Techmeme: BBM updated with stickers, support for sending larger files, and photo sharing in multi-person chats (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web)

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April 2, 2014, 6:05 AM

Top News

Yuichiro Kanematsu / Nikkei:

Report: Apple in talks to buy 55% stake in Renesas SP display chip design unit for $479M — Apple looking to buy Japanese chipmaker — SILICON VALLEY — Apple is in talks with Japan's Renesas Electronics to take over a unit that designs chips for smartphone displays …

Lisa Eadicicco / Business Insider:

Apple Is Suing Samsung For $2 Billion Over These 5 iPhone Features — Apple is back in U.S. court with Samsung this week, suing the Korean software maker for $2 billion. — The last time the two companies met in the U.S. was in 2012. Apple won a $1 billion judgment Samsung is currently appealing.

More: 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, Redmond Pie, 9to5Mac, Computerworld and BGR

Josh Lowensohn / The Verge:

Apple lays out its new case against Samsung, says 50 patents could have been at stake — Apple provided an overarching vision of its legal attack against Samsung today, a case it's filed to win $2 billion in damages, and get Samsung's products removed from store shelves.

More: TechEye, BGR, Bloomberg, FOSS Patents, FOSS Patents, 9to5Mac, Reuters, CNET, Electronista, TechnoBuffalo, The Mac Observer, Pocketnow, Phandroid, Associated Press, CNET and SlashGear

Tweets: @daiwaka, @tim and @tim

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Samsung: Apple's Patent Claims Are “Gross Exaggeration”

More: Re/code, Digital Trends, App Advice, The Verge, Mercury News, iDownloadBlog.com and AppleInsider. Tweets: @tim

Ben Woods / The Next Web:

Nest's smart Thermostat is now available to buy in the UK, priced from £179 — Nest, the company looking to reinvent dull-but-worthy household items such as the smoke detector, has announced that its Nest Thermostat is now finally available to buy in the UK.

More: Nest, The Verge, Telegraph, Engadget, TechCrunch, New York Times, Cult of Mac, Geeky Gadgets, App Advice, SlashGear and Android Central

Simon Khalaf / The Flurry Blog:

Average US consumer spends 2 hours and 42 minutes per day on mobile devices, 86% of time spent in apps, 14% on web — Apps Solidify Leadership Six Years into the Mobile Revolution — Last year, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the mobile revolution, Flurry issed its five-year report on the mobile industry.

Harry McCracken / TIME:

How Gmail Happened: The Inside Story of Its Launch 10 Years Ago Today … It All Began With Search … Gmail's creator, Paul Buchheit, at his desk at Google in 1999 — Courtesy Paul Buchheit … What Does Google Email Look Like? … Going Public

More: SiliconANGLE, The Verge, BGR, Mashable, Marketing Land, Slate, Phandroid, Wall Street Journal, Pocketables, Business Insider and Canadianreviewer.com

Tweets: @natebrix, @chrisgeidner and @alistairmbarr

Thanks:@mariedomingo

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Amazon Will Now Allow Returns Using Lockers — Amazon.com has quietly rolled out a new service to let customers return unwanted merchandise using large metal lockers it has installed for deliveries in garages, convenience and grocery stores in major metropolitan areas.

More: Gizmodo, SlashGear and Engadget

Will Connors / Wall Street Journal:

BlackBerry Ends Licensing Agreement With T-Mobile — Blackberry Says Strategies Are Not Complementary — TORONTO— BlackBerry Ltd. said late Tuesday that it is ending its licensing agreement with T-Mobile Inc. when it expires later this month, a surprise move that comes two months …

More: BlackBerry Press Room, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, The Verge, Engadget, Ars Technica, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, Geeky Gadgets, The Next Web, Bloomberg, Canadianreviewer.com, SlashGear and Electronista

Matt Brian / Engadget:

Google to focus on portrait shots and effects with improved camera app — We know that Google has been looking to bring more advanced photo features to Android for a while, but it may soon be ready to show off what it's been working on. Sources aware of Google's plans have confirmed to us …

More: TechnoBuffalo, TechSpot, Android Beat, Ubergizmo, GSMArena Blog, Phandroid, Droid Life, The Droid Guy, Gotta Be Mobile, Mashable, Pocketnow, Greenbot, Pocketables and 9to5Google. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Mark Bergen / AdAge:

Apple opens iAd Workbench to everyone with an Apple ID, launches video ads — Build Your Own iAd: Apple Throws Open Door to Platform — As It Takes On Google, Company Expands Access to Workbench — Ad Age Digital Conference 2014 — Apple is making its advertising ecosystem more accessible.

More: MacRumors, Softpedia News, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, App Advice, MacNN and iMore. See also Mediagazer

Tom Hals / Reuters:

Judge orders Mt Gox CEO to U.S. for questions on failed bitcoin exchange — (Reuters) - The chief executive of Japan's Mt. Gox, once the world's leading bitcoin exchange, was ordered to the United States to answer questions related to its U.S. bankruptcy case, filed after the company lost $400 million of customers' digital currency.

More: The Register, Bloomberg, Computerworld and CoinDesk

Stephen Shankland / CNET:

Mozilla CEO: Gay-marriage firestorm could hurt Firefox cause (Q&A) — Brendan Eich's 2008 donation to an anti-gay-marriage cause now dogs his new CEO job. In his first interview about it, he resists calls to resign or recant, but argues inclusiveness makes Mozilla's world-spanning community possible.

More: Re/code, The Verge and SiliconBeat

Tweets: @karaswisher, @karaswisher, @mikeisaac, @binarybits, @mikeisaac, @stshank and @caseynewton

Jonathan Krim / Wall Street Journal:

The Chamber of Commerce Comes to Silicon Valley — Powerful Lobby Group Tries to Win Over Startups, VCs — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among the most powerful business lobbying organizations in Washington, is planning a second outpost in Silicon Valley in an effort to broaden its membership and clout.

More: SiliconBeat, TheHill, Mercury News, bizjournals and TechPresident

Tweets: @iansherr and @wsjd

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

LinkedIn names HiringSolved as the recruiting competitor it has sued for scraping profiles — LinkedIn names company that used bots to steal profiles for competing Recruiter service — In January, LinkedIn filed a lawsuit that accused unnamed “John Does” of creating fake profiles in order to …

More: Sell Hack Blog, BetaNews, Yahoo Tech, TechWeekEurope UK, Graham Cluley and Business Insider. Tweets: @shon. Thanks:@jeffjohnroberts

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget:

Spotify's new design is cleaner, darker and puts the focus on content — If you're using Spotify on the web, desktop or iOS you should notice a pretty massive change starting today. (The new look should be coming to Android “near future.") The company is launching its most dramatic overhaul since its launch in 2008.

More: Spotify Blog, Guardian, TechCrunch, The Next Web, MacRumors, Inquirer, NEWS.com.au, Gizmodo, The Verge, iDownloadBlog.com, Geeky Gadgets and Pocketnow

Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:

NSA performed warrantless searches on Americans' calls and emails - Clapper — US intelligence chiefs have confirmed that the National Security Agency has used a “back door” in surveillance law to perform warrantless searches on Americans' communications. — The NSA's collection programs …

More: emptywheel, Bloomberg, The Voice of Russia, News, NationalJournal.com, The Hill, Washington Post, Threatpost and RT

Tweets: @ggreenwald, @byheatherlong and @guardianus

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

BBM updated with stickers, support for sending larger files, and photo sharing in multi-person chats — As expected, BlackBerry today released a new version of BBM, adding stickers, support for sending larger files, and photo sharing in multi-person chats. If you don't see it yet …

More: Inside BlackBerry, Electronista, BGR, iPhone in Canada Blog, IntoMobile, BlackBerry Press Room, The Droid Guy, MobileSyrup.com, TechCrunch, BerryReview and Softpedia News

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