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May 21, 2014, 12:15 PM

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Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

Google tells SEC it could serve ads to thermostats, cars, refrigerators, and other devices — Google Predicts Ads in Odd Spots Like Thermostats — Advertising may be coming to your thermostat and lots of other strange places, courtesy of Google. — In a December letter to the Securities …

More: TechCrunch, Marketing Land, Gizmodo, AppleInsider, Business Insider, The Verge, Engadget, 9to5Google, Softpedia News, ITProPortal, Phandroid, Pocketnow, SlashGear, Mashable, MobileSyrup.com and iDownloadBlog.com. Tweets: @mike_orcutt

Loek Essers / Computerworld:

Google plans international acquisitions worth up to $30B, it tells SEC — Google passed on a potential acquisition of a non-U.S. company worth up to $5 billion, it said — Google plans to spend $20 billion to $30 billion of its of its accumulated international profits to fund potential acquisitions …

More: ZDNet, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Softpedia News and ABC News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

eBay Advises Users To Change Passwords Following Cyberattack, “Large Number” Of Users Affected — Following an odd blog post which appeared overnight and then was quickly taken down which alerted eBay users to reset their passwords, eBay has now published its official statement informing …

Noorhan Barakat / Gulf News:

Dubai police to use Google Glass to fine traffic violators and track wanted vehicles — Dubai Police to use Google Glass — Device can be used to fine motorists and track wanted vehicles, says senior official — Dubai: Dubai Police will soon use Google Glass to issue fines to errant motorists …

More: 9to5Google, Business Insider, The Verge, Softpedia News, Android Central, Ubergizmo and Phandroid

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Wealth Management Startup FutureAdvisor Raises $15.5 Million — Looking to bring top-flight wealth management services to the middle class, FutureAdvisor has raised $15.5 million in fresh capital. — The round was led by new investor Canvas with participation from the company's previous investors including Sequoia Capital.

More: Wall Street Journal, Re/code, VatorNews and PE Hub Blog

Lauren Johnson / Adweek:

Google Beats Apple in List of World's Most Valuable Brands — Google, Apple, IBM and Microsoft are the companies that rank the highest in terms of brand value, according to a new study commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown. McDonald's is the only non-tech brand within the top five …

More: Telegraph, Marketing Land, CNET News, USA Today, Forbes, Financial Times, iMore and AdNews. Tweets: @adweek

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

Marc Andreessen: Obama's meetings with tech execs over spying were for show, producing no progress — Marc Andreessen: Tech companies are still fuming over the NSA — Marc Andreessen at The Washington Post. (Cecilia Kang / The Washington Post) — Almost a year after he released …

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @normative, @b_fung and @edwardnh

Kate Tummarello / The Hill:

NSA reform legislation ‘watered down’?

More: TechPresident. Tweets: @trevortimm and @dangillmor

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Govt officials say NSA routinely spies on other countries to advance US economic interests — Fine Line Seen in U.S. Spying on Companies — WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has never said what it was seeking when it invaded the computers of Petrobras, Brazil's huge national oil company …

More: Lawfare. Tweets: @the_intercept, @nytimesworld and @onekade

Clive Thompson / Wired:

How D-Wave began selling its quantum computer amid skepticism it was really a classical computer — The Age of Quantum Computing Has (Almost) Arrived — Google owns a — lot of computers—perhaps a million servers stitched together into the fastest, most powerful artificial intelligence on the planet.

Tweets: @arala

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Pro-Privacy Blackphone Pulls $30M Into Silent Circle — Encrypted comms firm Silent Circle has just announced a new funding round which it says has been fueled by demand in the privacy-focused smartphone, Blackphone, the security hardened Android handset it's building with Spanish startup Geeksphone.

More: PR Newswire, Inquirer, PandoDaily, bizjournals, PE Hub Blog, GadgeTell, ZDNet, SecurityWeek and Gigaom. Thanks:@sohear

Hunter Walker / Business Insider:

New York's Top Lawyer Is Getting His Hands On AirBNB's Records — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has scored a major victory in his quest to investigate AirBNB hosts who are breaking state law. Schneiderman and the roomsharing startup issued a joint statement Wednesday announcing …

More: TechCrunch, The Airbnb Public Policy Blog, Re/code and Gigaom

Megan Geuss / Ars Technica:

California approves rules for testing self-driving cars in California — On Tuesday, the California DMV officially approved rules to allow the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The rules will take effect September 16, 2014. — The move had been a long time coming …

More: Washington Post and The Verge

Seth Rosenblatt / CNET News:

New lawsuit accuses Google of AdSense fraud — The lawsuit seeks class action status and could expose more of the internal workings of how Google manages AdSense if allowed to proceed. — Google — A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Google accuses the tech titan of engaging in widespread fraud …

More: hbsslaw.com, TechCrunch, Gigaom, WebProNews, Softpedia News and Electronista. See also Mediagazer

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Facebook to launch TV Show and Music ID apps for iOS and Android today — According to multiple sources, Facebook will unveil a new service today that can identify television shows and music playing in the background. The new software, which will be available via an App Store app on iPhone …

More: Wall Street Journal, Engadget, The Verge and TechCrunch

Joshua Brustein / Businessweek:

Spotify reaches 10M paid subscribers, launches in Brazil next week, still isn't profitable — Streams of Tears: Why Spotify Can't Make Money — Daniel Ek has devoted most of his waking moments over the past few years to evangelizing about the glories of streaming music. He's well suited to the task.

More: Re/code, Spotify Blog, The Next Web, 9to5Mac, Engadget, CNET, Telegraph, The Verge, ABC News, VentureBeat, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Reuters, Softpedia News, TIME, Mashable, SlashGear and App Advice

Tweets: @katyfinneran, @aweissman and @trengriffin

See also Mediagazer

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Local Services Marketplace Thumbtack Raises $30 Million — Thumbtack, a marketplace that connects local professionals with clients, has raised a $30 million Series C round from Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management, TechCrunch has learned. — The startup has an original approach when it comes to local services.

Bloomberg:

Microsoft backed off from debuting smaller Surface today, concerned it lacked differentiation — Microsoft Said to Back Off Plans to Debut Smaller Surface — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), struggling to break into the tablet market, backed off plans to introduce a smaller version …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Dropbox Buys Bubbli, Will Integrate The 3D Photo Tech Into Its Photo Service — It looks like Dropbox has made another acquisition today in the photo space: it has acquired Bubbli, a startup that has built some innovative ways of incorporating 3D technology into 2D views, and packaging it in a mobile app for ordinary consumers to use.

More: TechSpot, ZDNet, App Advice, Electronista, Business Insider, VentureBeat, The Next Web and ITProPortal

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Indian e-commerce site Snapdeal raises $100M at $1B valuation — Indian E-Commerce Site Snapdeal Lands $1 Billion Valuation — Indian e-commerce site Snapdeal.com has raised $100 million in a round that that values the company at roughly $1 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal.

More: Re/code, Trakin' the india …, MediaNama, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Economic Times

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Ex-Beats, Spotify Execs Debut Soundtrack Your Brand To Stream Spotify In Public Venues — Spotify today dominates the market for music streaming services for consumers. Now a new startup, started by Spotify's ex-head of business development Andreas Liffgarden and co-founder of Beats Music Ola Sars …

More: Inquirer, Webrazzi, Engadget and hypebot. Tweets: @ingridlunden

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

U.S. utility's control system was hacked, says Homeland Security — (Reuters) - A sophisticated hacking group recently attacked a U.S. public utility and compromised its control system network, but there was no evidence that the utility's operations were affected, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

More: Telegraph, The Verge, The Hill, InfoWorld, RT, DailyTech, V3.co.uk, Tech Times and NBC News

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:

Netflix launching in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg this year — Netflix to launch in six European countries this year — (Reuters) - Netflix Inc will launch its online movie and TV subscription service later this year in France, Germany and four other European countries …

More: Netflix, Engadget, Gigaom, BGR, Fortune, CNET News, PC Magazine, The Next Web, MacStories, BBC, The Verge, Neowin, Silicon Allee News, WebProNews, iMore and Techie News. Tweets: @netflix. See also Mediagazer

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Pinterest Rolls Out A New “Business Insights” API To Select Marketing Technology Companies — Fresh off the heels of another massive $200 million funding round which values the company at $5 billion, Pinterest is preparing to announce a new initiative that will allow businesses to gain …

More: business.pinterest.com, The Next Web, The Next Web, Marketing Land, Electronista and Business Cloud News

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Face Royalties Claim From Beats Headphones Co-Founder (Exclusive) — Steven Lamar is upset over an alleged breach on the 2006 deal he worked out with Dre and Iovine. — Dr. Dre, left, and Jimmy Iovine — As the rumored marriage between Apple Computers …

More: Guardian, Bloomberg, hypebot, I4U News, CNET, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac. Tweets: @eriqgardner

Jonathan Vanian / Gigaom:

Internet performance and management company Dyn acquires Renesys — Dyn, the internet performance and management company Wednesday said it has bought Renesys, which provides networking information to internet service providers (ISPs). With the acquisition, Dyn plans to launch …

More: Washington Post, TechCrunch, BetaBoston and Xconomy

John Cook / GeekWire:

Context Relevant lands $21M, looks to bring ‘big data’ to Wall Street — Context Relevant CEO Stephen Purpura can't tell you the Wall Street firms that are buying up his company's predictive analytics software. Too much money is at stake. That's because the big data offerings developed …

More: VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, PE Hub Blog, bizjournals and Xconomy. Tweets: @johnhcook

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