Techmeme: uBeam's former VP of engineering argues in 20 blogs posts that the company's technology won't work, says original CTO and new CFO have left (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)

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May 11, 2016, 7:00 PM

Top News

Sunrise:

Microsoft will shut down Sunrise, the calendar app it bought last year, on August 31; team will work full-time on Outlook — As some of you might already know, we were acquired by Microsoft last year and have now moved on to work on Outlook for iOS and Android.

More: VentureBeat, Digital Trends, The Verge, Forbes, Android Police, PCWorld, Engadget, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Recode, Lifehacker, iMore, ZDNet, Softpedia News, The Next Web, Mashable, Business Insider, Phandroid, WinBeta, MSPoweruser, InvestorPlace, Droid Life, Neowin and MobileSyrup.com

Tweets: @sunrise, @kevinrose, @robinwauters, @jasonlk and @chrismessina

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Instagram's big redesign goes live with a colorful new icon, black-and-white app and more — Instagram's new icon is pink. Well, it's pink and purple and yellow and orange. It's definitely different. And that's not all the company has changed today. Instagram this morning is rolling …

More: Ian, UnderConsideration LLC, Daring Fireball, Polygon, Wall Street Journal, Daring Fireball, New York Times, Android Police, Co.Design, Business Insider, cdn.ampproject.org, Advertising & Branding, Neowin, PCWorld, Windows Central, The Verge, Guardian, Softpedia News, Yahoo Tech, Mashable, Phandroid, Tech Insider, Marketing Land, International Business Times, PhoneArena, TIME, PhoneDog.com, Tech Times, WinBeta, Pocket-lint, POPSUGAR, TalkAndroid.com, Tubefilter, tech.co, GeekWire, Digital Trends, Android Beat, SocialTimes, Redmond Pie, Gizmodo, Fortune, 9to5Google, Droid Life, MacStories, Android Authority, iPhone in Canada Blog, InvestorPlace, SlashGear, MacRumors, Gizmodo, TechnoBuffalo, VentureBeat, Engadget, iMore, MobileSyrup.com, Droid Life, iDownloadBlog.com, The Next Web, Pocketnow, 9to5Mac, Lifehacker and Digiday

Tweets: @fastcodesign, @ianstormtaylor, @instagram, @migreyes, @technopaul, @joshconstine, @benthompson, @robinwauters and @joshconstine

Mark Bergen / Recode:

Sources: Google's answer to Amazon Echo is code-named “Chirp” and expected to launch this year — ‘Okay, Google,’ your turn. — A product team at Google is working on a hardware device that would integrate Google's search and voice assistant technology, akin to the Amazon Echo, Recode has learned.

More: The Next Web, 9to5Google, Business Insider, Phandroid, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear and Android Central

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft removes the Wi-Fi Sense feature that shared network passwords with friends from Windows 10, cites low usage and demand — Microsoft is removing part of its controversial Wi-Fi Sense feature from Windows 10. “We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks …

More: Windows Blog, Engadget, PCWorld, Inquirer, ZDNet, CNNMoney, The Next Web, Daily Express, CNET, Digital Journal, Tech Times and TechEye

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook now lets you upload panoramas along with photos from 360 cameras for viewing as 360 Photos in News Feed and on Gear VR headsets; Gear VR hits 1M users — Those panoramas trapped on your phone will finally get a better viewing experience, both on News Feed and the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR.

More: Oculus, The Verge, SlashGear, Engadget, Digital Trends, Android Authority, ZDNet, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, Lifehacker, Ubergizmo, The Next Web, CNET, SocialTimes, Phandroid, Engadget, Wired, Mashable, VRFocus, Road to VR and Android Central

Tweets: @kentbye, @dshankar and @natgeo

Thanks:@lucas_matney

Barak Turovsky / Official Google Blog:

Google Translate now lets you translate with one tap inside any app on Android, brings offline mode to iOS — Of the 500 million+ people who use Google Translate, more than 9 in 10 live outside the U.S. We've talked with thousands of you in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Thailand to learn …

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Google to ban ads for payday loans and other lending products from July 13 — Google has today announced an update to its AdWords terms and conditions that will ban advertising for some lending products on Google. — The update will go into effect on July 13 this year …

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

uBeam's former VP of engineering argues in 20 blogs posts that the company's technology won't work, says original CTO and new CFO have left — uBeam could be vaporware, according to a blogger claiming to be uBeam's former VP of engineering. They accuse the startup of being unable to fulfill promises made about its technology.

More: Lies, Damn Lies …, Vanity Fair and socalTECH.com

Tweets: @leegomes, @hadley and @mims

Davey Alba / Wired:

YouTube tests letting users share and talk about videos in group message threads within the app, which others can be invited to join — We've all had it happen: You're talking with a friend, and the conversation turns to something that a YouTube video perfectly encapsulates.

More: 9to5Google, The Verge, iMore, The Next Web, Mashable, MobileSyrup.com, Droid Life and Tubefilter. Tweets: @caseynewton. See also Mediagazer

Paul Resnikoff / Digital Music News:

Sources: Apple planning to end iTunes music downloads in the next 2 to 4 years — Apple is preparing to abandon music downloads. — Apple is now preparing to completely terminate music download offerings on the iTunes Store, with an aggressive, two-year termination timetable actively being considered and gaining favor.

More: MacRumors, Macworld, 9to5Mac, iMore, The Next Web, Business Insider, iLounge, iDownloadBlog.com, AppAdvice.com Latest, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacDailyNews, Patently Apple and iPhone Hacks

Tweets: @fmanjoo, @tomwarren, @ampressman and @stonehead

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