmodo, CNET, GeekWire, Mashable, Gigaom and Poynter. See also Mediagazer

Martin Beck / Marketing Land:

Forrester: brands should invest more on their own websites, and Instagram or Pinterest, instead of Facebook and Twitter — Forrester Says Marketers Are Wasting Resources on Facebook, Twitter — Because of low reach and engagement on the major social networks, report suggests that brands …

More: Wall Street Journal, ITBusiness.ca, Business Insider, Marketing Pilgrim, Search Engine Land and Forrester Research. Tweets: @r

Husain Sumra / MacRumors:

Sony Drops Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs Movie, Universal May Take Over — Despite Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs movie being in the casting process and moving towards full fledged production, Sony Pictures has dropped the movie and put it “in turnaround”, which allows another large studio to purchase the movie and take over, reports Deadline.

More: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Fortune, CBS News, BBC, Fast Company, USA Today, Wired.co.uk, WebProNews, TechnoBuffalo, The Next Web, MacDailyNews, AppleInsider, Gizmodo and O'Grady's PowerPage

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