Techmeme: Google's Project Loon balloon circles Earth in a record 22 days (Dara Kerr/CNET)

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April 5, 2014, 3:35 PM

Top News

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

Android TV revealed: Google's simple set-top box interface for movies, shows, apps, and games — Exclusive: this is Android TV — Google's plans for the living room come into focus with a simple TV interface, apps, and games — Every so often, some enterprising computer company will claim they've finally fixed the TV.

More: 9to5Google, The Next Web, Gizmodo, Gotta Be Mobile, SlashGear and Android Central. Tweets: @benedictevans

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Internal Apple Document Shows Worries iPhone Growth Could Stall — Internal Apple documents show the concern, at least from the company's sales force, that the portion of the market occupied by the iPhone was on the wane amid growing competition from Android devices that have either larger screens or lower prices than the iPhone.

More: TechnoBuffalo, MacRumors, SlashGear, Digital Trends, Gizmodo UK, I4U News, Tech2, Mercury News, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, Pocketnow, VentureBeat, The Droid Guy, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, Electronista, 9to5Mac, TUAW and Ars Technica. Tweets: @fmanjoo

Mike Beasley / 9to5Mac:

Steve Jobs email from 2010 released in Samsung suit outlines strategy, discusses Apple TV — New Steve Jobs email a treasure trove of information about Apple TV, Google ‘holy war,’ and behind-the-scenes strategy — A new email from Steve Jobs that was published during today's Samsung lawsuit …

Shara Tibken / CNET:

At least 5 execs from Samsung's US mobile business have left or given notice in last 2 months — Key Samsung executives depart from US business — At least five high-ranking executives from Samsung's US mobile business have left or have given their notice over the past two months, CNET has learned.

More: 9to5Google. Tweets: @counternotions and @woohyong

Simon Parkin / New Yorker:

Some indie game developers who suddenly strike it rich are experiencing guilt and depression — The Guilt of the Video-Game Millionaires — One night in March, 2013, Rami Ismail and his business partner Jan Willem released a game for mobile phones called Ridiculous Fishing.

More: BGR, Engadget, Polygon and Kotaku

Tweets: @helvetica and @helvetica

Alex Pham / Billboard:

YouTube delaying music service to debut polished, differentiated product, not due to licensing — Business Matters: What's Behind YouTube Music Service's Delays — YouTube was a source of music in the prior week for a third of all people surveyed by Edison Research and Triton Digital for their annual Infinite Dial report.

More: The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, Digital Trends, Gigaom, 9to5Google, Android Central, Tubefilter, Electronista, Softpedia News and Mashable

New York Times:

Meetup, Basecamp, Vimeo, and Bit.ly among startups hit with DDoS attacks after ransom demands — Tech Start-Ups Are Targets of Ransom Cyberattacks — Scott Heiferman and Gary Burns had less than four minutes to decide whether to pay up or go down. — One Thursday morning …

Tweets: @nicoleperlroth, @kashhill, @heif and @eastdakota

Yoree Koh / Wall Street Journal:

Twitter introducing 15 new ad types over the next 6 months, will debut app ads in a few weeks — Coming to Your Twitter Feed: 15 New Types of Ads — Like Facebook, Social-Media Service to Tap Into Demand for Ads to Download Apps — New ads—lots of new ads—are on their way to Twitter Inc.

More: PC World, Digital Trends, Re/code, I4U News, Mashable, TechnoBuffalo, Gigaom, Marketing Land, Engadget and The Verge. Tweets: @marcsettle. See also Mediagazer

Dara Kerr / CNET:

Google's Project Loon balloon circles Earth in a record 22 days — The tech giant may have found its darling with Ibis-167. Surfing air currents and dodging the polar vortex, the Wi-Fi carrying balloon beat all odds in its recent journey.

More: Project Loon, Engadget, Computerworld, Pulse 2.0, Softpedia News, memeburn, SlashGear, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, HotHardware.com News and dailywireless.org

Nellie Bowles / Re/code:

Elon Musk rejects authenticity of HBO's “Silicon Valley” at its Redwood City premiere — At HBO's “Silicon Valley” Premiere, Elon Musk Has Some Notes on the Subject of Techies — If the crowd reactions at the Silicon Valley premiere of HBO's comedy series “Silicon Valley” …

More: The Verge, I4U News, Valleywag, Los Angeles Times, NBC Bay Area, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal and Cult of Mac

Tweets: @evelynrusli, @dannyyadron, @xor, @pkedrosky and @caseynewton

Bloomberg:

Twitter, a benficiary of still-contentious Mid-Market tax break, faces new protest on April 15 — Twitter Tax Break is Target in San Francisco Income War — On April 15, union workers will march to Twitter Inc. (TWTR)'s San Francisco headquarters to give the microblogging service a bill …

Tweets: @sarahfrier

Jon Southurst / CoinDesk:

eBay Adds New ‘Virtual Currency’ Category to US Site — eBay's main US site has introduced a category for ‘Virtual Currency’, with listings for dozens of bitcoin and altcoin-related activities - including shares in mining operations. — Although eBay is still not accepting bitcoin as an official payment …

More: TechCrunch, Digital Trends, Gizmodo UK, The Verge and TheDomains.com

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