Techmeme
December 17, 2014, 12:35 AM

Top News

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 …
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Samsung in talks with mobile payments startup LoopPay to launch Apple Pay rival in 2015  —  Samsung in Talks to Launch Apple Pay Competitor  —  Samsung has discussed a deal with a payments startup that would help the smartphone maker unveil a wireless mobile payments system in 2015 to rival Apple, according to multiple sources.
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 …
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.
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Apple Pay now supports credit cards representing about 90% of purchase volume in US  —  Dozens More Companies Sign Up for Apple Pay  —  The list of companies working with Apple Pay continues to grow.  —  On Tuesday, Apple announced that in recent weeks the company had signed up dozens more banks …
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 …
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  —  Credit: Flickr / Pavel P  —  As expected, Google removed all Spanish publishers …
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: Gigaom and EngadgetTweets: @mathewi
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 …
Daniel Howley / Yahoo Tech:
Starting January 1st, T-Mobile Data Stash will let you roll over unused data for up to a year, starting with one-off 10GB allowance  —  T-Mobile ‘Data Stash’ Lets You Roll Over Your Unused Data  —  Yahoo Tech's David Pogue interviewed T-Mobile CEO John Legere on Tuesday as T-Mobile announced upgrades …
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 …
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 …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Dots Spins Out Of Betaworks With $10M Series A From Tencent, GreyCroft  —  Dots, the mobile gaming studio responsible for two dead-simple but beautiful games, is today announcing the close of a $10 million round, as well as the official spinout of Dots as its own company, separate from betaworks.
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 …
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 and PandoDailyTweets: @davemcclure

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