Techmeme: Dave McClure's 500 Startups closes its third global fund with $85M, 15% below its original target (Yuliya Chernova/Wall Street Journal)

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September 4, 2015, 1:15 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple's ‘Hey Siri’ Event Roundup: Upgraded iPhone 6s, Bigger iPad Pro, Revamped Apple TV + Apple Watch updates — Apple's Wednesday, September 9th event is shaping up to be one of the largest in the company's history. The Cupertino-based company is planning to unveil several major new products on stage …

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

BlackBerry acquires mobile security firm Good Technology for $425M in cash — BlackBerry acquires mobile security company Good Technology for $425M, despite their thorny past — BlackBerry has acquired mobile security company Good Technology in a $425 million cash transaction.

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Sources: Google plans to launch a special China version of Google Play as early as this fall, marking its re-entry into China, compliance with censorship laws — Google Nears Re-entry to Mainland China — After a five year absence, Google expects to return shortly to mainland China …

More: Ars Technica, Business Insider, Tech Trader Daily, FierceWireless and Android Beat

Yuliya Chernova / Wall Street Journal:

Dave McClure's 500 Startups closes its third global fund with $85M, 15% below its original target — Dave McClure's 500 Startups Closes Fund III With $85M … Startup investor Dave McClure isn't slowing down, despite changes in the public markets and the skeptical reception …

More: TechCrunch and PE Hub Blog

Mozilla Future Releases:

Mozilla rolls out first public preview of Firefox for iOS in New Zealand — Firefox for iOS Now Available for Preview — Today we are delighted to begin the roll out in New Zealand of our first public preview version of a Firefox browser for iOS. — Preview to collect feedback

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Runtastic launches Moment, an analog fitness smartwatch that is waterproof up to 300 feet and has a six-month battery life, starts at $130 — Runtastic launches new ‘Moment’ wearable w/ companion mobile apps, 10 designs, 6-month battery — Runtastic, the maker of popular fitness apps …

More: VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, iMore, PCWorld, Pocket-lint, Apple World Today, Wearable Tech Insider and Digital Trends

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Chrome 45 performance improvements include faster load times and reduced memory usage; disabling Flash ads can increase battery life by up to 15% — Google's Latest Chrome Update Emphasizes Speed And Lower Memory Usage — Chrome started out as one of the least memory hungry browsers on the market …

Adam Shepherd / IT PRO:

Samsung unveils Car Mode for Galaxy phones with MirrorLink support, can also be used as a standalone app — Samsung introduces Car Mode for Galaxy — Samsung unveils its homebrew efforts to beat both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto — Samsung has launched its own connected car system, in an effort to catch up to Apple's CarPlay.

More: SlashGear, 9to5Google, Digital Trends, International Business Times, Tech Times, AndroidHeadlines.com and Gizmodo UK

Greg Sterling / Marketing Land:

ComScore: US smartphone penetration reaches 77% in July 2015, Facebook Messenger displaces YouTube as second most popular app — Comscore: Smartphone Penetration Above 77 Percent In US — Facebook Messenger now the second most popular app, displacing YouTube.

More: comScore, WebProNews and Fortune

Sean Portnoy / ZDNet:

Acer announces Predator 8 Android 5.1 gaming tablet with Intel Atom x7 processor, 8-inch 1920x1200 display, 2GB RAM, to go on sale in November starting at $300 — Acer bets on Android gaming with $300 Predator 8 tablet — Is the market ready for an 8-inch slate running Android 5.1 Lollipop designed for gamers?

More: Tech Times, TrustedReviews, IT PRO, GSMArena.com, AnandTech, CNET, PhoneArena, PC Magazine, TechnoBuffalo and International Business Times

Ben Bleikamp / GitHub:

GitHub announces Protected Branches to disable force pushes to selected code repositories, will be rolled out over next few weeks — Protected branches and required status checks — It's all too easy to force push to the wrong branch, overwriting someone else's changes with your own.

More: The Next Web and VentureBeat. Tweets: @kattrali and @slicknet

Julia Edwards / Reuters:

The Department of Justice revises cellphone tracking rules, warrant now required in most cases; data from non-targeted phones to be deleted within 30 days — Justice Department tightens rules on cellphone tracking devices — Some federal agencies' use of devices that track cellphone locations …

More: U.S. Department of Justice, Wired, ACLU, Ars Technica, Electronic Frontier Foundation, NBC News, Gizmodo, The Hill, Engadget, TechWorld and The Verge

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