Techmeme: Despite recent advances by HoloLens and Magic Leap, miniaturization of components is essential for commercializing augmented reality tech (Rachel Metz/MIT Technology Review)

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March 22, 2015, 8:05 PM

Top News

David Ruddock / Android Police:

New “On-Body Detection” Smart Lock Mode In Android Seems To Be Hitting Some Devices — If a tipster's screenshots are to be believed (and I think in this case, they are to be believed), Google is testing and / or rolling out a new smart lock mode called on-body detection.

More: Electronista, TechCrunch, Thai Tech, The Register, AndroidOS.in, PC Magazine, 9to5Google, The Verge, Engadget, SlashGear, CNET, Android Authority, Digital Trends, GSMArena Blog, Ubergizmo, PC World, PhoneDog.com and Pocketnow

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Critics say CISA won't boost security, will allow private companies to share more user data with government — CISA Security Bill: An F for Security But an A+ for Spying — When the Senate Intelligence Committee passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act by a vote of 14 to 1 …

More: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Techdirt, SocialTimes, RT, The Hill, The Hill, Guardian, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, SC Magazine and National Journal

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

How Life360 prevailed in court after its CEO sent “Dear Piece of S**t” letter to AGIS, a company suing them for patent infringement — How Life360 won its patent war — Jury saw CEO's “Dear piece of s**t” letter to his “patent troll”—and understood.

More: Techdirt

TechCrunch:

Kleiner defense rests its case, and judge rules Ellen Pao may indeed seek punitive damages — Pao Vs. Kleiner Defense Rests Its Case, Showcasing A Different Side Of The Story — Yesterday afternoon, the legal team representing venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers rested …

More: Re/code, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Re/code, Reuters, Business Insider, ABC News, bizjournals, VentureBeat and Business Insider

Rachel Metz / MIT Technology Review:

Despite recent advances by HoloLens and Magic Leap, miniaturization of components is essential for commercializing augmented reality tech — Reality Check: Comparing HoloLens and Magic Leap — I've seen two competing visions for a future in which virtual objects are merged seamlessly with the real world.

More: Fast Company, The Mary Sue, TIME and Guardian. Tweets: @genebecker

Ellen Huet / Forbes:

Newly merged Kuaidi-Didi reportedly controls 99% of Chinese taxi-hailing market, claims 6M rides per day, putting Uber's future in China at risk — In Wake Of Kuaidi-Didi Merger, Uber Faces An Even Tougher Battle In China — During the Lunar New Year in China, taxi-hailing app Kuaidi showered its riders with red envelopes.

Tweets: @stefan_heck, @chen_liyan and @ellenhuet

The Economic Times:

Ola, Indian rival of Uber, launches food delivery service, is raising $500M round at an estimated $2B valuation

More: The Tech Portal, Tech in Asia, TechCrunch, The Next Web, MediaNama, Trak.in and VatorNews

Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:

Broadwell 13" Macbook Pro and Air reviewed: good specs for price and size, marginal difference in speed, display on Air is inferior to similarly priced laptops — 13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air? — Review: The 2015 Broadwell refreshes are similar, but not identical.

More: Ars Technica, Gizmag Emerging …, AppleInsider and TechCrunch

Startup L. Jackson / Startups and S**t:

Advice for raising seed in a feeding frenzy: anticipate your A round, raise what you need, and hire VCs like employees — An Open Letter to YC Founders on Demo Day Eve — It's YC fundraising season and the perennial discussion about valuations has begun. It's frankly kinda tired.

Tweets: @jess, @trengriffin, @cynthiaschames, @abrams, @mdudas, @cdixon, @mgsiegler and @semil

Financial Times:

Universal pushes Spotify to add limits to its free tier during licensing negotiations — Universal takes on Spotify freemium model — The “freemium” model used by Spotify to amass 60m users and 15m paying subscribers around the world is facing a new challenge just months …

More: Rolling Stone, The Verge, Engadget, Thai Tech, IBNLive, Digital Trends, Ubergizmo, Telegraph and VentureBeat. Tweets: @mgsiegler

Lizzie Plaugic / The Verge:

Former Twitter employee files class action lawsuit for gender discrimination, says company's hiring and promotion processes favor men — Twitter is facing a class action lawsuit for gender discrimination — A former software engineer says the company's promotion process favors men

More: Mashable, Reuters, TIME, PandoDaily, Courthouse News Service, TechCrunch, CNET, SlashGear and Mercury News. Tweets: @brycecovert

Kyle VanHemert / Wired:

Apple's new haptic trackpad suggests a future in which we won't just see interfaces but also feel them — Apple's Haptic Tech Makes Way for Tomorrow's Touchable UIs — If you're into magic tricks, stop by an Apple Store and park yourself in front of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro.

More: 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, MacRumors, iDownloadBlog.com and The Loop. Tweets: @wired_design

Horace Dediu / Asymco:

Market saturation, rising monthly fees, lack of innovation, and broadband expansion make cable TV's decline inevitable in the US — Peak Cable — Paying for TV has been a curious consumer phenomenon. There was a time when TV was free to consumers. It was delivered as a broadcast …

More: Mashable, Beyond Search and TechCrunch

Tweets: @jayrosen_nyu, @jonsteinberg, @caseynewton, @michaelpinto and @themurdochtimes

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