The Inside Story of the Moto X: The Reason Google Bought Motorola  —  THE PHONE THAT REVEALS WHY GOOGLE BOUGHT MOTOROLA  —  lmost exactly two years ago, Google announced its purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.  It was the company's biggest deal ever, far exceeding previous big buys …

Exclusive: Apple Recently Acquired Low-Energy Chipmaker Passif  —  As the smartphone wars heat up, Apple has acquired a key technology in the arms race.  —  The company in recent months purchased Silicon Valley-based wireless chip developer, Passif Semiconductor, according to people briefed on the deal.

Employer Tipped Off Police To Pressure Cooker And Backpack Searches, Not Google  —  In what might be Medium's first widespread Twitter moment, music writer Michele Catalano used the platform to blog details of an unexpected visit to her home yesterday, from six men she identifies as members of the “joint terrorism task force.”

Is Tumblr Shrinking?  —  Yahoo bought Tumblr because Tumblr has millions of young users.  But are they sticking around?  —  David Karp, founder and CEO of Tumblr, photographs the Nasdaq screen in Times Square after ringing the opening bell, Thursday, July 11, 2013, in New York.  —  Via: Mark Lennihan / AP

FBI Taps Hacker Tactics to Spy on Suspects  —  Law-Enforcement Officials Expand Use of Tools Such as Spyware as People Under Investigation ‘Go Dark,’ Evading Wiretaps  —  Law-enforcement officials in the U.S. are expanding the use of tools routinely used by computer hackers to gather information …

SIM card hack inspires quick fix by carriers  —  Las Vegas (CNN) — Major wireless carriers have fixed a bug that could have allowed criminals to hack into hundreds of millions of cell phones, says a security expert who exposed the flaw.  —  Cryptographer Karsten Nohl of Security Research Labs …

Apple Notifying Former MobileMe Customers of Impending iCloud Storage Downgrade  —  In 2011, when iCloud replaced MobileMe, Apple gave paying MobileMe customers an additional 20GB of iCloud storage as a thank you for their purchase.  That storage was to be discontinued in September of 2012 …

As YouTube Stars Invent Their Own Ways to Get Paid, Patreon Raises $2.1M  —  “There was this weird hundred-year period where content was distributable but not digitized, from the 1900s, when the phonograph was invented and sound recording was first released.  It was the age of physical media with artificial scarcity.

LinkedIn Beats Again as Revenue Jumps to $364 Million  —  Another earnings season, another beat from the Internet company that can seemingly do no financial wrong.  —  LinkedIn reported second-quarter earnings results on Thursday, with earnings per share of 38 cents on revenue of $364 million.