Nest Raising Huge New Round From DST, Valuing Smart Home Startup at Upwards of $2 Billion  —  Nest Labs, the innovative smart home startup, is close to completing a deal to raise upwards of $150 million in a new round of financing that values it at more than $2 billion, according to sources close to the situation.

NYT editorial board calls for clemency or a plea bargain for Snowden  —  Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower  —  Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency's reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe …

It's Not a Church, It's Just an Apple Store  —  Attention fanboys and fangirls: Your favorite tech hardware, software and services are not religious objects.  And the companies that make them aren't cults or faiths.  They are capitalist enterprises, out to make a profit, grab market share, and, if they can, make products you will buy.

Happy Re/new Year!  —  We are thrilled to announce that we are forming our own new and independent media company, Revere Digital, with a pair of respected investors and partners — the NBCUniversal News Group and Terry Semel's Windsor Media.  Revere will be operating news sites and apps, as well as a series of conferences.

Samsung's Galaxy Camera 2 starts to refine the Android point-and-shoot  —  Samsung is unveiling the Galaxy Camera 2 today, its second take on the idea of a truly smart point-and-shoot.  Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Camera 2 runs Android, has wireless connectivity, and is operated primarily …

LG's webOS TV revealed in leaked image  —  LG has been rumored to be planning a webOS resurrection for a TV, and now a leaked image appears to offer the first look at the upcoming television.  Evleaks has posted a photo of the rumored LG webOS TV, and the image includes a brief look at the webOS Cards interface.

Meatspace, A World Of Animated Gifs, Human Robots And The Ephemerality Of Snapchat-Like Apps  —  Meatspace, an addictive new web service and mobile app is part Snapchat, part Twitter and part animated gifs.  It works like this: You write an update in 250 characters or less and then pose for the camera on your computer or phone.

Google Glass won't succeed as a consumer product in 2014 due to high expectations, cost, more  —  Scoble says Google Glass is doomed  —  First, I love headlines that stretch the truth a bit.  No one outside of Google got their Glass before March of last year.

YouTube goes 4K, Google signs up long list of hardware partners for VP9 support  —  YouTube will be demonstrating 4K video at CES in Las Vegas next week, with a twist: The Google-owned video service will be showing off ultra high-definition streaming based on VP9, a new royalty-free codec …

China's Xiaomi sells 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, up 160% from a year earlier  —  Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has outdone itself — by selling 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, up 160 percent from a year earlier and more than its initial target of 15 million devices.

Cody Wilson Rattled Lawmakers With Plastic Gun, Now on to Bitcoin Transactions  —  AUSTIN, Texas— Cody Wilson rattled lawmakers and law-enforcement agencies with a plastic gun created from a 3-D printer, home computer and blueprints he posted online for anyone to download.