Samsung acquires smart-home controller startup SmartThings for $200M  —  Internet of Bling: Samsung Buys SmartThings for $200 Million  —  Samsung has bought SmartThings, the startup that makes smart-home controllers.  While the companies did not disclose the price, sources …

Apple considering sapphire glass screens for more expensive models of new iPhones this fall, producing sapphire displays for smartwatch  —  Apple Considers Using Harder Material in Pricier Models  —  Apple Inc. created the blueprint for a smartphone when it covered the touch screen of its first iPhone in glass, instead of plastic.

Smartphone shipments surpass 300M in Q2, Android and iOS dominate with 96% global marketshare  —  Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Edge Past 300 Million Units in the Second Quarter; Android and iOS Devices Account for 96% of the Global Market, According to IDC

Microsoft builds a Snapchat competitor called WindUp  —  It's no secret that Snapchat, the app that lets you send time-limited messages, has run into a few issues this year: From exposing nearly five million accounts, to the FTC ruling that the company was deceiving users, the app may still be popular but many people no longer trust it.

Facebook VP Sam Lessin Is Leaving the Company  —  Sam Lessin, Facebook's VP of product management, is leaving the company.  —  Lessin announced his departure on his Facebook page Thursday afternoon.  He originally joined Facebook when his startup, a storage company called Drop.io …

Researchers use a smartphone's gyroscope as a crude microphone to eavesdrop on conversations  —  The Gyroscopes in Your Phone Could Let Apps Eavesdrop on Conversations  —  In the age of surveillance paranoia, most smartphone users know better than to give a random app or website permission to use their device's microphone.

Big-screened phones are better all-in-one entertainment systems, preferred in emerging markets  —  Report: People in emerging markets prefer big smartphones.  Here's why.  —  Apple is strongly rumored to be preparing to release a larger version of the iPhone next month.

Swarm of 1,024 Tiny Robots Works Together Without Guiding Central Intelligence  —  Swarm of 1,024 Tiny Robots Works Together Without Guiding Central Intelligence  —  Harvard University scientists have devised a swarm of 1,024 tiny robots that can work together without any guiding central intelligence.

Xbox Shops Entertainment Studio to Warner Bros.  —  Microsoft's TV production arm might not be gone for good  —  Microsoft may have decided to shutter its nascent Xbox Entertainment Studios but it's not necessarily game over for the Santa Monica studio.  —  Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter …

PGP, which hasn't fundamentally evolved since the 1990s, needs to die  —  What's the matter with PGP?  —  Last Thursday, Yahoo announced their plans to support end-to-end encryption using a fork of Google's end-to-end email extension.  This is a Big Deal.

Oracle Cranks Up The Cores To 32 With Sparc M7 Chip  —  Say what you will about Oracle co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison, but when the software giant bought Sun Microsystems more than four years ago, for $7.4 billion, he said that he had seen the light and wanted Oracle to control its own hardware …

Ask.com Buys Ask.fm, an Anonymous Q.&A. Start-Up  —  Ask, and ye shall receive.  —  Ask.com, the Oakland, Calif.-based company owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, announced on Thursday it had acquired Ask.fm, a highly popular question-and-answer website.  —  The move signals Ask.com's first significant push into social networking.

Y Combinator branches out into energy tech by investing in nuclear fusion startup Helion, with Mithril Capital  —  Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusion Startup  —  Building a nuclear fusion reactor that can generate more energy than is put in to make it work …

Square Just Released A Blog Post Listing The Top 10 Negative Myths About It  —  Square just published a defensive blog post about the Top 10 negative myths about its service.  —  The post comes only a few days after Amazon launched a new product that puts it in direct competition with Square …

50 Cent partners with Intel on heart-rate monitoring earphones, will be available Q4 2014  —  Gimme a Beat: Intel, 50 Cent Pair Up on Heart-Rate Headphones  —  Chipmaker Intel and SMS Audio, the consumer electronics company founded by 50 Cent, are partnering to launch a pair of heart-rate-measuring headphones.

Tech executives Zuckerberg, Nadella, Costolo, Schiller, and others take “ice bucket challenge” to raise ALS awareness  —  Ice Bucket Challenge: Cook, Zuckerberg, Nadella and More  —  The “ice bucket challenge,” a campaign to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis …

Meet the 6-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega 2  —  Samsung is getting ready to launch a successor to the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Galaxy Mega 6.3 from last year: a new device that should be called Galaxy Mega 2.  While we heard about it several times before, it's only now that we get to see what the handset looks like …

Comcast, Time Warner Cable withdraw funding for dinner honoring FCC's Clyburn  —  Comcast and Time Warner Cable today withdrew their respective contributions towards a dinner that will honor FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn next month.  The Kaitz Dinner is an annual event hosted …

YouTube refreshes television app for set-top boxes, game consoles and smart TVs  —  If you use YouTube's app on your TV, get ready for a new UI (finally!).  The app has a much cleaner look now, in line with Google's Material Design, and includes features that you're used to seeing on your computer …

Comments sent to FCC were overwhelmingly pro net neutrality, most opposing came from templates  —  A Fascinating Look Inside Those 1.1 Million Open-Internet Comments  —  When the Federal Communications Commission asked for public comments about the issue of keeping the Internet free and open, the response was huge.