Sprint Abandoning Pursuit of T-Mobile  —  Sprint Corp. is ending its pursuit of T-Mobile US Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.  The company and its parent, SoftBank Corp. decided it simply would be too difficult to win approval from regulators, the people said.

Russian gang holds 1.2B username/password combos, stolen from 420K vulnerable websites scanned via botnet, say security researchers  —  Russian Gang Said to Amass More Than a Billion Stolen Internet Credentials  —  A Russian crime ring has amassed the largest known collection …

Apple touts record App Store revenue, record number of customers making transactions in July  —  Apple says July was record-setting month for app store revenue  —  Apple's app store saw record-setting revenue numbers in July, the company told CNBC.  The Cupertino-based company …

BlackBerry completes restructuring process, expects to start recruitment in “modest numbers”  —  BlackBerry closes chapter on restructuring process : internal memo  —  (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd has concluded a protracted and painful restructuring process and is back on a growth footing …

Apple to hold iPhone event on Sept. 9  —  Code/red: Apple to Hold iPhone Event on Sept. 9  —  New iPhones to Suck All the Air Out of the Tech News Cycle on Sept. 9 Onstage at our inaugural Code conference earlier this summer, Apple SVP Eddy Cue described the company's fall product pipeline …

Apple files for HealthKit trademarks w/ classifications for watches, fitness sensors, & medical devices  —  Apple has just filed for Healthkit trademarks in both the US and Europe ahead of iOS 8's launch this fall and in at least one filing includes watches in a list of goods that could take advantage of the health-tracking software.

Justin.tv shuts down after 7 years amid reports Google is acquiring Twitch  —  Twitch today announced that the Justin.tv website, mobile apps, and APIs are no longer in service.  A very simple explanation is given for the shutdown: since rebranding the company to Twitch Interactive in February 2014 …

Groupon disappoints on weak Q2 revenue of $751.6M, investors quickly send it packing  —  NOTE: GrowthBeat — VentureBeat's provocative new marketing-tech event — is going on now!  We've gathered the best and brightest to explore the data, apps, and science of successful marketing.

Satya Nadella's first big hire: Microsoft confirms ex-Qualcomm exec Peggy Johnson as biz dev chief  —  Microsoft just confirmed that it has hired Peggy Johnson, a 24-year Qualcomm veteran, as the Redmond company's new executive vice president of global business development, reporting to CEO Satya Nadella.

Google under threat as forked Android devices rise to 20% of smartphone shipments  —  Android dominates the world's smartphone market.  A new report from analyst firm Strategy Analytics pegs the Google-owned operating system's global market share at 85 percent.

Fox Withdraws Proposal To Buy Time Warner — And Time Warner Shares Are Crashing  —  Fox has withdrawn its plans to purchase Time Warner, according to an announcement the company made Tuesday.  —  Time Warner shares are down 11% post-market on the news.  —  Reports of an original proposal …

IBM offered to pay Globalfoundries $1B to take IBM's chip-manufacturing business  —  IBM Said to Have Offered GF Cash to Take Over Chip Unit  —  International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) was willing to pay Globalfoundries Inc. to take on IBM's money-losing chip-manufacturing operations …

Uber announces UberPool, a ride-sharing, cost-splitting experiment to begin Aug. 15 in SF  —  UberPool Lets You Split Uber Fares With Other Passengers Along The Same Route  —  In the ongoing war between Uber, Lyft, and all of the other me-too ride-sharing services, competitors are looking …

Cisco: new exploit kits, Java vulnerabilities, PoS attacks are most serious threats in 2014  —  Exploit kit variety, point-of-sale attacks reign in 2014: Cisco  —  Summary: Cisco's security team says that exploit variety is gaining steam, and both the Internet of Things and point …

T-Mobile Rejects Iliad's Request For Information  —  Wireless Carrier Said to Consider French Company's $15 Billion Bid ‘Dead On Arrival’  —  T-Mobile US Inc. denied Iliad SA 's request to open its books after determining that the French company's proposed $15 billion bid isn't attractive enough, people familiar with the matter said.