Techmeme
September 5, 2013, 9:45 PM

Top News

New York Times:
N.S.A. Foils Much Internet Encryption  —  The National Security Agency is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of everyday communications …
Guardian:
US and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet  —  • NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records  —  • $250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products
Bruce Schneier / Guardian:
How to remain secure against NSA surveillance  —  The NSA has huge capabilities - and if it wants in to your computer, it's in.  With that in mind, here are five ways to stay safe  —  Now that we have enough details about how the NSA eavesdrops on the internet, including today's disclosures …
Nathan Olivarez-Giles / The Verge:
Google's Trojan horse: how Chrome Apps will finally take on Windows  —  The web alone is not enough  —  Today, on Chrome's fifth birthday, Google is announcing the rollout of what it's calling Chrome Apps.  Don't feel bad if you're confused by the name.  Chrome has been serving …
Wall Street Journal:
Apple Tests iPhone Screens as Large as Six Inches  —  As Apple Inc. prepares to unveil both a new high-end iPhone and a cheaper version for the first time next week, it is already working on something bigger.  —  The electronics giant has begun evaluating a plan to offer iPhones …
Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:
No, seriously: Oyster comes pretty close to being a Netflix for ebooks  —  A lot of startups want to be the Netflix (or Spotify, Pandora, whatever) for ebooks.  That is, they want to provide unlimited access to ebooks for a flat monthly fee.  —  But this is really hard to pull off …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
PayPal's new digital wallet app is powerful but baffling  —  Will anybody ever get mobile payments right?  —  Hill Ferguson ordered a smoothie.  Using a newly redesigned app for iOS and Android, PayPal's lanky director of product selected a peach concoction and paid for it with a couple taps on his smartphone.
Ken Yeung / The Next Web:
Salesforce unveils Files, a new way to map files across services like Dropbox, Box, and SharePoint  —  Salesforce has overhauled its file sharing system to allows users to share files from any business unit on any device.  Called Salesforce Files, this updated tool will work with services like Google Drive …
Brad Sams / Neowin:
Power Cover: Microsoft's keyboard cover for the Surface with a built-in battery  —  It was only yesterday that Neowin was able to pull back the covers on the Surface Pro 2 and highlight some of the features of Microsoft's upcoming tablet.  While the specs are looking like a modest upgrade to the Surface Pro …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Japan's largest carrier DoCoMo & Apple reportedly agree to iPhone partnership, sales start this fall  —  Japan's largest mobile carrier, DoCoMo, will finally begin selling the iPhone this fall, according to Nikkei.  Apple and DoCoMo reportedly recently came to an agreement, and reports regarding the discussions emerged late last month.
Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
Follow The Bitcoins: How We Got Busted Buying Drugs On Silk Road's Black Market  —  The crypto-currency Bitcoin has become the preferred payment method for much of the online underground, hailed by none other than the administrator of the booming Silk Road black market as the key to making his illicit business possible.
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Aetna Once Offered To Buy NY Startup ZocDoc For More Than $300 Million And The Founders Walked Away  —  Insurance company Aetna once offered to buy ZocDoc for more than $300 million but ZocDoc's founders walked away, multiple sources tell Business Insider.  —  ZocDoc was founded in 2007 …
Thanks:@ajs
TechCrunch:
Braintree Is On The Block, Had Acquisition Talks With Square And PayPal  —  Chicago-based payments gateway Braintree is currently shopping itself around to potential acquirers, TechCrunch has learned.  The company has been on the block for some time, having previously tried to work out a deal with Google which fell through.
Matthew Moskovciak / CNET:
Simple.TV partners with SiliconDust: new hardware, 2.0 software update on the way  —  The new Simple.TV box will feature dual-tuning capability and a more traditional set-top box look.  —  It's been a while since we've heard anything from Simple.TV and its quirky over-the-air DVR …
More: GigaOM and Engadget
Mark Gurman / 9to5Google:
Moto X lands on Sprint tomorrow for $199, new customers slash off an extra $100, Moto Maker in coming months  —  Sprint will begin carrying the Moto X smartphone beginning tomorrow (Friday, September 6th), the company announced today.  The phone will come in either black or white, and it will cost $199 from Sprint.
Rachel King / ZDNet:
Facebook-owned Parse adds analytics, more third-party tools to developer platform  —  Summary: Parse is also tacking on a pair of new cloud modules for facilitating the integration of a Parse-made app with third-party services.  —  One of Facebook's most buzzed-about acquisitions as of late …

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Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: