Techmeme: Microsoft Seeks End to Dinosaur-Era Software Upgrade Cycle: Tech (Dina Bass/Bloomberg)

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June 28, 2013, 1:00 AM

Top News

Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:

Google Is Developing Android Game Console — Google Inc. is developing a videogame console and digital wrist watch powered by its Android operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet company seeks to spread the software's domination beyond smartphones …

Ken Yeung / The Next Web:

Google is reportedly developing an Android game console, smartwatch, and new Nexus Q

More: IGN and PhoneArena

Guardian:

NSA collected Americans' email records in bulk for two years under Obama — • Secret program launched by Bush continued ‘until 2011’ — • Fisa court renewed collection order every 90 days — • Current NSA programs still mine US internet metadata

More: New York Times, The Verge, Ars Technica, Techdirt, Wired, VentureBeat, Digits, TechCrunch, Computerworld, SiliconBeat, Business Insider, Forbes, The Daily Caller and Yahoo! News. Tweets: @mat

Phillip Molnar / Monterey County Herald:

Restricted web access to The Guardian is Armywide, officials say — The Army admitted Thursday to not only restricting access to The Guardian news website at the Presidio of Monterey, as reported in Thursday's Herald, but Armywide. — Presidio employees said the site had been blocked since …

More: The Dissenter and The Next Web. Tweets: @attackerman, @tedlieu, @chrismegerian, @gaberivera, @felixsalmon and @timothys. See also Mediagazer

Guardian:

How the NSA is still harvesting your online data

Tweets: @jeffjarvis. See also Mediagazer

Declan McCullagh / CNET:

Surveillance ‘partnership’ between NSA and telcos points to AT&T, Verizon

More: Guardian

Ragavan Srinivasan / Facebook:

Introducing the Facebook for Android Beta Testing Program — Android's openness, reach, and diversity create enormous opportunities for developers. At Facebook, we've been able to utilize Android's flexibility to innovate in ways that aren't possible on other platforms, like building the first version of Home.

More: nextbigwhat.com, Pocketnow, TechnoBuffalo, MobileSyrup.com, PhoneArena, AllFacebook, Pocket-lint, SlashGear, PC Magazine, Mashable and Inside Facebook

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Facebook announces Beta Program for its main Android app, ironically uses Google Groups — In a meeting with journalists today, Facebook announced it's offering a Beta Program for its app on Android, allowing users to test upcoming versions. The first beta will be available today.

More: CNET, TechHive, VentureBeat, Macgasm, ZDNet, Engadget, GigaOM and 9to5Google

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Leaked Details Of Facebook's New Chat Rooms Feature — Facebook has built a new feature codenamed “Host Chat” that lets people set up chat rooms their friends can join without an invitation, a source familiar with the feature tells us. I've contacted Facebook and it confirms it has begun testing this feature in the wild.

More: TechnoBuffalo, CNET, Ubergizmo, BestTechie, AllFacebook, Gizmodo, Macgasm, Pocket-lint, Electronista and TechWhack

Want China Times:

Hon Hai reveals iPhone-compatible smartwatch — Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry — the main manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and iPads, better known by its trading name Foxconn — showcased a smartwatch on Wednesday that can be connected wirelessly to an iPhone, which the company hopes …

More: CNET, Kindle Review, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, TechSpot, TechnoBuffalo, App Advice, BGR, TUAW, Liliputing, Engadget and Electronista

Michael Isikoff / NBC News Investigations:

Ex-Pentagon general target of leak investigation, sources say — Retired Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright was the second-highest ranking member of the U.S. military, and a key Obama adviser who served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Legal sources tell NBC News Cartwright …

More: Washington Post, Al Jazeera English, PC World, CNET, Ars Technica, Associated Press, The Atlantic Wire and Investigations

Joshua Kopstein / The Verge:

Former high-ranking US general reportedly being targeted in Stuxnet leak investigation

More: Guardian

Kevin Poulsen / Wired:

WikiLeaks Volunteer Was a Paid Informant for the FBI — On an August workday in 2011, a cherubic 18-year-old Icelandic man named Sigurdur “Siggi” Thordarson walked through the stately doors of the U.S. embassy in Reykjavík, his jacket pocket concealing his calling card: a crumpled photocopy of an Australian passport.

Tweets: @mlcalderone. See also Mediagazer

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Personal Assistant App Donna Goes Live, With Better Battery Performance And Instant Uber Requests — Personal assistant app Donna is ready to help simplify users' lives, and is being launched on the Apple App Store today to do just that. With the general release also comes a few new features …

More: BestTechie, Inc.com, GigaOM and Valleywag

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google starts letting organizations borrow its Street View Trekker to record imagery for Maps — Google today announced it is kicking off a new Google Maps pilot program that lets third-party organizations borrow the Street View Trekker and contribute imagery back to the service.

More: Google LatLong, CNET, GeekWire, BestTechie, TechCrunch, Engadget, Ubergizmo, Softpedia News and CBS San Francisco

Dina Bass / Bloomberg:

Microsoft Seeks End to Dinosaur-Era Software Upgrade Cycle: Tech — Microsoft Corp (MSFT)., which for decades has refreshed its popular Office corporate software just once about every three years, says it will soon switch to weekly updates. — It's a radical shift as Microsoft overhauls …

More: BGR and WebProNews

Ashley Parker / New York Times:

Immigration Overhaul Passes in Senate — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved the most significant overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in a generation with broad bipartisan support, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House, where there is significant opposition …

More: CNET, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Bloomberg, BBC, PandoDaily, Agence France Presse, TIME and VentureBeat

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Yahoo News Gets A Makeover, But The Bigger Improvements Are Under The Hood — A little over a month after Yahoo partnered with Twitter to beef up its homepage news feed with relevant tweets from news organizations, the company is today announcing a major makeover for one of its flagship properties, Yahoo News.

More: Yahoo!, The Next Web, TechHive, VentureBeat, Mercury News, Marketing Land, Mashable, CNET, iDownloadBlog.com and BetaNews. See also Mediagazer

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google adds its experimental QUIC network protocol to latest Chrome build, delivering HTTP over UDP — Google today took the wraps off a new experimental protocol called Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) and added it to Chrome Canary, the latest version of its browser.

More: Chromium Blog, Softpedia News and TechWhack

Casey Newton / The Verge:

First clues emerge about Jelly, Twitter co-founder's mysterious new startup — On April 1st, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone posed a question on a company blog: “What is Jelly?” The answer, he said, is a new company and product named after the jellyfish. Unmentioned in the post is that Jelly …

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Adobe Acquires Conversational Marketing Platform Neolane For $600M In Cash To Bolster Its Marketing Cloud — Adobe today announced that it has acquired Neolane, a conversational marketing company with an annual revenue of just under $60 million, in a transaction that's worth $600 million in cash.

More: Adobe, AdExchanger, internetretailer.com, VentureBeat, GigaOM, ZDNet and Forbes

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Twitter #Music for iOS updated with genres, five new charts, and in-app Rdio authentication — Twitter today released the first update to its Twitter #Music app for iOS. You can grab the new version now directly from Apple's App Store. — The biggest addition is undoubtedly genres …

More: TechCrunch, MacRumors, CNET, Engadget, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac

Emily Gera / Polygon:

Microsoft no longer charging developers for Xbox updates (update: MS confirms) — Microsoft is no longer requiring developers to pay a fee to patch Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games, after dropping their earlier policy that placed a hefty sum on game updates, Eurogamer reports.

More: Ars Technica, Digital Trends, The Escapist, DualShockers, VG247, Softpedia News, GamePolitics blogs, Softpedia News, Joystiq, Neowin, destructoid, Computer And Video Games All, GamesIndustry International, VG247 and All Games Beta

Carl Franzen / The Verge:

US Defense Department developing secure 4G network and updating rules for cyberwarfare — The US military is in the process of building its own secure 4G wireless network and is also updating its rules of engagement — the guidelines that combat personnel are required to follow when deciding …

More: CNET and American Forces Press Service. Tweets: @brookingsfp

Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table:

GRP Announces $200 Million Fund. Rebrands as Upfront Ventures — I am super excited to announce that today is a day of lots of new things for my partners & me: A new fund, a new office and a new brand. Let's start with the fund. — We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million) …

More: Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Next Web. Thanks:@msuster

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