Techmeme
December 19, 2013, 4:05 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Exclusive: Dish eyes 2014 bid for T-Mobile - sources  —  (Reuters) - Dish (DISH.O) is considering making a bid for T-Mobile (TMUS.N) next year, according to people close to the matter, in what would be the satellite TV provider's second attempt in as many years at acquiring a major wireless operator …
Donna Tam / CNET:
DA to Apple: Make iPhone's Activation Lock the rule  —  San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón released survey results Wednesday that he says makes an argument for Apple to enable its Activation Lock security feature on every phone.  —  When enabled, Activation Lock …
Gerry Smith / The Huffington Post:
California Lawmaker To Introduce Bill Mandating Smartphone ‘Kill Switch’  —  A California state senator plans to introduce legislation next month that would require every new smartphone sold in the state to carry anti-theft technology that renders the device inoperable if stolen.
More: RT and Associated Press
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Foursquare Raises a $35 Million Round and Adds DFJ's Schuler to the Board  —  Foursquare, the iconic social location service, has raised $35 million in a Series D round, led by DFJ Growth and the Capital Group's Smallcap World Fund.  —  The company confirmed the raise to me and later …
iFixit:
Steam Machine Teardown  —  If last month's round of next-gen console launches left you in a fog, prepare yourself for the incoming Steam Machine.  Valve has released only 300 beta kits into the wild, so grab your companion cube and hold tight—we're about to open one up.
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
WhatsApp announces 400M active users, aims to “steer the conversation” away from registered users  —  WhatsApp Does a Passive-Aggressive Stats Release to Call Out Others for Bulls**t Metrics  —  There's a big difference between someone signing up for a service, and someone using it on a regular basis.
David Pierce / The Verge:
Up close and personal with the new Mac Pro (hands-on)  —  It's been talked about and endlessly dissected.  It's either the future of professional computing or an overpriced, undersized trash can.  It's the new Mac Pro, it's on sale starting today, and I've finally had a chance to hold it in my own two hands.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Sell Shares, Facebook Stock Price Drops  —  After a nice run on the Nasdaq, Facebook and its CEO are selling a big block of shares.  Wall Street's reaction: We're selling, too.  —  Facebook says it is planning a secondary sale of 70 million shares …
eMarketer:
Mobile Growth Pushes Facebook to Become No. 2 US Digital Ad Seller  —  Mobile now accounts for more than 22% of all US digital ad spending, compared with less than 3% in 2010  —  US mobile ad spending is expected to near $9.6 billion in 2013 and account for a whopping 22.5% of all digital ad investments …
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Target confirms breach: 40 million accounts affected  —  Summary: Customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card's expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code) were breached, the retailer said.  —  Target on Thursday confirmed that its payment card data was compromised …
Libby Jacobson / Verizon Public Policy:
Verizon to Publish Transparency Report Disclosing Law Enforcement Requests for Customer Information  —  NEW YORK — Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced plans to publish an online report that will provide data on the number of law enforcement requests for customer information …
More: TheHill, The Verge, ZDNet and SecurityWeek.  Tweets: @runasand
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Hot mod: Cyanogen raises another $23 million to become the next big version of Android  —  The effort to turn CyanogenMod into the next big mobile operating system just got a big new vote of confidence.  The company announced today that it has raised an additional $23 million …
Mike Deri Smith / BBC:
Porn filters block sex education websites  —  The new filters are designed to block sites unsuitable for children  —  Pornography filters used by major internet service providers are blocking websites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction, the BBC has learned.
Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:
Windows Phone Turned the Corner in 2013  —  We're number three.  And no, that doesn't suck  —  2013 was nothing less than a blockbuster success for Windows Phone, which went from industry also-ran to the undisputed third mobile ecosystem, and is poised to challenge iPhone for the number two spot.
Julien Toyer / Reuters:
Spain privacy watchdog fines Google for breaking data law  —  (Reuters) - Spain's privacy watchdog on Thursday fined Google for breaking the country's data protection law when combining personal information from its many different online services and failing to inform users clearly on how it uses their data.
More: ZDNet

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