Techmeme: BlackBerry Says It's Looking For A Buyer (Or A Willing Partner) … (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

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August 12, 2013, 12:35 PM

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Digits:

Next iPad Takes After Thin, Light Mini — The same touch-panel technology that made the iPad mini thin and light will likely feature in the next iPad, which is currently being produced by Apple Inc.'s Asian suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

BlackBerry Says It's Looking For A Buyer (Or A Willing Partner), Forms Special Committee To ‘Explore Strategic Alternatives’ — BlackBerry, the embattled Canada-based handset maker, today finally called a spade a spade. The company halted trading in its shares to announce what some might argue …

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

BlackBerry: The perils of ‘strategic alternatives’ and limbo land — Summary: There are a lot of perils to seeking strategic alternatives while you're trying to mount a comeback. BlackBerry will like to pretend that it's business as usual during the process, but uncertainty will persist.

More: CITEworld, Digits, BGR, GeekWire, The Next Web, pocketnow.com and Electronista. Tweets: @fjeronimo

Richard Lai / Engadget:

Hold This Cat: HTC and Robert Downey Jr. kick off $1 billion ‘Change’ campaign (video) — “Big things ahead?” Well, it looks like HTC's earlier tweet wasn't a cheeky hint at the upcoming 5.9-inch One Max; but rather, it was a tribute to the sheer scale of the new “Here's To Change” global ad campaign.

More: AllThingsD, PC Magazine, GigaOM, VentureBeat, Digits, LAPTOP Magazine, IntoMobile, The Verge, Android Beat, Android and Me, GeekWire, SlashGear, Crave, Tech in Asia, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, The Next Web, Electronista and Business Insider

Tweets: @paulmozur and @htc

Ken Segall / Observatory:

Apple's evolving view of “pro” — In recent years, many pros have started feeling like Apple's jilted girlfriend. Through no fault of their own, the love just seemed to fade. — Apple might claim otherwise when confronted, but the telltale signs have been hard to ignore: — • Mac Pro.

More: TUAW, iMore, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors and Ubergizmo. Tweets: @monkbent

RT:

Mega to run ‘cutting-edge’ encrypted email after Lavabit's ‘privacy seppuku’ — Kim Dotcom's Mega.co.nz is working on a highly-secure email service to run on a non-US-based server. It comes as the US squeezes email providers that offer encryption and Mega's CEO calls Lavabit's shutdown an “honorable act of Privacy Seppuku.”

More: VentureBeat, TechHive, Business Insider, ZDNet, InfoWorld, Gizmodo, SiliconANGLE and TorrentFreak

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft to field a Cloud OS for government: Sources — Summary: Microsoft may be readying one or more versions of its Cloud OS tailored specifically for government customers. — Microsoft may be readying one or more versions of its cloud operating system that would be customized for government users, according to my sources.

More: TechEye and Wind8Apps

David Meyer / GigaOM:

Firefox OS for the world! ZTE to sell $80 Open smartphone through eBay — Have you been jonesing for a chance to play with Mozilla's Firefox OS smartphone operating system, but you don't live in one of the countries where it's been launched over the last month or so?

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

‘iPhone 5S’ (plus gold model), ‘iPhone 5C’ will actually be names of next iPhones? — Apple's next two iPhone models will be named iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, according to a report from Japan-based Macotakara. With repeated reports and rumors of the next-generation iPhone retaining the same design …

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

After Years Of Bootstrapping, MyFitnessPal Raises $18M Round From Kleiner Perkins And Accel — MyFitnessPal, a service that allows users to track their calories and share that information with friends, has raised $18 million in its first round of funding. — This seems like one of those stories …

More: VentureBeat, Mashable, Venture Capital Dispatch, ReadWrite, GigaOM, AllThingsD, silicontap.com and HBR.org

Matthew Kaminski / Wall Street Journal:

Ben Nelson: The Man Who Would Overthrow Harvard — Can the Minerva Project do to Ivy League universities what Amazon did to Borders? — San Francisco — 'If you think as we do," says Ben Nelson, “Harvard's the world's most valuable brand. ” He doesn't mean only in higher education. "

Jeff Blagdon / The Verge:

NBC News buys smartphone video streaming company in bet on user-generated footage — In a bet on user-generated content, NBC News has acquired a startup called Stringwire in what the New York Times is calling an acqui-hire. The company's founder, Phil Groman, developed software to enable real …

More: New York Times, TechHive, CNET, Engadget, AllThingsD, I4U News and The Next Web. Tweets: @digiphile. See also Mediagazer

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