Techmeme: NSA revelations: the ‘middle ground’ everyone should be talking about (Matt Blaze/Guardian)

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January 6, 2014, 11:15 PM

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J.J. Colao / Forbes:

The Inside Story Of Snapchat: The World's Hottest App Or A $3 Billion Disappearing Act? — THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, the richest twentysomething in history, reached out to Snapchat's Evan Spiegel, who oversees a revenue-less app that makes photos disappear, with an invitation …

More: NEWS.com.au, Valleywag, Mashable, Business Insider, Ubergizmo and Betabeat

Tweets: @evanspiegel, @fmanjoo, @evanspiegel, @tim, @violetblue, @forbes and @kate_pierce

Randall Lane / Forbes:

Snapchat's Evan Spiegel And The Antics Of A 23-Year-Old Novice — Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg have proven that you can be in your early 20s and have the wisdom to run a transformative billion-dollar company. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel seems intent on proving the opposite.

More: CNET. Tweets: @joshelman, @evanspiegel, @evelynrusli, @evelynrusli and @forbes

Kate Tummarello / TheHill:

Snapchat hires lobbyists for the first time

More: SiliconBeat, Re/code and bizjournals

Tweets: @jwherrman and @nicoleperlroth

Thanks:@lutherlowe

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

AT&T's Sponsored Data is bad for the internet, the economy, and you — Another brick in the wall — AT&T today announced a new “Sponsored Data” program that lets developers and brands pay to deliver content to your mobile device outside of your data caps.

More: Gigaom, Gigaom and Gotta Be Mobile

Tweets: @adamludwin, @nytimesbits, @fugueish and @rudy

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Sponsored Data: AT&T will now let companies buy out your data charges for specific videos and apps

More: Public Knowledge, Gigaom, Free Press, BGR, PR Newswire, Techdirt, Re/code, The Register, BetaNews, TechnoBuffalo, Digits, The Switch, AppleInsider, iMore, VentureBeat, WebProNews, Gizmodo, NYT Bits, Gotta Be Mobile, LAPTOP Magazine, Examiner and MacRumors

Tweets: @joshuatopolsky and @om

Joseph Volpe / Engadget:

Sony's waterproof flagship Xperia Z1S coming to USA January 22 for $528 at T-Mobile — Sony Xperia Z1S: a waterproof flagship exclusive to T-Mobile (hands-on) — For the past two years, Sony Mobile could be counted on to introduce new Xperia smartphone lines at CES — the S and Z, specifically.

More: VentureBeat, Inquirer, 9to5Google, GeekWire, The Next Web, The Verge, Engadget, Electronista, Softpedia News, IntoMobile and Gotta Be Mobile

Roger Cheng / CNET:

Xperia Z1S a lifeline as Sony treads water in US

More: The Verge, Gizmodo, LAPTOP Magazine, Guardian, BGR, Forbes and Pocket-lint. Tweets: @verge

Sean Buckley / Engadget:

Intel announces Edison, a 22nm dual core PC the size of an SD card — Four months ago, Intel unveiled its Quark SoC at IDF. Today at CES 2014, company CEO Brian Krzanich wants to introduce you to Edison, a miniature computer based on the same technology condensed into the form factor of an SD card.

More: The Verge and Engadget

Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:

Intel unveils series of wearable devices, including a smartwatch and fitness-tracking earbuds

More: Re/code, VentureBeat, Intel Newsroom, USA Today, Ars Technica, The Verge and Intel Newsroom

Alex Williams / TechCrunch:

Microsoft Acquires Parature For $100M In Deal To Bolster Knowledge Base For Dynamics CRM Platform — Microsoft has acquired Parature, a customer service SaaS provider, for $100 million, according to sources close to the deal. The Parature acquisition gives Microsoft Dynamics, its CRM platform …

More: Re/code, ZDNet, Business Insider and Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @hebbark

Bloomberg:

Apple promises to diversify its board after shareholder pressure — Apple Facing Criticism About Diversity Changes Bylaws — Apple Inc., facing behind-the-scenes pressure from some shareholders to add more female directors and executives, has taken a step to address the criticism and diversify its board.

More: Los Angeles Times, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, Business Insider, AppleInsider and MacNN

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Pebble Reveals The Pebble Steel For $249 Shipping Jan. 28; App Store Coming Soon — Smartwatch pioneer Pebble is introducing something everyone has been waiting for at CES this year: new hardware. But the hardware isn't so new that it throws the baby out with the bath water …

More: Pebble, CNET, The Verge, Re/code, Gotta Be Mobile, ReadWrite, iClarified, VentureBeat, TechRepublic, ZDNet, Gigaom, Digits, AppleInsider, Business Insider, WebProNews, Ars Technica, iPhone in Canada Blog, IntoMobile, Engadget, CNET, Fortune, TIME and Inquirer

Bruce Schneier / Wired:

The Internet of Things Is Wildly Insecure — And Often Unpatchable — We're at a crisis point now with regard to the security of embedded systems, where computing is embedded into the hardware itself — as with the Internet of Things. These embedded computers are riddled with vulnerabilities, and there's no good way to patch them.

More: TechCrunch

John Coté / San Francisco Chronicle:

S.F. to charge operators of tech commuter buses — (01-06) 13:18 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The operators of employee shuttle buses for Silicon Valley technology and Peninsula biotech firms, which have become a symbol of income disparity in San Francisco, will start paying to use public bus stops, city officials said Monday.

More: Los Angeles Times, CNET, Reuters, Valleywag and Business Insider

Tweets: @mcbridesg, @markasaurus, @ellenhuet and @bradstone

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announces McAfee brand name will be replaced by Intel Security — At CES 2014 today, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced the McAfee brand name will be phased out and replaced by “Intel Security,” which will identify Intel products and services in the security segment.

More: The Verge and VentureBeat. Tweets: @theromit

Eric Limer / Gizmodo:

Asus ZenFones: An Android Army with Intel Inside — After years of bringing you the horror/glory that is the PadFone and FonePad, Asus is branching out on its fone offerings and introducing not one, not two, but three flavors of “ZenFone,” Android handsets with ultrabook lineage.

More: The Verge, LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge, Softpedia News, AnandTech and Engadget. Tweets: @tomwarren

Matt Blaze / Guardian:

NSA revelations: the ‘middle ground’ everyone should be talking about — The NSA's Tailored Access Operations show there's a way to be safe and get good intelligence without mass surveillance — As if there wasn't already enough NSA mass surveillance to worry about, last week we got a peek …

Tweets: @guardianus, @mattblaze and @ethanz

Ashley Feinberg / Gizmodo:

Netgear's HDMI Dongle Is Your Storage-Friendly Answer to Chromecast — While Google's Chromecast might seem poised become the quintessential universal streaming device, it's taking a hell of a long time to get there. So in the meantime, Netgear's new NeoMediacast dongle is picking …

More: Gigaom, The Verge and CNET

Jungah Lee / Bloomberg:

Samsung Posts First Profit Decline Since 2011 Amid Apple Battle — Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) posted its first profit decline in nine quarters as Apple Inc. (AAPL:US)'s newest iPhones won high-end handset sales and competition from cheaper makers crimped prices.

More: Reuters, CNET, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @turleymuller and @satariano

Mat Smith / Engadget:

Samsung's new Galaxy Tab Pro series comes in 12-, 10- and 8-inch sizes, but looks a little too familiar (hands-on) — Not stopping with its new productivity-centered Galaxy Note Pro, Samsung has three more tablets to launch this year. Say hello to the Galaxy Tab Pro, in 12.2-, 10.1- and 8.4-inch screen sizes.

Alex Colon / Gigaom:

Corning's antimicrobial Gorilla Glass can kill bacteria on your smartphone — It's no secret that smartphones are gross. More than 59 percent of phone users have confessed to using their device in the bathroom, and those are just the people willing to admit as much to a survey.

More: Corning Incorporated, CNET, Softpedia News, MacRumors, Geek.com, m.blog.laptopmag.com, AppleInsider, iClarified, iDownloadBlog.com, PhoneArena, 9to5Mac, The Register, MacStories, Gotta Be Mobile and The Verge

Katie Roof / Fox Business:

Source: AOL Tried to Buy Business Insider for $100M+ — AOL Inc. (AOL) offered to purchase BusinessInsider.com, a popular business and technology news website, for more than $100 million but talks ultimately broke down when the two sides couldn't agree on price, the FOX Business Network has learned.

Tweets: @katie_roof and @cgasparino

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:

Mashable raises $13 million to launch expansion effort — Nearly a decade into its existence, the news Web site Mashable is taking on outside investors for the first time. — The site plans to announce on Monday that it has raised $13.3 million in an equity investment round led by Updata Partners.

More: PRWeb, Mashable, TechCrunch and VatorNews

Tweets: @pkafka, @blam, @benpopper, @lazerow, @buzzfeedben, @stacymartinet, @pkafka, @taylorlorenz, @adamostrow and @brianstelter

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