Techmeme: How Firefox OS for mobile devices got started, developed carrier and vendor partnerships, and then was blindsided by cheap Android phones (George Anders/MIT Technology Review)

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May 25, 2015, 10:40 PM

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Stephen Fry / Telegraph:

Jony Ive talks about his new role as Apple's chief design officer as he relinquishes day-to-day management duties to Richard Howarth and Alan Dye — When Stephen Fry met Jony Ive: the self-confessed tech geek talks to Apple's newly promoted chief design officer

Mike Beasley / 9to5Mac:

Tim Cook memo: Jony Ive to remain responsible for overall design, Alan Dye moves to VP of UI design, Richard Howarth to VP of industrial design, starting July 1 — Jony Ive promoted to ‘Chief Design Officer,’ handing off managerial duties July 1st [Tim Cook Memo] — Alan Dye, Jony Ive, and Richard Howarth

More: TIME, The Verge, Fone Arena, Redmond Pie, iDownloadBlog.com, Pocketnow and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @harrymccracken, @mattgarrahan, @reckless, @markgurman and @dangillmor

Bloomberg Business:

Sources: Charter may announce it is buying Time Warner Cable for $55.1B tomorrow, Bright House Networks will also be merged into the combined company — Charter Near Deal for Time Warner Cable at $195 a Share — Charter Communications Inc. is near an agreement to buy Time Warner Cable Inc …

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Sources: Twitter has held talks to acquire Flipboard in an all-stock deal valued at over $1B, but talks are now stalled — Twitter Has Held Talks to Acquire Flipboard — Twitter has been engaged in an ongoing series of talks to acquire Flipboard, according to multiple sources with knowledge …

More: The Next Web, SiliconANGLE, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Ubergizmo and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @sbermo, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @rafat and @stephenhall_

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Liam Spradlin / Android Police:

An exclusive early look at the new standalone Google Photos app on Android — An Exclusive Early Look At The New Google Photos App — We've been hearing for a very long time - virtually ever since Vic Gundotra left Google+, with more rumors springing up recently - that Photos …

More: The Next Web, TechSpot, BGR, Pocketnow, 9to5Google, Tech Times, SlashGear, VentureBeat, TechnoBuffalo, Digital Trends, Fone Arena, Android and Me, MobileSyrup.com, Ubergizmo, PhoneDog.com and Engadget. Tweets: @chrismlacy

Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:

What could launch at Google I/O 2015: Android M, Chromecast 2, standalone photos product, more — Google Tracker 2015 (I/O edition): Android M, Chromecast 2, and lots more — SPOILER ALERT! We recap upcoming Google projects that could launch at I/O 2015.

More: Ubergizmo, Business Insider and BGR. Tweets: @chrismlacy

Juliette Garside / Guardian:

Philip Zimmermann moves his mobile encryption startup Silent Circle from US to Switzerland to avoid surveillance — Philip Zimmermann: king of encryption reveals his fears for privacy — The creator of PGP has moved his mobile-encryption firm Silent Circle to Switzerland to be free of US mass surveillance.

Tweets: @privacyprof, @alex, @codinghorror, @dtunkelang, @vmosco, @hivecomm and @adamhrv

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Instagram sends “Highlights” email digests to re-engage users, its first promotional emails — An Aging Instagram Tries To Win Us Back With Email “Highlights” — Four and a half years is a lot of pretty pictures. Instagram isn't as young as it used to be, and it doesn't want long-time users to slip away from its app.

More: Telegraph, Guardian, SlashGear, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, Fone Arena, MobileSyrup.com, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, Ubergizmo, Engadget, PC Magazine and The Next Web. Tweets: @joshconstine

Ryan Whitwam / Android Police:

Source: 5.2" LG Angler and 5.7" Huawei Bullhead Nexus phones coming this year, no new tablet — [Rumor] No Nexus Tablet In 2015, But Two Phones—A 5.2-Inch LG (Code Name Angler) And A 5.7-Inch Huawei (Code Name Bullhead) — The Nexus 6 was a break from the past for the Nexus program …

More: PhoneDog.com, Ausdroid, Android and Me, Fone Arena, Ubergizmo, Phones Review, MobileSyrup.com and Pocketnow

Chance Miller / 9to5Google:

Google Hangouts Chrome app updated w/ redesigned interface, OS X support — Google today updated its Hangouts Chrome app with an entirely new interface. Perhaps more notably than that, the app has support for Mac OS X users in addition to the trio of Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.

More: Bidness Etc, Android Authority, Mayur Kamat, Droid Life, TechSpot, The Next Web, Android Police and Lifehacker

Stacey Higginbotham / Fortune:

Alarm.com, a security and home automation cloud service provider with 2.3M customers, files for $75M IPO — Alarm.com files to raise $75 million through initial public offering — Security and home automation company Alarm.com, riding the interest in the smart home …

More: RTTNews, Greentech Media, Wall Street Journal and Seeking Alpha

George Anders / MIT Technology Review:

How Firefox OS for mobile devices got started, developed carrier and vendor partnerships, and then was blindsided by cheap Android phones — Firefox Maker Battles to Save the Internet—and Itself — Mozilla helped an open Web flourish in the 2000s. Now it's struggling to play a meaningful role on mobile devices.

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