Techmeme
July 31, 2014, 12:00 PM

Top News

Chris Duckett / ZDNet:
Samsung mobile profit down by a third in 2Q 2014  —  Summary: A decline in profitability of Samsung's IT and mobile communications division has pulled overall profit for the Korean conglomerate lower.  —  Chris Duckett  —  Samsung has announced an overall 15 percent fall in operating profit …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
USB security fundamentally broken, malware in firmware can take over Macs/PCs, no easy fix  —  Why the Security of USB Is Fundamentally Broken  —  Computer users pass around USB sticks like silicon business cards.  Although we know they often carry malware infections …
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Shazam Brings Always-On Music and TV Recognition to Mac With Free Menu Bar App  —  Music recognition service Shazam, which was one of the early App Store hits and has continued to see good success on mobile platforms, is now bringing its services to the desktop in the form of the first music, TV show, and ad recognition app for Mac.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Internet.Org's App With Free Access To Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Local Info Launches In Zambia  —  85% of the 5 billion people without Internet simply can't afford data plans.  So Facebook's accessibility initiative Internet.org today launches its Android and web app for the developing world …
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:
Google Will Add Ratings to Search-Results Ads So They Look More Like Amazon  —  Google is prodding merchants to provide more information to make its search results more effective-and more like Amazon.  The question is whether merchants will play ball.  —  In a blog post Tuesday …
Parmy Olson / Forbes:
Xiaomi now world's fifth largest smartphone maker; Android captures record 85% market share in Q2  —  China's Xiaomi Becomes World's 5th Largest Smartphone Maker  —  Global smartphone sales are still growing, but the market's star performer in the last three months wasn't Apple or even Samsung.
Nick Summers / The Next Web:
PlayStation Now game streaming service hits open beta today on PS4 in the US and Canada  —  Sony is launching a public beta for its PlayStation Now video game streaming initiative in the US and Canada today (July 31).  —  For now, the service will be available exclusively on the PlayStation 4 …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Lytro Illum review: an expensive, flawed, buggy glimpse of the future of photography  —  Lytro Illum review: this is the camera of the future  —  It's almost time to forget everything you ever knew about photography  —  Ten minutes into using the Lytro Illum, I'm throwing out everything I've ever learned about photography.
Wall Street Journal:
France's Iliad Makes Bid for T-Mobile US  —  Bid Counters Earlier Offer From Sprint Corp.  —  French upstart telecommunications company Iliad SA has made an offer for T-Mobile US Inc., in a bold bid to counter an offer for the country's fourth-largest wireless carrier by Sprint Corp. , said people familiar with the matter.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Heads rolling at Beats as Apple eliminating redundant positions, Ian Rogers & Trent Reznor to stay on  —  As Apple's acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music nears completion this financial quarter, the Cupertino and Santa Monica, California-based companies have begun work …
Liam Tung / ZDNet:
IBM snaps up Italian cloud security vendor CrossIdeas  —  Summary: IBM is adding more troops for its assault on the enterprise security market - this time with an Italian vendor giving it tools to handle segregation of duties.  —  Liam Tung  —  IBM has acquired CrossIdeas …
Sophie Knight / Reuters:
Sony warns smartphone weakness will brake profit progress after first-quarter surge  —  (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp warned it doesn't now expect to make money on smartphones this year, citing weak demand, as the consumer electronics maker said restructuring will still help it turn a profit on its TVs after 10 years of losses.
Josh Ong / The Next Web:
Google releases the source code for its I/O 2014 app as a template for developers  —  Google today published the source code for its I/O 2014 app in hopes of teaching developers some of its best practices for Android apps.  —  While you may have used the I/O 2014 app to plan your schedule at the conference …

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Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Sam Gustin / Motherboard:

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