Techmeme: mSpy sells iPhone 5s and Android smartphones pre-loaded with spyware, ostensibly for use by parents and employers (Adam Tanner/Forbes)

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March 14, 2014, 11:40 AM

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Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

iOS 8: Apple considers Notification Center + Messages tweaks, removing Game Center app — Besides adding new Maps, Healthbook, and iTunes Radio applications, Apple plans to enhance and refine the functionality of some of its current pre-bundled applications and features for iOS 8.

More: Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, MacRumors, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, BGR, MacNN, App Advice, Redmond Pie, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechnoBuffalo, Gotta Be Mobile, iDownloadBlog.com, iLounge and Network World. Tweets: @viticci

Dave Zatz / Zatz Not Funny!:

Leaked photos allegedly show Amazon's bluetooth gaming controller — Amazon Streamer To Feature Bluetooth Gaming Controller — By way of an overseas regulatory agency, similar to our very own FCC, we continue to hone in on the elusive Amazon media streamer.

More: Engadget, Forbes, The Verge, GeekWire, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, BGR, TechCrunch, Phandroid, WebProNews, Geek.com, Kotaku, Gotta Be Mobile, SlashGear, VG247, TechnoBuffalo and Android Central. Tweets: @davezatz

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:

Zuckerberg called Obama over spying, says the US should champion, not threaten the internet — As the world becomes more complex and governments everywhere struggle, trust in the internet is more important today than ever. The internet is our shared space. It helps us connect. It spreads opportunity.

More: VentureBeat, Electronista, The Switch, Inquirer, The Register, TechEye, Softpedia News, InfoWorld, Techdirt, Daily Dot, memeburn, Bloomberg, eWeek, Slate, TechnoBuffalo, Guardian, BBC, The Next Web, Wired.co.uk, New York Times, Reuters, Truthdig, ABC News and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @koenrh, @jmspool and @mattcutts

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

NSA calls reports that it spread malware and impersonated Facebook “inaccurate”

More: Wired, Ars Technica, Nextgov, ZDNet, DailyFinance.com, Darknet, NEWS.com.au and The Next Web

Jeff Goodell / Rolling Stone:

Bill Gates on technology, surveillance, the future of the planet and God — Bill Gates: The Rolling Stone Interview — The richest man in the world explains how to save the planet — At 58, Bill Gates is not only the richest man in the world, with a fortune that now exceeds $76 billion, but he may also be the most optimistic.

Nathaniel Mott / PandoDaily:

Uber and Lyft expand insurance coverage after controversy — Uber and Lyft have announced increased insurance coverage for their drivers that will reportedly cover incidents that occur whenever their respective apps are open, not just when drivers have passengers in their cars.

More: TechCrunch, Re/code, TechCrunch, San Francisco Chronicle, The Next Web, New York Times, GeekWire and SlashGear. Tweets: @joshconstine

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites — Russia's government has escalated its use of its Internet censorship law to target news sites, bloggers, and politicians under the slimmest excuse of preventing unauthorized protests and enforcing house arrest regulations.

More: BuzzFeed, SiliconANGLE, Gigaom, Comment, CNET, TechCrunch, Global Voices, RT, Reuters, Softpedia News, memeburn, The Voice of Russia, News, RIA Novosti, New York Times and Reporters Without Borders

Tweets: @kasparov63, @kasparov63 and @freedomofpress

See also Mediagazer

Adam Tanner / Forbes:

mSpy sells iPhone 5s and Android smartphones pre-loaded with spyware, ostensibly for use by parents and employers — Starting Today, Jealous Lovers Can Buy NSA-Like Monitoring Powers — Imagine this happy occasion. On his girlfriend's birthday a man announces he has a special gift.

More: Business Insider, Gizmodo, Betabeat, SlashGear, VentureBeat and Computerworld

Seth Rosenblatt / CNET:

Pwn2Own 2014: Firefox, IE, Safari, Chrome, Adobe Flash and Reader already hacked — All hacking eyes on the prize money at CanSecWest — VANCOUVER, Canada — When it comes to hacking, it turns out that greed really is good. — All four of the major desktop browsers …

More: Threatpost, MacRumors, Computerworld, 9to5Mac, ZDNet, Naked Security, h30499.www3.hp.com, The Loop, Google Chrome Developers, Ars Technica, eWeek, Help Net Security, Naked Security, Softpedia News, SC Magazine and The Register. Tweets: @thezdi

Alex Hern / Guardian:

Phone call metadata does betray sensitive details about your life - study — Identities of cannabis grower, woman seeking an abortion and MS sufferer inferred in study that confirms danger of widespread access to metadata — Warnings that phone call “metadata” can betray detailed information …

More: Web Policy, Stanford News, The Daily Caller, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Network World and Threatpost

Tweets: @jonathanmayer, @stanford and @cdixon

Craig Grannell / Guardian:

How Apple's iOS 7.1 finally quelled users' motion sickness — Animations introduced in Apple's new look for its iPhone and iPad interface in September made some feel physically sick. Now, it's fixed them — Apple recently updated its iPhone and iPad software to version 7.1, adding and improving a number of features.

More: iMore, Macworld, SlashGear, Pocketnow, Gotta Be Mobile and MacStories. Tweets: @aral

MediaNama:

Rdio acquires shuttered Indian music streaming service Dhingana — Exclusive: Rdio buys Dhingana to Enter India — US-based music streaming website Rdio has acquired Indian music streaming website Dhingana, Dhingana has confirmed to MediaNama. MediaNama had heard about the development from multiple industry sources.

More: The Next Web, PC World, TechCrunch, NextBigWhat, Techcircle.in, Tech in Asia and VatorNews

Tweets: @nixxin, @nixxin, @soumitra_sharma and @jonsonbill

Thanks:@tsuvik

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

iOS 7.1 Includes Warning Message About 15-Minute In-App Purchase Window — Along with several visual tweaks, CarPlay support, and Touch ID enhancements, iOS 7.1 also brought some changes to the way in-app purchases work. When making an in-app purchase for the first time after updating …

More: AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, Engadget, Trusted Reviews, Inquirer, Guardian, Pulse 2.0 and Mashable

Eric Blattberg / VentureBeat:

PayPal mends fences with crowdfunders with revised policies — Image Credit: Illustration by Eric Blattberg / VentureBeat — PayPal and the crowdfunding community have had a rocky relationship — but the eBay-owned payments company has rebuilt that bridge with revamped crowdfunding policies …

More: The Official PayPal, Ars Technica, Engadget and The Next Web. Tweets: @davidmarcus

Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:

Sprint launches more prepaid options, including smartphones with no data plans — Prepaid has been very good for Sprint, so good that it runs multiple no-contract services from Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile brands as well as the Sprint As You Go plans launched last year.

More: Engadget, Wall Street Journal, CNET and Re/code. Thanks:@srikardr

Wall Street Journal:

Asus may drop dual-OS Android-Windows device after facing pressure from Google and Microsoft — Asustek's Dual-OS Devices Hit a Wall — Shelves Plans For Transformer Book Duet TD300 — Plans for a new breed of mobile devices running operating systems from both Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc …

More: PC World, The Verge, CNET, TheStreet.com, Gizmodo, Gigaom, Wall Street Journal, Gotta Be Mobile, Softpedia News, Geek.com, MobileBurn.com, BGR, Electronista and Engadget

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Twitter Is Adding Promoted Account Tweets, With Follow Buttons, To Desktop Timelines — Twitter will soon add another feature to its Timeline on the desktop to generate revenue: Promoted Accounts, with the option for people to follow them directly with a button embedded in the Tweet.

More: Marketing Land and AdExchanger

Karl Bode / DSLreports:

Time Warner Cable Admits Few Have Shown Interest In Usage Caps — After Time Warner Cable took a public relations beating for pushing mandatory low caps (as low as 5 GB) and high per byte overages (as high as $5 per additional gigabyte) on consumers back in 2009, the company has been stepping …

More: Light Reading, Ars Technica, Business Insider and BGR

Chris Welch / The Verge:

FCC approves AT&T's purchase of Leap Wireless, says it's ‘in the public interest’ — The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's acquisition of Leap Wireless, the company that operates the popular Cricket brand of prepaid wireless service. Acknowledging that an unchecked deal …

More: Re/code, Mobile Marketing Watch, The Switch, about.att.com, TechnoBuffalo, DSLreports, Tech Trader Daily, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, Electronista, App Advice, AppleInsider, Gigaom, SlashGear, Phandroid, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ZDNet and Engadget

Ashley Feinberg / Gizmodo:

Target turned off function to automatically delete malware, reacted only after DOJ notificaton — Target Knew About Its Massive Hack—It Just Didn't Do Anything to Stop It — Throughout the total absurdity that's been the aftermath of Target's massive data breach, one question has continued …

More: Help Net Security, The Register, Network World, New York Times, Forrester Blogs, DailyTech, Engadget and TechSpot

Tweets: @bud_caddell and @jptacek

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Fundable Acquires LaunchRock To Combine Crowdfunding And User Acquisition — Fundable.com, an equity crowdfunding platform for businesses (including startups), just announced that it has acquired LaunchRock. — LaunchRock, as the name implies, was initially focused on helping startups create launch pages …

More: Columbus Business First, PE Hub Blog, Crowdfund Insider, Digital Journal, LaunchRock and Small Business Trends. Thanks:@grg

Robert Fenner / Bloomberg:

Satellite Crowdsourcing Adds 2 Million Searchers for Missing Jet — Tomnod.com, a crowdsourcing website run by DigitalGlobe Inc. (DGI), has tapped more than 2 million people to scan through satellite images searching for clues about missing Malaysian Airline Systems Bhd. (MAS) Flight 370.

More: SiliconANGLE, Examiner and Seeing a Better World™

Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:

It's a mobile data world: In 2013 voice stopped being U.S. carriers' main revenue driver — Just like that, in the fourth quarter of 2013 mobile data usage ticked up to reach a crossover point, making data a bigger revenue source for carriers than voice services.

More: Chetan Sharma, DSLreports, Fortune, Mobile World Live, TelecomLead and Reuters

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