Techmeme: Emails from Sony Hack show Snapchat quietly acquired Google-Glass like startup Vergence Labs for $15M in early 2014 (Business Insider)

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December 17, 2014, 7:20 AM

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Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Leaked Sony emails show Snapchat acquired QR scanning company Scan for $50M and AddLive for $30M, negotiated with Vevo for music partnership — Snapchat Plans Music Feature, Acquired QR Scan.me For $50M And Vergence Eyeglass Cam For $15M, — Leaked emails from the Sony Pictures hack …

More: Ubergizmo, Business Insider and The Tech Portal

Tweets: @mikeisaac, @joshconstine, @joshconstine and @jonrussell

Business Insider:

Emails from Sony Hack show Snapchat quietly acquired Google-Glass like startup Vergence Labs for $15M in early 2014 — It Looks Like Snapchat Paid $15 Million To Buy A Google Glass-Like Startup — Snapchat secretly acquired a company working on a Google Glass type of product earlier this year …

More: VentureBeat, VatorNews, The Verge and Gigaom

Tweets: @joshconstine, @ajs and @mikeisaac

Sam Biddle / Valleywag:

Sony hack confirms Snapchat turned down over $3B from Facebook last year, based on emails between Sony Ent. CEO Michael Lynton and Malcolm Gladwell

More: SiliconANGLE, Business Insider and Business Insider

Tweets: @om, @mikeisaac, @ow, @samfbiddle and @joshconstine

Tim Higgins / Bloomberg:

Apple Stops Online Sales in Russia Over Ruble Fluctuations — Apple Inc. (AAPL) has halted online sales in Russia due to “extreme” ruble fluctuations, the company said. — “Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing,” Alan Hely, a spokesman for the Cupertino …

Andrew Binstock / Dr. Dobb's:

Dr. Dobb's to stop producing content at year end due to decline in ad revenue despite 10M+ page views this year — Farewell, Dr. Dobb's — This year, our website will deliver almost 10.3 million page views, which is an unprecedented number for Dr. Dobb's. It's up from 9 million last year and 8 million three years ago.

More: bit-tech.net. Tweets: @pkellner, @jhmcintyre, @markrussinovich, @mattrosoff, @klintron, @jsundmanus, @bodil, @mattrosoff, @thurrott, @mathewi and @marypcbuk

Ben Thompson / stratechery:

Wearables, Bitcoin or messaging may underpin the next consumer computing epoch, after the PC, internet, and mobile — The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014 — While the modern computing era in many respects began with the IBM System/360 mainframe and further expanded with the minicomputer …

More: AVC. Tweets: @tuckershouse

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Starts Auto-Enhancing Photos Because Algorithms Are Better At Filters Than You — We're not ace photographers, but we all take photos. Most could use a little help with light and shadow. So rather than making you manually filter them, Facebook tells me it will now auto-enhance …

More: DailyTech, App Advice, Ubergizmo, iDownloadBlog.com, SlashGear, AllFacebook, Engadget, Tech2, The Next Web and Gizmodo

Tweets: @stevesi and @christauziet

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Sony's smart glass uses regular glasses, aims for sports and work — Sony Single-Lens Display Module — Sony Single-Lens Display Module — Sony has announced its own take on the smart glass concept. To be formally unveiled at CES next month, the Single-Lens Display Module can be attached …

More: Sony Global, 9to5Google, The Next Web, Gizmodo, The Verge, SlashGear, Ubergizmo and Engadget

Josh Lowensohn / The Verge:

Jury finds Apple not guilty of harming consumers in iTunes DRM case — Apple cleared in potential $1 billion court case — An eight-person jury has decided that Apple is not on the hook for what could have been more than $1 billion in a trial centering on extra security measures …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Google Takes Play Music's Songza-Powered Playlists Abroad, First Stop UK — With catalogues of unlimited music on streaming services so extensive these days that we never quite know what to listen to first, playlists have become one of the key ways that music fans use services like Soundcloud.

More: Engadget, Android Authority, 9to5Google and The Next Web

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Google Drive gets Gmail attachment support, Google voice search on Android, uploading from other apps on iOS — Google today rolled out new Google Drive features in Gmail, as well as updated Android and iOS apps. Gmail attachment support is live now, while the Android update is rolling out on Google Play …

More: Google Drive, Gmail - Google+, iMore, Ubergizmo, Android Police, Android and Me, Engadget, TUAW, Tech2, PhoneDog.com, Droid Life, Ubergizmo, Google Operating System, Android Central, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, iDownloadBlog.com, Phandroid and 9to5Google

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

After Google News shutdown, external traffic to Spanish media sites plummets, according to Chartbeat — External traffic to Spanish news sites plummets after Google move — Credit: Flickr / Pavel P — As expected, Google removed all Spanish publishers from its Google News index on Tuesday …

More: Wired, Beyond Search, Wall Street Journal, Search Engine Land, WebProNews and Guardian

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Brandwatch buys top influencer analytics firm PeerIndex — Brandwatch, the maker of technology for acquiring social intelligence, has purchased PeerIndex, an analytics firm that finds and measures social influencers. — Above: Giles Palmer, CEO of Brandwatch.

More: TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Next Web and Tech.eu

Vikas SN / MediaNama:

OnePlus sales halted in India after Micromax complaint over Cyanogen exclusivity — OnePlus India sales stopped by Delhi HC after Micromax complains — Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has been stopped from shipping or selling its smartphones in India, just a fortnight after its launch in the country, reports Mint.

More: Android Authority, Tech in Asia, The Next Web, TechCrunch, UnleashThePhones, Android Central, Tech2, Geeky Gadgets, Android Police, The Indian Express, BGR India and AndroidHeadlines.com. Thanks:@tsuvik

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Twitter And Foursquare Are Partnering To Improve Location In Tweets — Twitter wants to start surfacing information for users that's relevant and interesting, not just timely. And the company believes adding a location layer to its platform could be part of the solution.

More: Gizmodo, memeburn, Gigaom, Engadget and The Verge. Tweets: @mathewi

Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

Launch Center Pro makers debut Group Text+ and Email+ for iOS — Contrast, the makers of the popular iOS automation app Launch Center Pro, released two new apps today that hope to “speed up tedious tasks on iOS.” Group Text+ and Email+ each include features that make texting (iMessage and SMS) …

More: Lifehacker, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, TUAW, O'Grady's PowerPage, iPhone Hacks and iMore

Silke Koltrowitz / Reuters:

TAG Heuer enlists partners in smartwatch plan and may make acquisitions — (Reuters) - TAG Heuer is pushing ahead with plans for a smartwatch to more directly compete with the likes of the Apple Watch and may make acquisitions to help drive the strategy, its head said on Tuesday.

More: MobileSyrup.com, MacDailyNews, Ubergizmo, iDownloadBlog.com, Pocket-lint, Cult of Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, Patently Apple, The Tech Portal and MacRumors. Tweets: @gbrulte

Garett Sloane / Adweek:

Twitter Debates Whether to Hit Autoplay on Videos to Compete With Facebook — Brands would love it, but would users protest? — Twitter is weighing a difficult decision, one that not only could disrupt the traditional order of things at the social network but also may well be the key …

More: Digital Trends, TIME, The Verge, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, AllTwitter, Marketing Pilgrim, WebProNews, PandoDaily and BetaNews

Tweets: @dubois and @chrisboutet

Billy Steele / Engadget:

Fitbit says Charge skin irritation issues aren't caused by the device's materials — Fitbit says Charge skin issues aren't caused by its materials — Fitbit is no stranger to customer complaints, especially when it comes to skin issues. After dealing with a wave of criticism …

More: TechRadar.com and TODAY

Barb Darrow / Gigaom:

MongoDB snaps up WiredTiger as new storage engine option — NoSQL fan favorite MongoDB has purchased WiredTiger and its storage engine technology, and as part of the deal snags itself some database stars in Keith Bostic and Dr. Michael Cahill. — Bostic was co-founder of Sleepycat Software …

More: MongoDB, SiliconANGLE, The New Stack, Christian News …, InformationWeek and ZDNet

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

Sci-Fi author Neal Stephenson joins augmented reality startup Magic Leap as “Chief Futurist” — Neal Stephenson joins mysterious augmented reality company Magic Leap — Science fiction author Neal Stephenson has become the “Chief Futurist” of Magic Leap …

More: Turnstyle, Engadget, Wired, io9, GeekWire, Fast Company, Gigaom, Forbes and Re/code. Tweets: @gfriend

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:

Shared office space provider WeWork secures $355M investment at $5B valuation — Believe It: Co-Working Space Startup WeWork Is Now Worth $5B — WeWork, the New York City-based startup that rents office space to entrepreneurs across the country, has just raised a $355 million round of funding.

More: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, WeWork, The Real Deal New York, Red Herring, StrictlyVC, bizjournals, Haaretz, MarketWatch and VentureBeat. Tweets: @alex

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Aiming To Be A ‘B2B Google’ For Business Intel, Mattermark Raises $6.5M Led By Foundry Group — Mattermark, the business intelligence site that pivoted out of YC-backed curation site Referly, is today announcing that it has raised a round of $6.5 million, funding that the startup will use to build out its ambition to be a “B2B Google.”

More: VentureBeat, PandoDaily and Medium. Tweets: @davemcclure

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