How Apple and Google plan to revamp their app stores

Big changes for app developers: Apple is going to let them purchase search ads in the App Store, and developers with subscription customers for a year or longer will only pay Apple a 15 percent cut, instead of a 30 percent cut. Google is going to offer developers the same deal in the Play Store, but they won't have to wait a year to get that 15 percent rate.
[Lauren Goode | The Verge]

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says that Uber isn't going to make self-driving cars of its own, but (like Google) aims to partner with various carmakers on autonomous driving technology. The ride-hailing service recently inked a deal with Toyota, and is said to be in talks with Fiat.
[Naomi Kresge | Bloomberg]

CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen is going to work for Facebook as its "head of global creative strategy," a new position at the company. He's going to be working with media companies to help them make stuff to put on Facebook.
[Peter Kafka | Recode]

Bill Simmons may be the boss of his new site, The Ringer, but Editor in Chief Sean Fennessey is the guy running things day-to-day. On the new Recode Media podcast, Fennessey tells Peter Kafka how The Ringer will be different from Simmons's first site, Grantland. For more background on The Ringer, check out the Hollywood Reporter's new profile of Simmons.
[Eric Johnson | Recode]

Experts increasingly agree that the short- to medium-term outlook for the economy isn't great. The latest sign of this is the return of billionaire and bear market investor George Soros, who was last involved in everyday trading during the 2007 financial meltdown.
[Gregory Zuckerman | The Wall Street Journal]