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December 11, 2013, 5:30 PM

Top News

Marguerite Reardon / CNET:

AT&T chief: We can't keep doing big subsidies on phones — AT&T's top executive says the era of big subsidies for devices is coming to an end, as wireless operators can no longer afford to fund a constant smartphone upgrade cycle. — Speaking at an investor conference in New York City on Tuesday …

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Behind the scenes look at Apple TV app development w/ the new Bloomberg channel — Unlike its developer program and vast ecosystem of apps on iOS and Mac, there's not much we know about Apple's strategy for content on the Apple TV. There's been a lot of talk that a much rumored refreshed …

More: CNET, AllThingsD, iMore, Gigaom and Gotta Be Mobile. Tweets: @markgurman. Thanks:@benjaminzamayo. See also Mediagazer

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Apple Adds ABC, Bloomberg, Crackle, and KORTV Channels to Apple TV

More: 9to5Mac, Computerworld, AppleInsider, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone in Canada Blog and iLounge

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Kick the Can — Yahoo Mail Is a Consumer Disaster, but Company's Response Is Even Worse — On Friday, November 8, Jeff Bonforte, the well-regarded techie who is now in charge of Yahoo Mail and all its communications products after the Silicon Valley Internet giant bought his startup Xobni …

More: Yahoo Mail, ZDNet, Computerworld, WebProNews and The Tell

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Trouble At Yahoo: Partial Webmail Outage Continues, While Surprise Small Business Websites Shutdowns Anger Customers — Digital Magazine Startup Magzter Raises $10M To Fuel Global Growth — Normally a report of a web services outage goes like this: web service goes down, reporter writes post …

More: The Verge, Los Angeles Times, KUSA-TV, VCPOST, Techzim, Consumerist and Softpedia News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft considers free versions of Windows Phone and Windows RT to battle Android — Redmond wants to counter Mountain View — Microsoft is considering making Windows Phone and Windows RT available free of charge to device makers. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed …

More: Fortune, BGR, Inquirer, Geek.com, GeekWire, SlashGear, Computerworld, Gigaom, Electronista, pocketnow.com, WinBeta, WMPoweruser, CNET, Android Community, Softpedia News, ZDNet, Ubergizmo and TechnoBuffalo

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

Why Nokia Is Building an Android Phone and Why Microsoft Might Not Kill It — So, is Nokia really working on an Android-based phone, and would Microsoft really go ahead with such a device? — The answer to the first one is definitely yes. And, surprisingly, the answer to the second question may be yes, as well.

More: Computerworld, Internet2Go, Business Insider, Examiner and T3 News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Nokia's “Normandy” phone uses a forked variant of Android, a la Kindle Fire

More: Computerworld, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, Gigaom, PC Magazine, ExtremeTech, The Droid Guy, VentureBeat, FierceWireless, FierceMobileIT News, Yahoo! News, LiewCF Tech Blog, WinBeta, Lastest ITProPortal news, TheStreet.com, ValueWalk, Tech Trader Daily and Gotta Be Mobile

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

Snapchat Raises $50 Million In Series C From A Single, Undisclosed Investor — Amid rumors of a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook and a potential $200 million funding round, turns out that ephemeral messaging sensation Snapchat has actually raised $50 million in Series C funding.

More: VentureBeat, Fortune, Business Insider, AllThingsD, Forbes and The Technology Chronicles

Tweets: @jwherrman, @joshconstine, @danprimack and @danprimack

Thanks:@ryanlawler

Mary Jo Foley / Fortune:

Steve Ballmer and Microsoft's top executives reflect on his legacy — For Steve Ballmer, a lasting touch on Microsoft — As the world prepares for Microsoft to announce a new chief executive, we ask the company's top executives—including the man himself—to take a look at the legacy Steve Ballmer leaves on the technology company.

More: InfoWorld, ZDNet, Business Insider, ZDNet, BGR, TechnoBuffalo, The Verge, AppleInsider, WinBeta and TechRepublic

Tweets: @fortunemagazine and @thurrott

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

Spotify Goes Freemium On Tablets, Launches Free Shuffle Product On Smartphones — For the first time since launching, Spotify now offers free access to the streaming music service from tablets only, on iOS and Android. Meanwhile, users on smartphones can use Spotify Shuffle …

More: Spotify Blog, PandoDaily, AppleInsider, AllThingsD, The Verge, Betabeat, The Next Web, Guardian, Engadget, Gotta Be Mobile, TechnoBuffalo and 9to5Mac. See also Mediagazer

The Switch:

NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking — The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using “cookies” and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance.

Ed Felten / Freedom to Tinker:

How to stop spies from piggybacking on commercial Web tracking

More: The Switch and Techdirt. See also Mediagazer

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

AT&T's gigabit service is $70 if you let it spy on your searches — AT&T said Wednesday that it has started service in four Austin neighborhoods with an offer to bring its GigaPower fiber-to-the-home service for $70 a month — but with a pretty big catch. — If you want to pay the lower rate …

More: BGR, AT&T, Ars Technica, The Verge, DSLreports, VentureBeat, The Switch, Engadget, CNET, DSLreports, Daily Dot, TelecompetitorTelecompetitor and Consumerist. Tweets: @evelynrusli. Thanks:@om

Katherine Rosman / Wall Street Journal:

Twitter plants “Mirror” tablets at VIP events for celebrities to tweet selfies — Twitter Mirror: Celebrities' New Publicity Machine — Cellphones, Paparazzi Won't Do; Twitter Pushes Star Entertainers, Athletes to Take More Photos … It's no simple job to manufacture authentic, spontaneous celebrity photos.

More: The Verge

Bryan Bishop / The Verge:

Twitter becomes a better TV remote control as ABC, AMC, and Fox sign up for See It — It's been obvious for some time that Twitter sees television as a major way in which it can participate in, drive, and profit from the broader cultural conversation. It's about to become an even more useful tool …

More: Engadget and Comcast. See also Mediagazer

Ken Yeung / The Next Web:

Square acquires Evenly to better enable its users to collect payments from friends — Square has announced another addition to its growing list of acquisitions. In a blog post, the mobile payment processing company revealed that it has acquired Evenly, a service designed around helping …

More: The Corner, AllThingsD, eWeek, VentureBeat, Gigaom, iClarified, TechnoBuffalo, TechCrunch and Mashable

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Web Video Startup Ooyala Raises $43 Million — We saw a smattering of ad tech IPOs this year, and there are a bunch of companies that are supposedly lined up for next year. — Here's one you likely won't see going public in 2014 — at least not in the beginning of the year: Ooyala, the Web video startup.

More: VentureBeat, Variety, PE Hub Blog and Mashable. See also Mediagazer

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Sheets Gets Offline Editing, Speed Boost And Filter Views — Google today is launching a major update to Sheets, its Google Drive spreadsheet app that's part of Google Drive productivity suite. With this new version, Sheets joins the rest of Google's productivity apps in letting users create …

More: Google Drive Blog, AllThingsD, The Next Web, CNET, Engadget, Softpedia News and Ubergizmo

Michele Sinner / Reuters:

Cisco loses court challenge to Microsoft's takeover of Skype — (Reuters) - Microsoft fended off a challenge to its $8.5 billion takeover of messaging service Skype when Europe's second-highest court ruled against claims by rival Cisco that the 2011 deal would harm competition.

More: GeekWire, The Verge, ValueWalk, WinBeta, Lastest ITProPortal news, Bloomberg, AllThingsD, ZDNet and Gigaom

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google launches Chrome apps and the Chrome App Launcher for all Mac users — Google today announced Chrome apps are now available on OS X, in addition to Windows and Chrome OS. Mac users will also now get the Chrome App Launcher in their Dock when they download their first Chrome app.

More: MacRumors, Engadget, Pocket-lint and Android Central. Tweets: @antderosa

Richard Lai / Engadget:

ASUS CEO: The PadFone is coming to America — ASUS has big ambitions with its PadFones, a unique phone-to-tablet convertible concept that was first introduced back at Computex 2011. While these devices are barely nibbling on the global mobile market (let alone entering the US) …

More: The Verge, Android Central, The Droid Guy, Android and Me, Android Police, Digital Trends, Gigaom, Unwired View, Inquirer, 9to5Google, Gearburn, pocketnow.com, TechnoBuffalo and CNET

Jordan Golson / MacRumors:

Southwest Airlines Offering In-Flight iMessaging for $2 Per Day — Southwest Airlines is offering passengers the ability to send and receive iMessages from their iOS devices in-flight for $2 per day. In-flight Wi-Fi access for all applications is available for $8 per device per day.

More: Nuts About Southwest, The Verge, CNET, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, iPhone Hacks, Wall Street Journal, Gotta Be Mobile, TUAW and App Advice

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Valve: First version of SteamOS to be released to the masses on Friday — PC gamers who are champing at the bit to build their very own “Steam Machines” won't have to wait long to start tinkering, as Valve has revealed that its recently announced SteamOS will be available this Friday.

More: Steam Universe, The Verge, Digital Trends, Electronista, Gizmodo, TechnoBuffalo, Joystiq and Kotaku

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:

“Revenge porn” operator arrested, charged with ID theft — Websites that post nude pictures of adults without their permission, commonly known as “revenge porn” sites, have recently drawn public scorn and a few lawsuits. — Now, the owner of one revenge porn website is facing prison.

More: California Attorney …, CNET, Business Insider, Examiner and The Switch

Mayumi Negishi / Wall Street Journal:

Japan Tops World In Mobile Apps Revenue — Data Tracker Says Japan Spends 10% More Than U.S. on Apps … TOKYO—Japan overtook the U.S. to become the world's No. 1 country in app store revenue, thanks to an explosion in growth of smartphone and tablet games.

More: App Annie Blog, Gigaom, The Verge, SlashGear, Ubergizmo and The Next Web

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Dell unveils education-focused Chromebook 11, arriving in January for under $300 — As promised, Dell has taken the wraps off its first Chrome OS device, the Chromebook 11. The 11.6-inch, 2.9-pound laptop is built with the classroom in mind, and it should ship in tandem with a Wyse PocketCloud app …

More: Dell, BetaNews, The Tech Report, 9to5Google, Computerworld, GadgeTell, VentureBeat, Inquirer, Electronista, Ubergizmo, Google Chrome Blog, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, The Next Web, PC Magazine, The Verge, Gigaom, Gotta Be Mobile and Android Community

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