Techmeme: Researchers crack the world's toughest encryption by listening to the tiny sounds made by your computer's CPU (Sebastian Anthony/ExtremeTech)

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December 20, 2013, 11:05 AM

Top News

Steve Dent / Engadget:

BlackBerry teams up with Foxconn for budget smartphones as sales continue to plunge — Blackberry's new interim chief John Chen has got a rude awakening to his new job: it sold only 1.9 million smartphones in Q1 compared to 3.7 million last quarter and lost $4.4 billion.

More: Marketwired, Quartz, AllThingsD, Guardian, NEWS.com.au, BBC, BGR, VentureBeat, CNET, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Softpedia News and Yahoo! News. Tweets: @tapbot_paul

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

BlackBerry's First Foxconn Partnership Phone Will Be 3G BB10 Device, Coming March Or April 2014 — BlackBerry announced today that it would be partnering with Foxconn to produce devices going forward, and CEO John Chen revealed a few details about the first fruits of that partnership on the company's earnings call today.

More: Marketwired, VentureBeat and MobileSyrup.com. Thanks:@romaindillet

Sean Silcoff / Globe and Mail:

BlackBerry posts massive $4.4-billion quarterly loss, revenue plunges

More: The Verge, CNET, Reuters and Business Insider. Tweets: @charlesarthur

Fred Vogelstein / The Atlantic Online:

The Day Google Had to ‘Start Over’ on Android — Google was building a secret mobile product to fend off chief rival Microsoft. Then Apple announced the iPhone, and everything changed. — In 2005, on Google's sprawling, college-like campus, the most secret and ambitious of many …

More: Fortune, 9to5Google, The Verge, iMore, InvestorPlace, AmongTech, Gizmodo, iPhone, Ubergizmo, AppleInsider, Daring Fireball, iPhone in Canada Blog, The Loop, BGR, MacDailyNews, Cult of Mac and The Switch. Tweets: @whatthebit

Steve Kovach / Business Insider:

News Corp Buys Storyful, A Site That Finds News Stories On Social Media, For $25 Million — News Corp announced today that it bought Storyful, a startup that finds news on social media, for $25 million. — Here's the release: — Accelerating News Corp's digital transformation and video strategy …

More: VentureBeat, The Next Web, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, PE Hub Blog and Poynter

Tweets: @antderosa and @raju

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Reuters:

EU says Google concessions in antitrust case not acceptable — Google's revised proposals to settle an antitrust case are not acceptable, European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Friday. — “The latest offer as submitted by Google in October …

More: Gigaom, The Verge, Forbes, Associated Press, Search Engine Land, ZDNet, Engadget, BGR, The Next Web, Bloomberg and WebProNews

Gregory Ferenstein / TechCrunch:

Tim Draper Wants To Split California Into Pieces And Turn Silicon Valley Into Its Own State — TechCrunch has learned about noted technology investor Tim Draper's plan to split California into six separate states, including a Northern California slice appropriately named “Silicon Valley.”

More: Business Insider, bizjournals, InfoWorld, Digits and SlashGear

Tweets: @lenkendall, @susie_c, @mat, @qthrul, @tcarmody, @jacksonwest, @johnjcook, @monstro, @leelefever, @johnolilly and @loyalelectron

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple seeds first OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 beta, brings FaceTime Audio to Macs — Just days after the first public release of OS X 10.9.1, Apple has seeded the first beta of OS X 10.9.2 to developers. The update is available in the Mac App Store for registered developers …

More: The Verge, CNET, AppleInsider, App Advice, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, Gotta Be Mobile, AppleTell, Cult of Mac, Softpedia News, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, iPhone Hacks, iMore, The Mac Observer and MacDailyNews

New York Times:

N.S.A. Dragnet Included Allies, Aid Groups and Business Elite — Secret documents reveal more than 1,000 targets of American and British surveillance in recent years, including the office of an Israeli prime minister, heads of international aid organizations, foreign energy companies …

More: Guardian and The Verge. Tweets: @dhh, @barakravid, @froomkin, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald and @ggreenwald

Sebastian Anthony / ExtremeTech:

Researchers crack the world's toughest encryption by listening to the tiny sounds made by your computer's CPU — Security researchers have successfully broken one of the most secure encryption algorithms, 4096-bit RSA, by listening - yes, with a microphone — to a computer as it decrypts some encrypted data.

More: NBCNews, Motherboard and Tech.eu. Tweets: @thekirbylover

Walter Frick / HBR:

The Danger of Turning Cynical About Silicon Valley — Silicon Valley is losing its luster, at least among elite opinion-makers. An increasing number of critiques have been mounted in publications as diverse as The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, and Wired (to name only a few) …

Tweets: @stevesi. Thanks:@wfrick

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Trouble in Austin: Apple repeats last year's iMac holiday shortage with the Mac Pro — The December supply of Mac Pros? — The new Mac Pro is an awesome machine for those with several thousand dollars to spend on a computer and a need for all the power that comes with that thermal core …

More: Forbes, Computerworld, ZDNet, Gotta Be Mobile, Fortune, Ars Technica, Softpedia News, Pocket-lint, MacDailyNews, iClarified and TechnoBuffalo. Tweets: @tim_cook

David Pierce / The Verge:

Up close and personal with the new Mac Pro (hands-on)

More: Macworld, Engadget, Macworld, MacRumors, Ars Technica, Cult of Mac, CNET, iClarified, iPhone Hacks, Yahoo! News, iPhone in Canada Blog and Gizmodo

Beth Kowitt / Fortune:

Warby Parker raises $60 million — Exclusive: The fashionable eyeglasses purveyor more than doubles its total investment. — FORTUNE — Warby Parker has raised $60 million in its latest round of venture capital funding, led by its biggest investor, Tiger Global Management.

More: TechCrunch, VentureBeat and AllThingsD

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

AOL Finalizing Talks To Sell Winamp And Shoutcast, No Shutdown Expected On Dec. 20 — AOL is finalizing negotiations to sell off Winamp and Shoutcast in a deal that would allow both products to live on, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

More: CNET, SlashGear, Softpedia News, The Atlantic Online and Boing Boing

Zack Whittaker / ZDNet:

Verizon plans to issue transparency report, despite silence on NSA co-operation — Summary: The phone and cellular giant, which has been forced under a court order, leaked by Edward Snowden, to hand all business records to the NSA, plans to dish out more details on government data requests.

More: SlashGear

Libby Jacobson / Verizon Public Policy:

Verizon to Publish Transparency Report Disclosing Law Enforcement Requests for Customer Information

More: DSLreports, BBC, TIME, Inquirer, GamePolitics blogs, Washington Post, NYT Bits, Mashable, Gigaom, CNET, Engadget, SecurityWeek, TheHill and The Verge

Tweets: @eff, @csoghoian and @runasand

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:

Apple hints at future Maps app in ‘layered map’ patent filing — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application that takes the company's existing mapping apps and extends them to new levels of interactivity with data-rich layered viewing modes. — Source: USPTO

More: Gizmodo, MacRumors, CNET, Gigaom, iDownloadBlog.com, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone in Canada Blog, PadGadget, Spatially Adjusted, BGR, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch and Electronista

Seth Weintraub / 9to5Google:

After recall, Google releases updated HP Chromebook 11 with newly-designed power adapter — Google recalled the power adapters to its popular little HP Chromebook 11 last week after an investigation by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said that some of the AC adapters were overheating and could be dangerous.

More: Engadget, SlashGear, AndroidHeadlines.com, Electronista, The Verge and The VAR Guy. Thanks:@davidj

Michael Davidson / Xconomy:

Techstars CEO David Cohen to Raise $150M Fund — Techstars co-founder and CEO David Cohen has begun the process of raising a $150 million fund, according to an SEC filing made earlier today. — While Cohen is best known as the head of Boulder, CO-based Techstars, he's also an active investor …

More: Inbound Hub, bizjournals, Boulder County Report and Daily Camera. Thanks:@curtwoodward

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

SEC Charges Microsoft Senior Manager and Friend With Insider Trading in Advance of Company News — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a senior portfolio manager at Microsoft Corporation and his friend and business partner with insider trading ahead of company announcements.

More: ZDNet, Quartz, WinBeta, GeekWire, WebProNews, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Forbes and Gigaom

Tweets: @bdsams, @jyarow, @counternotions, @jonathanweil and @markgurman

Mike Carter / The Seattle Times:

Interview with former Microsoft senior manager Brian Jorgenson: “I told myself, “Members of Congress can do it""

More: The Register, The Verge, Forbes, Business Insider and SlashGear. Tweets: @jyarow

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Shazam for iPhone can now listen for songs and shows in the background — Ever rush to identify a song with Shazam with your phone, only to be frustrated as the tune ends before you've even reached into your pocket? That won't be a concern with the latest update to Shazam's iPhone app.

More: Gigaom, App Advice, everythingiCafe, Cult of Mac, The Next Web, TechRadar.com, Multichannel.com, Fast Company, Consumerist, Ubergizmo, TUAW, Electronista, iDownloadBlog.com and Pocket-lint. Tweets: @qthrul

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