Techmeme: I Spent Two Hours Talking With the NSA's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad (Steven Levy/Wired)

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January 13, 2014, 7:40 PM

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Google:

Google to acquire Tony Fadell's smart home startup Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash — Google to Acquire Nest — Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash. — Nest's mission is to reinvent unloved …

More: TechCrunch, TechCrunch, The Verge, Fortune, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Engadget, New York Times, John Battelle's Search Blog, NYT Bits, Gigaom, Gizmodo, The Register, Guardian, PandoDaily, ReadWrite, Quartz, The Technology Chronicles, TechHive, Betabeat, Los Angeles Times, Venture Capital Dispatch, Business Insider, Forbes, The Switch, NEWS.com.au, Business Insider, Marketing Land, Digits, CITEworld, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Computerworld, Businessweek, AppleInsider, iMore, CNNMoney.com, ZDNet, Mercury News, CNET, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, The Next Web, 9to5Mac, BGR, Larry Page, Mashable, Wired, iDownloadBlog.com, Ubergizmo, Gotta Be Mobile, The Daily Beast, Daily Dot, Macgasm, Geek Beat Technology News, Apple News aus Cupertino, Android Central, Windows Phone Central, Tech Trader Daily, memeburn, TUAW, pocketnow.com, Light Reading, bizjournals, Geek.com, Daring Fireball, Phandroid, TechSpot, AndroidHeadlines.com, tech.co, Valleywag, dailywireless.org, SlashGear, Cult of Mac and IntoMobile

Tweets: @nest, @sundarpichai, @mikeisaac, @dcurtis, @peterrojas, @ihnatko, @carnage4life, @markmilian, @panzer, @danprimack, @nickbilton, @pakman, @dannysullivan, @levie, @cdixon, @danprimack, @cdixon, @samir, @ryan, @getwired, @jwherrman, @fmanjoo, @fromedome, @hunterwalk, @markgurman, @mattbuchanan, @piercedavid, @qthrul, @rabois, @jank0, @zpower, @om and @samfbiddle

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Google was the only serious bidder for Nest, Apple not in the mix — Google Acquires Smart-Home Device Maker Nest for $3.2 Billion — Google has acquired Nest Labs, the company founded by Apple iPod creator Tony Fadell, for $3.2 billion. The smart-home startup makes an innovative digital thermostat, as well as a smoke detector.

More: ZDNet, Business Insider, Forbes, GeekWire, MacRumors, The Mac Observer, TechHive, Martin Varsavsky, Daring Fireball and PhoneArena

Tony Fadell / Nest:

Nest CEO: Nest will retain its own distinct brand identity, Google is a rocket ship for growth — Welcome home. — This is a momentous day for me, for Matt and for all of the Nest family. This afternoon, we announced that we will be acquired by Google.

More: Re/code, Gigaom, The Information, Forbes, Salon, Tested and Droid Life

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Nest Says Customer Data From Devices Will Only Be Used For Nest Products And Services — Nest says that it's not going to just hand over its customer data to Google willy-nilly post-acquisition - in a blog post sent to TechCrunch penned by Nest founder Tony Fadell, a question and answer section at the end contains the following:

More: Nest, The Verge, Gigaom and Daring Fireball

Tweets: @mattrosoff, @fmanjoo, @reckless, @dannysullivan, @caseyjohnston and @mattrosoff

Thanks:@mjburnsy

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

Facebook acquires link-sharing service Branch for around $15 million — Link-sharing service Branch and subsidiary Potluck have agreed to be acquired by Facebook for around $15 million, sources familiar with the deal told The Verge. Branch CEO Josh Miller broke the news in a Facebook post this morning, but didn't disclose a price.

More: TechCrunch, Nieman Journalism Lab, Computerworld, Business Insider, ReadWrite, iMore, DealBook, SiliconBeat, CNET, Wall Street Journal, Nibletz, Betabeat, Softpedia News, PC Magazine, Daily Dot, SlashGear, Valleywag, ClickZ, VentureBeat, Mashable, VatorNews, Electronista and ZDNet

Tweets: @pkafka, @om, @joshm, @pkafka and @obrien

@twitter:

We're now rolling out a refreshed http://twitter.com reflecting the look & feel of our iOS & Android apps. pic.twitter.com/Mb6qjjP8Dm

More: The Next Web, TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, Marketing Land, iPhone Hacks, Android Beat and SlashGear

Matt Mullenweg:

In role swap, Matt Mullenweg becomes Automattic's CEO, Toni Schneider to focus on new products — Toni Schneider & Automattic CEO — Eight years and one day ago I blogged about Toni Schneider joining Automattic as CEO, as I said then: … Fast-forward roughly two thousand, nine hundred …

More: Toni.org, Om Malik, Post Status, TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat and ZDNet

Tweets: @jeffjarvis, @hunterwalk and @dangillmor

See also Mediagazer

Simon Khalaf / Flurry:

Mobile Use Grows 115% in 2013, Propelled by Messaging Apps — In November 2013, Benedict Evans, a well-respected and widely followed analyst, shared an updated version of his famous slide deck called “Mobile is Eating the World”. This deck quickly made the rounds on social media …

More: Forbes, The Next Web, PadGadget, VentureBeat, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechCrunch, MacDailyNews, AppleInsider and TelecompetitorTelecompetitor

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Apple loses bid to block antitrust monitorship — (Reuters) - Apple Inc lost a bid on Monday to block an antitrust monitor appointed after a judge's finding that the company conspired to fix e-book prices. — At a hearing, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan denied Apple's request …

More: Gigaom, GeekWire, AppleInsider, MacRumors, BGR, The Verge, Electronista, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks and iPhone in Canada Blog

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

‘High-profile’ Google+ users will get better default email settings — A few days ago, Google rolled out a potentially invasive new feature — if you have both a Gmail address and Google+ account, other Google+ and Gmail users will soon be able to send messages right into your inbox, even if you never gave them your email address.

More: Gigaom, BGR, AndroidHeadlines.com and hypebot

Tweets: @dannysullivan, @nateingraham and @tomwarren

Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:

Sprint's ‘One Up’ early upgrade plan axed after just four months — Sprint's One Up early upgrade plan is no more. With the announcement of the plan last September, Sprint joined T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon in offering a way for customers to upgrade their handset mid-contract.

More: VentureBeat, CNET, Gigaom, Electronista, BGR, iPhone, PC Magazine, Gotta Be Mobile, App Advice, LAPTOP Magazine, TechnoBuffalo, Examiner, PhoneNews.com, IntoMobile and Android Central

Steven Levy / Wired:

I Spent Two Hours Talking With the NSA's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad — My expectations were low when I asked the National Security Agency to cooperate with my story on the impact of Edward Snowden's leaks on the tech industry. During the 1990s, I had been working on a book, Crypto …

Tweets: @jwherrman, @samoltman, @dannyyadron and @abrams

Klint Finley / Wired:

Out in the Open: An NSA-Proof Twitter, Built With Code From Bitcoin and BitTorrent — When mass political protests erupted throughout Brazil in June, Miguel Freitas did what countless others did: He followed the news on Twitter. Tweets revealed information he couldn't get anywhere else, including the mainstream media.

More: Daily Dot. Tweets: @trevortimm

Liam Boogar / Rude Baguette:

Taxi protest in Paris turns to guerrilla warfare as Uber car attacked on freeway — The right to protest has always been powerfully upheld in France - whether it's protesting an immigrant's right to healthcare, the closing of a factory, or even Taxis, who have perfected the art of making their voice heard …

More: bizjournals, New York Times, iClarified, Engadget, VentureBeat, GeekWire, blogs.ft.com, Salon, PC Magazine, Mashable and CNET. Tweets: @katborlongan

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft, GoDaddy partner on Office 365 plans for small businesses — Summary: GoDaddy will be offering its small-business customers a choice of three Mirosoft Office 365 plans, including one for $12.49 a month that includes desktop versions of Office. — Microsoft and GoDaddy are extending …

More: Microsoft Corporation, Re/code, The Microsoft Office Blog, Engadget, GeekWire, Computerworld, The Verge, WebProNews, Softpedia News, TechCrunch and The Next Web

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Groupon Moves Into Flash Fashion, Buys Ideeli For $43M In Cash — More acquisitions for Groupon to widen the net of consumers using its platform for more than daily deals. Today it is announcing the acquisition of ideeli, a flash fashion retailer, for $43 million in cash.

More: Business Wire, Re/code, Betabeat and TechnoBuffalo. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Rich McCormick / The Verge:

Nokia's Android phone appears in prototype form — Images of Nokia's Android phone — code-named Normandy — were published in November, showing what purported to be a low-cost smartphone that would run with a custom implementation of Android. Now another picture of the phone has appeared on Twitter …

More: TechMesto, Gigaom, Ars Technica, BGR, AndroidGuys, TechHive, Android Beat, SlashGear, pocketnow.com, Examiner, TechnoBuffalo, Inquirer, LAPTOP Magazine, Gotta Be Mobile, TechSpot, GadgeTell, WinBeta, MobileSyrup.com, Android and Me and Phandroid

Tweets: @seamissu and @tomwarren

Ken Yeung / The Next Web:

PayPal makes buying products faster with its new in-context checkout process, available by June — PayPal is getting back to its roots to focus on improving its core feature: the checkout process. — The payment processing company today announced that it is releasing an updated experience to its online checkout system.

More: The Official PayPal, Engadget, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, ZDNet, Electronista and ReadWrite

Michael Gold / Reuters:

New Acer CEO disappoints with lack of detail on future plans — (Reuters) - Investors looking for specifics as to the future of Acer Inc, the world's No.4 PC vendor, came away disappointed when the new CEO spent more time delivering a history of the company's past mistakes than on where it was headed.

More: Bloomberg, eWeek, ZDNet, Maximum PC and Taipei Times

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