Journal

The startup, which ties together an array of services through a conversational interface, will help build out Satya Nadella’s vision.

On Monday, Microsoft made headlines by plunking down $26 billion for LinkedIn. Now it’s announcing its second acquisition of the week: For an undisclosed sum, the company has bought Wand Labs, a Silicon Valley-based startup that declares its mission is “to tear down app walls, integrate your services in chat, and make them work together so you can do more with less taps.”

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Five artists illustrated the App Store review guidelines.

One of the more unusual things to come out of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference this year is a lovely comic interpretation of Apple’s app review guidelines.

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A resolution in the city legislature would allow citizens to officially comment on proposed laws through the Internet rather than in person.

Since the dawn of blogs, people have been able to share their thoughts—for better or worse—in the comments section. Now, New York City’s government might be catching up.

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With its first retail-oriented program, Techstars and Target are hoping to turn Minneapolis into a hot new destination for entrepreneurs.

If you’re one of the 600 hundred million people around the world who work shifts, trying to plan out your day can be a nightmare. You’re given a printout of your schedule several weeks in advance but you might be asked to change shifts at the very last minute. If you have a sudden emergency, you must scramble to find a co-worker who can replace you. The problem is that there’s often no formal way to do this: Often, you’re left to your own devices, which means reaching out to your colleagues through a Facebook group or texting them on WhatsApp. “They’re really relying on just SMS and basic pictures of their schedule,” Atif Siddiqi, a former retail employee says.

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After years of pursuing new devices to extend the broad reach of apps, Apple now implores developers to go deep.

After last month’s Google’s I/O conference, I wrote about how its announcements followed a theme of lowering barriers, such as not requiring a separate device for Android Auto, or a PC for advanced virtual reality, or even installation to experience an app. While Apple also announced efforts to make app development child’s play at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on Monday, it focused more on embedding apps deeper into the fabric of the core experiences that make up its emerging uberplatform.

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