Techmeme
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.
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 …
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 …
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.”
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 …
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 …
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: @stevesiThanks:@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 …
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.
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:
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
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 …
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.
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.

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Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
iFixit:
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD: