Techmeme: Pro-Privacy Blackphone Pulls $30M Into Silent Circle (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

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May 21, 2014, 1:25 PM

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

eBay Advises Users To Change Passwords Following Cyberattack, “Large Number” Of Users Affected — Following an odd blog post which appeared overnight and then was quickly taken down which alerted eBay users to reset their passwords, eBay has now published its official statement informing …

Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

SEC filing says Google could serve ads to thermostats, cars, refrigerators, and other devices; Google says language does not reflect its product roadmap — Google Predicts Ads in Odd Spots Like Thermostats — Advertising may be coming to your thermostat and lots of other strange places, courtesy of Google.

More: ZDNet, TechCrunch, PC Magazine, PC World, Gigaom, Marketing Land, Gizmodo, The Verge, AppleInsider, Business Insider, Engadget, 9to5Mac, TechnoBuffalo, ITProPortal, Phandroid, Softpedia News, Pocketnow, SlashGear, Mashable, MobileSyrup.com and iDownloadBlog.com

Tweets: @rolfewinkler and @mike_orcutt

Loek Essers / Computerworld:

Google plans international acquisitions worth up to $30B, it tells SEC — Google passed on a potential acquisition of a non-U.S. company worth up to $5 billion, it said — Google plans to spend $20 billion to $30 billion of its of its accumulated international profits to fund potential acquisitions …

More: Wall Street Journal, ZDNet, Bloomberg, Forbes, Softpedia News and ABC News. Tweets: @jank0

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Adds Shazam-Style Audio Recognition To Help You Automatically Tag Posts With TV Shows And Songs — Facebook has a new weapon in the battle against Twitter to host lucrative conversations about media. A Shazam-esque opt-in feature coming to the iOS and Android status composer …

More: Facebook, The Verge, The Next Web, AppleInsider, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, iMore, Re/code, Gizmodo, Gigaom, Engadget, iPhone in Canada Blog, Android and Me, App Advice and MacNN. Tweets: @joshconstine. See also Mediagazer

Noorhan Barakat / Gulf News:

Dubai police to use Google Glass to fine traffic violators and track wanted vehicles — Dubai Police to use Google Glass — Device can be used to fine motorists and track wanted vehicles, says senior official — Dubai: Dubai Police will soon use Google Glass to issue fines to errant motorists …

More: Glass Almanac, 9to5Google, The Verge, Business Insider, Softpedia News, Android Central, Ubergizmo and Phandroid

Lauren Hockenson / Gigaom:

Anonymous app Secret launches on Android and expands worldwide — International users will no longer have to wait to get their hands on buzzy anonymous confession app Secret, as the company announced Wednesday that the app is now available to download worldwide on both iOS and Android.

More: The Verge, 9to5Google, Guardian, The Next Web, TechCrunch and Re/code

Joshua Brustein / Businessweek:

Spotify reaches 10M paid subscribers, launches in Brazil next week, still isn't profitable — Streams of Tears: Why Spotify Can't Make Money — Daniel Ek has devoted most of his waking moments over the past few years to evangelizing about the glories of streaming music. He's well suited to the task.

More: Re/code, Spotify Blog, The Next Web, CNET, 9to5Mac, Engadget, The Verge, Telegraph, Business Insider, Reuters, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Softpedia News, TIME, App Advice, SlashGear and Mashable

Tweets: @katyfinneran, @aweissman and @trengriffin

See also Mediagazer

Lauren Johnson / Adweek:

Google Beats Apple in List of World's Most Valuable Brands — Google, Apple, IBM and Microsoft are the companies that rank the highest in terms of brand value, according to a new study commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown. McDonald's is the only non-tech brand within the top five …

More: Telegraph, CNET News, Marketing Land, USA Today, iMore, Forbes, Financial Times and AdNews. Tweets: @adweek

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Wealth Management Startup FutureAdvisor Raises $15.5 Million — Looking to bring top-flight wealth management services to the middle class, FutureAdvisor has raised $15.5 million in fresh capital. — The round was led by new investor Canvas with participation from the company's previous investors including Sequoia Capital.

More: Wall Street Journal, Re/code, VatorNews and PE Hub Blog

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

Marc Andreessen: Obama's meetings with tech execs over spying were for show, producing no progress — Marc Andreessen: Tech companies are still fuming over the NSA — Marc Andreessen at The Washington Post. (Cecilia Kang / The Washington Post) — Almost a year after he released …

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @normative, @b_fung and @edwardnh

Kate Tummarello / The Hill:

NSA reform legislation ‘watered down’?

More: TechPresident

Kevin Poulsen / Wired:

While working for the NSA, Snowden led a “Crypto Party” to teach 20 neighbors about encryption — Snowden's First Move Against the NSA Was a Party in Hawaii — It was December 11, 2012, and in a small art space behind a furniture store in Honolulu, NSA contractor Edward Snowden …

More: Washington Post. Thanks:@emilydreyfuss

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Govt officials say NSA routinely spies on other countries to advance US economic interests — Fine Line Seen in U.S. Spying on Companies — WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has never said what it was seeking when it invaded the computers of Petrobras, Brazil's huge national oil company …

Tweets: @the_intercept, @nytimesworld and @onekade

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Pro-Privacy Blackphone Pulls $30M Into Silent Circle — Encrypted comms firm Silent Circle has just announced a new funding round which it says has been fueled by demand in the privacy-focused smartphone, Blackphone, the security hardened Android handset it's building with Spanish startup Geeksphone.

More: PR Newswire, BGR, Inquirer, PandoDaily, bizjournals, ZDNet, SecurityWeek, PE Hub Blog, Gigaom and GadgeTell. Thanks:@sohear

Clive Thompson / Wired:

How D-Wave began selling its quantum computer amid skepticism it was really a classical computer — The Age of Quantum Computing Has (Almost) Arrived — Google owns a — lot of computers—perhaps a million servers stitched together into the fastest, most powerful artificial intelligence on the planet.

Tweets: @arala

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Airbnb Agrees to Give New York Anonymized User Data — Airbnb, which has already taken down 2,000 accommodation listings in New York from “bad actors,” agreed to warn all new and old hosts in the state that they may be breaking hotel laws. — It was part of an agreement in which the office …

More: The Airbnb Public Policy Blog, TechCrunch, Business Insider, TechHive, ABC News, Washington Post, The Verge, Gigaom, Gizmodo, ag.ny.gov, Wall Street Journal and Valleywag

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

U.S. utility's control system was hacked, says Homeland Security — (Reuters) - A sophisticated hacking group recently attacked a U.S. public utility and compromised its control system network, but there was no evidence that the utility's operations were affected, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

More: Telegraph, The Verge, The Hill, SiliconBeat, RT, DailyTech, V3.co.uk, Tech Times, NBC News and InfoWorld

Megan Geuss / Ars Technica:

California approves rules for testing self-driving cars in California — On Tuesday, the California DMV officially approved rules to allow the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The rules will take effect September 16, 2014. — The move had been a long time coming …

More: The Verge and Washington Post

Andrew Webster / The Verge:

HBO shows are now streaming on Amazon Instant Video — ‘True Blood,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ and more — As promised, a number of HBO shows are now available to stream through Amazon Prime Instant Video. Starting today, you'll be able to stream the complete run of older shows like The Sopranos …

More: Amazon.com, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, BGR, iMore, GeekWire, TechHive, CNET, The Next Web, Engadget, Phandroid and WebProNews

Seth Rosenblatt / CNET News:

New lawsuit accuses Google of AdSense fraud — The lawsuit seeks class action status and could expose more of the internal workings of how Google manages AdSense if allowed to proceed. — Google — A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Google accuses the tech titan of engaging in widespread fraud …

More: hbsslaw.com, TechCrunch, Gigaom, WebProNews, Softpedia News and Electronista. See also Mediagazer

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Ex-Beats, Spotify Execs Debut Soundtrack Your Brand To Stream Spotify In Public Venues — Spotify today dominates the market for music streaming services for consumers. Now a new startup, started by Spotify's ex-head of business development Andreas Liffgarden and co-founder of Beats Music Ola Sars …

More: GeekWire, Inquirer, Webrazzi, Engadget and hypebot. Tweets: @ingridlunden

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Local Services Marketplace Thumbtack Raises $30 Million — Thumbtack, a marketplace that connects local professionals with clients, has raised a $30 million Series C round from Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management, TechCrunch has learned. — The startup has an original approach when it comes to local services.

Jonathan Vanian / Gigaom:

Internet performance and management company Dyn acquires Renesys — Dyn, the internet performance and management company Wednesday said it has bought Renesys, which provides networking information to internet service providers (ISPs). With the acquisition, Dyn plans to launch …

More: PC World, Washington Post, TechCrunch, BetaBoston and Xconomy

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 keynote to be held Monday, June 2nd at 10 AM PT; new hardware likely — This morning, Apple revealed the schedule for next month's Worldwide Developers Conference. To start things off, an Apple keynote will be held from 10AM to 12PM on Monday, June 2nd at Moscone West.

More: TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Macworld, Business Insider, BGR, Ubergizmo, Pocketnow, Gotta Be Mobile, CNET News, Softpedia News, TechnoBuffalo, Electronista, iPhone Hacks, TUAW and TIME. Thanks:@apollozac

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Indian e-commerce site Snapdeal raises $100M at $1B valuation — Indian E-Commerce Site Snapdeal Lands $1 Billion Valuation — Indian e-commerce site Snapdeal.com has raised $100 million in a round that that values the company at roughly $1 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal.

More: Trakin' the india …, Re/code, MediaNama, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Economic Times

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Dropbox Buys Bubbli, Will Integrate The 3D Photo Tech Into Its Photo Service — It looks like Dropbox has made another acquisition today in the photo space: it has acquired Bubbli, a startup that has built some innovative ways of incorporating 3D technology into 2D views, and packaging it in a mobile app for ordinary consumers to use.

More: ZDNet, TechSpot, App Advice, Electronista, VentureBeat, Business Insider, The Next Web and ITProPortal

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