Snapchat Spurned $3 Billion Acquisition Offer from Facebook  —  Snapchat, a rapidly growing messaging service, recently spurned an all-cash acquisition offer from Facebook for $3 billion or more, according to people briefed on the matter.  —  The offer, and rebuff, came as Snapchat …

Government requests for user information double over three years  —  In a year in which government surveillance has dominated the headlines, today we're updating our Transparency Report for the eighth time.  Since we began sharing these figures with you in 2010, requests from governments …

Under Armour to Buy MapMyFitness in Embrace of Sports Tech  —  Under Armour is buying the popular workout application company MapMyFitness for $150 million, putting the sports apparel maker in charge of one of the biggest social sports communities on mobile devices.

Intel opening temporary showcase stores featuring free movie nights, coffee and events  —  Intel Opening Retail “Experience” Stores Starting November 23rd  —  Intel wants to give you a chance to get up close and personal with its PCs.  At a press event in New York this evening …

Mozilla: No Firefox phones in US  —  Mozilla's Mitchell Baker stresses Firefox OS's appeal to developing countries — and (pay attention, Apple and Google) the importance of price.  SAN FRANCISCO — If you're a Firefox OS fan and you live in the United States, you're going to have to wait a bit longer to get your Firefox phone.

Google Search for Android now does Siri-style conversational voice commands  —  The Google Search app for Android was updated today.  While Google's official post about the new version mentioned some updated cards and traffic incidents, the real news is that voice search can now hold a conversation.

Isis Mobile Wallet goes live nationwide, offers freebies  —  Wave phone, buy stuff: after a long period of trials, the joint venture teaming Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile is finally broadly available.—The wireless carriers' mobile payment initiative, Isis Mobile Wallet …

The Dual-Screen YotaPhone Will Launch Internationally In December  —  Russia-based Yota Devices has been working on a curious beast called the YotaPhone for years now, and it's gained quite a reputation for itself because of its split personality.  While the front of the phone sports …

Dart, Google's controversial Web language, turns 1.0  —  Dart leader Lars Bak speaking at Google I/O 2013  —  Dart is done.  —  Well, not completely done — anything not actually cancelled at Google is a constant work in progress — but the company on Thursday announced version 1.0 of its controversial Web programming language.

Our Government Has Weaponized the Internet.  Here's How They Did It  —  The internet backbone — the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels — went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active weapon for attacks.

The Story Behind the “What Would I Say?”  Facebook App  —  Am fond of Seinfeld, and I disparage the value of baseball arguments.—That was the first phrase generated just for me this afternoon by What Would I Say?, a new app that runs users' old Facebook status updates through a text-generating bot …

Android powers four in every five smartphones thanks to growth in China  —  Gartner's third-quarter smartphone research report is out, and on the surface it paints a very flattering portrait for Google.  Mirroring Strategy Analytics' report at the end of last month, Gartner also estimates …

Redfin is now a $500 million company  —  Online real estate company Redfin raises $50 million in new VC funding.  —  FORTUNE — Online real estate company Redfin has raised $50 million in what it believes will be its last round of VC funding before going public.

Google wins book-scanning case: judge finds “fair use,” cites many benefits  —  The long-running copyright fight between Google and the Authors Guild is over: Judge Denny Chin issued a resounding ruling in favor of fair use.  —  Google has won a resounding victory in its eight-year copyright battle …

Roku and AOL ink deal to bring first news app to the streaming TV boxes  —  Roku, the company behind the little internet-connected streaming TV box, has signed a deal with AOL to bring the media organization's content to TVs.  —  Announced today, the deal will see business, entertainment …

MapQuest Updates Its iPhone App With Improved Cartography And Routing To Take On Google And Apple Maps  —  On the iPhone, Apple Maps and Google Maps app have gotten all the headlines over the last several years, but MapQuest is still hanging in there, despite a lack of real innovation over the years.

IBM to offer Watson supercomputer as cloud development platform  —  IBM is preparing to give third parties access to its Watson supercomputer with the aim of spurring the growth of applications that take advantage of the system's artificial intelligence capabilities.

Verizon drops Moto Maker customized Moto X to $49.99 until November 18th  —  Motorola's world may be concentrated on the release of the Moto G this week but Big Red is working to shift some attention back to the Moto X. The carrier is offering a $50 promotion on customized orders through Moto Maker until November 18th.

TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Negotiators Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms  —  After years of secret trade negotiations over the future of intellectual property rights (and limits on those rights), the public gets a chance to looks at the results.

MeeGo Startup Jolla's First Phone To Go On Sale In Finland On November 27  —  MeeGo startup Jolla has just announced that its first smartphone will go on sale in Finland on November 27th.  It will be sold by Finnish carrier DNA - the first carrier Jolla signed up to its Sailfish OS project, back in November last year.

NSA Transparency Hurts Americans' Privacy, Feds Say With Straight Face  —  Adding limited public accountability to the NSA's vast electronic spying programs would actually harm the privacy of Americans, Obama administration officials told a Senate hearing today.

New FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Talks Competition Net Neutrality and More  —  When Tom Wheeler was named in May to lead the Federal Communications Commission, some consumer groups fretted that the former cable- and wireless-industry lobbyist would favor industry over individuals.

Twitter opens up advertising to small businesses in the UK  —  The social network lets small and medium enterprises outside the US advertise for the first time, just a week after its IPO  —  Twitter has opened up its self-serve advertising platform to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) …