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January 20, 2014, 8:20 PM

Top News

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Nest CEO Tony Fadell vows to make any privacy policy changes transparent and opt-in — Following last week's Google acquisition, Nest chief executive Tony Fadell has vowed to make any alterations to its privacy policy opt-in, and to be transparent about such changes to all of its users.

More: Re/code, Ars Technica, BGR, TechnoBuffalo, 9to5Google, Valleywag, Gotta Be Mobile, SiliconANGLE, GeekWire, TechCrunch, Engadget, VatorNews, App Advice, The Verge, WebProNews, Electronista and Softpedia News

Tweets: @boris and @caseynewton

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:

Apple insists on anti-cloning provision as part of any patent settlement with Samsung — When the CEOs of Apple and Samsung, accompanied by several in-house lawyers, meet for their (court-requested) settlement negotiations on or before February 19, there will probably be flexibility …

More: CNET, AppleInsider, Ubergizmo, iPhone in Canada Blog, PhoneArena and Electronista

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions — Machinima campaign offered undisclosed money to videos promoting new console The line between traditional, paid advertising and organic editorial content on the Internet can sometimes be hazy.

More: Pastebin, iGame Responsibly, The Verge, Forbes, BGR, PC World, VG247, destructoid, Kotaku, The Escapist, Polygon, CinemaBlend.com, Joystiq and WinBeta

Tweets: @dannysullivan, @nmaster64, @vectorpoem and @sirtaptap

Tom Warren / The Verge:

HP brings back Windows 7 ‘by popular demand’ — HP really wants people to buy a Windows 7 PC instead of a Windows 8 machine. The PC maker has been emailing customers over the weekend noting that “Windows 7 is back.” A new promotion, designed to entice people to select Windows 7 over Windows 8 …

More: The Register, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Computerworld, TechCrunch, Inquirer, ZDNet, Geek Beat Technology News, The Mac Observer, Softpedia News, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Digital Trends, GeekWire, TechnoBuffalo, BGR, Gigaom, Gizmodo and Global Nerdy. Tweets: @mitsuhiko

Todd Spangler / Variety:

As Netflix Rises, HBO and Showtime Subscribers Shrink as Percentage of U.S. Households — NPD finds that U.S. households subscribing to premium cable channels dropped 6 percentage points over 18-month period, while Netflix and other SVOD services grew 4 points — Is Netflix putting a dent in premium cable subscriptions?

More: Gigaom, Betabeat, Engadget, The Verge, Electronista and WebProNews. Tweets: @pmarca

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Intellectual Ventures' first ever trial is set to begin against Google's Motorola this week — Google set to face Intellectual Ventures in landmark patent trial — (Reuters) - Intellectual Ventures is set to square off this week against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit in the first trial …

More: Softpedia News, SiliconBeat, GeekWire and Gigaom. Tweets: @fosspatents

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Target Got Hacked Hard in 2005. Here's Why They Let It Happen Again — A gang of shadowy hackers tears through the systems of big-box retailers, making off with millions of credit and debit card numbers in a matter of weeks and generating headlines around the country. — Target and Neiman Marcus in 2013?

Tweets: @pmarca and @pmarca

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

VLC gets iOS 7 redesign, Google Drive integration, Dropbox streaming, the ability to download files, and more — VideoLAN today updated VLC for iOS with a slew of new features, including a new design for iOS 7 as well as Google Drive and Dropbox features. You can download the new version now from Apple's App Store.

More: Engadget, feepk@videolan, AppleInsider, Gigaom, Lifehacker, GSMArena Blog, PC & Tech Authority, Cult of Mac, Ubergizmo, 9to5Mac, App Advice, Gotta Be Mobile, iDownloadBlog.com, iMore, MobileSyrup.com, iClarified and PadGadget

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Fon pulls in $14M as it partners with Qualcomm and Facebook — The crowdsourced Wi-Fi network Fon is about to find its way into a whole lot more routers, as Qualcomm and others have plowed $14 million into the Spanish company. Qualcomm in particular will bake Fon functionality into its Atheros wireless chipsets.

More: Martin Varsavsky, TechCrunch, Re/code, VentureBeat, ZDNet and dailywireless.org

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Ex-Vertu designer launches iBeacon competitor for Android — Datzing wants to turn your phone into a mobile billboard — Location-aware advertising was thrown into the spotlight last year when Apple launched its iBeacon service in 254 stores. iBeacon uses Bluetooth transmitters to push alerts …

More: Gigaom, AndroidHeadlines.com, All Points Blog and dailywireless.org. Tweets: @zpower

Michael Mace / Mobile Opportunity:

After Nest acquisition, Google looks more like a conglomerate than a unified product company — Google the Conglomerate: After Nest, No Industry is Safe — I've spent many hours trying to puzzle out Google's product plans. What's the logic behind Google Drive, how does Motorola fit in a software company, and on and on (link).

More: Monday Note. Tweets: @cdixon and @cdixon

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Jimmy Wales joins UK-based charitable MVNO The People's Operator as chairman, plans international expansion — Jimmy Wales' Plan to Save The World With Mobile Phones — Jimmy Wales, the founder and public face of Wikipedia would like to give $1 billion to charity, but he doesn't have $1 billion to give.

More: CNET, The Next Web, Wired.co.uk, VatorNews, Inquirer, The Verge, Guardian, Telegraph and Gigaom

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