Techmeme
March 25, 2015, 1:40 AM

Top News

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple Acquires Durable Database Company FoundationDB  —  Apple has acquired FoundationDB, a company that specializes in speedy, durable NoSQL databases, TechCrunch has learned.  —  A notice on the FoundationDB site notes that it's no longer offering downloads of its database software.
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Google is working on a project that lets users receive and pay bills with debit or credit cards from Inbox app and Gmail, to debut in fourth quarter  —  Google Working on Project to Let You Receive and Pay Bills Directly Inside Gmail  —  Google's mission to organize the world's information is now targeting your physical mailbox.
Sam Altman:
Y Combinator's Sam Altman rebuts talk of bubble with a public wager that three tech portfolios will appreciate sharply by 2020  —  Bubble talk  —  I'm tired of reading about investors and journalists claiming there's a bubble in tech.  I understand that it's fun to do and easy press, but it's boring reading.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple Watch sales training encourages employees to build trust with customers, so they can serve as fashion advisors during sale  —  Apple's sales overhaul for Apple Watch will focus on building trust, offering fashion views, upselling bands  —  The job of Apple Retail Store employees will begin changing in profound ways next month.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Ars Technica obtains the Oakland Police Department's database of 4.6M license plate scans through a public records request  —  We know where you've been: Ars acquires 4.6M license plate scans from the cops  —  One citizen demands: “Do you know why Oakland is spying on me and my wife?”
David Morgan / Reuters:
Amazon blasts FAA for slowness on drone regulation, claims its recently cleared drone is already obsolete  —  Amazon blasts U.S. FAA for slowness on drone regulation  —  (Reuters) - E-commerce power Amazon.com blasted federal regulators on Tuesday for being slow to approve commercial drone testing …
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Google and Twitter veteran Jason Goldman heads to White House as first-ever chief digital officer  —  Barack Obama names two new top aides  —  Murray is currently Vice President Joe Biden's deputy chief of staff and communications director; Jason Goldman will take over and expand the White House's digital outreach.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft tweaks browser strategy for Windows 10: Spartan will include Edge rendering engine, while IE 11 will include Trident  —  Microsoft to make rendering engine changes with Spartan, IE in Windows 10  —  Summary:Microsoft is tweaking its browser strategy ahead of making ‘Spartan’ available to Windows 10 users.
Rachel King / ZDNet:
Intuit acquires Playbook HR for QuickBooks Online Self-Employed  —  Summary:Intuit is aiming to answer the needs of independent contractors in the “on-demand economy” with a new acquisition.  —  Intuit is honing in on independent contractors with a new acquisition meant to bolster QuickBooks Online Self-Employed software.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Google Fiber announces Salt Lake City expansion, making it the eighth location to get the service  —  Google Fiber expands gigabit service again, plans move to Salt Lake City  —  Five metro areas on track to get Google Fiber; three already have it.  —  Google announced today …
Jamie Condliffe / Gizmodo:
Xiaomi's New Mi TV 2: A 40-Inch Android-Powered Smart TV for $320  —  Xiaomi's onslaught of affordable technology continues.  The Chinese company has today launched its new 40-inch Mi TV 2: a powerful smart TV running an Android-based OS that will sell for $320.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook introduces On This Day, a Timehop-like page that shows you posts, photos, other content that happened on this day in the past, offers notifications  —  Facebook's Timehop Clone “On This Day” Shows You Your Posts From Years Ago  —  Facebook's experimented with ways to surface old Memories since 2010.
Chris Dixon / cdixon blog:
London-based distributed computing firm Improbable raises $20M from a16z, develops large-scale simulated worlds  —  Improbable: enabling the development of large-scale simulated worlds  —  Over the past decade, computing resources that were previously available only to large organizations became available to almost anyone.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Get your favorite apps talking to Zoho Sign with Zapier  —  Your business didn't come together overnight.  It's something you've built, refined, and fine-tuned over time.  Every tool you use has a purpose …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:40 AM ET, March 25, 2015.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google: