ICYMI here is what happened this week in social media and technology:

• Microsoft flips off Apple and adds a middle finger emoji - According to Emojipedia, the Windows 10 update due in mid-2015 will include a middle finger emoji at long last — in all skin tones.
• 2016 Ford F-150 will offer propane, natural gas option - Ford announced plans to offer the 2016 F-150 full-size pickup with a package that prepares it to be powered by propane or compressed natural gas, an option that appeals to fleet buyers.
• Dave Goldberg, SurveyMonkey CEO, Dies Unexpectedly - Silicon Valley and the wider world of technology are mourning the very sudden death of Dave Goldberg, a long time entrepreneur and investor, CEO of SurveyMonkey, husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, father and friend to many. The news was made public in a Facebook post from his brother Robert.

Here's what you may have missed in the world of tech and social media:

• Ford hijacks Microsoft's 'Edge' browser announcement - Microsoft has unveiled a new browser to replace Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, at its Build conference this week. Microsoft Edge will become the default browser on Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10, and sees the tech firm moving away from the 'hated' Internet Explorer brand. Not everyone shares the hate for Explorer though, with Ford quickly giving its pun-fuelled two cents on the news. 
• Microsoft's Edge Will Let You Scribble On The Web - When Microsoft's new Internet Explorer replacement, officially dubbed Edge, arrives with Windows 10, it will offer users some new features, including the ability to annotate webpages and share notes. 
• Uber Is Quietly Testing A Massive Merchant Delivery Program - Uber is planning to launch a merchant delivery program that would allow online shoppers to get same-day delivery of goods through both UberRush couriers and Uber drivers. TechCrunch has obtained training documents for Uber drivers and couriers who are part of the merchant delivery pilot program.
• The Next Version of Google Glass Might Look like Ray-Bans - When Google announced back in January that it would stop selling Google Glass, we hoped that tech titans would keep the clunky smart frames off the shelves until they had undergone a makeover. Now it looks like those months of sending good sartorial vibes Silicon Valley’s way have paid off: WSJ reports that Google is partnering with the makers of Ray-Ban to launch a brand-new version of Glass.
• Facebook Testing New Notifications Tab - Facebook is planning to give its notifications a major makeover, converting it into a central hub for news from across the site, according to Mashable, which first reported the news this week. Facebook is currently testing the new notifications tab and will begin rolling it out to mobile users sometime in the near future, per the same report.
• Preview Instagram’s New Filters + Just-Released Emoji Update - Available this week for iOS and Android users are three modern, subtle filters and a new way to search using emoji hashtags. These features cannot be found on that third-party desktop or Instagram apps.

Here's what you may have missed this week in the world of tech and social media:

• Facebook is reviving the away message - The away message, long a staple of old-school instant messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger, is making a comeback. This week, Facebook began testing a new feature in Taiwan and Australia that lets users add a temporary status that shows up in the right panel of the social network’s flagship app.
• You can now pay your friends through Facebook Messenger - On Tuesday, the social network announced a new feature for Messenger that lets users send and receive money to one another. The feature will roll out to Facebook users in the U.S. across desktop, Android and iOS over the next few months.
• A Reddit newsletter may be the answer to your Internet FOMO - Reddit, the internet's portal into virality, needs a table of contents — and it's getting one, with the site's first curated email newsletter. The new email newsletter will go out to users every Sunday and will be curated by staffers to help surface stories that might otherwise get lost in one of the thousands of communities, which are called subreddits. The social news site announced the launch on Tuesday.

Here's what you may have missed this week in the real of social media and tech:

• Ford CEO Predicts Self-Driving Cars Will Arrive in 15 Years - “I would guess we get to full autonomy in 15 years,” said Ford CEO Mark Fields. “Camera technology is moving along very fast. Algorithms are advancing very fast,” said Fields, who admitted that he did not expect cars to be able to perform certain autonomous tasks, like parking themselves, just five years ago. “Now the car is becoming the ultimate technology product and we are becoming more of an information company,” he said.
• Facebook Testing Translation Tool? - Facebook appears to be toying with the option of allowing users to translate their posts into different languages. One user shared a screenshot with SocialTimes, in which users are informed: Now you can translate posts into other languages so that more people can enjoy them. Just click translate under a post to get started.
• Twitter Officially Launches Its “Retweet With Comment” Feature - Twitter just officially launched its “retweet with comment” feature, which it began testing last summer. “Retweet with comment” allows users to embed a tweet in their own tweets, which lets them get around Twitter’s 140-character limit when they write their own commentary. The feature is now available on Twitter’s site and iPhone app and will be available on its Android app soon.
• LinkedIn just bought online learning company Lynda for $1.5 billion - LinkedIn just purchased Lynda.com, an online learning company, for $1.5 billion, the company announced on Thursday. Founded in 1995, Lynda.com lets users learn business, technology, software, and creative skills through videos. People can access Lynda on their own, and corporations and schools can purchase subscriptions.

Things you may have missed in social media and tech this week:

• Instagram Launches Layout, Its Own Photo Collage App - Instagram today announced the debut of a new application called Layout, the company’s next standalone creation tool outside of its flagship photo-sharing application. With Layout, Instagram users will be able to quickly build collages using their mobile photos, which they can then choose to share to Instagram, Facebook, or elsewhere.
• Top Michigan destinations now featured on Google Maps - Flattering 360-degree images of Michigan's most iconic tourist destinations are now featured on Google Maps Street View. More than 44,000 panoramic images of Michigan were shot by volunteers using Google Trekker technology, including from the top of the Mackinac Bridge, on Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes and other tourism sites around the state.
• LinkedIn Debuts Job Search App - Expanding its mobile efforts, LinkedIn is rolling out a new Job Search app for Android users. The app features left and right-hand navigation menus and an action bar at the top of all main pages.
• Google hires 'the most powerful woman on Wall Street' as new CFO - Google announced Tuesday that it has hired Ruth Porat, the former CFO of Morgan Stanley who has been dubbed "the most powerful woman on Wall Street," to take over as its new CFO.
• Monica Lewinsky: 'Shame is an industry and the currency is clicks' - In one of very few major media appearances in more than a decade, Monica Lewinsky took the TED stage on Thursday to champion online compassion. In the years since arguably the biggest sex scandal of our time, Lewinsky has turned her attention to activism, namely the fight against cyberbullying and public shame.
• BMW's first electric car may be able to communicate with iPhones and Apple Watches - Reports say BMW has been holding "regular talks" with the iPhone maker about "topics like connected car vehicles." The publication went on to say that Apple's operating system would be deeply ingrained into the i3, which is BMW's first mass-produced car with an electric powertrain.

Here's what you may have missed online this week:

• Etsy Files For $100 Million IPO - Etsy, the online seller of hand-knit beard warmers, vintage Madras sportcoats and everything in between, filed for a $100 million initial public offering on Wednesday evening. The precise details of the transaction are subjection to revision and addition, but the basic outline of the Brooklyn-based company's financial details and strategy are unlikely to change much, if at all. Etsy generated $195.6 million in revenue last year, up 56.4 percent from 2013, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Vince Vaughn and Co-stars Pose for Idiotic Stock Photos You Can Have for Free - Stock photos have a bad rap. They're campy and cheesy and the butt of plenty of jokes. But what's great about them is they're often the catalyst for promotions or gags—sort of a comedic blank slate. Enter the new Vince Vaughn movie Unfinished Business, which comes out Friday. Twentieth Century Fox has teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to create a set of stock photos featuring Vaugh along with co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco and others.
• IKEA Furniture Will Soon Be Able To Wirelessly Charge Your Mobile Device - The Swedish furniture giant announced at Mobile World Congress on Sunday that it is incorporating Qi technology into some of its product offerings. That means you'll soon be able to place mobile devices on the surface of some of its furniture to replenish your mobile device's batteries, eliminating charging stations and cable clutter.
• Tech-Loving Drivers Are Trading in Cars as Often as iPhones - Upgrade envy has helped Apple Inc. sell millions of pricey iPhones. Now, it’s the auto industry’s turn, thanks to a raft of new technologies that make cars safer and easier to drive. Must-have features like parking assist and wireless Web access have helped automakers recover from the 2009 bust and charge record prices for their vehicles. 
• A Woman Has Sent $1 Million Overseas To A Man She’s Only Met Online - A woman has defended her decision to send more than $1 million (around £650,000) abroad to a man she formed a relationship with online but has never met in real life. She tells Dr. Phil that she is “95% certain it’s not a scam.”
• Google Confirms It Wants To Be A Wireless Carrier - Following nearly a year of rumors, Google confirmed on Monday that it plans to offer talk and data plans to customers. Sundar Pichai, senior VP at Google, said on stage at Mobile World Congress during a presentation that the company is working on a wireless service on a "small scale."
• Twitter Joins Fortune's List of Best Companies to Work For - Fortune's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list has included tech companies for years, but for the first time, Twitter has made the list at No. 24. The No. 1 slot on the list is no surprise, however. For the fourth consecutive year, Fortune named Google as the best company to work for.

Here's what you may have missed in the world of social media and tech this week:

• Apple to Release Racially Diverse Emoji - According to multiple reports, Apple will roll out the new emoji with its next version of iOS and OS X, introducing new emoji characters that are much more racially diverse than the current selection.
• Detroit To Get Fiber-Optic Internet - High speed fiber optic internet is coming to downtown Detroit thanks to Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures. The investment group recently confirmed that construction is underway on a fiber-optic network starting in the downtown area. The network, dubbed Rocket Fiber, will serve residents and businesses and will offer internet connection 100 times faster than current services. Detroit will be the second major city in Michigan to get access to the super fast Internet.
• Apple Expands Editorial Focus With Music Hires - Apple is sharpening its focus on editorial content by looking to hire people with a background in music and pop culture commentary. It’s currently advertising for an editorial producer role, based in London, and the job ad specifies it’s looking for an individual with “a specific expertise in music journalism” who is a “seasoned writer with broad pop culture background.” Apple finding its editorial voice looks like another instance of a technology platform seeking to morph into a media destination in its own right. See also: Netflix and Amazon producing original programming; Snapchat hiring journalists and dishing up ephemeral entertainment; and mobile messaging platforms, like Line, getting into kawaii cartoon franchises. Tech platforms flush with users are the new mass media, and the digital medium fast becoming the message.
• Meet The New Pebble Watch - Don’t call Pebble’s new smartwatch platform a reboot. That implies scrapping the old and ushering in the new. Consider the new software and its new companion product, dubbed Pebble Time, a progression of the Pebbles that came before. The new Pebble Time isn't available yet. In fact, Pebble will once again take orders via Kickstarter, with the first hardware shipping in May.

Here's what you may have missed this week:

• Microsoft Officially Launches Azure Machine Learning Platform - You know all that big data that’s streaming into your company from sensors, customers, social media, Excel spreadsheets, and data sources all over the internet? Microsoft wants to help you process all of it, build APIs and make use of that data in the cloud with machine learning technology. And to that end, Microsoft officially announced at the Strata Conference, the general availability of the Azure Machine Learning service for big data processing in the cloud. It also announced some enhancements to the platform since its Beta release in June.
• Breathometer Now Calls Ubers To Drive The Drunks Home - Breathometer, a blood alcohol level breath analysis startup, and Uber are teaming up to get the drunks home safely. Anyone who registers at the halfway point of the legal limit in California (.04 blood alcohol concentration level) or higher on a Breathometer Breeze device will now be directed to order a cab, Uber or a designated driver to ensure they don’t get behind the wheel when tipsy.
• Facebook Met Users’ Expectations More Than Other Social Networks - Facebook was the social network that best met customers’ expectations in the new Brand Keys 2015 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, while Facebook-owned WhatsApp topped the list of messaging applications. Leaders in other categories included Pandora for online music, Netflix for online video streaming and Google for search.
• Facebook Indicating When Friends Have Used Same Hashtag? - Facebook appears to be testing a feature that alerts users who include hashtags when their friends have used the same hashtags.

Here's what you may have missed this week in the world of social media, tech, and other fun stuff:

• Facebook Adds Craigslist-like Features for Buying and Selling - As an alternative to services like Craigslist or eBay, Facebook users sometimes turn to Facebook Groups to make purchases. Previously, however, this was mostly done informally.
• Amazon Will Let Bloggers and Brands Host Their Own Giveaways - Amazon is pushing the idea of using its platform as a sales and promotion channel with a new self-service tool called Amazon Giveaway that lets individuals and brands host their own giveaway promotions.
• Apple's New Ad was Filmed Entirely on an iPad - Apple released a new iPad ad during the Grammys on Sunday, showing how the tablet can be used to create music. The 60-second spot features recording artists Elliphant, Riton and The Gaslamp Killer, showing various stages of the creative process. In the ad, we see the iPad being used to write and read lyrics, create beats, record and mix tracks — and, finally, perform live. It was filmed entirely on an iPad and based on current rates for ads during the Grammys, Apple paid more than $2 million for the spot.
• You Can Now Decide Who Will Run Your Facebook After You Die - When a Facebook user dies, their page often becomes a memorial, frozen in time. Now, members can designate someone to manage their account posthumously, Facebook said this week.

Things you may have missed this week while celebrating my birthday:

• Twitter Launches Group Direct Messages - Twitter has finally added group direct messages (DMs) to its service. If you use the service as a way to privately communicate with friends, family and random celebrities, you will soon be able to communicate with more than one person (or brand) at a time.
• Snapchat Breaks into Media with Discover - Snapchat's highly anticipated media play is here, and it's called Discover. The messaging app rolled out the new feature Tuesday, which will allow media companies to publish content to the app for users to consume. In addition to having outside companies put content on the app, Snapchat is also introducing its own publishing arm.
• Facebook Quietly Rolled Out a Bare-Bones App in Emerging Markets - While 1.6 billion people around the world take the latest and greatest smartphones for granted, many in emerging markets remain tethered to older devices. That's likely why Facebook quietly rolled out Facebook Lite, a lightweight Android version of the full app, to eight countries last week. It isn't nearly as sleek, but it's not intended to be; on Google Play, Facebook plugs the app as being "efficient with data" and "designed for 3G networks and areas with limited network connectivity."
• Twitter Will Let You Shoot 30-Second Videos From The App - Users will be able to access their phone's camera by pushing a button, record clips up to 30 seconds long, edit them, and upload them. Those who have an iPhone will also be able to upload and edit videos from camera roll. Twitter says that feature will be coming to Android devices soon.
• iOS 8.1.3 Shrinks Free Space Needed For iPhone Updates - The latest release of its iOS mobile software, version 8.1.3 shrinks that storage requirement, which can vary depending on the specific iPhone or iPad model. Previous versions of iOS 8 forced many users—particularly those with 8GB or 16GB devices—to either delete apps, media or other data to make room, or connect their cables to perform a “tethered” iTunes sync. 
• Twitter Acquired More Social Media Companies in the Last 4 Years Than Anyone Else - There were over 53 social media acquisitions in 2014, the most active year yet. This is the 4th year we have done this breakdown so we wanted to take a look back and see what companies have been the most active in acquiring over that time period. Twitter and Facebook lead the way. Twitter making smaller (tweet sized?) acquisitions and Facebook larger ones. The rest of the chart has some interesting trends as well, from Yahoo to Hootsuite and back. 
• Uber Is Running In New Delhi Under A “No-Profit” Model - A few days after Uber restarted its business and said that it would be applying for a taxi license so that it could operate legitimately in the city, the company has spelled out some of the details behind what it is doing to stay on the road. Perhaps the important of these is that Uber says it will operate as “a not-for-profit platform that takes no commissions or fees for its marketplace services,” pending approval of a license.
• Connected-Car Test Track to Open at University of Michigan - The University of Michigan is opening the country’s first closed test track for connected cars, dubbed “M City,” to test vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications in safe, realistic scenarios. 
• Ford, Nest, the Internet of Things: Can mobility merge with smart energy? - The potential to reduce carbon emissions is massive for each technology: Big Data analytics could be employed to disincentivize driving at peak times; ridesharing could be leveraged to decrease solo driver trips; new "last-mile" solutions could be implemented to bridge the enduring gaps between cars and public transit. Still, huge obstacles remain to realize any of that potential at scale. Data privacy and security, evolving regulatory frameworks and safety when employing technology on the road are all moving targets. The common denominator to help connect the dots between all of these disparate developments: Data.
• The Case That Turns Your Phone Into A Polaroid Camera Is Now On Kickstarter - The Prynt case, which lets you print photos directly from your phone, is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter. While the startup still plans for its case to retail for $99, early backers can get it for $49.

Here's what you may have missed this week:

• 73,000 Webcams Are Open to Peeping Toms -- Is Yours? - According to NetworkWorld: There are 40,746 pages of unsecured cameras just in the first 10 country listings: 11,046 in the U.S.; 6,536 in South Korea; 4,770 in China; 3,359 in Mexico; 3,285 in France; 2,870 in Italy; 2,422 in the U.K.; 2,268 in the Netherlands; 2,220 in Colombia; and 1,970 in India. Like the site said, you can see into 'bedrooms of all countries of the world'. There are 256 countries listed plus one directory not sorted into country categories.
• You Can Now Send Money via Twitter in India - A leading bank in India has set up a facility to allow users to transfer money on Twitter. ICICI Bank is one of the four largest banks in India and the second biggest overall in terms of assets. This week they have launched #icicibankpay, a new service that allows customers to send money via Twitter.
• Apple Buys Music Analytics Startup Semetric to Bolster Beats - Apple has acquired London-based music analytics company Semetric, according to a report citing legal documents filed with the Companies House in the UK in January. The purchase appears to be designed to bolster Apple's Beats streaming music service, which the company reportedly plans to relaunch this year.
• Twitter Confirms ZipDial Acquisition - Twitter has acquired ZipDial, the India-based startup that figured out how to convert the cultural “missed call” phenomenon into a lucrative business. ZipDial built a mobile platform that lets users call a toll-free number where they intentionally hang up, triggering a missed call in exchange for goods and services.
• Google to Sell Wireless Service in Deals With Sprint, T-Mobile - Google Inc. is preparing to sell wireless service directly to consumers after striking deals with Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc., a move likely to prod the wireless industry to cut prices and improve speeds, according to people familiar with the matter.

There are so many lists out there for "Best of," "Worst of," and the list goes on, for 2014. So here is my ultimate lists of all lists.

5 Marketing Trends That Didn't Go Well in 2014 by Entrepreneur
2014 was an innovative year for marketing, but let’s face it: a lot of trends didn’t pan out. In the interest of cleaning our slate for 2015, it’s time we review these failed strategies and tools that will soon be irrelevant.
5 Things We Learned about Facebook in 2014 by Digiday
Media and tech pundits have for years prophesied that Facebook was “the future of media,” a tool that would one day become the backbone of the interner. Facebook came closer than ever before to that vision in 2014, as the social network proved that even the simplest of changes to its news feed algorithm could send advertisers, agencies and publishers scrambling for or basking in referral traffic lost or gained.

Here's what you may have missed in the social media world this week while you were hopped up on Halloween candy:

• Twitpic Will Stay Alive as Read-Only Twitter-Owned Archive - Twitpic, which was due to close down completely on October 25th, has reached an agreement with Twitter to allow the service to continue, albeit in read-only mode.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I'm proud to be gay' - Apple CEO Tim Cook has, for the first time, written publicly about his sexual orientation in an essay published in Businessweek on Thursday. "I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."
• Taco Bell Leaves Social Media - The fast food chain blacked out its Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube accounts on Tuesday in an effort to promote the launch of its new mobile ordering and payment app.
• Taylor Swift Removes All Albums From Spotify - Taylor Swift has apparently removed all of her albums from popular music-streaming service Spotify. In a statement posted on Spotify’s website, the company said it was trying to get her to change her mind.

Here's what you may have missed this week:

• Netflix Leads In U.S. Digital Video Subscriptions In Home And Among Millennials - A survey out on video viewing habits found that Netflix is the leading brand among U.S. households that subscribe to paid digital video subscription services, and it’s also the leading subscription service among the much-coveted Millennial, 18-34 year-old, demographic.
• Mark Zuckerberg Drops $100 Million on Hawaiian Property - The 30-year-old Facebook founder recently purchased 700 acres of property on the North Shore of the island of Kauai, according to a Forbes report.
• Skype Launches A New Video Messaging App For The Mobile - First Era, Skype Qik - Instead of focusing on live video calls and instant messaging-like chats, Skype Qik is designed around asynchronous video messaging – that is, mobile video messages you create and share with others who may not be online at the same time as you.
• Stickers Launch on Facebook - Brace yourself: The stickers are coming to Facebook. Those adorable graphics or cartoons of special characters have, up until now, lived only in messages to friends on Messenger. But people will soon be able to share them in comments on posts from people, in groups, and on events, Facebook announced Monday.
• Report: Thousands of Snapchat pics leaked online - It appears hackers have followed through on plans to leak thousands of pictures and videos from messaging service Snapchat. According to The Guardian, video and pictures from as many as 200,000 users were posted online over the weekend, after reports surfaced Friday that hackers were planning a leak.
• Fitbit has new 'Charge' fitness trackers on the way - Gizmodo has obtained marketing materials that reveal a new Fitbit Charge, which looks more or less like a Force clone, and another model called Charge HR.
• HBO is finally going to let you watch its shows without cable - Starting next year, you'll finally be able to watch HBO on the web without a cable subscription. In a dream come true for cord cutters, HBO CEO Richard Plepler has confirmed the company plans to launch a "standalone, over-the-top" HBO Go subscription offering at some point in 2015.

Here's what you may have missed this week:

• New Nail Polish May Prevent Date Rapes - Undergraduates at North Carolina State University are being credited with creating a new kind of nail polish. The polish doubles as a way to prevent sexual assault. The person wearing the nail polish has to use their finger to stir their drink and if the drink has a date rape drug in it, the nail polish will change colors.
• Now, ‘Rice Bucket Challenge’ Goes Viral - Yes, that was "rice" not "ice." An Indian woman has come up with the ‘rice bucket challenge’ on Facebook to show a way to potential donors who want to help the poor. The message has now gone viral on social media.
• Facebook Cracking Down on 'Clickbait' With Update - Facebook is launching an update Monday for users' news feed that will attempt to weed out stories that publish 'clickbait' headlines. The social network says it will evaluate links based on how much time people spend away from Facebook and how often users are sharing and discussing stories with friends.
• Pinterest Rolls Out Analytics to Reel Brands In - A couple of months ago, Pinterest said it would slowly start rolling out an fresh take on its analytics tool. It looks like that’s now happening. The updated tool gives more detailed analytics than its previous version, like what pins are getting re-pinned and how individual pins and boards are performing. Pinterest Analytics is just for Pinterest users with a business account — a feature the company rolled out a little more than a year and a half ago.

Here's what you may have missed this week in social media and tech:

• Google Wants To Control Every Character You Type - Imagine a typeface that unites all the world’s languages. A publisher could print a book in Arabic, Cherokee, Egyptian Hieroglyphics and more—all without swapping out fonts. That’s what Google is attempting to accomplish with Google Noto, a free font family that currently supports 96 languages, and aspires to support them all.
• Kuddle, An Instagram With Training Wheels, Introduces Social Media To Kids - A new mobile application called Kuddle is introducing a safer way for kids to get introduced to social media, while still under a parent’s watchful eye. The photo-sharing app, which is like a more restricted version of Instagram, allows children to post and share photos with friends in a protected environment, safe from cyberbullying or unwanted connections from strangers.
• PayPal Wants You To Never Pull Out Your Credit Card Again; One Touch Payments is Coming - Crucially, the family of One Touch-enabled apps include PayPal's own mobile app, used by millions of users, most of whom have a credit or debit card stored with the service. It will allow for swift mobile purchases without requiring users to create an account on an e-commerce site and enter credit-card details every time they want to buy something.
• Twitter Confirms Changes to What Users See in Their Timelines - Several days ago, we noticed that Twitter rolled out an experiment to some users that began showing actions — like favorited tweets — on the main Twitter timeline. (Earlier this month, it experimented with showing tweets from accounts users didn't follow.) At the time, it appeared this feature was just a test, since it hadn't been universally deployed to all users. Now, Twitter has updated some key language on its help page that indicates a permanent change...
• Report: Snapchat to Get Ads, News - Snapchat is planning to broaden its offerings this fall with ads, TV and movie clips and news articles, according to a report. The popular app, which famously rebuffed a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook last year, is in talks with advertisers and media companies about a service called Snapchat Discovery that would display such content, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new offering would launch in November, according to the report.
• TMZ Claims to Have Pictures of the New iPhone 6 - Tech geeks may want to take a hit off their inhalers and brace themselves ... because TMZ has obtained possible pictures of Apple's brand spanking new iPhone 6.
• University of Michigan Researches Developing Wearables to Detect Diseases - U-M researchers, working in conjunction with the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program, are developing a wearable sensor that could provide continuous disease monitoring of conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia or lung disease. The sensor, which is about the size of a finger nail, detects airborne chemicals either exhaled or released through the skin. It can be worn as a wired device.

And some other great things from other great bloggers:

Here's what you may have missed in social media and technology this week:

• Sensor-Powered Seatbelt Could Save the Lives of Sleepy Drivers - Developed by the Biomechanics Institute (IBV) in Valencia, Spain, the Heart and Respiration In-Car Embedded Non-Intrusive Sensors (Harken) system works by measuring the heart rate (via seatbelt sensors) and respiratory pace (via seat cover sensors) of the driver.
• Snapchat-Like App Bolt Leaked on Instagram - Some Android users are seeing a banner ad inside Instagram for the company’s new “one tap photo messaging app” Bolt. A few Android users (including one in India) have uploaded the Bolt ads to Twitter, but thus far Instagram has not responded to requests for comment.
• Pinterest shares diversity numbers: 40% female, 50% Caucasian - The figures were shared by Pinterest engineer Tracy Chou, who called for greater transparency last year about the proportion of women tech employees in the industry. Since then, a number of major companies have piled on to share their diversity figures, including Google, Facebook and Twitter.
• Users Average 40 Minutes Daily on Facebook - Facebook Co-Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call Wednesday that users of the social network in the U.S. average 40 minutes daily, with some 20 percent of that usage time on mobile.
• WWF’s Brilliant Snapchat Campaign - WWF used SnapChat by sharing ‘selfies’ of  endangered animals such as tigers, polar bears, dolphins and others under the hashtag #LastSelfie. These images lasted for 10 seconds and before they disappeared, users had to either share, donate or adopt the animal or help in any other way which they could. These images cannot be saved and are clicked from real life moments creating emotional impact in the minds of the viewers.
• Ford's Former Social Media Chief Takes Agency Role - Scott Monty, who left the Ford Motor Co. two months ago after a five-year run that made him one of the best known social media figures in the corporate world, has a new gig. The marketing veteran next week will join Shift Communications as evp of strategy.

And here is some great stuff from some fellow bloggers:

• Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom by Michelle Lampinen

Here's what you might have missed this week:

• Netflix Signs Chelsea Handler for Talk Show - The late-night comedian, who is ending E!'s Chelsea Lately, her late-night comedy talk show, in August after a seven-year run, has signed a deal with the streaming service for several stand-up specials and, in 2016, a new talk show with a format to be decided later.
• Take the Pure Michigan Instagram Beach Challenge Starting Friday - The goal of the 10-day Instagram challenge – which will kick off Friday, June 20 – is to showcase the variety of beaches in Michigan, as well as the types of activities that travelers and residents can enjoy during a day at the beach.
• The Amazon Smart Phone is Here, Meet Fire - In news that should surprise exactly no one, Jeff Bezos has officially unveiled Amazon's first cellphone, the Fire Phone. It'll be available July 25th, exclusively on AT&T starting at $199 with a two-year contract, and it's perhaps the most futuristic and wide-ranging device Amazon has ever attempted.
• Twitter buys SnappyTV - Twitter has agreed to acquire video startup SnappyTV for an undisclosed amount, the company announced today. SnappyTV’s tech lets you easily clip, edit, archive, and share live video clips and TV programming on Twitter and other social networks. It also tracks data and provides insights for promotional messages that run during live TV broadcasts.
• iWatch Production Could Start in July for October Release - Another day, another iWatch rumor. The latest news comes courtesy of Reuters, which reports that Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc. will be mass producing Apple's long-rumored smartwatch this July.

Things you may have missed if you weren't paying attention!

• Apple Said To Be Planning Split-Screen iPad Multitasking In iOS 8 - A new report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, who has a strong track record in predicting the future of Apple’s software, says that Apple will be building split-screen multitasking into iOS 8, the next major update for its mobile devices. This split-screen functionality will resemble these features as seen in recent Samsung tablets and the Microsoft Surface, the report claims.

Here's what you may have missed:

• LinkedIn's 200 Million International Users Will Now See Tailored Ads - The company on Tuesday announced new targeting filters for advertisers that includes the ability to surface ads based on a user's preferred language. Companies will also be able to specify the audience for each post in their feed, meaning they can identify which users will see which updates or ads.
• Amazon Opens Wearable Technology Store - The company on Tuesday launched a storefront dedicated to wearable technology. Customers can compare wearable tech devices within specific categories like smartwatches, fitness trackers and wearable cameras.
• Report: Fingerprint Sensor Coming to iPad Air and iPad Mini - The latest Apple rumor seems almost obvious: The iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will all feature Touch ID fingerprint sensors. The information comes from a report out of China that claims the first batch of Touch ID sensors for the next-generation of Apple phones and tablets are already complete.
• NBCUniversal Drops $7.7 Billion to Broadcast Olympics Through 2032 - NBCUniversal has reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee for the U.S. broadcast rights to the Winter Games and Summer Games through 2032. The price tag is $7.65 billion, along with a $100 million signing bonus, according to the International Olympics Committee (IOC).
• What Fresh Statistics Tell Us About Twitter’s Decline - A recent article on CNNMoney cites Twitter’s lack of user growth as a reason for a recent decline in the company’s stock price. Another widely-read article in The Atlantic, A Eulogy for Twitter, speculated that the service was entering its “twilight.”