AWS introduces free and premium Shield DDoS mitigation services
Pokémon Go leads list of Google Play’s top trending games of 2016
Europe’s biggest tech hope Spotify could see profits next year
AWS launches CodeBuild for unit testing and X-Ray for debugging
Microsoft-owned SwiftKey removes final in-app charges as it makes premium themes free on Android and iOS
Hearthstone’s Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion is now live in the Americas
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Interfaces on demand: the new services inside chatbots, voice computing, and mixed reality
AngelList acquires Product Hunt
Annapurna Pictures forms studio to bring storytelling of films like Her to video games
PlayFab raises $3.1 million for back-end service for game developers
Mobile security startup Seworks raises $8.2 million from SoftBank, Qualcomm, Samsung, others
Bullpen Capital closes ‘oversubscribed’ third fund at $75 million, targets post-seed startups
Iam8bit announces game-related art showcase for the Game Developers Conference
Amazon Prime gets HBO and Cinemax subscriptions for $15 and $10 per month
Super Evil Megacorp starts team-franchise program to energize Vainglory’s esports scene
VB Live
How this insurance giant leverages messaging for long-term customer connections (VB Live)
GoDaddy launches new Pro service letting devs manage multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard
Assassin’s Creed film gets a companion experience for VR
Dashbot raises $2 million for its bot analytics service
Osterhout Design Group raises $58 million for augmented reality smartglasses
Food delivery giant Just Eat claims ‘world’s first’ drone-delivered meal
Y Combinator-backed employee training startup WorkRamp raises $1.8 million
New Nokia Android phones and tablets are coming as 10-year licensing deal is finalized
Opendoor raises $210 million to buy and sell even more homes
Robotics startup Exotec raises $3.5 million to help warehouses pack and dispatch goods using mini robots
On-demand ride service Gett receives $100 million loan from Russia’s Sberbank
Fitbit is buying Pebble for $34-40 million
Drake is the most-streamed artist on Spotify for the second year in a row
Amazon Alexa skills are about to become much smarter
MEDIA ADVISORY: Stanford Cardinal Ventures Pitch Day
Opinion
I’m going to miss Hearthstone’s vanilla Arena meta
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Sony, Facebook, Google, and Samsung dominate VR, with over 50% market share
Trump reportedly to appoint Pence ally to FCC chair, setting stage to rollback net neutrality
Skillz introduces brand-sponsored tournaments for its mobile esports games
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How chatbots will factor into elections
Gears of War 4 is testing crossplay between Xbox One and PC
Amazon unveils Dash button for AWS IoT with twice the battery life of the original
SurveyMonkey shutting down its mobile app insight service on January 31
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