Techmeme
January 7, 2016, 3:15 PM

Top News

Tim Fernholz / Quartz:
T-Mobile CEO John Legere responds to Binge On criticism, claims it's not throttling because the service doesn't slow down data or remove customer control  —  T-Mobile CEO John Legere defends his streaming plan against “bulls**t” complaints from “jerks” at Google
Wall Street Journal:
Apple buys Emotient, an AI startup that reads emotions by analyzing facial expressions, for undisclosed fee  —  Apple Buys Artificial-Intelligence Startup Emotient  —  Emotient technology is used to assess emotions by reading facial expressions  —  Apple Inc. has purchased Emotient Inc. …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
David Marcus' plan for Messenger in 2016 as it hits 800M MAUs: eliminate the need for a phone number, build app functionality into chat threads  —  Facebook Messenger Hits 800M Users: 2016 Strategy And Predictions  —  Kill SMS, spawn a chat bot platform, bring friends together offline …
Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times:
Activist investor Starboard calls for changes to Yahoo's board and management in addition to a change in strategy, threatens to run its own slate of directors  —  Starboard Value Calls for Shake-Up at Yahoo and Shift in Strategy  —  SAN FRANCISCO — As Yahoo weighs efforts to spin off …
Biz Carson / Business Insider:
Sources: Yahoo to lay off at least 10%, or 1,000+ of its employees, as early as this month  —  Yahoo is prepping to lay off 10% or more of its workforce  —  Major layoffs will be coming to Yahoo as part of its planned reorganization to get its business back on track.
Wall Street Journal:
Amazon's Annapurna Labs to sell its own “Alpine” line of ARM-based chips to other device manufacturers  —  Amazon Enters Semiconductor Business With Its Own Branded Chips  —  Amazon's Annapurna Labs targets customers designing home equipment  —  A secretive Amazon.com Inc. unit broke …
Associated Press:
Chinese drone maker Ehang unveils human-carrying electric drone, which can carry up to 220 pounds, fly for 23 minutes at sea level, and reach 63mph  —  Chinese drone maker Ehang (EE'-hang) has unveiled what it calls the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Biz Stone's Q&A app Jelly pulls an ‘un-pivot,’ begins a closed beta  —  Well, we haven't heard much about Jelly, Twitter cofounder Biz Stone's app for asking and answering questions, basically since it launched two years ago to the day.  Today, we get an update.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Vidyo, a screen recorder for iOS, pulled from App Store because screen recording and AirPlay simulation are banned  —  Screen Recorder For iOS Vidyo Gets Yanked From App Store  —  If you didn't grab a copy of the new screen recording app Vidyo that sneaked into the iTunes App Store yesterday, it's now too late.
Reuters:
Time Warner Cable says up to 320K customers' email passwords may have been stolen, it's not yet sure how data was obtained  —  Time Warner Cable says up to 320,000 customers' data may have been stolen  —  Time Warner Cable Inc said on Wednesday up to 320,000 customers may have had their email passwords stolen.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
In Reddit AMA, Oculus' Palmer Luckey admits screwing up Rift price-point messaging, says Oculus is selling the Rift at cost  —  “No More Ballparks” — Oculus' Palmer Luckey Admits Screwing Up Rift Price-Point Messaging  —  Yesterday VR fans eager to get their hands on the consumer version …

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More News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Earlier Picks

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Owen Williams / The Next Web:
Johana Bhuiyan / BuzzFeed:
Nick Statt / The Verge: