Techmeme
December 8, 2015, 3:20 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple plans March Apple Watch 2 event, 4-inch ‘iPhone 6c’ possible  —  Apple is currently planning a March 2016 event to unveil the second-generation Apple Watch, according to sources with knowledge of the plans.  The second version of the Apple Watch would then ship by April, nearly a year after the original model first went on sale.
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Apple debuts $99 Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6/6S, extends talk time to 25 hours, LTE browsing to 18 hours, available to order online now  —  Apple debuts Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6s, extends life up to 25 hours  —  In a surprise release on Tuesday, Apple debuted the Smart Battery Case …
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:
Apple Smart Battery Case review: extends battery by 80%, well behind competition and at higher cost, but uses lightning cable and lets phone show charge levels  —  Apple Smart Battery Case Review: iPhone Battery Life Nearly Doubled  —  Apple enters the battery case business with a funny-looking, iOS-integrated option
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Mozilla launches Focus by Firefox, a content blocker for iOS 9 aimed at stopping trackers  —  Mozilla launches Focus by Firefox, a content blocker for iOS 9  —  Mozilla today launched an iOS content blocker called Focus by Firefox.  We say “content blocker” because, although Focus is capable …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Pixel C review: despite its great screen, battery life, and build quality, Android tablet software fails for a productivity device  —  Pixel C review—New hardware ignores an Android tablet's core problem: software  —  A “productivity” device that can only display a single app at a time?
Official Google Blog:
Google's Pixel C Android tablet now available on the Google Store, starting at $499  —  Meet the Pixel C, our take on the tablet  —  This holiday season, there's no shortage of electronics to choose from.  When it comes to picking out what device to use, sometimes you want a laptop to hammer out a lengthy document.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Sony releases PlayStation Messages app for iOS and Android  —  Last night I found myself clumsily thumbing a PSN message to a friend explaining that I couldn't play Destiny right this second because I was on my way to get a haircut, silently cursing the terrible, overwrought …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google wants to bring Fiber to Chicago and Los Angeles, the two largest metro areas Google has publicly considered  —  Google wants to bring Fiber to Chicago and Los Angeles  —  Google today announced Google Fiber could be coming to two of the biggest cities in the U.S.: Chicago and Los Angeles.
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Amazon Brings Showtime, Starz and Other Video Services to Prime As Add-Ons  —  Amazon's Prime members just got a new perk: Showtime and Starz, unbundled and cheap.  The internet company launched a new initiative called “Streaming Partners Program” Tuesday that allows Prime members …
Anick Jesdanun / Associated Press:
Apple says Apple Maps is used 3X more often than its next leading competitor on iOS, now logging 5B requests per week  —  Apple Maps, once a laughingstock, now dominates iPhones  —  3 photos  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Maps quickly became the butt of jokes when it debuted in 2012.
Rachel Pick / Motherboard:
Twitter Is Testing Timelines That Aren't in Chronological Order  —  Are you a loyal Twitter user?  Brace yourself, because your favorite social media platform might get turned on its head: Twitter is experimenting with a new way of sorting your timeline that breaks with the reverse-chronological format it has used since its inception.
Matt Hamblen / Computerworld:
AT&T to expand its 1Gbps GigaPower service to 38 more cities including LA, San Francisco, Birmingham, Pensacola, Reno, Memphis, Charleston, Detroit, Tulsa  —  AT&T GigaPower fiber expanding to 38 more cities  —  AT&T announced Monday it will expand its 1Gbps GigaPower fiber optic broadband service …

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Pino Bonetti / HERE 360:
Charles Piller / STAT: