Techmeme: Amazon Echo update adds Pandora, iTunes, and Spotify voice control (James Kendrick/ZDNet)

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January 31, 2015, 5:45 PM

Top News

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

The Pirate Bay is now back online after December 9th raid by Swedish police — The Pirate Bay Is Back Online! — Early December The Pirate Bay was raided at the Nacka station, a nuclear-proof data center built into a mountain complex near Stockholm. — After being down for two weeks …

More: PC Magazine, CNET, Gizmodo, Engadget, Digital Trends, Business Insider, The Next Web, TechSpot, BetaNews, Neowin, VentureBeat, SlashGear, The Verge, Mashable, The Daily Dot, Gizmodo UK and Polygon. Tweets: @mathewi

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Newsweek's cover sexualizes and degrades women in tech, perpetuating the problems its article denounces — What (Some) Silicon Valley Women Think Of Newsweek — I have thoughts on this Newsweek article. — Tech has some issues. You read trade pub stories about sexual harassment and assault allegations so often its absurd.

James Kendrick / ZDNet:

Amazon Echo update adds Pandora, iTunes, and Spotify voice control — Summary:Alexa, Amazon's two-pound assistant in the room, now does more with music services, improves speed and accuracy. — The Amazon Echo that I found to be a perfect 10 just got even better, as an update adds useful new features and improvements.

More: PC World, Re/code, GeekWire and App Advice. Thanks:@jkendrick

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Netherlands to extradite Russian hacker Vladimir Drinkman to US for his involvement in hacking ring blamed for $300M+ in losses — For alleged Russian hacker, a visit to Amsterdam is a costly trip — At noon on June 28, 2012, Vladimir Drinkman, targeted as one of America's most wanted cybercriminals …

More: Ars Technica, Guardian, Bloomberg Business, CIO Today and SC Magazine

Josh Lowensohn / The Verge:

Dropcam CEO leaves Nest; founding VP of technology goes to Twitter — Two high-level employees at Nest have departed the company this week, The Verge has learned. Sources say that Nest's vice president of technology Yoky Matsuoka, as well as Greg Duffy who co-founded Dropcam, are no longer with the company.

More: TechCrunch, GeekWire, CNET, Electronista, 9to5Google and Engadget. Tweets: @gduffy

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

BT plans to provide 500Mbps broadband to most UK homes by 2025, deployment to start 2016 — U.K. Telco BT Sets Out ‘500Mbps’ Broadband Plan By 2025 — As the U.K.'s political parties sweat their policy wonks to come up with voter-friendly manifestos ahead of the General Election in May …

More: CircleID, BT Plc, Mashable, Ubergizmo and PC World

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Twitter founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams unite to defend CEO Dick Costolo from activist shareholders — Could Activist Investors Take Aim at Twitter's Costolo? It's a Good Question. — Two weeks ago at a “tea time” at Twitter, co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams …

More: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, bizjournals, The Next Web, Mercury News and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @jack and @jack

Amit Chowdhry / Forbes:

Google Earth Pro now available for free, down from $399 a year — Google Earth Pro Is Now Available For Free — Today Google has announced that Google Earth Pro is now available for free. Google Earth Pro used to cost $399 per year. Google Earth is a geospatial software application …

More: Google LatLong, TechnoBuffalo, BGR, TechCrunch, Techaeris, Tech Times, SlashGear, BetaNews, Engadget, Droid Life, Android Central, 9to5Google and Google Earth Blog

Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:

FCC adopts rules to improve indoor location accuracy for wireless 911 calls — The FCC voted unanimously to adopt new rules are intended to help improve how first responders locate people who dial 911 on their wireless phones from indoor locations, including in multi-story buildings.

More: Newsweek, FedScoop, Urgent Communications, Washington Post and The Hill

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

Google says strong net neutrality rules won't affect its investment in Fiber, opposing stance of Comcast, Verizon, others — Google: Strong net neutrality rules won't hurt the future rollout of Google Fiber — After announcing a major expansion of its high-speed Internet service …

More: Techdirt and BGR. Tweets: @karlbode and @alexisohanian

Shreyas Gandhe / Neowin:

Windows 10 for Enterprise will not be a free upgrade, will offer a servicing plan that excludes feature updates to increase stability — Windows 10 for Enterprise is not free in the first year and other changes announced — Businesses switching to Windows 10 for Enterprise won't be getting …

More: Windows For Your Business, Computerworld, The Register, The Next Web and CIO.com

Rex Santus / Mashable:

You can now order Postmates delivery from your web browser — Unlike, say, food delivery services like Seamless or Peapod, Postmates delivers almost everything, from a slice of pizza to an iPhone case or a medical prescription. — A user can order an item if it's in stock at participating stores …

More: TechCrunch, VentureBeat and The Next Web

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