Techmeme: Firefox 42 arrives with tracking protection for private browsing mode, tab audio indicators, and background link opening on Android (Emil Protalinski/VentureBeat)

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November 3, 2015, 5:55 PM

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Akarshan Kumar / The Twitter Blog:

Twitter and Vine rebrand favorites as likes, replace star icon with heart — Hearts on Twitter — We hope you like what you see on Twitter and Vine today: hearts! — We are changing our star icon for favorites to a heart and we'll be calling them likes.

More: The Next Web, The Verge, TechCrunch, NEWS.com.au, Breitbart, Globe and Mail, VentureBeat, New York Magazine, Tech Insider, TechCrunch, SiliconBeat, Engadget, The Huffington Post, The Verge, CNNMoney, PC Magazine, Reuters, USA Today, Wired, The Twitter Blog, Fusion, App Advice, Gizmodo, Deadspin, Fortune, CIO.com, Bloggers Blog, TechSpot, Forbes, WinBeta, Ubergizmo, Adweek, SFist, Co.Design, GeekWire, Marketing Land, New York Times, Digital Trends, Mashable, The New York Observer, WMPoweruser, Daily Mail, Windows Central, TechnoBuffalo, Marketing Week, Telegraph, PhoneDog.com, Tech Insider, MacRumors, The Next Web, Just Jared and Digital Savant

Mat Honan / BuzzFeed:

In replacing favorites with hearts, Twitter alters use cases familiar to power users in hopes of appealing to a broader audience

More: TechCrunch and Tech Insider

Bálint Miklós / Gmail Blog:

Gmail launches Smart Reply, suggests up to three responses to emails for quick replies — Computer, respond to this email: Introducing Smart Reply in Inbox by Gmail — Posted by Bálint Miklós, Software Engineer — With the holidays approaching and emails coming in at a furious pace, we can all use a little help.

Wilson Rothman / Wall Street Journal:

Microsoft Kills Unlimited OneDrive Storage, Downgrades Paid and Free Options — At a time when many companies are expanding cloud storage options, Microsoft Corp. is shrinking its offerings. — Microsoft is ending unlimited OneDrive storage plans, citing user abuse, the company said in a blog post late Monday.

More: OneDrive Blog, AnandTech, USA Today, Ars Technica, Business Insider, Ars Technica UK, Computerworld, ZDNet, Slate, PCWorld, Fortune, AppleInsider, CIO.com, SocialTimes, FierceCIO News, The Verge, Lifehacker, ZDNet, ExtremeTech, cloudcomputing-news.net and The Tech Report

Tweets: @levie and @harrymccracken

iFixit:

The Microsoft Surface Book earns a 1 out of 10 repairability score with RAM and processor soldered to motherboard and heavily glued components — Microsoft Surface Book Teardown — Teardown — Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.

More: International Business Times, Engadget, ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, The Next Web, Inquirer, WinBeta, ZDNet, Mashable, The Verge, TIME and Neowin

Tweets: @abdophoto and @ifixit

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Chromecast Can Now Stream Live Television With Added Sling TV Support — Sling TV, Dish's streaming live TV service that offers a variety of cable TV channels, including ESPN, is now available on Google's Chromecast. The forthcoming addition of Sling TV support was first announced in September …

More: Sling Blog, Business Wire, PC Magazine, GeekWire, Digital Trends, Android Authority, Android Police, CNET, Multichannel News, FierceOnlineVideo News and Gigaom. See also Mediagazer

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Firefox 42 arrives with tracking protection for private browsing mode, tab audio indicators, and background link opening on Android — Firefox 42 arrives with tracking protection, tab audio indicators, and background link opening on Android — Mozilla today launched Firefox 42 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.

More: The Mozilla Blog, eWeek, Laptop Mag, Engadget, Macworld, Washington Post, The Digital Reader, TechCrunch, Mozilla Hacks, Consumerist, The Verge, Lifehacker and Ubergizmo

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Pinterest rolls out buyable Pins on Android and launches dedicated shopping section — Pinterest launches dedicated shopping section — Pinterest started adding a buy button to pins back in June, and today those buyable pins are becoming even easier to shop.

More: Pinterest Blog, Digital Trends, Android Police, Gigaom, Marketing Land, The Next Web, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Engadget

Financial Times:

Activision Blizzard to buy King Digital Entertainment, the company behind the Candy Crush games, for $5.9B — Activision to buy Candy Crush's King for $5.9bn — Activision Blizzard has agreed to acquire King Digital Entertainment, the London-based group behind the hugely popular Candy …

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Analysis: King generated massive but eroding profits, and like most mobile game makers, couldn't launch another megahit

More: ABC News, VentureBeat, The Information, SiliconANGLE, GeekWire and Here & Now

Lucian Constantin / Computerworld:

Google researchers examine Galaxy S6 Edge and show OEMs add risky code as they find 11 vulnerabilities introduced by Samsung — Google researchers poke holes in Galaxy S6 Edge, show OEMs add risky code — Google's security researchers hunted for bugs in Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge phone …

More: Project Zero, AppleInsider, eWeek, Android Authority and SecurityWeek

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Groupon replaces co-founder and CEO Eric Lefkofsky with COO Rich Williams, Lefkofsky returns to previous role as chairman of the board — Groupon Replaces CEO Eric Lefkofsky With COO Rich Williams — Groupon's board of directors has voted to replace co-founder Eric Lefkofsky as CEO with Rich Williams …

More: Tech Trader Daily, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:

Amazon, Apple, and Google unite behind advocacy group Financial Innovation Now to promote tech-friendly changes to the financial services sector — Amazon, Apple and Google Unite Behind Financial Innovation Coalition — Three of the technology industry's fiercest rivals — Amazon …

More: Financial Innovation Now, 9to5Mac, MacRumors and MacNN

Kevin Tofel / ZDNet:

Merged wireless charging groups A4WP and PMA rebrand as AirFuel Alliance — The rebranding will help reduce confusion among consumers but we still don't have one wireless charging standard to rule them all. — Following their announcement earlier this year to merge, the Alliance For Wireless Power …

More: AirFuel Alliance, Engadget and Pocketnow

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Intel Puts $22M In 10 Startups, With A Stake In FreedomPop To Launch A Rival To Google's Project Fi — Intel Capital, the venture arm of the tech giant, today announced $22 million in new investments across 10 startups. The news was delivered at the company's annual global summit …

More: VentureBeat, Digital Trends, Intel Newsroom, UploadVR, ZDNet and PE Hub Blog

Peter Bright / Ars Technica:

OEMs to stop selling PCs with Windows 7 by October 31, 2016 — Within a year, OEMs will only be able to ship PCs with Windows 10. — In February last year, Microsoft said that it would give a one year warning of when systems with Windows 7 preinstalled would no longer be available from OEMs.

More: ZDNet, Fone Arena, Computerworld, CIO.com, The Register, Forbes, The Unshut, FierceCIO News and CNET

Ken Yeung / VentureBeat:

Open Whisper Systems releases Signal encrypted messaging app for Android to replace TextSecure and RedPhone — Open Whisper Systems, a provider of security-related technologies and apps for mobile devices, has started rolling out an Android version of its private messaging and calling iOS app Signal.

More: Open Whisper Systems, Wired, Android Authority, PC Magazine, Inquirer, Android Police, Network World, Digital Trends, 9to5Google and The Next Web

Jack Nicas / Wall Street Journal:

Maker of Polaroid cameras sues GoPro, claiming Hero4 Session violates its patent for the Polaroid Cube camera — Polaroid Maker Sues GoPro Over Tiny, Cubical Camera — C&A Marketing says GoPro's Hero4 Session violates its patent for the Polaroid Cube camera

More: CNBC, The Verge, Forbes, StreetInsider.com, kspr.com, Tech Trader Daily, Seeking Alpha and Business Insider

Matthew Lynley / TechCrunch:

Zynga reports Q3 revenue of $196M, net income of $3M, up from last year's Q3 loss of $57.1M; MAUs fall to 75M from 103M a year ago — Zynga Beats Expectations On Earnings, Posts A $3M Profit — Zynga today beat analyst expectations for its third-quarter earnings, bringing in about $176 million …

More: VentureBeat, Zynga and Seeking Alpha

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Google Apps For Work Passes 2M Paid Users, Now Vets And Recommends 3rd-Party Apps — Last month, Google made a bold move to win over more business customers using cloud-based apps by making Google Apps for Work free for any company that is still under contract with a rival like Microsoft of Amazon.

More: Official Google for Work Blog, 9to5Google, Inquirer, Talkin' Cloud and VentureBeat. Thanks:@ingridlunden

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