Techmeme
December 11, 2014, 12:00 PM

Top News

S Somasegar / MSDN Blogs:
Microsoft acquires cross-platform crash analytics and distribution service HockeyApp  —  Microsoft acquires HockeyApp, leading mobile crash analytics and beta distribution service for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone  —  Today I'm pleased to announce that we have acquired HockeyApp …
Re/code:
Sources: Sony Pictures using AWS to execute denial-of-service attack on sites where its stolen data is available  —  Sony Pictures Tries to Disrupt Downloads of its Stolen Files  —  Sony Pictures Entertainment is fighting back.  —  The studio behind the “Spider-Man” franchise and …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Xbox, Windows Store now accepting Bitcoin payments  —  You can now use Bitcoin to add funds to your Microsoft account.  —  Microsoft has added Bitcoin support to Microsoft accounts.  Bitcoin funds can be added to accounts to enable digital purchases from the Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox Games, Xbox Music, and Xbox Video stores.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Google News to shut down in Spain Dec. 16 in response to recently passed Spanish copyright law  —  Strict New “Copyright Law” Forces End Of Google News In Spain  —  Google has decided to shut down Google News in Spain.  This drastic step will occur next week (December 16) …
Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:
Make your own Product Hunt collections and bookmarks  —  What a user profile's collections look like on Product Hunt  —  What a user profile's collections look like on Product Hunt  —  Happy holidays, early, from Product Hunt.  The self-described “Reddit for products” …
Neeraj Saxena / Times of India:
Xiaomi banned from selling, importing phones in India: Report  —  NEW DELHI: Delhi high court has put paid to Xiaomi's surging sales juggernaut in India.  At least for now.  Hearing a case filed by Ericsson India against Xiaomi, the court on Monday passed an ex parte order forbidding …
Mark Hachman / PC World:
Microsoft's Minecraft finally arrives on Windows Phone  —  Microsoft has finally added Mojang's Minecraft to its repertoire of Windows Phone games, two months after buying the company.  —  Minecraft Pocket Edition appears to be the same version that's available for Android and iOS, and costs the same, too: $6.99.
Robert Hackett / Fortune:
Cybersecurity firm Area 1 Security, founded by ex-NSA employees, raises $8M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins  —  Can three ex-NSA snoops stop the worst hacks before they start?  —  An e-mail arrives in your inbox: relevant, knowingly addressed to you, hardly suspicious.
James Vincent / The Verge:
PS4 will go on sale in China in January after 14-year ban on foreign consoles  —  A new front has opened up in the console wars.  Sony announced that its PlayStation 4 console will launch in China on January 11th — four months after Microsoft's Xbox One arrived in the country.
Joshua Brustein / Businessweek:
Jawbone discounts its fitness trackers for corporate customers with UP for Groups  —  Your Boss Would Like You to Wear a Jawbone Fitness Tracker  —  Jawbone wants to become a part of the workday.  The company's new service, UP for Groups, will sell discounted fitness trackers …
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Apple debuts cellular LTE-equipped iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in China  —  Apple on Wednesday announced cellular-capable iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 models will be available in China later this week, offering support for region-specific wireless networks used by major telecoms like the world-leader China Mobile.
Timothy J. Seppala / Engadget:
Chromecast's Guest Mode lets anyone commandeer your TV  —  With the amount of content providers that keep coming on board with Chromecast, the next big step for Google is making the device a bit easier to use.  Case in point: today marks the launch of ultrasonic pairing ('Guest mode") for the HDMI dongle.
Neha Dimri / Reuters:
LendingClub opens at $24.75 on first day of trading, rising as much as 67% above IPO price  —  Loan platform operator LendingClub's shares soar in debut  —  (Reuters) - Shares of LendingClub Corp, the world's largest online marketplace that connects borrowers and investors …
More: Fortune and VentureBeat
Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:
Wakie, the free ‘social alarm clock’ that replaces your alarm clock with a phone call from a stranger, is now available on iOS  —  Wakie, The Social Alarm Clock That Lets You Wake Up Strangers, Finally Arrives On iOS  —  “Hey there, I'm just calling to wake you up,” I said a little awkwardly.
More: TechSpot
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Spotify Now Converts What Friends Listen To Into A “Top Tracks In Your Network” Playlist  —  Now you can listen to Spotify like you read the Facebook News Feed.  Spotify's new “Top Tracks In Your Network” is a personalized, constantly updated playlist based on what the people you follow are listening to.
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
YouTube For Android Gets Offline Playback... But In India, Indonesia And Philippines Only  —  Here's something neat.  Google has introduced offline video playback for YouTube mobile users.  That's an exciting feature but there's bad news for most TechCrunch readers: it's only available …
Kyle Alspach / BostInno:
Confirmed: Backupify Has Been Acquired by Datto in Cloud Backup Consolidation  —  New England may have a new tech heavyweight in-the-making with the acquisition of Cambridge's Backupify by Norwalk, Conn.-based Datto, which will form a company with more than 400 employees and revenue potentially nearing the nine-digits for this year.
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
eBay CEO Likely to Leave Board and Join PayPal's When Companies Split  —  EBay CEO John Donahoe will likely depart eBay's board of directors when the company spins off payment subsidiary PayPal next year, according to two people who have discussed the topic with him.

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