Techmeme: Default search engine for Firefox in Europe remains Google, Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China (Danny Sullivan/Marketing Land)

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November 20, 2014, 2:00 PM

Top News

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.

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: Uber Blog, The Verge and Re/code

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.

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, Engadget, iMore and Gizmodo

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, ParisLemon, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Fortune, App Advice, Forbes, VatorNews, Business Insider, WebProNews, MacStories and TIME. 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 and MacRumors

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: eWeek, Computerworld, Search Engine Watch, ZDNet, Search Engine Roundtable, Slate, ReadWrite, CNET, gHacks Technology News, Ubergizmo, TechCrunch, The Next Web, BetaNews, The Tech Report, 9to5Google and internetnews.com

Tweets: @dangillmor and @dannysullivan

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, DSLreports, The Huffington Post, CNET, Light Reading and TIME. 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 …

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

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

Thanks:@mathewi

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: ZDNet, TechCrunch, Wired, PC World, GeekWire, Inc.com, TIME, CNBC, Forbes, CNNMoney.com, Mashable, San Francisco Examiner … and silicontap.com

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

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. 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, Forrester Research and ECPM BLOG. Tweets: @r

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, blogs.ft.com, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, The Next Web, CNNMoney.com, PandoDaily, CNET, Fast Company, bizjournals, PC Magazine, Gizmodo, GeekWire, Gigaom, Mashable and Poynter. See also Mediagazer

Jackie Dove / The Next Web:

Moleskine launches Adobe Creative Cloud connected Smart Notebook; pre-orders start today for $32.95, ships in December — Moleskine launches Adobe Creative Cloud Connected Smart Notebook targeted to on-the-go designers — Even graphic designers who grew up in the digital age cannot help …

More: TechCrunch, iMore, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, Re/code and SlashGear. See also Mediagazer

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Developers In China Can Now Make Money Via Google Play Apps (But Not In China) — Google has announced that developers based in China can now make money from apps listed on the Google Play Store. The update covers 130 international markets but not China itself, however.

More: Android Developers Blog, The Information, Digital Trends, Inside Mobile Apps, New York Times, SlashGear, Electronista, GamesIndustry.biz, The Next Web, Seeking Alpha, 9to5Google and Tech in Asia

Andrew Grush / Android Authority:

Report: Google hopes to launch Play app store in China, moderating its approach with Beijing

More: Wall Street Journal, Android Police, FierceWireless, Engadget, Android Police and VentureBeat

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