Techmeme
May 20, 2016, 11:00 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Verizon and others are expected to bid $2B to $3B for Yahoo's core business, less than $4B to $8B figure reported earlier  —  Most of previous bids for core business came in the range of $4 billion and $8 billion; bids are due first week of June  —  Verizon Communications Inc …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Apple's new SF flagship store introduces suite of changes that will come to future flagship stores including remodelling of “Genius Bar” as “Genius Grove”  —  In downtown San Francisco, situated across the street from the city's iconic Union Square Park …
Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:
Alphabet CEO Larry Page defended Android's use of Java APIs on the stand, saying they were “free and open”  —  “It was established industry practice,” says Page, as Oracle v. Google nears end.  —  SAN FRANCISCO—Alphabet CEO Larry Page testified in federal court this morning …
Kate Conger / TechCrunch:
Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz argues Google split the Java community in two, cost Oracle hundreds of millions of dollars  —  Oracle and Google are back in the courtroom again — the same court they started in back in 2010, when Oracle first sued Google over the company's use of 37 Java APIs in its Android operating system.
Wall Street Journal:
Samsung and Alibaba announce that Samsung Pay will work with Alipay  —  South Korean smartphone giant is desperate to revive its position in the Chinese market  —  Samsung Electronics Co. agreed with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s financial-services affiliate to cooperate on mobile payments …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
IDC analyst says Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US in the latest quarter  —  Google's low-cost Chromebooks outsold Apple's range of Macs for the first time in the US recently.  While IDC doesn't typically break out Windows vs. Chromebook sales, IDC analyst Linn Huang confirmed the milestone to The Verge.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Developers can test Android apps on select Chrome OS devices starting in June, wide release planned for September  —  Google is finally bringing the Google Play store, including its more than 1.5 million Android apps, to Chrome OS.  Google Play will first arrive with Chrome OS version 53 …
Ina Fried / Recode:
Google will compete with its partners and sell its own Daydream virtual reality headsets  —  Think Nexus, but for VR.  —  While focusing yesterday on its new virtual reality headset as a design that will be licensed to partners, Google also plans to sell a version of Daydream itself.
David Wertime / Foreign Policy:
Study: 488M, or 1 of every 178 posts, on China's social media each year come from pro-government propagandists  —  New research exposes a “massive secretive operation” to fill China's internet with propaganda.  —  They are the most hated group in Chinese cyberspace.

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Aaron Smith / Pew Internet:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Kate Conger / TechCrunch: