Techmeme
February 11, 2015, 4:30 PM

Top News

Sharon Bernstein / Reuters:
iPhone kill switch reduced thefts by 40% in San Francisco, 25% in New York city, and 50% in London  —  Smartphone theft drops in London, two U.S. cities as anti-theft ‘kill switches’ installed  —  (Reuters) - Thefts involving smartphones have declined dramatically in three major cities …
Jungah Lee / Bloomberg Business:
Samsung to release two versions of 5.1" Galaxy flagship with all-metal bodies, one with a 3-sided display next month  —  Samsung Said to Plan 3-Sided Screen in New Galaxy Smartphone  —  Don't Miss Out —  (Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics Co. plans to release two new versions …
Rajesh Jha / The Official Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft acquires Sunrise, creator of an innovative calendar app for mobile devices  —  I'm pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Sunrise, provider of a next-generation calendar app for iOS and Android.  We are making this acquisition because we believe a reinvention …
Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:
Samsung TVs start inserting ads into your movies  —  Thought you could watch that video on your local hard drive without ads?  Think again: A number of owners of Samsung's smart TVs are reporting this week that their TV sets started to interrupt their movie viewing with Pepsi ads …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Report: in response to Apple Pay, Square is working on an Android tablet; Google testing Plaso, a mobile payment system that allows you use your initals to pay  —  Square working to rely less on Apple's iPad, claims report  —  Square, the mobile payments service found in countless coffee shops across …
Canalys Newsroom:
Over 720K Android Wear devices shipped in 2014, with Moto 360 being the clear leader  —  Over 720,000 Android Wear devices shipped in 2014  —  Palo Alto, Shanghai, Singapore and Reading (UK) - Wednesday, 11 February 2015  —  Over 720,000 Android Wear devices shipped in 2014 out of a total of 4.6 million smart wearable bands.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone  —  Once you've paid off your contract, carriers can't say no.  —  Major wireless carriers in the US have promised to unlock customers' phones or tablets once they've paid off their contracts, beginning today.
Baljeet Singh / The Twitter Blog:
Twitter acquires Niche, a service that helps connect social media stars with brands  —  Welcoming Niche to the Twitter team  —  As we continue to invest in the growing media ecosystem, it's important to provide a wide variety of tools for content creators to distribute and ultimately manage all of their content.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Facebook launches ThreatExchange, an API-based platform that lets companies share security threat info  —  Facebook today launched ThreatExchange, described as “an API-based clearinghouse for security threat information.”  It's really a social platform, which Facebook naturally excels at building …
Re/code:
Apps Search Pioneer Quixey Poised to Raise $60 Million From Alibaba, Twitter, SoftBank  —  Quixey, the app search engine, is close to getting $60 million in funding from a powerful coterie of investors, including China's Alibaba Group, Twitter, SoftBank and others.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Tim Cook talks about Apple Watch, international growth, commitment to privacy, and more in a wide-ranging Goldman Sachs interview  —  Apple CEO Tim Cook Speaking Live at 2015 Goldman Sachs Technology Conference  —  Apple CEO Tim Cook is speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Reserve Raises $15M To Help With Your Restaurant Reservations And Payments  —  Reserve, the app promising to serve as your “personal dining concierge,” is announcing that it has raised $15 million in Series A funding.  —  The company was incubated at Expa, the startup studio created by StumbleUpon and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp.
Help Net Security:
IBM security finds over 60% of Android dating apps are open to hacks, risking corporate data  —  Majority of dating apps are open to hacks  —  IBM Security found that over 60% of leading Android dating mobile apps they studied are potentially vulnerable to a variety of cyber-attacks …
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
FBI tries to prevent disclosure of information about use of fake “stingray” cell towers by local police  —  FBI really doesn't want anyone to know about “stingray” use by local cops  —  Memo: cops must tell FBI about all public records requests on fake cell towers.
More: Slashdot
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Study says phones are just as good as wearables at tracking fitness  —  Think you have to wear a dedicated fitness tracker to get accurate data?  Don't worry — you may have a good excuse to skip the wristband.  The University of Pennsylvania has published a study showing that smartphone apps' step counts …

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