Techmeme
January 26, 2017, 11:00 AM

Top News

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:
Hugo Barra to lead all of Facebook's virtual reality efforts including Oculus team  —  I'm excited that Hugo Barra is joining Facebook to lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team.  Hugo's in China right now, so here we are together in VR.  It seems fitting.
Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple to join Partnership on AI, the research group that includes Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, possibly as soon as this week  —  Partnership on AI formed last year to establish best practices  —  Move is latest sign that Apple is becoming less secretive
JC Torres / SlashGear:
Anyone can now make and publish Daydream VR apps  —  While virtual reality technology and hardware are almost “there”, actual significant content remains hard to come by.  With more powerful systems like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the price of equipment presents a high barrier to entry.
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Facebook is testing carousel ads inside Messenger in Australia and Thailand, says the ads aren't targeted based on content of messages  —  The experiment is just in Australia and Thailand.  For now.  —  Facebook said last summer that it was running out of places to show users ads in News Feed …
Will Cathcart / Facebook:
Facebook's Trending topics will show regional, not personalized, stories moving forward, publisher headline and name under each topic, more  —  Today we're announcing three updates to Trending, a feature that shows people popular topics being discussed on Facebook that they might not see in their News Feed:
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
Report: Donald Trump is still using his unsecured Android phone to tweet while watching TV in the evenings, despite protests by aides  —  Donald Trump's long-held Android phone is a security nightmare for a high-level politician, but according to a report from the New York Times …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Sources: Alphabet is in advanced talks to sell Terra Bella satellite imaging unit to Planet Labs, also considered a sale to Monsanto's Climate Corp. for ~$300M  —  Sources tell TechCrunch that Google parent company Alphabet is in advanced discussions to sell its Terra Bella satellite business …

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Anita Balakrishnan / CNBC:
Kif Leswing / Business Insider:
Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Verge:

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