Techmeme
January 17, 2014, 8:45 AM

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The Official Google Blog:
Introducing our smart contact lens project  —  You've probably heard that diabetes is a huge and growing problem—affecting one in every 19 people on the planet.  But you may not be familiar with the daily struggle that many people with diabetes face as they try to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google's New Smart Contact Lens Is Old News For Microsoft  —  Google today announced its smart contact lens project, but it's not the first by a long shot (or even a moon shot).  Other companies have long been working on smart lenses — including Microsoft Research, which unveiled a similar project …
Reuters:
Obama to move NSA phone metadata storage to third parties, require court order to access it  —  Exclusive: Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce on Friday a major overhaul of a controversial National Security Agency program …
James Ball / Guardian:
NSA collects almost 200 million text messages a day in global “untargeted” sweep  —  NSA collects millions of text messages daily in ‘untargeted’ global sweep  —  The National Security Agency has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe …
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Breach at Neiman Marcus Went Undetected From July to December  —  The computer network at Neiman Marcus was penetrated by hackers as far back as July, and the breach was not fully contained until Sunday, according to people briefed on the investigation.  —  The company disclosed the data theft …
Computerworld:
IBM pumps $1.2 billion into global cloud data centers  —  Dispelling any lingering doubt that IBM sees cloud computing as the way of the future, the company announced that it will invest US$1.2 billion this year in expanding its global cloud infrastructure.  —  Dispelling any lingering doubt …
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Twitter Gets Serious About Commerce, Nears Deal With Payments Startup Stripe  —  Twitter is close to letting its users purchase products directly through the social network and is nearing a deal with payments startup Stripe to help it accept credit card payments from its users, according to a person familiar with the deal.
Reuters:
Casually-dressed security guards seen monitoring Google commuter buses in San Francisco  —  Latest perk on Google buses: security guards  —  (Reuters) - First, San Francisco-based commuters to Google Inc got buses with plush seats and free WiFi.  Now, they are getting security.
Ina Fried / Re/code:
T-Mobile expands ETF payment program to include US Cellular, other regional carriers  —  T-Mobile Broadening Its Program to Pay Switchers  —  T-Mobile plans to expand a recently introduced program that pays new customers up to $350 for breaking their contract with a rival carrier.
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Farhad Manjoo heads to NYT after 4 months at WSJ to replace David Pogue  —  The New York Times Gets its David Pogue Replacement from the Wall Street Journal  —  The New York Times has found a replacement for David Pogue, its high-profile reviewer: Sources say the Times is filling his old slot …
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Apple details secure ‘touchless’ e-wallet strategy in patent filing  —  Apple has been coy in revealing its plans for a touchless payment solution, but a patent filing discovered on Thursday gives clues as to where the company is headed.  —  Tech companies like Google are looking …
Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson says Google, not Apple is the greatest innovator in the world  —  Google steals innovation crown from Apple: Isaacson  —  iPhones begin selling at China Moblie on Friday  —  This is a big deal, says Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute, discussing Apple's deal …
Jennifer Corbett Dooren / Washington Wire:
Official: “back-end” of HealthCare.gov still being built, with unknown completion date  —  Under Construction: HealthCare.gov's Payment System  —  An Obama administration official told Congress Thursday that the “back-end” of HealthCare.gov is still being built and he didn't forecast a completion date.
More: The Hill and The Daily Caller.  Tweets: @sqwerin
Jeffrey Grubb / VentureBeat:
December 2013 NPD: While both supply constrained, Xbox One outsells PlayStation 4  —  The Xbox One Day One edition controller.  —  The Xbox One and and PlayStation 4 both sold well, but Microsoft's latest console bested its Sony counterpart ... although both are behind Nintendo's 3DS.

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