Techmeme: Google now lets you download a copy of your Gmail and Google Calendar data (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web)

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December 5, 2013, 2:30 PM

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David Pierce / The Verge:

Fixing the Nexus 5: with a new version of Android, Google tackles the camera — Android 4.4.1 is coming to help you take better pictures — Only a few years ago, Dave Burke remembers, cellphone users were just happy to have a camera at all. But expectations have changed.

Brad Smith / The Official Microsoft Blog:

Microsoft to expand encryption, increase software transparency to protect customer data — Protecting customer data from government snooping — The following post is from Brad Smith, General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft.

More: Ars Technica, Guardian, CNN, New York Times, Businessweek, Network World, SiliconBeat, The Switch, SecurityWeek, Reuters, TheStreet.com, PC Magazine, Washington Post, Digits, The Verge, Gigaom, BBC, TheHill, The Register, Engadget, Computerworld, Threatpost, CNET, Business Insider, ZDNet and GeekWire

Tweets: @attackerman, @csoghoian, @kevinbankston and @gordoncorera

Nicole Perlroth / NYT Bits:

Microsoft's General Counsel: N.S.A. Hacks Were an ‘Earthquake’ for Tech

More: Computerworld, Inquirer and BetaNews

Bloomberg:

Ford's Mulally Not Leaving Company, Board Director Says — Ford Motor Co. (F) Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, considered one of the leading candidates to take the top job at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), is not leaving the automaker until the end of next year, said Edsel Ford II, a company director.

More: GeekWire, The Verge, Quartz, TechCrunch, Digits, Associated Press, CNNMoney.com, CNET, BGR, Gigaom, Electronista, Ubergizmo and Business Insider

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google now lets you download a copy of your Gmail and Google Calendar data — Google today rolled out a long-requested feature: being able to download a copy of your Gmail and Google Calendar data. The new feature means you can now back up your emails and calendars, or just export …

More: Gmail Blog, BetaNews, PC World, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Engadget, The Verge, gHacks Technology News, SlashGear, Android Community, Lifehacker and Droid Life

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Foursquare 7.0 Brings Scannable Design And Expands Proactive Recommendations To All Users — Way back in the ancient prehistory of 2009, Foursquare made its first foray into push notifications, at a time when using push at all was still rare. Two years later, it made an attempt to capitalize …

More: The Verge, ReadWrite, 9to5Mac, Gigaom, Foursquare, iMore, Engadget, The Next Web, IntoMobile and PandoDaily

Wall Street Journal:

China Mobile signs deal with Apple, bringing iPhone option to 700 million+ subscribers later this month — Apple, China Mobile Sign Deal to Offer iPhone — Tie-Up Would Give Apple Access to 700 Million Subscribers … China Mobile Ltd. has signed a long-awaited deal with Apple Inc …

Aly Song / Reuters:

China Mobile still talking to Apple on iPhones

More: Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Macworld and Light Reading

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Twitter Names Marjorie Scardino, Ex-CEO Of Pearson, As The First Female Member Of Its Board — Twitter has announced the appointment of its first female board member, Marjorie Scardino, the former CEO of media company Pearson. The appointment is effective immediately.

More: Reuters, VatorNews, Bloomberg, ReadWrite, Quartz, CNET, AllThingsD, Digits, Gigaom, The Verge, Business Insider, Associated Press, Mashable and WebProNews

Tweets: @marjscar, @twitter, @wilreynolds, @owenthomas, @wadhwa, @dangillmor, @lanceulanoff, @katyfinneran, @dangillmor, @zseward, @jbrodkin, @danprimack and @rafat

See also Mediagazer

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

House of Representatives passes widely supported bill to fight patent trolls — A bipartisan bill that cracks down on potentially frivolous suits from “patent trolls” has passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) Innovation Act passed committee in November and reached …

More: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gigaom and The Switch. Tweets: @paulg

Bloomberg:

China Bans Financial Companies From Bitcoin Transactions — China's central bank barred financial institutions from handling Bitcoin transactions, moving to regulate the virtual currency after an 89-fold jump in its value sparked a surge of investor interest in the country.

More: The Verge, Businessweek, CoinDesk, Tech in Asia, Reuters, Engadget, The Switch, Business Insider, BBC, Gigaom, InfoWorld, memeburn, Geeky Gadgets, SlashGear, The Next Web, Electronista and I4U News. Tweets: @sacca

Jason Del Rey / AllThingsD:

Online Retail Giant's Grocery Delivery Service AmazonFresh May Launch in San Francisco Next Week — Another online grocery delivery service seems set to launch in San Francisco, and it's a big one: AmazonFresh. — All signs are pointing to Amazon publicly launching the same- and next …

More: GeekWire, The Verge, VatorNews, TechCrunch, Ubergizmo and PandoDaily

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

AT&T launches ‘Mobile Share Value Plans’ with notable monthly savings for BYOD customers, 18-month Next option — AT&T has launched a new initiative called Mobile Share Value Plans that is designed to save customers money on their monthly AT&T mobile phone service bills.

More: The Verge, Gigaom, LAPTOP Magazine, eWeek, TechHive, GeekWire, ZDNet, MacRumors, AndroidHeadlines.com, AllThingsD, WebProNews, IntoMobile, iMore, Gizmodo, Yahoo! News, iDownloadBlog.com, AppleInsider, CNET, Gotta Be Mobile, Engadget, Cult of Mac, SlashGear, Android Central and CrackBerry.com. Tweets: @davidj

Bing Blog:

Bing Maps Preview Arrives on Windows 8.1 — A first step in introducing a new way to explore the world, the Bing Maps Preview app hits the Windows Store today. Built from the ground up for clarity, detail and scale, the app provides a seamless and dynamic way to experience mapping.

More: The Next Web, Engadget, TechCrunch, TechNet Blogs, The Windows Blog, WebProNews and SlashGear

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Twitter opens up ‘tailored audiences’ so brands can target their Promoted Tweets using browser cookies — After “experimenting” with the feature in July, Twitter is launching a new advertising tool for brands and advertising partners called tailored audiences, which means firms can guarantee …

More: blog.twitter.com, Marketing Land, VentureBeat, CNET, Search Engine Watch, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Tweets: @panzer and @panzer

See also Mediagazer

Reed Albergotti / Digits:

Big Data, Big Bucks: Palantir Valued at $9 Billion — Palantir Technologies, the “big data” miner that the counts the CIA and the FBI among its clients, is poised to announce a new round of funding that will value the company at roughly $9 billion, according a person familiar with the matter.

More: Forbes

Cotton Delo / AdAge:

Facebook Admits Organic Reach Is Falling Short, Urges Marketers to Buy Ads — Brands Urged to Think of Fan Acquisition As Way to Enhance Performance — Facebook is being more blunt about the fact that marketers are going to have to pay for reach. — If they haven't already …

More: [a]listdaily. Tweets: @ryanlawler, @r and @future_of_music. Thanks:@petersontee

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Credit card fraud comes of age with advances in point-of-sale botnets — Inside the command and control channel of a point-of-sale botnet powered by StarDust. — IntelCrawler — Underscoring the growing sophistication of Internet crime, researchers have documented one of the first known botnets …

More: Help Net Security, Threatpost and Softpedia News

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

Google's copyright win against Oracle is in danger on appeal — A federal judge ruled that API packages are like bookshelves in a library. Will that view hold? — The most dramatic outcome of the Oracle v. Google trial in spring 2012 wasn't anything the jury said; it was US District …

More: Reuters, Bloomberg, CNET, The Register, Gigaom, ZDNet, Softpedia News, ReadWrite, Out-Law News and Disruptive Competition Project. Tweets: @dangillmor

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Google invites Glass Explorer Edition owners to upgrade their eyewear — Google promised early Glass wearers that they could eventually upgrade to next-generation Explorer hardware, and that moment is finally at hand. The company is now inviting owners to swap devices through a free mail exchange before February 5th.

More: SlashGear, CNET, Android and Me, Phandroid, BetaNews, Digital Trends, Mashable, Android Beat, TechnoBuffalo and Geeky Gadgets

Dara Kerr / CNET:

Apple desktops overtake Dell on shoppers' holiday wish lists — Apple has long been the most-desired brand for tablets, smartphones, MP3 players, and streaming media devices on US shoppers' holiday lists. And, for the first time, the company also got ranked as the top brand for desktops this year …

More: Parks Associates, PC Magazine, Forbes, AppleInsider, I4U News, T3 News, TUAW, Ubergizmo, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors and iDownloadBlog.com

Anna Yukhananov / Reuters:

Obama says he's not allowed iPhone for ‘security reasons’ — (Reuters) - The troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry still has at least one very loyal customer: U.S. President Barack Obama. — At a meeting with youth on Wednesday to promote his landmark healthcare law …

Om Malik / Gigaom:

Mobile-first word-processing app, Quip launches on Android — Quip, the mobile-first collaboration-oriented word-processing app that launched on iOS devices about four months ago is finally launching for Android on Thursday. … The company, co-founded by former Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor …

More: The Next Web, CITEworld, SiliconANGLE, Engadget and CNET

Caitlin Dewey / WorldViews:

Of the 7,776 languages in use in the offline world, fewer than five percent exist online — How the Internet is killing the world's languages — Less than five percent of current world languages are in use online, according to a recent study by prominent linguist András Kornai …

Tweets: @yalecls and @language_today

Shara Tibken / CNET:

Instagram invites press to ‘share a moment’ at NYC event — CNET today received a mysterious invite — sent via FedEx, not e-mail — from Instagram for an event it's hosting next week. — The package, wrapped with brown paper and a white ribbon, contained a wooden block …

More: iDownloadBlog.com and Ubergizmo. Thanks:@jbruin

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