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December 16, 2015, 12:10 PM
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Top News

Ken Yeung / VentureBeat:
Slack hits 2M daily active users, launches third-party App Directory, $80M developer fund  —  Slack has made its next move in building out its platform.  At a major press event in San Francisco today, the company announced that it has launched a third-party App Directory aimed …
Owen Thomas / ReadWrite:
Slack launches Botkit, an open-source framework for building apps for Slack, after working closely with Howdy  —  Slack Is Releasing Botkit To Make Bots Easier To Build  —  Slack, the increasingly popular team-messaging software, wants more developers to build apps that hook into its work-chat software.
Brad Smith / The Official Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft deepens longstanding commitment to philanthropy with expanded vision, new organization  —  Today we're announcing an expanded commitment to our corporate philanthropy around the world with a broader ambition and a new organization within the company, Microsoft Philanthropies, to make this ambition a reality.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google's top tech searches in 2015: iPhone 6s, Samsung Galaxy S6, and Apple Watch  —  Just like every other company on the planet, Google puts together end-of-year lists for its various properties.  But there's only one that matters more than all the rest: Search.
Husain Sumra / MacRumors:
Social Analytics Firm Topsy Shut Down by Apple Two Years After Purchase  —  Two years after being purchased by Apple for $200 million, social analytics firm Topsy today announced the end of its service.  On Twitter, the company tweeted that it has “searched [its] last tweet.”
Mark Scott / New York Times:
New EU privacy rules make parental consent mandatory for kids under 16 to use social media, add hefty fines, more; EU countries to have two years to pass laws  —  E.U. Expected to Approve Tough New Data Protection Rules  —  European officials are expected to approve long-awaited data protection regulations …
Bloomberg Business:
Google to Make Driverless Cars an Alphabet Company in 2016  —  Unit said to plan transportation service in Uber challenge  —  Autonomous vehicles seen reducing roadway fatalities  —  Google Inc. plans to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire …
Charlie Osborne / CNET:
UK police arrest 21-year-old in connection with last month's VTech hack that exposed data of 6M+ children  —  Man arrested in VTech children's data hack  —  A 21-year-old British man is accused in the cyberattack, which stole data of more than 6 million children.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Vroom Raises $95M And Acquires Texas Direct Auto In Its Quest To Bring Car-Buying Online  —  People seem to be comfortable buying an ever-growing number of things online, but are they ready to purchase their cars that way?  Vroom says they are, and it's making a couple of big deals to move forward with that vision.
Bloomberg Business:
IBM to open global headquarters and research lab in Munich for Watson-based IoT apps  —  IBM Bets on Watson With Global Research Center in Germany  —  Munich HQ is biggest investment in Europe in two decades  —  Internet of Things division to play ‘key role’ in growth
Cade Metz / Wired:
SEC approves Overstock's plan to sell public securities using blockchain technology  —  SEC Approves Plan to Issue Stock Via Bitcoin's Blockchain  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan from online retailer Overstock.com to issue company stock via the Internet …
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Philips Hue Reverses Decision To Block Third-Party Light Bulbs  —  Philips shipped a controversial firmware update for its Philips Hue bridge yesterday.  The company decided to block third-party light bulbs to fix interoperability issues.  Today, the company announced that this move was a mistake.
More: The Next Web, Ubergizmo and CNET.  Tweets: @philpierrepaul
Ben Wheeler / Medium:
App developer calls for transparency at Product Hunt, decrying hidden role of power users, some with financial conflicts, in promoting products to front page  —  How Product Hunt really works  —  It starts with a mystery  —  Earlier this year, having devoted countless hours to creating my latest app …

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From Mediagazer

Associated Press:
President Trump signed an EO on May 1 instructing CPB and other agencies to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS, alleging “bias” in the broadcasters' reporting

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Radio Free Asia is laying off most of its staff and shutting down many of its news broadcasts and streams due to a funding battle with the Trump administration

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
RSF's 2025 Press Freedom Index classifies media freedom globally as “difficult”, a first; economic score hits a record low due to ownership concentration, more

More News

Laurie Burkitt / Wall Street Journal:
Disney and Alibaba announce DisneyLife, an OTT service with Disney content for China, $125 for device and one year subscription available from Tmall Dec. 28

Earlier Picks

David Ruddock / Android Police:
Project Fi now supports tablets and Internet-only devices, won't charge monthly device fee, lets you add up to nine data-only devices to your plan
Lauren Goode / The Verge:
Pebble rolls out free health-tracking system, Pebble Health, to new Pebble models except Classic and Classic Steel, adding native step counting, sleep tracking
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Facebook rolls out expected changes to how it enforces real name policy, starting in US
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Android Pay now works in mobile apps, with discounts in select apps including OpenTable, Lyft, and DoorDash to encourage use
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