Techmeme
January 5, 2016, 6:45 PM

Top News

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:
Sources: Twitter considers 10K-character limit for “Beyond 140” feature slated for Q1, testing timeline that shows 140 characters with option to expand for more  —  Twitter Considering 10,000-Character Limit for Tweets  —  Longer tweets are coming soon to Twitter.
@jack:
Jack Dorsey likens additional text in tweets to text screenshots, affirms the value of the 140-character constraint, predicts most tweets will still be short  —  At its core Twitter is public messaging. A simple way to say something, to anyone, that everyone in the world can instantly see. We didn't start Twitter with a 140 character restriction. We added that early on to fit into a single SMS message (160 characters).
Mike Brunker / NBC News:
Lumosity to Pay $2M to Settle FTC Charges Over ‘Brain Training’ Ads  —  The company that created the Lumosity “brain training” program has agreed to pay $2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers into believing that its mind games could help users excel …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Oculus giving Oculus Rift consumer edition headsets to original Kickstarter backers who pledged enough for the Oculus Rift DK1, in the countries it's launching  —  Oculus Rift Kickstarter backers will get a free consumer edition  —  Oculus will be shipping a consumer version of its Rift VR headset …
Lauren Goode / The Verge:
Fitbit's new fitness watch, Blaze, offers 5-day battery, improved heart rate tracking, touch LCD display, swappable bands, more available in March for $200  —  Fitbit's new wearable is a fitness watch called Blaze  —  How do you compete in a growing smartwatch market without making a smartwatch?
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
The second HTC Vive development kit has a built-in camera and new controllers  —  HTC is spending a surprisingly good name on a product that will only exist for a few months.  —  The product is the Vive Pre, a virtual reality headset that's going out to developers soon after its unveiling this morning.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Twitter's new “conversational ads” let users respond to ad tweets by choosing between multiple preselected hashtags and then tweeting them  —  Twitter's ‘Conversational’ Ad Unit Encourages Users To Participate With Customizable Hashtags  —  Twitter is announcing a new …
Michael S. Rosenwald / Washington Post:
President Obama instructs Defense Department, the Justice Department, and DHS to research and regularly review smart gun technology in executive action  —  Obama embraces smart guns, thrilling proponents of the controversial technology  —  Proponents of smart guns say President Obama's executive action …
Will Oremus / Slate:
Facebook's News Feed team on algorithms, relevancy scores, and the importance of giving users more control over their feeds  —  How Facebook's news feed algorithm works  —  A small team of engineers in Menlo Park.  A panel of anonymous power users around the world.  And, increasingly, you.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Email And Calendaring Service, Amazon WorkMail, Exits Preview  —  Amazon this week took its enterprise-aimed email and calendaring service called WorkMail out of preview mode.  The product, which first debuted a year ago, is based on Amazon Web Services and is meant to sub in for legacy solutions, like Microsoft Exchange.
Leena Rao / Fortune:
Magic debuts premium service, Magic+, to cost $100/ hour for a virtual assistant that can complete any task  —  Magic, the Virtual Assistant for Everything, Debuts A Premium Service  —  When reality TV star and pawn shop owner Corey Harrison was jilted by a staff member at an unnamed Laguna Beach hotel …
More: TechCrunch and VentureBeatTweets: @semil
CB Insights:
Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Dropbox eased up on “acquihires” in 2015  —  The End Of The Acquihire - Silicon Valley's Startup Severance Package Falls Out of Favor  —  Silicon Valley's “severance package” for startups fell out of favor in 2015 as Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Dropbox eased up on acquihires.
Tweets: @drew and @joshconstineThanks:@asanwal
Peggy Johnson / The Official Microsoft Blog:
Harman partners with Microsoft to integrate Office 365 into infotainment systems, Volvo to add Band 2 and Windows 10 smartphone integrations, more  —  Automakers choose Microsoft as connected car partner  —  When Microsoft talks about mobility, our interest is the mobility of the person, not of any single device.
Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech:
Huawei Mate 8 review: excellent battery life and performance, while display and camera leave room for improvement  —  The Huawei Mate 8 Review  —  It's been over a year since we reviewed the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and Ascend Mate 2.  For many people and including ourselves at AnandTech …
Curt Woodward / BetaBoston:
Justice Department drops criminal probe of two former HubSpot executives  —  Justice Dept. drops HubSpot case with no charges, but leaves plenty of questions  —  The Justice Department has dropped its criminal investigation of two former HubSpot employees who allegedly tried to obtain …
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S is a Windows 10 2-in-1 with dual-core Core M processor, 2560x1440 display, thinner than iPad Pro at 6.3mm thick, to ship in February  —  Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S is a crazy-thin Windows 10 2-in-1  —  Surface Pro 4 not your speed?  HP's Spectre X2 not svelte enough for you?

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