Techmeme
January 21, 2015, 1:25 PM

Top News

Microsoft:
Livestream: Microsoft Windows 10 media event in Redmond, Washington  —  Windows 10: Briefing  —  Join us right here on January 21 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time to learn about the next chapter for Windows 10.
The Verge:
Live blog: Microsoft unveils Windows 10  —  Live from Microsoft's Windows 10 event  —  4:08:56 PM PST Microsoft will be streaming the event, so follow along as you read Tom Warren right here!  12:26:20 PM PST Hey there!  We'll be live from Seattle on January 21st, beginning at 9AM PT / 12PM ET.
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Windows 10 will be free for the first year for Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 users  —  Microsoft will offer free Windows 10 upgrades from Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 7 for one year  —  REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft will be providing some Windows users with free upgrades …
Nicole Lee / Engadget:
Microsoft Cortana virtual assistant is coming to the PC with Windows 10  —  One of the most identifying characteristics of Windows Phone is Cortana, Microsoft's version of a virtual assistant that's reminiscent of Apple's Siri and Google Now.  Now, however, the software giant is bringing …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Samsung to drop Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and use its own chip in next Galaxy smartphone  —  Samsung Said to Drop Qualcomm Chip From Next Galaxy Smartphone  —  Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will use its own microprocessors in the next version of the Galaxy S smartphone …
Stuart Dredge / Guardian:
Apple acquires UK startup Semetric, which runs music analytics service Musicmetric  —  Apple buys the British startup behind music analytics service Musicmetric  —  Company helps record labels track digital sales, streams and social stats, and could become part of Beats Music relaunch
Steven Musil / CNET:
Amazon ends its mobile-wallet beta six months after launch  —  Amazon to fold its mobile-wallet app beta on Wednesday  —  The closure comes amid rocky efforts by tech companies to expand into the financial industry.  —  Amazon will pull the plug on its Amazon Wallet beta on Wednesday …
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Dropbox acquires Israel-based CloudOn, a developer of mobile productivity tools  —  Dropbox Dips Into Israel With CloudOn Buy  —  Acquisitive tech startup Dropbox just gobbled up another young app maker to bolster its European expansion.  —  The cloud-storage provider on Tuesday closed …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
FreedomPop launches unlimited WiFi with 10M hotspots across US for $5/month  —  FreedomPop Turns On Unlimited Wi-Fi Across The US For $5/Month  —  FreedomPop, the startup that is trying to steal users away from mobile carriers by offering free, basic cellular voice and data plans …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Pinterest Acquires Machine Learning Commerce Recommendation Engine Kosei  —  Facebook knows who you were.  Google knows what you want now.  But Pinterest yearns to know what you want next, which is “exactly” why it acquired recommendation engine startup Kosei, Pinterest's head of engineering Michael Lopp tells me.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Vessel Signs More YouTube Stars to Subscription Service, Launches Limited Beta Test  —  Vessel, the digital subscription-video startup founded by ex-Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, has signed more than a dozen YouTube stars and other partners to its service as it opens up the service in an invitation-only beta test.
Bloomberg:
Apple Steps Up Lobbying in Washington to Counter Government Scrutiny  —  Tim Cook recently traveled to an unfamiliar destination for an Apple Inc. (AAPL) chief executive officer: The U.S. Capitol.  —  During the trip last month, Cook posed for a photo with Senator Orrin Hatch …
Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:
Users of 3rd-party WhatsApp clients reportedly being banned from the service for 24 hours  —  WhatsApp is one of the most-used messaging apps in existence, and today countless users of the service have taken to Google+ and Twitter to report that they're being banned from the service for 24 hours.
Cooper Quintin / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
HealthCare.gov Sends Personal Data to Dozens of Tracking Websites  —  The Associated Press reports that healthcare.gov-the flagship site of the Affordable Care Act, where millions of Americans have signed up to receive health care-is quietly sending personal health information to a number of third party websites.
More: Engadget, Gigaom and SlashGear
Tweets: @superglaze and @yuris
Alan Yuhas / Guardian:
White House breaks own State of the Union embargo for online audience  —  Obama administration posts full text of president's speech before its own media embargo in unprecedented decision targeting internet-savvy readers  —  The White House posted the entire text of President Obama's 2015 State …

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