Techmeme
August 27, 2013, 4:55 PM

Top News

Colin Stretch / Facebook:
Global Government Requests Report  —  Transparency and trust are core values at Facebook.  We strive to embody them in all aspects of our services, including our approach to responding to government data requests.  We want to make sure that the people who use our service understand the nature …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple TV updated with Vevo, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Weather Channel, Smithsonian apps  —  Today, Apple has issued an over-the-air update to the Apple TV that brings several new content apps.  Notably, in line with expectations, an app for the Vevo Music Video service has arrived.
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
The Apple TV App Store Can't Be Too Far Away  —  Apple TV owners just got a bunch more channels: Vevo, the Weather Channel, more from Disney, and Smithsonian.  This follows a recent update that added HBO Go and ESPN apps, and represents a continued acceleration of new content being added to Apple TV.
More: CNET
Fortune:
AllThingsD nears split with Dow Jones  —  The future of influential tech website All Things Digital is close to being decided.  Reuters reported in February that AllThingsD co-executive editors Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg had begun discussions with owner Dow Jones, a subsidiary of News Corp. …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple's iPhone ‘Reuse and Recycle’ trade-in program detailed, begins rolling out August 30th  —  Yesterday, we reported that Apple is gearing up to launch its iPhone trade-in program in September.  The program will allow an iPhone user to exchange an older iPhone model for a new iPhone at a discounted price.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Windows 8.1 is officially finished, but everyone has to wait until October 18th  —  Microsoft is confirming today, after recent reports, that the company has completed Windows 8.1 and is releasing it to manufacturing (RTM).  The finalization of the Windows 8 update means that hardware partners …
Bloomberg:
Twitter Hires Commerce Chief to Add Shopping Via Tweets  —  Twitter Inc. hired Nathan Hubbard, the former president of Ticketmaster, as its first head of commerce, part of a push to enable shopping via short postings on its social website.  —  Hubbard, 38, started at San Francisco-based Twitter this week …
Will Connors / Wall Street Journal:
BlackBerry Weighs Messenger Spinoff  —  Move Signals Firm Is Trying to Position BBM as a Valuable Asset Ahead of Potential Sale  —  BlackBerry Ltd. is considering spinning off its messaging service into a subsidiary that would operate with more independence, according to people familiar with the matter.
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
“thereisnofatebutwhat­wemake” — Turbo-charged cracking comes to long passwords  —  For the first time, the freely available password cracker ocl-Hashcat-plus is able to tackle passcodes with as many as 55 characters.  It's an improvement that comes as more and more people are relying …
Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:
Google calls book scanning “transformative” in latest push for fair use ruling  —  Google and the Authors Guild's eight-year legal fight over digital books is coming to a head once again, as both sides prepare to make their final case next month about whether Google's scanning …
John Tozzi / Businessweek:
Jack Dorsey's Plan to Save America's Struggling Cities  —  Square co-founder (and Twitter chairman) Jack Dorsey started hosting events to bring together local business owners in California earlier this year.  This fall he's taking the idea to places normally off the tech world's radar …
Tweets: @pkafka
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Vine gets better with age: How screens, speed and networks are changing the future of online video  —  Earlier this morning when sitting in the San Diego Airport while waiting for my flight, I did what most people do these days in those situations — I peered into my phone and cycled through my various social media applications.
Tweets: @om
Stefan Constantinescu / Android Beat:
Samsung Exec confirms Note III and Galaxy Gear launch for September 4th (next week!)  —  Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, told The Korea Times that Samsung will be unveiling the Galaxy Note III and Galaxy Gear smartwatch on September 4th.
Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:
NYTimes.com down for some users; paper suspects “external attack”  —  The New York Times website experienced another outage on Tuesday afternoon, though it's not affecting everybody.  The paper said it suspects a “malicious external attack” is responsible for the outage.
Nick Summers / The Next Web:
Google releases a Chromecast app for iOS to help users set up and manage their $35 TV dongle  —  Google released an official Chromecast app for iOS devices today, making it easier for users to set up the new $35 TV dongle, switch between multiple Chromecasts and change common network settings.
Ricardo Bilton / VentureBeat:
Yahoo brings fresh redesigns — and native ads — to its biggest websites  —  Under Marissa Mayer, Yahoo has made a concerted effort not only to update its image, but also to completely reinvigorate all of its products.  —  We're now seeing that effort extend to more of the company's websites.
Catherine Ho / Washington Post:
Patent seller Intellectual Ventures sets up its own lobbying effort in D.C.  —  As the White House and federal regulators work to crack down on so-called patent trolls, one company that's found success relying on a business model of licensing patents is building a new in-house lobbying team in Washington.
More: GeekWire, Ars Technica and AllThingsDTweets: @mjasay
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
BitTorrent's File Synchronizing Service Sync Launches As An iOS App  —  BitTorrent, which years ago first made its name as an efficient distribution network for music and video (sometimes not in the most legit of ways), has been of late positioning itself as a distribution service for everything …
Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
Moto Maker site open to direct orders for AT&T contract, no-contract phones  —  Unless you want an all white or an all black Moto X handset, there's no need to visit an AT&T retail store.  On Tuesday, Motorola announced an upgrade to its Moto Maker site, allowing customers to customize and order a phone online.

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