Techmeme: Surreptitiously Tampering with Computer Chips (Bruce Schneier/Schneier on Security)

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September 17, 2013, 12:30 PM

Top News

Matt Brian / Engadget:

Apple offering ‘last compatible version’ of iOS apps for older hardware — With iOS 7 arriving tomorrow, Apple is extending some love to the owners of older iOS devices that have been left behind. New compatibility features, first spotted on Reddit, will now kick into action if you attempt …

More: The Next Web, The Verge, Gizmodo, ReadWrite, AppleInsider, MacRumors, GigaOM, VentureBeat, iMore, Lifehacker, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Gotta Be Mobile, AppleTell, iPhone in Canada Blog, pocketnow.com, App Advice, MobileBurn.com, Macgasm, SlashGear, TUAW, MacNN, iLounge and Softpedia News. Tweets: @cpytel

Nathan Olivarez-Giles / The Verge:

Google is done selling the Nexus 4 in the US — The Nexus 4's run in Google Play is now over. On Monday, Google's online storefront sold out of the 16GB version of the flagship phone in the US, and a trusted source with knowledge of the company's plans tells The Verge that this marks the end for the LG-built device.

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Microsoft Initiates Massive $40 Billion Share Buyback Program — Shortly before market opening, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a new massive buyback program as well as a dividend increase. The new buyback program comes after the expiration of a previous $40 billion program that is set to expire on September 2013.

More: Microsoft, BBC, GeekWire, CNNMoney.com, Business Insider, VentureBeat, Associated Press, ZDNet, Mashable, Forbes, Bloomberg and Softpedia News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Bing gets a new logo and modern design to take on Google — Microsoft's Bing search engine is getting a new look. A year in the making, Bing is dropping its curly blue logo for a modern design that closely matches the rest of Microsoft's recently redesigned product branding.

More: Search Blog, Bing, The Next Web, PC World, ReadWrite, Engadget, Digital Trends, Yahoo! News, Digits, Inquirer, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Beyond Search, Search Engine Roundtable, Search Engine Land, Ubergizmo, I4U News, Softpedia News, BetaNews, Bloomberg, CNET, VR-Zone, memeburn, LiveSide.net, ZDNet and Beyond Search. Tweets: @le3ky

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Apple quiet on iPhone 5c pre-orders as stock price slides — Apple is clearly positioning the upcoming iPhone 5c as its next smartphone for the masses. The colored, plastic device is the first thing you see when visiting Apple.com or the company's iPhone page.

Jamie Rigg / Engadget:

Amazon adds AirPlay streaming, IMDb integration to Instant Video iOS app — There are many ways to get a leg-up in the online content war, and one of them is to make sure your services are easy to use with competitor hardware. To that end, an update to the Amazon Instant Video app for iOS …

More: The Verge, TechCrunch, GigaOM, AllThingsD, iMore, VentureBeat, Macworld, Gizmodo, MacRumors, AppleInsider, The Next Web, 9to5Mac, Softpedia News, IntoMobile, MacNN and TUAW. Tweets: @reckless

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

Angry entrepreneur replies to patent troll with racketeering lawsuit — FindTheBest CEO Kevin O'Connor and Director of Operations Danny Seigle. — FindTheBest.com — Most business owners sued by patent trolls don't talk about it to anyone other than their lawyer; a typical response …

More: TechCrunch and Softpedia News. Tweets: @jeffjarvis, @cdixon and @dangillmor

Associated Press:

Experts see potential perils in Brazil push to break with US-centric Internet over NSA spying — RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil plans to divorce itself from the U.S.-centric Internet over Washington's widespread online spying, a move that many experts fear will be a potentially dangerous …

More: Gizmodo and The Switch

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

YouTube starts testing Chromecast support for third-party websites — YouTube quietly started to add support for Chromecast to its embedded web player, allowing users of Google's TV dongle to beam videos displayed on third-party websites straight from their browser to their TV.

More: WebProNews, ReelSEO Video Marketing, Softpedia News and Engadget

Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:

Facebook and Twitter Blocked Again in Iran After Respite — TEHRAN — Internet users in Iran lost access Tuesday to Facebook and Twitter, a day after they were surprised to find that they could get on the sites without having to evade a government's firewall that had blocked direct access to the Web sites for years.

More: Quartz, The Verge, Digits, CNET, AllThingsD, Associated Press, Hillicon Valley, Reuters, AllFacebook, The Atlantic Wire, Reuters, BBC, Digits, Mashable, Valleywag, TechCrunch, WebProNews, T3 News, SocialTimes, Business Insider, BuzzFeed, GigaOM, ABC News, Nextgov and The Verge

Tweets: @israelinusa and @washingtonpost

See also Mediagazer

Joe Miller / BBC:

UK to test emergency mobile alerts — Californian police alerted people to a wanted vehicle using a targeted message — A system which sends emergency alerts to mobile phones within a specific area is to be tested in the UK. — The messages could be used to raise the alarm about flooding …

More: iMore, The Next Web, Engadget, ZDNet, Inquirer, Phones Review, T3 News and CrackBerry.com

Jason Del Rey / AllThingsD:

New Google Wallet App Moves Past NFC and to All Major Carriers. iPhone Version on Tap? — Google is launching a new version of its Google Wallet app for Android today and there are some big changes. — Most notably, the app will now be available on all Android devices running version 2.3 …

More: Google Commerce, Ars Technica, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, GigaOM, The Next Web, Gizmodo and Softpedia News

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

“That's The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard Of.” — When Twitter broke the news last week about its forthcoming IPO, I got a bit sentimental. In 2006, when Twitter was entering the world as a side project of the podcasting startup Odeo, I had just left my first “career” in the film industry to try to make it in the tech industry.

Tweets: @dtrinh

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Nokia holding special event on October 22nd, 6-inch Lumia 1520 likely — Nokia is planning to hold a special event on October 22nd. The Finnish smartphone maker revealed on Twitter today that it plans to announce “more innovation,” with a mysterious save the date image.

More: Engadget, Electronista, LiveSide.net, GigaOM, BGR, ZDNet, AllThingsD, Digital Trends, Softpedia News, Lastest ITProPortal news, Gotta Be Mobile, SlashGear, WMPoweruser and pocketnow.com. Tweets: @nokia

Bruce Schneier / Schneier on Security:

Surreptitiously Tampering with Computer Chips — This is really interesting research: “Stealthy Dopant-Level Hardware Trojans.” Basically, you can tamper with a logic gate to be either stuck-on or stuck-off by changing the doping of one transistor. This sort of sabotage is undetectable by functional testing or optical inspection.

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple airs new ‘Plastic Perfected’ ad to showcase iPhone 5c colors — Apple has started airing a new advertisement for the iPhone 5c. The ad is called “Plastic Perfected” and it focuses on the colors and materials of the new iPhone model. Much of the advertisement is reminiscent of scenes …

More: Apple, Electronista, AllThingsD, MacRumors, AppleInsider, MacRumors, iLounge, The Next Web, TUAW, Softpedia News, iPhone Hacks and iMore

Don Clark / Digits:

IBM Again Pledges $1 Billion to a Linux Effort — Linux continues to dominate data centers. IBM wants more of that action to take place on its hardware. — The computer giant on Tuesday plans to pledge that it will spend $1 billion over four or five years on Linux and related open-source technologies …

More: Inquirer, Computerworld, ZDNet, Linux Foundation Blogs, Business Insider and eWeek

Evelyn M. Rusli / Digits:

Tiger Global Ups Investment in Creator of WordPress.com — Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic, doesn't feel any pressure to take his Web publishing company public. — With friends like Tiger Global Management, why would he? — Tiger, the tech-hungry New York-based investment firm …

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