Techmeme
August 23, 2016, 10:50 AM

Top News

Peter Kafka / Recode:
Sources: Amazon hopes to launch unlimited, ad-free, $4-$5/month Echo-only music streaming service in September, has yet to finalize deals with labels  —  Spotify, Apple Music and everyone else cost $10 a month.  Amazon wants to charge half of that.  —  Amazon wants to launch …
Bloomberg:
Data shows Pokémon Go DAUs, downloads, and engagement on downward trend since July launch  —  A number of important metrics have Pikachu'd, says Axiom Capital Management.  —  Pokemon Go is starting to lose the battle for mobile mindshare, according to Axiom Capital Management.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Android Nougat is out of beta, now available for select Nexus devices, Pixel C tablet, more; Google says the roll-out to all supported phones may take weeks  —  Google surprised everyone when it launched a public beta of the Android Nougat back in March.  Annual updates are nothing new for Android …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Nick Denton / Gawker:
Nick Denton's farewell post, detailing the rise and fall of Gawker, as the site shuts down  —  Gawker.com is shutting down today, Monday 22nd August, 2016, some 13 years after it began and two days before the end of my forties.  It is the end of an era.  —  The staff will move to new jobs …
Tony Romm / Politico:
Tech giants and rights groups urge the Department of Homeland Security to scrap proposal asking US visitors for their social media accounts  —  Internet giants including Google, Facebook and Twitter slammed the Obama administration on Monday for a proposal that would seek to weed …
TechCrunch:
Y Combinator Summer 2016 Demo Day 1: 44 startups and a focus on consumers, developer tools, security, hardware, marketplaces, and nonprofits  —  Josh Constine, Lucas Matney and John Mannes  —  Farm drones, autonomous security guards and next-generation tampons were among the products presented …
More: Bank InnovationTweets: @jon
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Galaxy Note7 handily beaten by one-year-old iPhone 6s in real-world app speed test  —  Earlier this month, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note 7, its newest smartphone with a 14-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM, a 12-megapixel camera, waterproofing, and wireless charging.
Rita El Khoury / Android Police:
A detailed look at Google Allo's incognito chat feature, which has Snapchat-like expiring messages, private notifications, and crypto key identity management  —  The nice graphic you see above is the background of all your incognito conversations on Google Allo.
Jeff Grubb / VentureBeat:
PlayStation Plus to jump in price from $50 to $60 annually, from $18 to $22 quarterly on September 22  —  Sony is about to start charging more for one of its best gaming services.  —  PlayStation Plus will jump in price from $50 to $60 annually, according to an announcement on Sony's PlayStation Blog.
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:
Android Pay adds Walgreens for first retail store loyalty card integration  —  Walgreens today announced that its loyalty rewards program is now integrated with Android Pay at checkout, making it the first retail store location to support the feature through Google's Android-based payments service.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Samsung refreshes S Health app UI and makes fitness level sharing with friends easier, also debuts “Ask Experts”, a local health Q&A service, in South Korea  —  Samsung is giving its S Health app a minor overhaul, switching up the layout and making it easier for users to compare fitness levels with friends.
Zach Rodgers / AdExchanger:
Demand-side ad platform The Trade Desk files for IPO, aims to raise $86M  —  The wait is over.  Demand-side platform The Trade Desk has dropped its S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating plans to go public.  The company hopes to raise $86.3 million in the offering …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Zoho People in 2025: A year in review  —  As we wrap up 2025, we're taking a moment to look back on a year filled with progress and transformation at Zoho People.  Our team has been constantly pushing boundaries …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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.
Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 10:50 AM ET, August 23, 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

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
David Ingram / Reuters:
Takashi Mochizuki / Wall Street Journal: