Techmeme: How Bahrain's government used FinFisher spyware to target a political activist (The Verge)

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January 25, 2015, 2:00 AM

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Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Walmart starts selling its Vudu Spark streaming stick for $25 — Remember Walmart's very own HDMI streaming stick, which I spotted in the FFC's online database two months ago? Turns out Walmart already started selling it for just $24.95, and is now getting ready to make it more widely available.

More: Zatz Not Funny!, TechRadar.com, Gizmodo, The Verge, PC Magazine, Multichannel News, Liliputing, Engadget, Electronista and SlashGear

Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:

Behind Jawbone's transition from making earpieces to wireless speakers to fitness trackers — Jawbone: The trials of a 16-year-old can't-miss startup — The first thing you notice about Hosain Rahman, CEO of the much-buzzed-about gadget maker Jawbone, are his wrists.

More: Forbes, mobihealthnews and Wearable Tech Insider

Tweets: @darpa, @jyarow, @abrams and @bryce

Mario Aguilar / Gizmodo:

Music artists who refuse YouTube's aggressive Music Key terms lose all YouTube monetization options — Why Google Is Strong-Arming Artists Into Signing With YouTube Music Key — Cello rock n' roller Zoë Keating is really upset that Google is trying to force her to sign over the rights …

More: Zoë Keating, Music Industry Blog, musictechpolicy, Android Police, The Register, Tubefilter, Guardian and Music Week

Tweets: @zoecello and @marcoarment

See also Mediagazer

The Verge:

How Bahrain's government used FinFisher spyware to target a political activist — A Spy in the Machine — In November 2005, during the dead of night, five black cars pulled up in front of the home of Moosa Abd-Ali Ali. The doors opened, and a group of men stepped out.

Tweets: @bbhorne, @russellbrandom, @propublica and @verge

Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:

What 1,000 attendees at Product Hunt's happy hour show about tech culture and the company's future — Over 1,000 people showed up to Product Hunt's massive happy hour — The Product Hunt happy hour crowd in the outdoor half of 620 Jones — Credit: Taken by Carmel DeAmicis for Gigaom

Tweets: @ryanlawler, @mathewi, @bplewis, @ericnewcomer, @panzer, @stevesi, @gigastacey, @mims, @howardlindzon, @fromedome and @semil

Carolyn Said / San Francisco Chronicle:

California DMV stops making Uber drivers get commercial license plates; policy review pending — DMV to reconsider commercial plates for UberX, Lyft drivers — In an abrupt U-turn, the California of Motor Vehicles late Friday night retracted its finding that drivers for ride-hailing services like Uber …

More: PC World and VentureBeat

BuzzFeed:

Uber suspended at least a dozen drivers because they complied with California law and registered commercial plates

More: bizjournals, SFist, PC Magazine, Tech Times, AllGov California, SFist, Curbed LA, Gizmodo, SlashGear, Los Angeles Times, Consumerist and VentureBeat

The Verge:

11 of 14 projects in Sundance Film Festival's experimental showcase use virtual reality — How virtual reality ate the Sundance Film Festival — The future of independent film may not be film at all — The most buzzworthy feature of 2015's Sundance Film Festival isn't a film at all …

More: New York Times, Reuters, Variety, Variety, The A.V. Club, Engadget, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, VR Focus and VideoInk

Ben Fox Rubin / CNET:

Taiwan-based mobile phone chipmaker MediaTek plans US expansion to challenge Qualcomm — Meet MediaTek, the brains powering your next budget smartphone — The Taiwanese company, which supplies mobile chips in Asia, is gearing up for an expansion into the US. That could mean more affordable smartphone options.

Brian Donohue / Threatpost:

Report: automated tank gauges at over 5,000 US gas stations are vulnerable to remote hacks — Thousands of US Gas Stations Vulnerable to Remote Hacks — The gauges that detect and prevent fuel leaks at more than 5,000 gas stations in the United States are utterly vulnerable to remote attacks …

More: SecurityWeek, ITworld.com, SC Magazine, Ars Technica, Hackaday and Information Security

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony, Google, Apple Hit With Lawsuits Over Pre-1972 Music — The lawsuits have the potential of wiping out much older music from the Internet. — All of the leading providers of streaming music are now in the scorching hot legal zone involving pre-1972 music after seven lawsuits were filed …

More: Gigaom, The Next Web, MacRumors, Music Times, Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, The Register, Electronista, RAIN News and Patently Apple. See also Mediagazer

Patrick Wintour / Guardian:

UK's House of Lords plans to debate revised “snooper's charter” surveillance bill Monday — 'Snooper's charter': four Lords in bid to pass changed version before election — Cross-party group's last-minute amendments spark concern over scope of access to data intelligence agencies would get

More: Wall Street Journal, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Bureau of Investigative …, Guardian, ZDNet, Infosecurity Magazine, BBC, Gizmodo UK, Paul Bernal's Blog and open

Bloomberg:

Box shares close at $23.23, up over 65% on first day of trading after $175M IPO — Box Surges in Cloud-Storage Debut After $175 Million IPO — Box Inc. jumped in its trading debut after raising $175 million in its initial public offering. — The shares rose 73 percent to $24.25 …

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