Techmeme: Xperia Z3 & Z3 Compact review: Sony's best phones yet both last more than two days on a charge (Vlad Savov/The Verge)

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October 3, 2014, 4:05 PM

Top News

John Paczkowski / Re/code:

Apple to hold event for iPads, iMacs and Yosemite on October 16 — Code/red: Apple to Hold iPad Event on October 16 — // HAPPENING TODAY — JPMorgan Chase continues to vigilantly monitor its, cough, “situation.” — The Evernote Conference. — Tom and Jerry's new racism warning on Amazon Prime.

Jayadevan PK / The Economic Times:

Google is developing a WhatsApp-like standalone messaging app likely to launch in 2015, targeting India and other emerging markets — Google planning to launch own mobile messaging app similar to WhatsApp — BANGALORE: After losing WhatsApp to Facebook in a multibillion dollar acquisition bid …

More: 9to5Google, PC World, TechSpot, SlashGear, Wired, Fox News, Reuters, Ubergizmo, InvestorPlace, bgr.in, Tech Times, Neowin, TechnoBuffalo, Pocketnow, Shelly Palmer, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Seeking Alpha and Gizmodo UK

Tweets: @timesofindia and @joshconstine

Thanks:@therealjpk

Reuters:

Facebook plotting first steps in healthcare: support communities for ailments and preventative care apps — Exclusive: Facebook plots first steps into healthcare — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc already knows who your friends are and the kind of things that grab your attention.

Wall Street Journal:

Yahoo planning to reinvest some of its Alibaba cash in Snapchat at a $10B valuation — Yahoo Nears Investment in Snapchat — Internet Portal Part of Fundraising Talks That Value Messaging App at $10 Billion — Yahoo Inc. plans to reinvest some of the cash it made from an early bet …

More: VentureBeat, Fortune, Business Insider, The Next Web and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @danprimack, @pkedrosky, @dmac1, @sama, @danprimack and @danprimack

Wall Street Journal:

Google X Is Developing Screens That Can Connect Like Legos to Form a Big Seamless Image — Google's Projects Lab Developing Screens That Can Plug Together to Form a Giant TV — Google Inc. is building self-driving cars and balloons to beam Internet service from the sky. Now it also wants to make giant TVs.

More: Gizmodo, Gigaom, Engadget, Ars Technica, Fortune, 9to5Google, Business Insider, SlashGear and Shelly Palmer

Jim Travers / Consumer Reports Online:

Apple's CarPlay reviewed on Pioneer aftermarket receiver: simple menus, easy navigation, and excellent Siri voice command integration — Installing Apple CarPlay and taking it for spin — Pioneer aftermarket unit is first with iPhone interface — Apple iOS fans anxiously awaiting CarPlay can stop holding their breath.

More: EFTM, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog and InvestorPlace

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Marriott to pay $600K settlement for FCC complaint about jamming guest hotspots — Marriott Settles FCC Complaint About Blocking Rival Wi-Fi Networks — Marriott International agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a federal complaint that it illegally blocked rival Wi-Fi networks at a Nashville resort …

More: FCC.gov, Gigaom, Gizmodo, PC World, Ars Technica, The Verge, WebProNews, Skift, Electronista, SlashGear and Consumerist. Tweets: @harrymccracken

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple Asks the Music Labels for a Price Cut on Streaming Subscriptions — There are lots of music subscription services that let people listen to all the songs they want for $10 a month. — Apple thinks that price is too high. — Sources say Apple is talking to the big music labels …

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

New data suggests FBI may be lying about how it located Silk Road's server and IP address — Silk Road Lawyers Poke Holes in FBI's Story — New court documents released this week by the U.S. government in its case against the alleged ringleader of the Silk Road online black market …

More: Errata Security and ANIMAL

TechCrunch:

Yahoo acqui-hires Whatsapp-like messaging app MessageMe, which had raised $11.9M — Yahoo Acquires Mobile Messaging App MessageMe — Yahoo has acquired mobile messaging application MessageMe, a Whatsapp-like service with $11.9 million in reported outside funding.

More: Re/code and Mashable. Tweets: @jbruin

Graham Cluley:

Malware dubbed Mac.BackDoor.iWorm has has infected 17k Macs, forming a botnet which receives communications from Reddit posts — 17,000 Macs recruited into malware botnet, with a little help from Reddit — Researchers at Russian anti-virus company Dr Web believe that they have uncovered a new botnet …

More: Dr. Web, Business Insider, Telegraph, Gizmodo, Inquirer, The Independent, The Register, TUAW, The Inquisitr News, SecurityWeek, GMANetwork.com and The Mac Security Blog

Vlad Savov / The Verge:

Xperia Z3 & Z3 Compact review: Sony's best phones yet both last more than two days on a charge — Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact review — Sony nailed it. Twice. — We call it battery life because it is vital. — Without it, e-readers wouldn't be so popular …

More: The Financial Express, Hallels, The Next Web, Guardian and Inquirer

Borys Kit / Hollywood Reporter:

Leonardo DiCaprio Exits Steve Jobs Biopic as Contenders Line Up — Instead of making the untitled project after shooting ‘The Revenant,’ the actor has removed himself from the biopic altogether — Leonardo DiCaprio will not be tackling the role of Steve Jobs.

More: SiliconBeat, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, Business Insider, App Advice, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, Entrepreneur and Guardian

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

EU Commission clears Facebook's $19 billion bid for WhatsApp — (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators approved on Friday a $19 billion offer by Facebook, the world's most popular social network, for mobile messaging startup WhatsApp. — The landmark deal is the largest …

Matt Jones / Facebook:

Facebook has obtained $2B in legal judgments against spammers, touts its defenses against fake likes — Keeping Facebook Activity Authentic — People come to Facebook to connect with the people and businesses they care about, so we maintain a global team that focuses on building systems to keep unwanted …

More: The Verge and VentureBeat

Reuters:

HTC third quarter profit beats estimates as cost cuts offset weak sales — (Reuters) - Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp swung to better-than-expected profit in the third quarter from a heavy loss a year earlier, as cost cuts helped it offset the impact of still-sluggish sales.

More: CNET, ZDNet, HTC, Asia Stocks to Watch, 9to5Google, Bloomberg, AndroidHeadlines.com, Gigaom, Electronista, PhoneDog.com, Wall Street Journal and BGR

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

Federal court extends asset freeze for bitcoin miner Butterfly Labs, allowing “limited operations” to resume — Court extends Butterfly Labs asset freeze — Sonny Vleisides (right), is Butterfly Labs' cofounder and largest shareholder. A federal judge told him in January 2014 …

More: Guardian, Kansas City Star, NEWSBTC and CoinDesk

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

iOS 8 Translator Keyboard Introduces Easy Access Language Translation Capabilities — With iOS 8 bringing support for system wide third-party keyboards for the first time, developers have been coming up with creative ways to introduce new functionality to the keyboard, beyond simply making it quicker to type.

More: 9to5Mac, BGR and TechCrunch

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