Researches turn to The New York Times archives to predict the future

Google will soon unveil a Chrome OS Web app launcher for the Mac, according to a Google+ post from engineer François Beaufort. Users can try the app launcher in beta by installing Chromium. [Source: The Verge]

London-based edtech company Edxus Group has said it will spend up to $77 million over the next year and a half to develop and buy e-learning businesses in Europe that will give it to scale to compete against American edtech players. Edxus’s move mirrors similar strategies from US edtech companeis Pearson, Blackboard, Macmillan, Kaplan, and McGraw-Hill. [Source: TechCrunch]

ConsultingMD, which launched last year to help patients get second opinions from specialists via the Web, has announced today that it has raised $10 million Series B funding from Venrock. The startup was founded by Reputation.com co-founder Owen Tripp and Dr Lawrence Hofmann, chief of interventional radiology at Stanford Hospital. [Source: TechCrunch]

Mobile chat app MessageMe has passed 5 million users two months since it launched. The startup has also confirmed that it has closed $10 million of funding, building on the $1.9 million round it announced in late 2012. Its new round was led by Greylock Partners, an existing investor. [Source: The Next Web]

Cross-platform video game engine Unity has made its mobile tools free for small and independent studios. While Unity has provided free PC, Mac, and Web tools for indie developers since 2009, developers have until now had to pay $400 to release the game on either Android or iOS. [Source: Unity]

Spotify has launched a “top 50″ songs chart for the most-listened-to and the most-shared tracks on the platform each week. The charts are available for, and sortable by, Spotify’s 28 markets and are updated every Monday at noon EST. The charts are also embeddable. [Source: Spotify]

CB Insights notes that Tumblr, at $1.1 billion, is New York’s largest venture-backed exit of all time. The study doesn’t take into account Doubleclick, however, which was bought by Google for $3.1 billion, probably because Doubleclick was already public when it sold. [Source: CB Insights]

Marco Arment, David Karp’s right-hand man when Tumblr first began, weighs in on the Yahoo acquisition: “This is clearly what David believes is best for his product. On such big decisions, he hasn’t been wrong yet. This time, though, I don’t have any doubts.” [Source: Marco Arment]

New information released to NBC News reveals that the Department of Justice’s secret subpoena for AP phone records was even broader than initially reported, covering faxes and landlines as well. The AP is considering possible legal action against the DOJ. [Source: NBC News]

Microsoft wants the Xbox to be about more than just gaming; it’s working on its own in-house content like the upcoming TV show “The Music Room” which from the description sounds a bit like American Idol but for artists no one will ever hear of. [Source: Edge]

Last week, CNNMoney published an article with the headline, “Tesla sales beating Mercedes, BMW and Audi.” Audi has called foul on the headline, saying that while the Tesla Model S did outsell one of Audi’s luxury brands, Audi still sells over twice as many cars as Tesla. [Source: Audi]

To many, Yahoo’s acquisition of Flickr became a cautionary tale for small startups looking to get bought. Now, a day after its board approved the $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr, Yahoo has redesigned Flickr with bigger images and a more in-your-face Pinterest-y design, proving it hasn’t abandoned the photo-sharing network yet. [Source: Flickr]

Hackers who infiltrated Google’s network several years ago gained access to a database with information on US surveillance targets, the Washington Post reports. The purpose appears to have been finding out which Chinese intelligence operatives in the US may have been under surveillance by US law enforcement agencies. [Source: Washington Post]

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based startup, which aims to make it easier for businesses to find affordable Internet providers, was awarded the loan from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The money will go to site updates. [Source: Silicon Prairie News]

The latest victim of the pro-Assad SEA is British newspaper the Daily Telegraph. According to reports, the Telegraph’s twitter handle began tweeting pro-regime messages. [Source: Business Insider]