Recode Daily: Apple wants to rent movies while they’re still in theaters

Movie studios are looking for a way to offer home rental of films shortly after they open in theaters, and Apple is pushing to make iTunes the platform. Napster founder Sean Parker has a similar goal with Screening Room. — [Anousha Sakoui and Alex Webb / Bloomberg]

Microsoft is partnering with Qualcomm on technology that will allow Windows software to run on mobile-oriented ARM chips. The company also announced a broad collaboration with Intel in security, virtual reality, gaming and voice activation. — [Ina Fried / Recode]

The Trump transition team is adding two more Silicon Valley advisers, both associates of Peter Thiel: Mark Woolway, the acting CFO of Zenefits, and Kevin Harrington, a managing director at Thiel Capital. — [Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal]

Testifying before skeptical, but not outright hostile, senators, the CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner (with support from Mark Cuban) portrayed their proposed $85 billion merger as a competitive counterweight to tech and cable companies. — [Cecilia Kang / New York Times]

Fitbit is buying the software assets of struggling smartwatch maker and one-time Kickstarter success story Pebble for less than $40 million and discontinuing its hardware products. — [Lauren Goode / The Verge]

On the latest episode of Recode Media with Peter Kafka, Burnie Burns, co-founder of Rooster Teeth, talks about creating shows like “Red vs. Blue” in the pre-YouTube days of online video. — [Eric Johnson / Recode]

Top Stories From Recode

Google’s self-driving car team is hiring executives as it prepares to spin out from Alphabet’s X

The company also expects “significant growth in both team size and geographical footprint” as it graduates from Alphabet’s moonshot shop.

Mossberg: In tech, form too often trumps function

Nobody wants beige boxes, but practicality matters too.

Elon Musk’s nonprofit can help AI systems get smarter — even if their developers have bad intentions

Universe is a new AI training center that is supposed to teach computers to think more like humans.

This Is Cool

Enjoy NYC’s elaborate holiday store windows without the crowds

A high-res walking tour past Bloomingdale’s, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and more, from Google.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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