Asa Mathat
In case you missed the big headlines this week, here's a roundup of the news that powered Re/code.
- Microsoft disclosed this week that it may lay off up to 18,000 workers worldwide as part of a company-wide reorganization. This includes shutting down its Santa Monica-based Xbox Entertainment Studios, which has struggled as of late, and the tech giant will also be ending its brief run as a maker of Android-powered phones. Earlier in the week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella poked fun at Google, saying they “sure are great marketers.”
- Airbnb unveiled a new logo this week, and many commented that it looked a lot like a, um, vagina. Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk’s response? “Go ahead, laugh all you want.” Done!
- Yahoo had a no-good, very-bad news kind of week as shares dropped by just over five percent on Wednesday. Just how exactly does Marissa Mayer plan on turning around the company after it sells its stake in Alibaba? And what about those pesky AOL acquisition rumors?
- IBM and Apple announced a new partnership this week, aimed at bringing cloud-based data with business applications to your iPhones and iPads. In a joint Re/code interview with IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Apple’s Tim Cook characterized the companies as “puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together.” And while we’re on the subject of Big Blue, if current trends hold, its cloud business may grow as big as its hardware business by the end of next year, while being roughly twice as profitable.
- We all know that Siri, the iPhone’s voice-controlled assistant, is a lot of fun to mess with. But if you’re looking to get a bit more out of Siri than HAL 9000-inspired jokes and basic calling commands, here are 10 handy tips to using Siri. Also coming to an iPhone near you sometime this fall: Time-lapse videos.
- Facebook’s new iPhone app, Mentions, actually looks pretty cool. Good for Facebook! Too bad you can’t use it unless you’re a celeb.
- Though robots may soon be our overlords in the workplace, there hasn’t really been a robot designed for personal use worth buying. Until now, perhaps.
- You may know NastyGal’s Sophia Amoruso as a vintage clothing icon with a brand to match. But did you know about her passion for personal finance?
- On Monday, the anonymous sharing app Secret announced it had raised $25 million in its Series B funding round and added a new high profile board member, Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer.
- This week, Re/code kicked off a new daily feature called #Mustreads From Other Sites, compiling what we think is some of the best stuff out there on the web. Look for it on weekday mornings!
