Techmeme: Music-Discovery Service ExFM Pulls the Plug (Peter Kafka/AllThingsD)

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December 22, 2013, 5:35 PM

Top News

Apple:

China Mobile & Apple Bring iPhone to China Mobile's 4G & 3G Networks on January 17, 2014 — iPhone 5s & iPhone 5c Available for Pre-Registration Beginning December 25, 2013 — Apple® and China Mobile today announced they have entered into a multi-year agreement to bring iPhone® to the world's largest mobile network.

More: AllThingsD, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Engadget, The Verge, The Next Web, iPhone Hacks and CNBC

Tweets: @parislemon and @asymco

New York Times:

iPhone arrives on world's largest carrier as Apple tries to climb from fifth place in China — Apple and China Mobile Sign iPhone Deal — Just about any way you slice it, 763 million customers is a huge potential pie. — On Sunday, Apple and China Mobile announced a deal to bring …

Kwame Opam / The Verge:

Jailbreak for iOS 7 is out, but proceed with caution — iOS 7 officially has an untethered jailbreak. The comprehensive new tool, provided by the Evasi0n team, allows users to jailbreak all iOS devices running versions 7.0 to 7.0.4. The team also promises that the process can be done in five minutes.

More: evasi0n, 9to5Mac, Redmond Pie, Engadget, Digital Trends, VentureBeat, SlashGear, BGR, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, Gizmodo, iMore, Redmond Pie, Redsn0w, CNET, Pocket-lint, The Mac Observer, Softpedia News, Avinashtech, TechCrunch, iPhone in Canada Blog, MobileSyrup.com and The Next Web

Tweets: @saurik, @saurik, @chronic, @pod2g, @saurik, @saurik and @tapbot_paul

New York Times:

White House Tries to Prevent Judge From Ruling on Surveillance Efforts — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved late Friday to prevent a judge in California from ruling on the constitutionality of warrantless surveillance programs authorized during the Bush administration …

More: IC ON THE RECORD, The Switch, Associated Press, Electronic Frontier Foundation, NPR and CNET

Tweets: @trevortimm, @trevortimm, @attackerman, @attackerman and @normative

Nathaniel Popper / DealBook:

Inside the race for Bitcoin mining capacity, which increased by about 30,000 percent in 2013 — Into the Bitcoin Mines — On the flat lava plain of Reykjanesbaer, Iceland, near the Arctic Circle, you can find the mines of Bitcoin. — To get there, you pass through a fortified gate and enter a featureless yellow building.

More: VentureBeat. Tweets: @theinformation, @fromedome, @kevinrose, @gabriel_o, @cdixon and @sacca

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

Almost Human: The Surreal, Cyborg Future of Telemarketing — This is a story about how the future gets weird. — It's about how humans interact with each other, and machines, and systems that can only properly be called cyborg. — Let's start, though, with a man sitting on a couch.

More: The Verge, Gotta Be Mobile and Daring Fireball

Tweets: @nd_kane, @josephcohen, @alexismadrigal and @zseward

Thanks:@alexismadrigal

Rob Wile / Business Insider:

Here's How Two Strangers Jokingly Created Dogecoin — The Digital Currency That People Like More Than Bitcoin — This is the most 2013 thing of the year. — An Australian brand and marketing specialist and a programmer in Portland, Ore. who have never actually met have successfully combined …

More: Steve Klabnik, The Verge, Daily Dot, Digital Trends, International Business Times, Ubergizmo and Betabeat

David Auerbach / Slate:

San Francisco tech workers rarely resemble the ruthless techno-libertarians portrayed in media — The Silicon Valley-ization of San Francisco — The press portrays a ruthless band of techno-libertarians taking over the city. The reality is much different.

Tweets: @dr_pugh, @slate, @nils_gilman, @monstro and @davewiner

USA Today:

Protesters vandalize Google bus, block Apple shuttle

More: KQED News Fix, Fortune, Mission Loc@l, Reuters, NYT Bits, SFGate Blog, CNET, Indybay newswire, The Verge, Mission Loc@l, PandoDaily, Business Insider, Android Beat, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Valleywag and SlashGear

Ryan Tate / Wired:

News Corp's Storyful Buy Proves Old Media Still Loves Tech — Tech history is littered with the wreckage of startups acquired and ruined by old media companies. To a certain extent, old media realizes the error of its ways, but that doesn't stop it from trying again.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Music-Discovery Service ExFM Pulls the Plug — After a four-year-run, music startup ExFM is throwing in the towel. — The company, which operates a music-discovery website, as well as iPhone and Android apps, says it will shut down its apps, as well as the guts of its site, on Jan. 15.

More: Exfm, hypebot and The Next Web. Tweets: @caseynewton

Etay Maor / Trusteer:

Gameover malware variant steals BTC China users' credentials to gain control of accounts — Bitcoin Exchange In China - Gameover? — Cybercriminals' interest in Bitcoin has continued to grow alongside the mainstream media's heavy coverage of the currency and its high rate of adoption by both consumers and businesses.

More: Softpedia News, CoinDesk, InformationWeek, Softpedia News, SC Magazine and The Register

Eric Calouro / newsBTC:

Overstock.com to Begin Accepting Bitcoin Second Half of 2014 — In late October, there was a brief mention of retailer Overstock.com in a New York Times piece that noted the online retailer was considering accepting bitcoin, but decided they would put a hold on that objective …

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