Techmeme: The metals in your smartphone may be irreplaceable (Akshat Rathi/Ars Technica)

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December 6, 2013, 4:55 PM

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Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:

Apple to begin using iBeacons at 254 US stores enabling in-store notifications in updated app — Apple guides shoppers inside stores with iBeacon — NEW YORK (AP) — GPS will tell you how to get to the nearest Apple store. With iBeacon, Apple hopes to guide you around once you're inside …

Akshat Rathi / Ars Technica:

The metals in your smartphone may be irreplaceable — Shades of 60 elements that make up a computer chip. — intelfreepress — A few centuries ago, there were just a few widely used materials: wood, brick, iron, copper, gold, and silver. Today's material diversity is astounding.

More: BBC, Gizmodo and Lastest ITProPortal news

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Supreme Court to review patents on software — The Supreme Court announced Friday it will review if business methods implemented through computer software should be eligible for monopolies under patent law. — The decision to review software eligibility comes as U.S. courts continue …

More: Reuters, SCOTUSblog, Engadget, The Switch, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ars Technica, CNET, Bloomberg, AllThingsD, Yahoo! News and The Verge. Tweets: @fedcourtjunkie

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Facebook says ranking change is not targeting BuzzFeed and Upworthy in interview with News Feed boss — Like This if You Like Pandas! Facebook Says Publishers Shouldn't Fret About News Feed Changes. — In 2011, Google changed the way it ranked websites, in an effort to punish spammers and …

More: Marketing Land, Digits, WebProNews and The Verge

Tweets: @niemanlab, @mattcutts, @joshconstine, @myurow, @hblodget and @kellyconniff

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Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:

WSJ: Apple e-book judge is ‘a disgrace to the judiciary’ — News Corp's Wall Street Journal calls for Judge Denise Cote to be taken off the case. — FORTUNE — Most of arguments the Wall Street Journal made Friday in a strident editorial calling for the ouster of the judge …

More: Wall Street Journal, iMore, AppleInsider, Daring Fireball, Valleywag, Macworld, Business Insider, TUAW, App Advice, iDownloadBlog.com and iPhone in Canada Blog

Tweets: @mikeisaac, @panzer, @panzer and @panzer

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:

Apple demands $15 million in legal fees from Samsung, spent over $60M on California case — In the U.S. patent reform context, “loser pays"-type fee-shifting is a hot topic (see this Bloomberg article on “Three Issues to Watch as the Senate Targets Patent Trolls”, which contains a quote …

More: Reuters, Mercury News, AppleInsider, The Verge, BGR, CNET, Electronic Frontier Foundation, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com and Businessweek

Brad Molen / Engadget:

LG G Flex review: a promising phone, but not one you should buy right now — It's not too often we get to review a product with a completely new form factor, but we relish the opportunity when we do. This time, we're taking a closer look at the LG G Flex, one of two curved smartphones …

More: The Verge, LAPTOP Mag, BGR, SlashGear and IntoMobile

Stephen Lawson / Computerworld:

Moore's Law isn't making chips cheaper anymore — Regular cost declines with each new generation of silicon are coming to an end — At a wine bar in San Francisco on Wednesday, Broadcom Chairman and CTO Henry Samueli delivered some sobering news: Moore's Law isn't making chips cheaper anymore.

More: Telegraph and TechEye

Kashmir Hill / Forbes:

U.S. Spy Rocket Has Octopus-Themed ‘Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach’ Logo. Seriously. — The Office of National Intelligence was very excited about sending a rocket into space Thursday with a bunch of new satellites and live tweeted its launch. This would usually be a cute display of social media …

More: Fox News, Techdirt, RT, The Register and Nextgov

Tweets: @documentally, @ggreenwald, @odnigov, @kashhill and @csoghoian

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:

To Comply With FDA, 23andMe Won't Give New Customers Genetic Analysis — The personal genetics startup 23andMe announced this evening that it will stop giving new customers access to health reports tied to their genes, after being warned by the FDA over compliance issues.

More: CNET, Business Wire, Los Angeles Times, ReadWrite, Gizmodo, Engadget, ZDNet, Washington Post, The Verge, TechCrunch, Business Insider, Reuters, SiliconBeat, Forbes, AllThingsD, David Dobbs's NEURON CULTURE and The Switch

Jaikumar Vijayan / Computerworld:

NSA cites Reagan-era executive order to justify collection of cellphone location data — Insists program is legal and purely outward-facing — The National Security Agency on Friday cited a 1981 executive order signed by then-President Ronald Reagan as the authority under …

More: Computerworld, PandoDaily, The Verge and TheHill

BBC:

Samsung and Philips among tech firms raided by EU — Samsung and Philips have revealed that they were among several consumer electronics companies raided recently by European Commission inspectors. Thursday's raid focused on companies making and selling consumer electronics products and small domestic appliances.

More: Reuters, The Register, Gigaom, EU Press Room, SlashGear, PC World, CNET, ZDNet and Patently Apple

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

YC's new replacement for convertible notes avoids hassles around interest and maturity dates — Y Combinator Introduces Safe, Its Alternative To Convertible Notes — Years ago, Y Combinator helped popularize the convertible note as a way for startups that go through its accelerator to easily raise seed money.

More: Y Combinator Posthaven and PandoDaily

Computerworld:

Microsoft ends Windows 7 retail sales — Microsoft has quietly ended retail sales of Windows 7, according to a notice on its website. — Microsoft has quietly ended retail sales of Windows 7, according to a notice on its website. — The company's policies for shutting off sales …

More: Softpedia News, Computerworld, BGR and InfoWorld

Peter Bright / Ars Technica:

Why Microsoft needs three—or more—operating systems — At the moment, Microsoft has a bunch of consumer-facing Windows-derived brands: Windows 8.1 for x86 and x64 PCs, Windows RT for ARM PCs, and Windows Phone for smartphones. According to research firm Canalys, that's at least one too many …

More: InfoWorld and Softpedia News

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Google to try again with a streaming TV box called “Nexus TV”, which may launch in H1 2014 — GoogleÂ's Latest TV Takeover Attempt: Â'Nexus TVÂ' — The battle among technology companies to take over the living room is getting even more crowded.

Tweets: @panzer, @dannysullivan and @sai

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