Techmeme
February 1, 2016, 5:40 PM

Top News

Alphabet Investor Relations:
Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2015 Results  —  Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.  —  “Our very strong revenue growth in Q4 reflects the vibrancy of our business …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
After blockbuster earnings, Alphabet is set to pass Apple as the world's most valuable public company Tuesday  —  Google passes Apple as most valuable company  —  Google-parent Alphabet passed Apple as the most valuable company in the world.  At current after-hours levels …
Alexei Oreskovic / Business Insider:
Alphabet's moonshots lost $3.6B in 2015, compared to $1.9B in 2014, while revenue rose to $448M from $327M  —  Google-parent Alphabet's moonshots lost $3.6 billion in 2015  —  Moonshots are not cheap.  —  Google parent-company Alphabet lost $3.6 billion on moonshot projects in 2015.
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
New technologies like connected TVs, cars, bulbs, wearables, and more give government ample means to track suspects, Berkman Center study finds  —  New Technologies Give Government Ample Means to Track Suspects, Study Finds  —  WASHINGTON — For more than two years the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Samsung updates Android browser for its devices, adds support for third-party ad blocking plugins  —  Samsung's Android browser gets ad blocking capabilities  —  Samsung is today adding support for content and ad blocking plugins to the web browser preinstalled on its Android phones.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Google expands presidential candidate cards in search results and Now with info about candidates' positions on issues, will also offer primary voting reminders  —  Google Expanding Candidate Cards, Will Also Offer Primary Voting Reminders  —  Building on an experiment following …
John Markoff / New York Times:
Microsoft's Project Natick is an effort to develop a self-contained, underwater data center that could eliminate cooling costs and shorten deployment time  —  Microsoft Plumbs Ocean's Depths to Test Underwater Data Center  —  REDMOND, Wash. — Taking a page from Jules Verne …
Jay Yarow / Business Insider:
Twitter shares are jumping on news that Marc Andreessen and Silver Lake thought about buying it out  —  Twitter shares are jumping in pre-market trading on speculation that Marc Andreessen could partner with private equity group Silver Lake to buy the company.  —  The speculation comes from Jessica Lessin of The Information.
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer to unveil cost-cutting plan that includes up to 15% staff reduction, closure of some units  —  Yahoo's Marissa Mayer to Unveil Cost-Cutting Plan  —  Chief executive is expected to announce a cost-cutting plan that includes the closing of several units …
Facebook:
Facebook says it's now using feedback from user surveys in News Feed when selecting stories, warns some Pages will lose referral traffic  —  News Feed FYI: Using Qualitative Feedback to Show Relevant Stories  —  The goal of News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you.
Sarah Kessler / Fast Company:
Sesame Launches A Venture Arm To Invest In Startups That Help Kids  —  In 1966, Sesame Street's founders wondered whether the prevailing entertainment technology of the time, television, could be used to educate young children.  They got their first chance to test the theory when the first show aired …
Kif Leswing / Tech Insider:
Report: Google seeking Apple-like control of Nexus phone manufacturing process, reducing involvement of hardware partners  —  Google's got a case of iPhone envy (GOOG, AAPL)  —  Google is planning to take more control over the design of its Nexus smartphones, taking steps to make the line …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
What AI agents actually need: A unified data and semantic layer  —  This is part 2 of the 4-part series on Agentic Data Infrastructure.In part 1, we covered why agents struggle when they pull data directly from source systems.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
Why 80% of the Fortune 100 Chose Qualtrics | Ryan Smith
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:40 PM ET, February 1, 2016.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
Alex Dobie / Android Central: