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

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Twitter adds more features for verified users only, including alerts to new verified followers  —  Twitter to Verified Users: Talk Amongst Yourselves!  —  With an endless barrage of attention, how ever do celebs separate signal from noise on Twitter?  —  Consider last year's example …

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 …

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 …

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.

Lawsuit claims Steve Jobs, senior Apple directors hurt company with anti-poaching row  —  Piling onto Apple's anti-poaching courtroom saga, a new lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of shareholders for financial losses related to alleged misconduct by senior directors, including late cofounder Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook.

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 …

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.

Best Buy's smart home hub “Peq”: $9.99 a month for service, hardware bundles start at $120  —  Meet Peq, The Next Smart Home Hub  —  As if we didn't have enough smart home hub entrants, Peq appears poised to launched.  Pronounced “peek”, we believe this newcomer is Best Buy's answer …

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 …

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 …

IAC Agrees To Work With Regulators On Cyberbullying Protections Following Ask.fm Deal  —  IAC-owned search company Ask.com has acquired the beleaguered anonymous Q&A social network, Ask.fm.  The news was first reported by The New York Times this morning, and IAC and Ask.fm have also confirmed the news to TechCrunch.