Techmeme
November 21, 2014, 2:00 AM

Top News

Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:
PCH International In Talks To Buy Fab For $15 Million  —  Multiple sources have confirmed that Fab is in talks to sell to PCH International for $15 million in a half cash and half stock deal.  —  Contractual agreements are in the very early stages between the two companies (and these things could always fall apart).
Reuters:
Google, Rockstar agree to settle patent litigation: filing  —  (Reuters) - Google Inc has agreed to settle litigation with patent consortium Rockstar, though terms of the deal were not disclosed in a court filing made public this week.  —  Rockstar, which counts Apple Inc as an investor …
Re/code:
Re/code drops comments on its site, noting that most discussion takes place on social media  —  A Note to Re/code Readers  —  Like all websites, Re/code is in a constant process of iteration.  So, starting today, you'll notice a few changes on our site, and we wanted to let you know about them.
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.
Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon leases 470,000 square-foot, 12-story space in midtown Manhattan for next 17 years  —  Amazon to Lease Entire Manhattan Building, Hinting at Retail Ambitions  —  Amazon.com agreed to lease 470,000 square feet of space in midtown Manhattan from Vornado Realty Trust …
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Uber's Massive Fundraising Drive Forges Ahead Despite Scandal  —  A recent controversy ensnaring Uber doesn't appear to be lessening the company's appeal to investors as it moves forward with plans to raise one of the largest venture-capital funding rounds in history.
More: Business Insider and ReadWrite.  Tweets: @scottthurm
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Former Fake Steve Jobs and HubSpot content marketer Dan Lyons to head up Valleywag in January  —  Dan Lyons Used to be Fake Steve Jobs.  Now He's the Chief Valleywag.  —  Valleywag's chief editor Nitasha Tiku just left for the Verge.  Here's her replacement: Dan Lyons …
Josh Kosman / New York Post:
GoDaddy seeks nearly $4.5B IPO valuation, talks diversifying  —  GoDaddy pitchwoman Danica Patrick.  —  GoDaddy.com is pushing ahead with an initial public offering early next year that would value the world's biggest domain registration service at roughly $4.5 billion, The Post has learned.
More: Fortune and Reuters
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Airbnb Rolls Out Million-Dollar Liability Insurance Program For Hosts  —  Airbnb today announced an additional liability insurance program that will provide U.S. hosts with up to $1 million worth of protection in the case a guest is accidentally injured anywhere in a host's building or on their property during their stay.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Jaunt VR Releases Its First Content With App That Puts You On Stage With Paul McCartney  —  Jaunt wants to give you something to watch on makeshift virtual reality headsets like Google Cardboard, Dodocase, and Mirage.  So today the 360-degree camera and VR production software maker launches …
Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:
Google launches Contributor, a subscription service that lets users contribute to participating sites and turn off Google ads  —  Google launches Contributor, a crowdfunding tool for publishers  —  Google is launching a new service for websites called Contributor, which allows users to sign …
Jeff Barr / Amazon Web Services Blog:
Amazon's enterprise storage and sharing service Zocalo gets iOS, Android apps, 5TB file support  —  Amazon Zocalo Update - Mobile Apps + 5 TB Files  —  I have a couple of pieces of good news for current and potential users of Amazon Zocalo.  Both items are available now and you can start using them today.
More: ZDNet, VentureBeat and InfoQ
Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:
Comcast testing feature to track technicians in real-time; trials begin outside Boston this week, will be rolled out nationally 2015  —  Comcast is testing a way to tell you exactly when the cable guy is coming  —  Comcast is trying out a way to let customers track technicians.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Sean Hollister / Gizmodo:
How Magic Leap Is Secretly Creating a New Alternate Reality  —  Don't you hate it when someone claims to have a magical new technology, but won't tell you how it works?  When I saw that a super stealthy startup called Magic Leap had raised $542 million to make animals appear out of thin air …
More: Turnstyle.  Tweets: @tamsword
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.

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Featured Podcasts

The Upstarts Podcast:
The $1.4B Startup Deciding What You See When You Shop Online | Sequen's Zoë Weil
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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Invest Like the Best:
Zach Reitano - Building Ro and Why Healthcare Should Be 50% of GDP
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
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More News

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
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Earlier Picks

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Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Chris Welch / The Verge: