The Verge
The early reviews are in, and Google appears to have done a respectable job with its new gaming platform. “While the difference between YouTube Gaming and Twitch isn't all that pronounced on Android, YouTube unsurprisingly looks much slicker (and well-organized) than Twitch on desktop,” The Verge notes. “It also does a fairly good job of culling non-gaming content from its library.”
Business Insider
Garrett Camp isn’t giving up on StumbleUpo,n the content discovery site he co-founded before leaving to start Uber. Camp announced this week that he will become the majority shareholder of StumbleUpon, and will take over in an advising role. “The company had reportedly started laying off staff [in early] August,” Business Insider notes.
The New York Times
When the “The Daily Show” reemerges without Jon Stewart, Comedy Central is planning to boost the program’s digital presence. “To that end, Comedy Central announced on Thursday that it has hired [humorist] Baratunde Thurston … as a supervising producer at 'The Daily Show' to oversee the digital content,” The New York Times reports.
Capital New York
The Reuters TV app is now available for free with what the company calls “limited” advertising. As Politico reports: “The app … was previously only available if users paid $1.99 per month to subscribe to the curated television news service.” Said a Reuters representative: “We’ve made this change so that we can reach a larger audience of urban, globally minded young professionals."
The New York Times
Targeting teens and tweens, Netflix has started licensing content from popular YouTube personalities like “Smosh: The Movie” and “Bad Night.” The effort, as The New York Times reports, is “part of a strategy to position itself as a digital entertainment hub for the postmillennial generation.”
ZDNet
Microsoft’s core software business appears to be strong. Indeed, “A little under a month after launch, Microsoft officials said Windows 10 is now on more than 75 million devices worldwide,” ZDNet reports. The new total comes courtesy of Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group.
ZDNet
Beating analysts’ expectations, Salesforce.com this week reported non-GAAP earnings of 19 cents per share on revenue of $1.63 billion for the second quarter. That translates to a 24% year-over-year gain, ZDNet notes. “Subscription and support revenues jumped by nearly the same amount on an annual basis to $1.52 billion,” it writes.
The New York Times
After losing its founding editor-in-chief, The Undefeated -- an ESPN-run site dedicated to sports and race -- appears to have stalled. “The Undefeated’s failure to get off the ground has caused the site to miss critical opportunities to produce meaningful journalism and commentary,” The New York Times reports.
Bloomberg Businessweek
The owners of the Weather Channel appear ready to upload its digital assets, if not the entire business. “Preliminary discussions have taken place with technology and media companies,” Bloomberg Businessweek reports. “Blackstone Group LP, Bain Capital LLC and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal acquired the company for about $3.5 billion in 2008.”
Re/code
At least for now, Google is pulling back the reins on its same-day delivery service. Google Express is shutting down its two delivery hubs in San Francisco and Mountain View, Re/Code reports. “The move is part of a broader push within Google to revamp the service, which launched in March 2013, after it failed to make a serious dent in a market crowded with Amazon and a myriad of on-demand startups.”