Techmeme: Apple forced to adopt new refund policy under Australian consumer law (Lucy Battersby/Sydney Morning Herald)

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December 18, 2013, 3:10 PM

Top News

Washington Post:

NSA shouldn't keep phone database, review board recommends — The White House will release later Wednesday the report of a surveillance review board that has recommended modifying the National Security Agency counterterrorism program that collects virtually all Americans' phone records.

More: The Verge and New York Times. Tweets: @washingtonpost, @ggreenwald, @mattblaze and @jamesrbuk

Justin Sink / The Hill:

NSA review panel to make 46 reform recommendations today, Obama to weigh in after holidays

More: CNET, Wall Street Journal and Politico. Tweets: @sinderbrand

Bloomberg:

Yahoo's Mayer Said to Warn of Internet Balkanization Over Spying

More: Businessweek, CNN, USA Today, TheHill, Business Cloud News and Techdirt

Tweets: @trevortimm, @jeffjarvis and @b_fung

Walter S. Mossberg / Wall Street Journal:

Top Products in Two Decades of Tech Reviews — Walt Mossberg on the products that changed the digital industry — Remember the Apple Newton? How about Netscape? Even if these products did not last until the present, they left their mark in the evolution of personal technology.

More: iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone, The Verge, MacDailyNews, Digits, Poynter, Cult of Mac, PalmAddict and dailywireless.org

Tweets: @mikeisaac, @nycjim, @karaswisher, @digiphile, @robpegoraro, @fmanjoo and @cdixon

See also Mediagazer

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Microsoft releases standalone Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for Windows Phone 8 — Microsoft appears to be taking a page from Google's approach to core software updates; it just launched standalone Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for Windows Phone 8 users. The music app is largely …

More: The Verge, The Verge, LiveSide.net, TechHive, The Next Web, Nokia Conversations, Gigaom, The Windows Blog, Windows Phone Central, Wpxbox, Windows Phone Central, Electronista, Gotta Be Mobile and WindowsObserver.com

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Apple's New Mac Pro Goes On Sale Thursday Online And In Retail Starting At $2,999 — Apple has just announced that its new Mac Pro computer, featuring that signature ‘Darth Vader’ design, will be available for sale starting tomorrow, Thursday Dec. 19 beginning at $2,999.

Alex Hern / Guardian:

Bitcoin plummets as China's largest exchange blocks new deposits — The digital cryptocurrency has lost almost 50% of its value overnight after BTC China said it could no longer accept deposits in the Chinese currency following a crackdown on third-party payment firms

More: New York Times, Charlie's Diary, CoinDesk, CryptoJunky, eWeek, TechCrunch, Computerworld, Computerworld, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, Daily Mail, Tech in Asia, The Switch, Mashable, The Next Web, SlashGear, Daily Dot and Business Insider

Tweets: @doublejake, @taylorlorenz and @jwherrman

Kevin C. Tofel / Gigaom:

In prep for an early 2014 launch, devs can access Pebble's smartwatch app store — With nearly 200,000 Pebble smartwatches on wrists, it's about time for a dedicated app store. The “Pebble appstore” — that's the branded name — is planned for early 2014, and on Wednesday, Pebble opened up early access for developers to prepare.

More: Pebble, The Verge, LAPTOP Magazine, TechCrunch, Engadget, BGR and TUAW

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

‘Hatching Twitter’ Book Optioned For TV Show Development By Lionsgate — New York Times' columnist Nick Bilton's book Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal, on the dramatic origins of Twitter, has been optioned by Lionsgate for production as a TV show.

More: Hollywood Reporter, Gigaom, The Verge, Engadget and AllThingsD. Tweets: @nickbilton. See also Mediagazer

Clare Jim / Reuters:

China Mobile chairman says still in talks with Apple on iPhone deal — (Reuters) - China Mobile Ltd said it's still in talks with Apple Inc to sell iPhones amid mounting industry speculation that the pair are about to announce a deal to net the technology giant hundreds of millions of potential new customers.

More: Bloomberg, Reuters, AppleInsider, Fortune, Digits, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, Forbes, MacDailyNews, Tech in Asia, InvestorPlace, Business Insider, CHINAdaily, The Next Web, Ubergizmo, TUAW, Patently Apple and Electronista

Ben Mutzabaugh / USA Today:

Delta CEO makes it clear: No voice calls on our flights — Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson wants to be clear: His airline will not allow in-flight voice calls even if regulators allow it. — Anderson spelled out Delta's opposition to in-flight calls in a Wednesday memo to employees.

More: Delta Air Lines Newsroom, Engadget, GeekWire, TechCrunch, VatorNews, PC World, ZDNet, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, The Verge and Android Central

Thad Starner / Wired:

Wearables Pioneer: How Wearing Tech on Our Bodies Actually Helps It Get Out of Our Way — One of the rallying cries for Google Glass is to make technology that's there when you need it, gone when you don't. It is intended to help people get on with their lives, without focusing on the technology.

More: Gigaom

Lucy Battersby / Sydney Morning Herald:

Apple forced to adopt new refund policy under Australian consumer law — Apple has been lying to consumers about its obligation to replace or repair faulty computers, iPhones, iPads and iPods, but has now promised to retrain staff and reassess claims stretching back two years following action by the competition watchdog.

More: Digits, ACCC, Examiner, SiliconBeat, ZDNet, Engadget, Forbes, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, iMore, Guardian, SlashGear, iLounge, iClarified, Business Insider, Gizmodo Australia, afr.com, MacRumors, Any Any, NEWS.com.au and The Register

Tweets: @rowenaboggle and @lyndsayfarlow

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:

Big Money for Mobile Crowdsourced Transit App Moovit, With Sequoia Leading $28M Round — The notion that public transportation is a large and growing global opportunity for a tech company might seem a bit of a strange one. But, as Moovit co-founder and CEO Nir Erez sees it …

More: TechCrunch, VentureBeat, VatorNews, PandoDaily, Gigaom, Business Insider, The Next Web, Skift and PE Hub Blog. Tweets: @sequoia_capital

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Stealth startup Black Pearl Systems reveals Lyve Minds brand, personal media device — Black Pearl Systems, the startup co-founded by former Apple executive Tim Bucher, came out of stealth mode Wednesday, revealing its new name Lyve Minds, and a device called LyveHome that will help users …

More: BGR, mylyve.com, PR Newswire, Reuters and Zatz Not Funny!. Thanks:@sidharthdassani

Brad Molen / Engadget:

Opera Max beta compresses most of the data going through your Android device — Opera's mobile browsers are quite popular because of their ability to compress data, but it's unfortunately been limited to just that — the browser itself. This becomes less and less useful as smartphones continue to evolve …

More: Opera Blogs, Examiner, Computerworld, TechHive, Android Beat, gHacks Technology News, Ubergizmo, Android Community and Web Browser

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:

oDesk and Elance Merge to Create One Big Freelancer Company (But Still With Two Brands) — Elance and oDesk said today that they would merge. The companies have a lot in common — they both connect freelancers and gigs online — and they say they have a combined 10 million workers in 180 countries, with $750 million in 2013 billings.

More: PandoDaily, The Next Web, Bloomberg and Business Wire

Eric Johnson / AllThingsD:

Distimo Stat Show 2013 Was a Huge Year for Android Gaming — For years, Apple has been the presumptive leader in mobile gaming, and it's still in pole position. But if global trends in 2013 were any indication, its nearest rival, Google Play, is putting the heat on.

More: AppleInsider, VentureBeat, SiliconBeat, Business Insider, developer.getpebble.com, The Next Web, Distimo, Inside Mobile Apps, Mobile Marketing Watch, 9to5Google, www.pocketgamer.biz and MacDailyNews

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

BBM To Come Preinstalled On LG Smartphones — BlackBerry is keeping the hope alive with a partnership with LG. Announced today, the LG G Pro Lite will ship with BBM already installed on the smartphone. — This comes two months after BBM's Android and iOS launch.

More: BlackBerry, The Next Web, CrackBerry.com, 9to5Google, IntoMobile, AllThingsD, Softpedia News, Android Community, PhoneArena and MobileSyrup.com. Thanks:@chrisvelazco

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

Facebook, Zuckerberg, banks must face IPO lawsuit: judge — (Reuters) - A federal judge said Facebook Inc, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and dozens of banks must face a lawsuit accusing the social media company of misleading investors about its financial health before its $16 billion initial public offering last year.

More: ZDNet, Telegraph and The Verge

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

Dolphin goes ephemeral with Zero, a new privacy-focused mobile browser — If you're reading this on your mobile, chances are you're using Safari, Android's stock browser, Chrome, or perhaps even Opera Mini. That's according to recent stats from NetMarketShare, at least.

More: Inside Mobile Apps, Dolphin's Free Mobile …, IntoMobile, AndroidHeadlines.com and Lifehacker

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Suspend U.S. cloud data deal, European Parliament's civil liberties committee says — Europe should suspend the Safe Harbor agreement with the U.S. that allows American cloud firms to handle the data of EU citizens, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee has said in a set of draft recommendations.

More: European Parliament News. Tweets: @fpietrosanti

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