Techmeme: Official: “back-end” of HealthCare.gov still being built, with unknown completion date (Jennifer Corbett Dooren/Washington Wire)

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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.

Re/code:

Google's Latest Moon Shot Is a Smart Contact Lens for Diabetes Patients — Google has shrunk down a chip and sensor system so small it can be embedded in a contact lens. — Instead of a circuit board, the tiny pieces are connected to a circular gold foil antenna mounted on a flexible plastic …

More: Electronista and The Register. Tweets: @pkafka, @jamieogrady_, @digiphile, @karaswisher and @dannysullivan

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 …

More: The Tell, The Escapist and Android Beat

Re/code:

Inside Google X's Smart Contact Lens

More: Re/code. Tweets: @karaswisher, @kashhill and @lizgannes

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 …

More: Engadget, New York Times, The Switch, Gigaom, TheHill and Gizmodo

Tweets: @jesselynradack, @theplumlinegs, @jlllow and @casparbowden

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 …

Alex Howard / E Pluribus Unum:

IRS enables Americans to download their tax transcripts over the Internet

More: TechCrunch. Thanks:@digiphile

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple to begin in-store iPhone 5c screen repairs next week — We've gotten word from multiple sources that Apple will begin repairing/replacing broken iPhone 5c displays in its retail stores next week. The current plan is to begin offering replacements on Monday, January 20th.

More: iMore, Softpedia News, SlashGear, iPhone Hacks, MacRumors, Electronista, App Advice and iClarified

Marty Graham / Reuters:

California woman who drove with Google Glass beats traffic ticket at trial — (Reuters) - A California woman ticketed for driving while wearing Google Glass, a tiny computer mounted on an eyeglass frame, had her citation dismissed on Thursday by a San Diego court commissioner who said he found …

More: Associated Press, Gizmodo, ZDNet, PhoneArena, SlashGear, Glass Almanac, Computerworld, The Verge, Digits and Los Angeles Times

New York Times:

Yahoo's Bumps on a Road to Revival — SAN FRANCISCO — It looks as if the Google pixie dust isn't so easy to spread around. — Marissa Mayer's arrival at Yahoo as chief executive a year and a half ago was widely hailed as an opportunity to infuse the struggling Internet pioneer with the smarts …

More: New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @vindugoel, @mathewi, @om and @deanemurphy. See also Mediagazer

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Exclusive: Yahoo's Editor-in-Chief Jai Singh Departs Company

More: TheStreet.com, TechCrunch, Digits, VatorNews, Business Insider, Capital New York, Softpedia News and Inc.com

Tweets: @karaswisher and @awallenstein

Thanks:@chirag_mehta. See also Mediagazer

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 …

More: The Verge, BGR, Washington Post, Reuters, Softpedia News, Computerworld, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, SlashGear, Bloomberg, CNET and CNNMoney.com

Tweets: @whas11doug and @chrismaycbs3

Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:

Code points to a Google “Fitness API” allowing Android apps to view and edit activity data — Google Works on a Fitness API for Android — Wearables are now the next big thing. A lot of companies develop smart watches, smart glasses and head-up displays, smart headphones, smart clothes.

More: Google Developers Blog, AndroidHeadlines.com, Electronista, Phandroid, 9to5Google, Engadget and Droid Life. Tweets: @arjunram

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 …

More: InfoWorld, ZDNet, Washington Post, Reuters, Forbes and Re/code

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.

More: Digits, Business Insider, Inc.com and TechCrunch

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.

More: The Technology Chronicles, The Mac Observer, Valleywag and CNET. Tweets: @alexia

Sam Byford / The Verge:

Nintendo warns of loss after slashing Wii U sales forecast by 69 percent — Throughout the past year, Nintendo CEO and president Satoru Iwata has maintained his belief that the company will turn an operating profit of ¥100 billion yen in 2014, even in the face of disappointing Wii U sales.

More: Reuters, BGR, Engadget, TechCrunch, Inquirer, Guardian, The Next Web, Engadget and Electronista

Richard Lai / Engadget:

China reveals COS: a government-approved operating system designed to break the monopoly of foreign software — China's tried to create its very own mobile OS ecosystem in the past, but let's face it, the attempt with OPhone was hardly something that would make the nation proud.

More: ZDNet, PC World, Tech in Asia, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, Gizchina.com and BGR

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.

More: Inquirer, The Register, iPhone Hacks, Ubergizmo, IntoMobile, MacNN, AndroidHeadlines.com, TechnoBuffalo, MacRumors, Engadget, TmoNews, SlashGear and Droid Life

Wall Street Journal:

NTT DoCoMo shelves plans to launch Tizen phone, dealing a blow to Samsung, a key backer — Japan's NTT DoCoMo Shelves Plan to Launch Tizen Phone — Carrier Says Smartphone Market Not Growing Fast Enough for a Third Operating System … NTT DoCoMo Inc. has shelved indefinitely plans …

More: ZDNet, Engadget, Gigaom, PhoneArena, SlashGear and Electronista. Tweets: @kypeli

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 …

More: Patently Apple, MacRumors, MacDailyNews, Payments News, BGR and iLounge. Thanks:@_trendspotter

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 …

More: PhoneArena and the rajam report. Tweets: @carnage4life

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.

More: Guardian, Inquirer, BetaNews, Joystiq, The Verge, Digits, Re/code, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Forbes and Softpedia News

Tweets: @iansherr and @jeffgrubb

Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:

China Mobile starts selling Apple's iPhones today, but subsidies don't seem that attractive — After Apple struck a long-awaited deal with China Mobile in December last year, the iPhone is finally on sale both in China Mobile stores and Apple's own Chinese stores today.

More: Bloomberg, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, iMore and MacDailyNews. Tweets: @tim_cook

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