Techmeme
April 14, 2015, 3:50 PM

Top News

Apple:
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference Kicks Off June 8 at San Francisco's Moscone West  —  Developers Can Apply for Tickets Now & Millions Worldwide Can Watch Sessions Streamed Live  —  Apple® today announced that it will hold its 26th annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) …
Roger Fingas / AppleInsider:
Apple bans selfie sticks, monopods from WWDC 2015  —  In an update to the rules for Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple is banning 2015 attendees from using selfie sticks or any other kind of photo monopod within the bounds of either Moscone West or Yerba Buena Gardens.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Hands-on with Apple's all-new Music app in iOS 8.4 beta  —  Hands-on: Apple's all-new Music app in iOS 8.4  —  With the release of the first developer beta of iOS 8.4 this evening, Apple gave us the first look at the oft-rumored redesign of the Music app.
More: TIME
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google Play's New Program “Designed For Families” Will Highlight Pre-Approved, Kid-Safe Apps  —  Google today announced a new developer program called “Designed For Families” which will allow app publishers to opt into an additional review in order have their apps labeled as being “family-friendly.”
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Skype For Business Begins Rolling Out Publicly Today  —  Microsoft's “Skype for Business,” which is designed to replace the company's older enterprise communication tool Lync, is rolling out publicly today as part of the Office 2013 April update, the company announced this morning.
Rexly Peñaflorida / Tom's Hardware Guide:
Opera launches redesigned Mini browser for Android, hopes to grow user base to 275M by 2017  —  Opera Mini Update Sports New Look And Features  —  The Opera Mini browser is one of Opera's three browsers for mobile devices.  Compared to the regular Opera mobile browser and Opera Coast for iOS …
Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:
IHS report: Verizon 64GB Galaxy S6 Edge costs about $290 to build, more than Apple's iPhones, and $34 more than Galaxy S5  —  Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge Is More Expensive to Build Than Apple's iPhones  —  Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6 Edge, is the most costly yet to build and assemble …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Chrome 42 launches with push notifications that sites can send even after users close the page  —  Google today launched Chrome 42 for Windows, Mac, and Linux with new developer tools.  You can update to the latest version now using the browser's built-in silent updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome.
Manish Singh / BetaNews:
OnePlus One gets Cyanogen 12 software update, Yu Yureka to receive it soon  —  The OnePlus One smartphone has finally started to receive the Cyanogen software update.  On a blogpost, the software maker announces that the OnePlus One handset is the first smartphone to snag the Cyanogen update.
Will Oremus / Slate:
A look at Twitter's homepage redesign, arriving in a few days, which caters to logged out visitors by organizing top tweets by category  —  Twitter for the Masses  —  For non-tweeters, the social network can feel clubby and confusing.  Can its new home page change that?  —  Twitter.com is a barren wasteland.
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
A closer look at the rather rough and not yet ready Windows 10 for phones  —  The new build has a ton of apps and a ton of promise, but feels a long way from done.  —  Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones took a big step forward today with the public release of build 10051.
More: PCWorldTweets: @drpizza
Nokia:
Nokia confirms it is in advanced discussions to acquire Alcatel-Lucent  —  Statement regarding Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent media speculation  —  In relation to recent media speculation Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent confirm that they are in advanced discussions with respect to a potential full combination …
Kurt Wagner / Re/code:
Snapchat Is No Longer Selling Its Original Ad Unit, Brand Stories  —  Snapchat is making a few tweaks to its six-month-old ad business.  —  The company has stopped selling Brand Stories, the first type of ad it released last fall, according to multiple people familiar with the move.
Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:
Rakuten Is Looking To Acquire PopSugar For $580 Million  —  We've heard PopSugar is the latest online content company that Japanese conglomerate Rakuten is about to snap up.  These things could always fall apart, but should the deal go through, we're told it will happen in the next couple …
More: Fortune and AdExchangerTweets: @serkantoto
Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:
Foursquare unveils Pinpoint to show you ads based on where you've been  —  Today Foursquare raised the curtain on Pinpoint, a new advertising platform that will enable brands to target Foursquare users (and even non-Foursquare users) based on where they've been.  —  The platform isn't limited to Foursquare's apps, however.
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
Path launches Kong, an app for creating and sharing animated selfies, on iOS and Android  —  Path's New App Kong Is A Selfie GIF Creation Machine  —  Most people know Dave Morin's Path for its eponymous social networking app, which sought to create a more intimate place for mobile users to share with their closest friends.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Chinese streaming video service Letv announces its Le Superphone smartphone is headed for the US, in a profoundly unconvincing pitch  —  After comparing Apple to Hitler, Chinese company reveals Le Superphone  —  Two weeks ago, to build buzz for the Android smartphone it announced today, Chinese tech company Letv turned to Hitler.
Michael Wursthorn / Wall Street Journal:
Etsy to let its vendors buy up to $2.5K worth of stock at IPO expected to price on Wednesday  —  Etsy Vendors to Get a Piece of IPO  —  Online marketplace sets aside 5% of planned public offering  —  Jeni Sandberg usually deals in vintage and collectible items, not in hot new stocks.

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Pranav Dixit / Hindustan Times: