Techmeme: House of Representatives passes ‘gutted’ NSA surveillance reform (Adi Robertson/The Verge)

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May 22, 2014, 2:20 PM

Top News

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Apple acknowledges iMessage issue, says bug fix coming in future software update — Apple's iMessage Issue Goes From Bad to Worse With Server Glitch — Apple's iMessage system is a model of convenience when connecting between iPhones. But trying to leave the ecosystem is the very definition of horror.

Ben Gilbert / Engadget:

Samsung is making a VR headset for its phones and tablets — Samsung is known for its ubiquitous Galaxy smartphones and tablets, popular smart televisions and, most recently, smart watches. The Korean consumer electronics giant is about to enter another major new category: virtual reality headsets.

More: Digital Trends, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, Pocketnow, Business Insider, Ubergizmo, SlashGear, TIME and SammyToday

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

House of Representatives passes ‘gutted’ NSA surveillance reform — Privacy watchdogs hope Senate will roll back amendments to USA Freedom Act — The USA Freedom Act, a bill meant to end NSA surveillance of phone records, has passed the House of Representatives.

More: Electronic Frontier Foundation, ZDNet, CNET News, Re/code, The Hill, Mother Jones, SiliconBeat, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Mashable, PandoDaily, RT, Computerworld, The Daily Caller, ABC News, Associated Press, Washington Post, Engadget, Guardian, Nextgov and Wired. Tweets: @eff

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Stops Irresponsibly Defaulting Privacy Of New Users' Posts To “Public”, Changes To “Friends” — After years of putting new users at risk of oversharing by defaulting the visibility of their status updates and photos to public, Facebook is switching the default to “friends”.

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

The iPad's next killer app: Osmo connects iOS kids' games with the real world — “Everything we are doing here is magic.” I'm not usually someone who embraces Silicon Valley's tendency to paint every little product iteration as magical and revolutionary. But when Tangible Play co-founder …

More: Re/code, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, TechHive, LAPTOP Magazine, Forbes, App Advice, Mashable, Wired and Crowdfund Insider. Tweets: @laurahazardowen. Thanks:@deaconlf

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Google Fiber: we don't charge for peering, don't have fast lanes — Google used its Google Fiber internet access business Wednesday to chime in on the continuing debate around peering and internet fast lanes, and guess what: the company doesn't use either.

More: Google Fiber Blog, Engadget, The Verge, Ars Technica, Washington Post, Broadcasting & Cable, 9to5Google, BGR, SlashGear, The Next Web, DSLreports, FierceCable, Techdirt, Washington Post and Dan Rayburn

George Avalos / Mercury News:

Apple to occupy seven-building Sunnyvale campus — SUNNYVALE — Apple has agreed to lease a seven-building campus in Sunnyvale where the tech giant could move about 1,450 workers, according to city documents and commercial property sources. — The deal is the latest sign of a remarkable burst of expansion by Apple.

More: The Register, iPhone in Canada Blog, InvestorPlace, MacNN, Gizmodo, iPhone, App Advice, MacRumors, iClarified, Cult of Mac, CNET, Mashable, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac

Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:

Led by Apple Inc. iPhone, smartphones now account for 87 percent of U.S. handsets — New research by Counterpoint indicates that 87 percent of Americans upgraded to smartphones by the end of March, with Apple remaining the top vendor. — Counterpoint's Market Monitor quarterly tracker …

More: Counterpoint Technology …, Marketing Land, TechCrunch, SlashGear, SammyToday, MacNN and Ubergizmo

Tweets: @neiltwitz and @asymco

Brooke Crothers / CNET News:

HP drops $100 quad-core Android tablet into US market — Hewlett-Packard has undercut its $150 Android Slate 7 with a $100 tablet. And it's quad-core, to boot. — $100 gets you a quad-core HP 7 Plus tablet. — Hewlett-Packard — Quad-core doesn't get much cheaper than this.

More: 9to5Google, TechCrunch, PC Magazine, IntoMobile, LAPTOP Magazine, Gigaom, Android Central, AndroidGuys and Ubergizmo

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Storehouse Raises $7M From Sherpa And Others To Spread Its Story Creation Tool Beyond The iPad — Storehouse is a company we've written about a bit before. It's a beautifully constructed iPad app that lets you build stories on the fly from text, video and images.

More: Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Gigaom and VentureBeat

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Google Adds “Okay Google” Voice Search For All Chrome Users — Maybe you already talk to your computer but now there's even more reason to - Google has just released the latest version of Chrome, which includes “Okay Google” triggered voice searches that work automatically, without requiring any clicks or other input prompting first.

More: Google Chrome, 9to5Google, Engadget, Search Engine Land, TIME, Neowin, Softpedia News, Electronista and Business Insider

John McCann / TechRadar.com:

Samsung Music will close its doors on July 1 — Saying bye bye to bloatware … A Samsung executive had already warned us that the Korean firm may close its content hubs, and that's exactly what's happening as Samsung Music (aka Music Hub) will shut down on July 1.

More: Gigaom, Engadget, The Verge, Techie News, TechHive, CNET News, Android Central, GadgeTell, 9to5Google, Neowin and Neowin

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

On MetaFilter Being Penalized By Google: An Explainer — MetaFilter is a news and discussion site dating back to the early years of the web. Founded in 1999, it's attracting attention this week after coming forward about how a Google penalty has severely harmed its business, to the degree of having to let staff go.

More: TechCrunch and Search Engine Roundtable. Thanks:@nethistorypod

Matt Haughey / Medium:

Google probably considers MetaFilter a haven for comment spam, despite best-in-industry moderation

More: Gigaom, TechPresident, Search Engine Roundtable and rc3.org

Tweets: @jfruh, @dangillmor, @pinboard, @timanderson, @mattbuchanan, @mathowie, @dannysullivan, @jacobian, @mathowie, @timhwang, @ahow, @grimmelm, @qthrul, @somebitslinks and @hmason

Thanks:@turoczy. See also Mediagazer

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Darkcoin, which offers greater anonymity than bitcoin, rises tenfold in value in only a month — Darkcoin, the Shadowy Cousin of Bitcoin, Is Booming — Someone out there likes anonymous money. — In only a month, the little-known bitcoin alternative known as Darkcoin has rocketed nearly tenfold …

More: Daily Dot and TheDomains.com. Tweets: @teamcymru

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:

T-Mobile launches VoLTE in its own backyard w/ support for LG G Flex, Galaxy Note 3, & Galaxy Light — Following announcements earlier this month from both AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile announced today it's introducing Voice over LTE support starting with Seattle.

More: multimediacapsule …, The Verge, 9to5Mac, IntoMobile, dailywireless.org, Android and Me, TmoNews and SlashGear

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