Techmeme
February 3, 2016, 9:25 PM

Top News

Jack Clark / Bloomberg Business:
Google's search chief Amit Singhal to retire February 26, will be replaced by AI manager John Giannandrea  —  Google Search Chief Singhal to Retire, Replaced by AI Manager  —  Successor John Giannandrea works on machine intelligence  —  Google CEO Sundar Pichai has highlighted AI as crucial
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Sources: Amazon plans more physical stores, including retail stores that aren't bookstores, but has no immediate plans for 300-400 stores  —  Meet the Guy Behind Amazon's Secret Retail Store Plans  —  The man behind the Kindle is leading Amazon's project to create the retail stores of the future.
Harry Shum / The Official Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft acquires SwiftKey, promises to continue developing its Android and iOS apps  —  Microsoft acquires SwiftKey in support of re-inventing productivity ambition  —  I'm pleased to announce that Microsoft has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SwiftKey, whose highly rated …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Adblock Fast, a plugin for Samsung's browser, removed from Google Play days after launching because it “interferes” with third-party apps  —  Adblock Fast disappears from Google Play days after launch  —  Over the weekend, Samsung added support for content-blocking plugins …
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Apple ordered to pay $625M to VirnetX after court finds FaceTime, VPN, iMessage infringed patents  —  Apple ordered to pay $625M in revived VirnetX patent trial  —  A federal jury on Wednesday found Apple guilty of willfully infringing on four VirnetX patents, awarding …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Cisco says it agrees to pay $1.4B for Jasper, a platform to connect Internet-of-Things devices  —  Cisco To Buy Jasper Technologies For $1.4 Billion  —  Cisco announced today it was buying Jasper Technologies, developers of an Internet of Things cloud platform for $1.4 billion.
Nicole Lee / Engadget:
Square NFC payment reader available in US Apple stores for $49, compatible with chip-enabled cards, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay  —  Square is selling its NFC payment reader in Apple Stores  —  Last November, Square finally got on with the times and unveiled an NFC-friendly reader …

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Earlier Picks

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Lauren Goode / The Verge:
Matt Day / The Seattle Times: