Techmeme
October 31, 2015, 4:45 PM

Top News

Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:
Google's new invite-only “Who's Down” app for Android and iOS shows which of your friends are free to hang out  —  Google's new 'Who's Down' app shows which of your friends are free to hang out  —  Google has just quietly released a new app on the Play Store, called “Who's Down”.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple plans to start selling the iPad Pro on November 11th  —  Apple plans to start selling the 12.9-inch iPad Pro on Wednesday, November 11th via both its physical retail and online stores, according to multiple sources.  Apple previously only said that the large tablet would become available during …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon to exit daily deals, closing the Amazon Local platform on December 18  —  Amazon To Exit Daily Deals With Closure Of Amazon Local  —  Amazon is exiting the daily deals space.  According to a message now being displayed on the Amazon Local homepage, the company's deals platform is closing up shop on December 18, 2015.
Alexei Oreskovic / Business Insider:
Google's acquisitions in the first nine months of 2015 totaled $250M, the lowest since 2009  —  Google slammed the brakes on its acquisition machine, with the lowest deal-making since 2009  —  Google has idled its mergers and acquisition machine, with the company reporting the lowest deal activity, by value, in six years.
More: Wall Street JournalTweets: @jaberman and @semil
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
Facebook tweaks real name policy: starting in December, users will be allowed to provide context when Facebook requires their name be “confirmed”  —  Facebook Responds To Open Letter Criticizing ‘Real Names’ Policy  —  Facebook today announced a couple of process improvements meant …
Felix Kjellberg / PewDiePie:
Top YouTuber PewDiePie: YouTube Red exists to counter ad blocking, which can devastate smaller channels  —  Thoughts on YouTube Red.  —  Since YouTube recently announced their new payed service “YouTube Red”.  Everyone has been up to arms about it, for mainly good reasons!
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Amazon removes all Apple TV, Chromecast listings from its website, including those from 3rd-party resellers, following plans announced earlier this month  —  Amazon Removes All Apple TV, Chromecast Listings From Its Website  —  Amazon has followed through on its plans to go nuclear on its competitors …

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Earlier Picks

Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Dan Primack / Fortune:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet: