- We are now in the time of the Instant Gratification Economy, with companies like SpoonRocket, Uber, Seamless, Amazon and so on aiming to cater to our every need, as close to the speed of light as possible. Check out our special series on this new world, from senior editor Liz Gannes.
- Facebook finally forced mobile users to download its Messenger app, separating the Facebook chat function from its standard app. Also, Facebook beefed up its security team with its acquisition of the startup PrivateCore, and hired former BlackBerry exec Andrew Bocking to head up the Internet.org mobile app. And if you needed more proof that a good chunk of the Internet economy is dependent on Facebook, check out how much overall Web traffic dropped during last week’s Facebook outage.
- Why spend $15 on a terrible Michael Bay movie, when you can see real-life Transformers that a group of Harvard and MIT scientists built.
- A reminder that the line between reality and science fiction is very, very hazy: IBM built a silicon processing chip, dubbed TrueNorth, that works like the human brain.
- Apple’s native Podcasts app is terrible (it has a 1.5 star rating in the App Store), but thankfully there are other options. If you’re looking for an alternative, Bonnie Cha took a look at five different podcast apps for the iPhone.
- AOL beat analyst expectations earlier this week, making a good deal of money from subscribers who continue to fork over money to AOL even though they aren’t using AOL Internet access.
- As more and more Americans rely on smartphones in their everyday lives, Re/code co-executive editor Walt Mossberg argues that it’s time for tech companies to develop open, shared home Wi-Fi
- You probably know Siri, Apple’s handy iPhone-based personal assistant. But how much do you know about Siri’s main rival, Google Now?
- Amazon and Google are the clear-cut leaders in the cloud right now, with the former’s huge investment in its Web Services and the latter’s popular Google Drive service. But take note: Microsoft is catching up, with its increasingly popular Azure and Office 365 programs.
- Square, which has long focused on payment processing, may be looking to shake things up a bit with its purchase of the food delivery startup Caviar.
Re/wind: Our New Instant Gratification Economy, Facebook Splits Its Mobile Apps and More
Also this week in Re/code, real-life Transformers and a chip that works like the brain.
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
