Techmeme
November 12, 2013, 7:35 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft axes its controversial employee-ranking system  —  Microsoft is killing off its controversial stack-ranking system today.  While it could be viewed as an internal change that won't affect consumers directly, it will have a broad effect on current and future Microsoft employees that may just shape the future of the company.
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Google Glass Will Expand Its Features Into Music  —  To sell Glass, its augmented-reality form of eyewear, Google has already tried to make it a fashion accessory and a must-have video device for any parent or sky diver.  Now it is also presenting this $1,500 piece of wearable technology as a way to interact with music.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
iPad mini with Retina display on sale now starting at $399  —  Three weeks after its announcement, the iPad mini with Retina display is now available for purchase in the online Apple Store.  The release follows that of the larger iPad Air earlier in the month; both tablets feature …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Twitter Announces Custom Timelines For Hashtags Or Topics On Tweetdeck, Launching API Too  —  Twitter will let you create custom timelines based on topics, hashtags and more from Tweetdeck, it announced today.  Twitter is also providing an API to allow developers to build this functionality into their products.
Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:
The Future of Twitter Events Is Here  —  Twitter's biggest draw to date has been the power of the event.  —  From Hurricane Sandy to the Academy Awards, “events” are those moments of large-scale, even worldwide interest, ripe with the potential to show Twitter newcomers just how valuable and interesting the service can be.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Justin Bieber-Backed “Shots Of Me” Launches Selfie Sharing App  —  Sunsets?  Landscapes?  Latte art?  Look back at your old photos and you'll notice they're boring unless there's a human face in them.  Now think about teens on social media.  Immaturity fuels bullying and drama-filled comment reels.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's Joe Belfiore takes over Internet Explorer app development  —  Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch revealed earlier this week that he is switching roles to a new team inside the software giant.  Hachamovitch has essentially been the Internet Explorer man at Microsoft for a number of years now …
More: TechCrunch and WMPoweruserTweets: @tim_stevens
Ken Yeung / The Next Web:
Now in 34k cities, Airbnb unveils redesigned iOS and Android apps that show how to be a better host  —  Airbnb today announced a series of new features for hosts in its iOS and Android mobile apps.  As the company strives to become a better hospitality company, it is enabling hosts …
Chloe Albanesius / PC Magazine:
Android Nabs Milestone 81 Percent of Smartphone Market  —  Google's Android platform had a milestone third quarter, topping 80 percent of global smartphone shipments for the first time, according to IDC.  —  The analyst firm also said Microsoft's Windows Phone had an “amazing” quarter with 156 percent year-over-year growth.
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
Don't Get Too Excited About GlobalFoundries and Apple — At Least, Not Just Yet  —  Don't get too excited about an intriguing story from the Albany Times Union saying that chip-manufacturing company GlobalFoundries may soon start turning out chips for Apple's iPhones and iPads at a factory in upstate New York.
Reuters:
Exclusive: Cisco rival Arista Networks picks banks for IPO - sources  —  (Reuters) - Arista Networks, a maker of network switches that competes with much bigger rival Cisco Systems Inc, has selected banks to lead a proposed initial public offering for next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Adrian Chen / Gawker:
After 30 Years of Silence, the Original NSA Whistleblower Looks Back  —  The four-story brownstone at 141 East 37th Street in Manhattan has no remarkable features: a plain building on a quiet tree-lined street in the shadow of the Empire State Building.  In the summer of 1920, Herbert O. Yardley …
Tweets: @kpoulsen and @adrianchen
Brian Klug / AnandTech:
NVIDIA Tegra Note 7 Review: Good value prospect as low-cost note-taking device with tradeoffs  —  NVIDIA Tegra Note 7 Review  —  NVIDIA has been doing something interesting of late by making and releasing its own devices with Tegra SoCs inside.  We first saw Shield, a handheld gaming console …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
To-Do App Wunderlist Confirms $19M Series B And Expands To The US, While Sequoia Heads Into Germany  —  A couple of weeks ago when TechCrunch was in Berlin, we sniffed out and eventually published the details of an interesting investment for a local startup: 6Wunderkinder …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Steve Jobs Inducted Into Bay Area Business Hall of Fame, Eddy Cue Gives Heartfelt Acceptance Speech  —  Steve Jobs was posthumously inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame last Thursday, and Apple SVP Eddy Cue tweeted a link to the video, and was at the ceremony to accept the award …

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