Techmeme
March 14, 2014, 12:00 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
iOS 8: Apple considers Notification Center + Messages tweaks, removing Game Center app  —  Besides adding new Maps, Healthbook, and iTunes Radio applications, Apple plans to enhance and refine the functionality of some of its current pre-bundled applications and features for iOS 8.
Dave Zatz / Zatz Not Funny!:
Leaked photos allegedly show Amazon's bluetooth gaming controller  —  Amazon Streamer To Feature Bluetooth Gaming Controller  —  By way of an overseas regulatory agency, similar to our very own FCC, we continue to hone in on the elusive Amazon media streamer.
Jeff Goodell / Rolling Stone:
Bill Gates on technology, surveillance, the future of the planet and God  —  Bill Gates: The Rolling Stone Interview  —  The richest man in the world explains how to save the planet  —  At 58, Bill Gates is not only the richest man in the world, with a fortune that now exceeds $76 billion, but he may also be the most optimistic.
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:
Zuckerberg called Obama over spying, says the US should champion, not threaten the internet  —  As the world becomes more complex and governments everywhere struggle, trust in the internet is more important today than ever.  The internet is our shared space.  It helps us connect.  It spreads opportunity.
Nathaniel Mott / PandoDaily:
Uber and Lyft expand insurance coverage after controversy  —  Uber and Lyft have announced increased insurance coverage for their drivers that will reportedly cover incidents that occur whenever their respective apps are open, not just when drivers have passengers in their cars.
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites  —  Russia's government has escalated its use of its Internet censorship law to target news sites, bloggers, and politicians under the slimmest excuse of preventing unauthorized protests and enforcing house arrest regulations.
Seth Rosenblatt / CNET:
Pwn2Own 2014: Firefox, IE, Safari, Chrome, Adobe Flash and Reader already hacked  —  All hacking eyes on the prize money at CanSecWest  —  VANCOUVER, Canada — When it comes to hacking, it turns out that greed really is good.  —  All four of the major desktop browsers …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Twitter Is Adding Promoted Account Tweets, With Follow Buttons, To Desktop Timelines  —  Twitter will soon add another feature to its Timeline on the desktop to generate revenue: Promoted Accounts, with the option for people to follow them directly with a button embedded in the Tweet.
Craig Grannell / Guardian:
How Apple's iOS 7.1 finally quelled users' motion sickness  —  Animations introduced in Apple's new look for its iPhone and iPad interface in September made some feel physically sick.  Now, it's fixed them  —  Apple recently updated its iPhone and iPad software to version 7.1, adding and improving a number of features.
Alex Hern / Guardian:
Phone call metadata does betray sensitive details about your life - study  —  Identities of cannabis grower, woman seeking an abortion and MS sufferer inferred in study that confirms danger of widespread access to metadata  —  Warnings that phone call “metadata” can betray detailed information …
Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:
Sprint launches more prepaid options, including smartphones with no data plans  —  Prepaid has been very good for Sprint, so good that it runs multiple no-contract services from Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile brands as well as the Sprint As You Go plans launched last year.
Wall Street Journal:
Asus may drop dual-OS Android-Windows device after facing pressure from Google and Microsoft  —  Asustek's Dual-OS Devices Hit a Wall  —  Shelves Plans For Transformer Book Duet TD300  —  Plans for a new breed of mobile devices running operating systems from both Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc …
MediaNama:
Rdio acquires shuttered Indian music streaming service Dhingana  —  Exclusive: Rdio buys Dhingana to Enter India  —  US-based music streaming website Rdio has acquired Indian music streaming website Dhingana, Dhingana has confirmed to MediaNama.  MediaNama had heard about the development from multiple industry sources.
Eric Blattberg / VentureBeat:
PayPal mends fences with crowdfunders with revised policies  —  Image Credit: Illustration by Eric Blattberg / VentureBeat  —  PayPal and the crowdfunding community have had a rocky relationship — but the eBay-owned payments company has rebuilt that bridge with revamped crowdfunding policies …
Karl Bode / DSLreports:
Time Warner Cable Admits Few Have Shown Interest In Usage Caps  —  After Time Warner Cable took a public relations beating for pushing mandatory low caps (as low as 5 GB) and high per byte overages (as high as $5 per additional gigabyte) on consumers back in 2009, the company has been stepping …
Robert Fenner / Bloomberg:
Satellite Crowdsourcing Adds 2 Million Searchers for Missing Jet  —  Tomnod.com, a crowdsourcing website run by DigitalGlobe Inc. (DGI), has tapped more than 2 million people to scan through satellite images searching for clues about missing Malaysian Airline Systems Bhd.  (MAS) Flight 370.

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Earlier Picks

Chris Welch / The Verge: