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September 24, 2013, 8:55 AM

Top News

George Chen / South China Morning Post:

EXCLUSIVE: China to lift ban on Facebook - but only within Shanghai free-trade zone — Beijing has made the landmark decision to lift a ban on internet access within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone to foreign websites considered politically sensitive by the Chinese government, including Facebook …

More: CNET, Quartz, BBC, The Switch, The Verge, GigaOM, TechEye, Gizmodo, The Register, Engadget, Reuters, SocialTimes, Business Insider, ZDNet, TechCrunch, The Next Web and Softpedia News. Tweets: @markmackinnon

DealBook:

BlackBerry Buyout Offer Raises Array of Questions — An offer to take BlackBerry private does not end the uncertainty surrounding the ailing smartphone maker. — BlackBerry said on Monday that it had signed a letter of intent from a group led by Fairfax Financial Holdings …

More: Wired, SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg and IntoMobile

BlackBerry:

BlackBerry Enters into Letter of Intent with Consortium led by Fairfax Financial — BlackBerry entitled to go-shop during due diligence period, subject to payment of a termination fee in the event alternative offer accepted — Waterloo, ON - BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY; TSX:BB) …

More: Globe and Mail, eWeek, AllThingsD, Digital Trends, MoneyBeat, BBC, AllThingsD, The Verge, Reuters, CrackBerry.com, T3 News, Tech Trader Daily, Wired.co.uk, ZDNet, Wired, CNBC, Quartz, MediaNama, CNNMoney.com, Ubergizmo, MobileSyrup.com, ReadWrite, BuzzFeed, Computerworld, BetaNews, Macleans.ca, Inquirer, TechSpot, iDownloadBlog.com, Dice News and PC Magazine

Tweets: @levie, @qhardy, @zseward, @davidmarcus, @chchien, @davidfaber, @reckless, @miketrose, @danprimack, @caseynewton and @tim_stevens

David Benoit / MoneyBeat:

Meet Prem Watsa: The Man Riding to BlackBerry's Rescue

More: The Verge and CNET. Tweets: @mathewi

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Following criticism & lawsuit, Apple refunding Breaking Bad iTunes Season Passes — In August, we noted that iTunes was offering Season Passes of the popular show Breaking Bad in a split-up format. For Season 5 of the show, the first eight episodes was under one iTunes purchase …

More: The Verge, GigaOM, Inquirer, iMore, I4U News, Insanely Great Mac, The Next Web, App Advice, Gizmodo, AppleInsider and Forbes

Tweets: @gaberivera and @mikebeas

See also Mediagazer

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

After botched debut, new Apple TV update is back with fixes — After releasing a buggy version of new Apple TV software last week (and subsequently removing it from download) Apple has issued a new version of the update to Apple TV users. The new version is labeled Apple TV Software 6.0, and it comes in at build number 11A502.

More: AppleInsider, The Verge, TechCrunch, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, Electronista, Engadget, iMore, CNET, MacRumors and GadgetGuide4U. See also Mediagazer

Ryan Whitwam / Android Police:

Full Remote Device Lockdown Is Now Live In The Android Device Manager, Instantly Overrides Previous Lock Settings With Specified Password — In our recent APK/website teardown, we unearthed Android's upcoming remote device lock functionality through Google Play Services, and now it has quietly gone live in the Android Device Manager.

More: BetaNews, The Register, 9to5Google, GadgetGuide4U, Softpedia News, gHacks Technology News, Engadget, Phones Review, Electronista, AndroidHeadlines.com, Android Community, Android and Me, Computerworld, whatmobile.net and Lifehacker

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Purported iOS 7 bug logs users out of popular apps like Mailbox and Snapchat — An apparent bug in Apple's iOS 7 software is repeatedly logging users out of several apps like Mailbox, Snapchat, and Loom. The Verge has confirmed the issue directly with a few of the affected companies.

More: iMore, Phones Review, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, GeekWire, App Advice, AppleInsider and iPhone in Canada Blog

Diane Bartz / Reuters:

U.S. trade panel judge says HTC violates Nokia patents — (Reuters) - HTC Corporation infringed on two Nokia Corp patents in making its mobile telephones and tablets, a judge said in a preliminary ruling for the U.S. International Trade Commission. — HTC was found to have infringed …

More: Inquirer, ZDNet, CNET, GeekWire, FOSS Patents, WMPoweruser, Android Community, Electronista, Phones Review, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, The Next Web and AllThingsD. Tweets: @binarybits

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Adobe Unveils Photoshop and Premiere Elements 12 for Mac — Adobe today released new versions of Photoshop and Premiere Elements, its lower-cost photo and video editing software aimed at consumers. Photoshop Elements 12 and Premiere Elements 12 have been revamped with several new features, focusing heavily on mobile integration.

More: The Verge, iMore, 9to5Mac, VentureBeat, Softpedia News, I4U News, The Next Web, Macworld, Electronista, Gizmodo, TUAW, Engadget, CNET and AppleInsider

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple launches faster iMacs with 802.11ac WiFi, Pro graphics, improved Flash — Apple has launched an updated line of iMacs with faster processors, improved graphics, faster 802.11ac WiFi connectivity, and improved Flash storage. The new iMacs are now available from Apple's online store.

More: Business Wire, TechCrunch, Engadget and AllThingsD. Tweets: @tim_stevens

Andrew Bocking / Inside BlackBerry:

BBM for Android and iPhone will not launch this week following leak of unreleased version — BBM for Android and iPhone Update - Note from the head of BBM — This is Andrew Bocking, head of BBM at BlackBerry. As a follow up to our first blog post on Saturday, I want to take a moment …

Jason Del Rey / AllThingsD:

Intuit Overhauls QuickBooks Online as Competition for Small Businesses Ramps Up — Intuit today is unveiling a drastic overhaul of its QuickBooks Online accounting software for small businesses. The redesign takes visual cues from Mint.com, the personal finance website that Intuit acquired in 2009 …

More: The Next Web, PC World and Entrepreneur. Tweets: @flyosity

Brian Klug / AnandTech:

Moto X Update Dramatically Improves Camera Quality — In my Moto X review, I characterized camera performance and quality as very bimodal. In some scenes it could take great photos, in others it seemed to struggle and either produce images that looked somewhat washed out with weird white balance or aggressive noise reduction.

More: Droid Life, Android Community, 9to5Google, Android Authority, VentureBeat, Gizmodo and Engadget

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Microsoft Introduces 200GB SkyDrive Storage Upgrade For $100 Per Year — With the launch of Windows 8.1 just around the corner, Microsoft today announced a new storage option for SkyDrive. The cloud storage service, which is now a built-in Windows 8.1 feature, now offers a 200GB storage plan for $100 per year.

More: SlashGear

Microsoft:

Microsoft unveils Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 and new accessories

More: New York Times, istartedsomething, MSDN Blogs, Skype, Tech in Asia, Delimiter, Microsoft News, TechNet Blogs, Digital Trends, WinBeta, ABC News, POPSUGAR, Technabob, Ubergizmo, Computerworld and iPhone Hacks

Tweets: @maryjofoley, @surface, @maryjofoley, @austincarr, @reneritchie and @mattbuchanan

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Microsoft announces Surface Pro 2 with Haswell Core i5 processor, improved battery life, and two-position kickstand starting at $899

More: InfoWorld, SiliconANGLE, CITEworld, Softpedia News, VG247, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, Computerworld, ReadWrite and Engadget

Chris Ciaccia / TheStreet.com:

Exclusive: Twitter Picks NYSE for $1.5B IPO — NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Looking to learn from the past, social media company Twitter will list on the New York Stock Exchange in an IPO estimated to net around $1.5 billion, sources close to the situation have said.

Tweets: @danprimack, @defcon_5, @pkafka and @chris_ciaccia

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google looks to drop Netscape Plugin API support in Chrome, starting with blocking most plugins in January 2014 — Google today announced it is dropping Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) in Chrome. The company will be phasing out support over the coming year …

More: Chromium Blog, TechCrunch, TechEye, Softpedia News, gHacks Technology News, ZDNet, Lifehacker, AndroidHeadlines.com and Google Operating System

Tweets: @danctheduck and @thebeebs

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Partners With PayPal, Stripe, Braintree To Autofill Billing Info In Mobile Commerce Apps — Facebook wants to put an end to typing billing details on the small screen, help developers and payment processors earn more money, and prove that its app install ads make money for e-commerce companies.

More: AllFacebook, AllThingsD, Computerworld, CNET, Marketing Pilgrim, Business Insider, Business Insider, SlashGear and Inside Facebook

Tweets: @tedr, @mdudas and @joshconstine

Colin Campbell / Polygon:

Microsoft forms Chinese console venture — Microsoft has formed a joint venture with Shanghai media giant BesTV to launch a new games device offering streaming entertainment services into China. — The companies posted a note on the Shanghai Stock Exchange today outlining the new operation …

More: Xinhua News Agency, Tech in Asia, Gearburn, The Next Web, Engadget, IntoMobile, VentureBeat, VG247, destructoid, Joystiq and GamesIndustry International

Ki Mae Heussner / GigaOM:

Finally, FDA tells mobile health app developers what it plans to regulate — More than two years after issuing its draft guidance on the regulation of mobile health apps, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finally released its final guidelines. — By some counts, there are about …

More: Food and Drug Administration, AllThingsD, Computerworld, New York Times, Engadget, VentureBeat, CNET, bizjournals and Associated Press

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Exclusive: Flipboard Raises $50 Million More on $800 Million Valuation — According to sources close to the situation, Flipboard has raised $50 million in new funding, in a round led by Rizvi Traverse Management and Goldman Sachs. — The new funding puts the valuation of the Silicon Valley startup …

More: IntoMobile and Digits. Tweets: @johndoerr and @iseff

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Flipboard's Mike McCue Confirms $50M Raise, Says Windows 8 App, More International Versions Coming By End Of Year

Tweets: @johndoerr and @cwarzel. Thanks:@mjburnsy. See also Mediagazer

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