Techmeme: Twitter report shows rise in government requests, still can't separate FISA data (Adi Robertson/The Verge)

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July 31, 2013, 3:35 PM

Top News

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

XKeyscore: NSA tool collects ‘nearly everything a user does on the internet’ — A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals …

Guardian:

XKeyscore presentation from 2008 - read in full — Training materials for the NSA's XKeyscore program detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous agency databases and develop intelligence from the internet

More: The Register, Inquirer, Motherboard and Washington Post

Tweets: @kevinmitnick, @waxpancake, @kashhill, @strngwys and @rj_gallagher

Andy Greenberg / Forbes:

NSA Director Heckled At Conference As He Asks For Security Community's Understanding — When NSA Director Keith Alexander appeared at the Las Vegas security conference Black Hat Wednesday morning, he hoped to mend the NSA's reputation in the eyes of thousands of the conference's hackers and security professionals.

More: ZDNet, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Associated Press and Softpedia News

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

FISA court judge: No company has ever challenged Patriot Act sharing

More: TechCrunch

Timothy B. Lee / The Switch:

Senators lash out at NSA for excessive secrecy

More: Ars Technica. See also Mediagazer

Phil Mattingly / Bloomberg:

U.S. Declassifies Court Order Allowing Record Collection

More: Office of the Director …, New York Times, Hillicon Valley and Engadget

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft forced to rename SkyDrive following trademark case with broadcaster — A UK court recently ruled that Microsoft's SkyDrive name infringed on a trademark owned by British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB), and the software maker has agreed to change the name of its cloud-based service worldwide as a result.

More: The Next Web, LiveSide.net, GeekWire, TechCrunch, ZDNet, PC World, Engadget, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, LAPTOP Magazine, Inquirer, Business Insider, MobileSyrup.com, TechSpot, TechnoBuffalo and Electronista. Tweets: @tomwarren

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple has A6-based iPad mini without Retina display in the works — Apple is testing a new iPad mini that includes a faster processor but not a Retina display, according to references in the iOS 7 SDK sent to us by a developer. — The references were located inside of a hidden file …

More: MacRumors, Business Insider, BGR, SlashGear, iPhone in Canada Blog, iClarified and iLounge

Tweets: @reneritchie and @stevekovach

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Toward a More Public Social Network: Facebook Rolls Out Embedded Posts — The world's premier social network is beginning to learn the value of publicness. — Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will roll out embedded posts, giving users the ability to stick their status updates in pages across the Web, and outside of Facebook.

More: Facebook, Facebook Developer Blog, The Next Web, Business Insider, TechCrunch and GigaOM

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Facebook takes on Twitter with embeddable statuses and photos — but there's a catch

More: Mashable and Business Insider

App Annie Blog:

App Annie Index - Market Q2 2013: Google Play Exceeds iOS App Store in App Downloads by 10% in Q2 2013 — Welcome to the App Annie Market Index, where at the end of each quarter, we review the latest download and revenue insights by stores, countries and categories.

More: 9to5Google, Fortune, MacRumors, TechCrunch, SiliconBeat, VentureBeat, iPhone in Canada Blog, Yahoo! News, Forbes, Gamasutra, App Advice and BGR

AnandTech:

Update on GPU Optimizations in Galaxy S 4 — Yesterday we posted our analysis of the Exynos 5 Octa's behavior in international versions of the Galaxy S 4 in certain benchmarks first discovered by Beyond3D user @Andreif7. Samsung addressed issue on their blog earlier today:

More: SAMSUNG TOMORROW Global, AllThingsD, Ars Technica, LAPTOP Magazine, BetaNews, Digits, PC Magazine, The Tech Report, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone in Canada Blog, Guardian, ZDNet, Gizmodo, Business Insider, TechHive, Crave and IntoMobile

Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:

Samsung claims innocence in face of benchmark-rigging allegations

More: The Next Web

Quip Blog:

Introducing Quip — Today, we are extremely excited to launch Quip. Quip is a modern word processor that enables you to create beautiful documents on any device — phones, tablets and the desktop. If you haven't already, download Quip to try it out. — Why Quip?

More: AllFacebook, Laughing Squid, Business Insider, ZDNet and Engadget. Tweets: @stevesi. Thanks:@hunterwalk

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Quip Is A Beautiful New Mobile-First Word Processor From Ex-Facebook CTO Bret Taylor

More: TechHive, New York Times, GigaOM, Mashable, iClarified, MacRumors, App Advice and Wired.co.uk

Esat Dedezade / Stuff:

EXCLUSIVE: UK Government to outlaw Google Glass for drivers — The Department for Transport has acted to ban drivers from using Google Glass - even before Google's smart eyewear launches to the general public. Stuff has learned that the government department is concerned about the potential …

More: The Verge, Cult of Android, VentureBeat, The Technology Chronicles, Guardian, Engadget, Mashable, Ubergizmo and Macgasm. Tweets: @panzer

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:

Google gives AT&T the boot, will supply 7000 US Starbucks locations with WiFi starting next month — After a brief announcement back in June that it had partnered with Starbucks to offer free, unlimited music through its new Google Play All Access streaming service, Google today announced …

More: Digits, Examiner, VatorNews, Mercury News, dailywireless.org, GigaOM, iDownloadBlog.com, Macgasm, iClarified and Quartz

Christopher Mims / Quartz:

Google is testing a local news product for Google Now — Google has hatched a plan to boost the visibility of its existing local news product, and in the process is testing a whole new way to get people to pay attention to the news that is geographically most relevant to them.

More: Engadget. Tweets: @mims. See also Mediagazer

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Yahoo Acquires Lexity, Will Keep E-Commerce App Platform Running But Rebrand It — Yahoo has just acquired e-commerce app platform Lexity, a startup founded by former employee Amit Kumar. Lexity says all services will remain running, but it will eventually be renamed with Yahoo branding.

More: Lexity, AllThingsD, eWeek, VentureBeat, ZDNet, The Next Web, True Ventures, Valleywag and Mashable

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft Office for Android now available, but not for tablets — Microsoft is extending its Office mobile software to Android this week, bringing basic editing to smartphones running Android 4.0 or higher. Following the release of Office for iPhone, the Android variant is almost identical in what it provides and its requirements.

More: The Microsoft Office Blog, The Microsoft Office Blog, Examiner, CNET, BetaNews, Inside Mobile Apps, GigaOM, Engadget, The Next Web, PC Magazine, Pocketnow, Gotta Be Mobile, Electronista, TechNet Blogs, VentureBeat, BGR, ZDNet, TechCrunch and PC World

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:

Dropcam Snaps Up $30M for Connected Video Cameras — A recent generation of Web-connected hardware startups — Withings, Fitbit (unofficial), and now Dropcam — have in the past few months raised $30 million each to scale their businesses. Funnily enough, it seems to be a magic number for the cohort …

More: GigaOM, The Verge, Quartz, VentureBeat and TechCrunch

Mark Collins / GSM Insider:

Moto X To Use Nano-SIM Card, SIM Tray Leaks In Hong Kong — Moto X leaks again and again. This time is about the Nano-SIM tray of the Moto X. It was leaked earlier in an Asian country, Hong Kong. It looks like Moto X is available in different parts of the world.

More: Engadget, 9to5Google, Droid Life and Phones Review

Barb Darrow / GigaOM:

Here are the 7 companies Microsoft doesn't want its ex-Windows chief to join — Since Steven Sinofsky and Microsoft shocked the PC world by divorcing last year, some details of Sinofsky's severance have already surfaced. But now we know, thanks to Microsoft's 10-K filing …

More: AppleInsider, GeekWire, AllThingsD, ZDNet, Softpedia News, IntoMobile and LAPTOP Magazine

Jeff Blagdon / The Verge:

FileMaker dropping Bento database app for Mac and iOS — FileMaker is dropping Bento, the consumer-friendly database app for OS X and iOS, in order to focus on its core products. The Mac app was first released in 2008 to generally positive reviews, followed by an iPhone version the following year and an iPad version in 2010.

More: FileMaker, AppleInsider, Macgasm, 9to5Mac, MacRumors and Macworld

Brian X. Chen / NYT Bits:

OpenTable Begins Testing Mobile Payments — OpenTable, the world's largest online reservation service, lets users book a restaurant reservation with its smartphone app or Web site. Now the company is getting ready to take the next step and let diners pay for the meal with its app, too.

More: Mobile Marketing Watch, SiliconBeat, AllThingsD, CNET, ScreenwerkScreenwerk, Internet2Go and The Next Web

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

Nvidia Shield review — Is Android ready for a portable game console? — Last summer, I bought an iPad 3. I convinced myself I'd use it for everything: showing off wedding photos, reading all those neglected articles I save to Pocket, and as a second monitor for my laptop.

More: TechHive, Engadget, CNET, IGN, Joystiq, Gearburn, VentureBeat and Boing Boing

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