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December 19, 2014, 12:40 AM

Top News

Reuters:

Google will build Android Auto software directly into cars with Android M, no smartphone needed — Exclusive: Google aiming to go straight into car with next Android - sources — (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOGL.O) is laying the groundwork for a version of Android that would be built directly into cars …

More: The Register, Engadget, 9to5Google, Android Authority, Gigaom, Android Beat, Phandroid, SlashGear, The Verge, Droid Life, Pocket-lint, PhoneDog.com, TechnoBuffalo, iDownloadBlog.com, Android and Me, The Next Web and Android Central. Tweets: @engadget

Kent Walker / Google Public Policy Blog:

Google concerned by reports that MPAA is secretly working with studios to resurrect SOPA — The MPAA's Attempt to Revive SOPA Through A State Attorney General — We are deeply concerned about recent reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) led a secret …

More: CNET, The Technology Chronicles, TechCrunch, The Verge, VentureBeat, The Hill, The Huffington Post, Deadline, 9to5Google, Techdirt, MacDailyNews and New York Times

Tweets: @bluechoochoo, @violetblue, @dannysullivan and @nicholaspopp

See also Mediagazer

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Sony leaks reveal how Hollywood aims to achieve SOPA-style DNS blocking under existing laws

More: Techdirt and Neowin. Tweets: @tomwarren, @backlon, @dangillmor and @trevortimm

Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

Uber Strikes Deal With Portland to Suspend Service for Three Months — Uber reached an agreement with Portland to suspend operations in the city for three months while regulators work to revise rules around taxis that currently prohibit ridesharing apps. — The city agreed to let Uber …

More: Uber Blog, New York Times, The Verge, GeekWire, SiliconANGLE, Gigaom and The Next Web

Marc Rogers / Marc's Security Ramblings:

Why the Sony hack is unlikely to be the work of North Korea. — Everyone seems to be eager to pin the blame for the Sony hack on North Korea. However, I think it's unlikely. Here's why:1. The broken English looks deliberately bad and doesn't exhibit any of the classic comprehension mistakes …

More: Business Insider, Help Net Security, TechCrunch, PandoDaily, Krypt3ia, BBC, New York Magazine, CNNMoney.com, Politico, Variety and bit-tech.net

Tweets: @violetblue, @trey_menefee, @stevelussier, @mindbrix and @kennethn

Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:

State-sponsored or not, Sony Pictures malware “bomb” used slapdash code

More: AP News Archive, Slate, Washington Post, TechSpot, Wall Street Journal, Cisco Blog, GeekWire and PC Magazine

Tweets: @peterwsinger, @rickhholland and @futureidentity

Richard Bilton / BBC:

BBC investigation finds Apple repeatedly not meeting its supply chain standards on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers — Apple ‘failing to protect Chinese factory workers’ — The undercover reporter filmed workers falling asleep on 12-hour shifts

More: 9to5Mac, Forbes, The Daily Dot, The Mac Observer, Bedfordshire News, MK News, MacDailyNews, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, Cult of Mac, Electronista, ZDNet, iLounge, iMore, AppleInsider, The Verge and App Advice. Tweets: @ziyatong

Bloomberg:

China is Planning to Purge Foreign Technology and Replace With Homegrown Suppliers — China is aiming to purge most foreign technology from banks, the military, state-owned enterprises and key government agencies by 2020, stepping up efforts to shift to Chinese suppliers, according to people familiar with the effort.

More: Taipei Times, chinaeconomicreview.com and MacDailyNews

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Longtime Internet Explorer leader Dean Hachamovitch is leaving Microsoft — Dean Hachamovitch is leaving Microsoft. And yes, of course, there is an IE shirt associated with this milestone, too. The longtime Internet Explorer leader, who led the efforts to modernize and revitalize Microsoft's web browser …

More: Learning, The Verge and Re/code. Tweets: @maryjofoley. Thanks:@mnickelsburg

Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:

Google Launches “Store Visits” Metric In AdWords, To Help Prove Online-To-Offline Impact — It's been well known that Google has been working on a solution to tie clicks on search ads back to in-store traffic and sales as part of Estimated Total Conversions in AdWords.

More: Inside AdWords, Marketing Land, ScreenwerkScreenwerk, Search Engine Watch and WebProNews

Tweets: @dannysullivan, @wilreynolds and @larrykim

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

Critical vulnerabilities in SS7 telephony protocol found; tested techniques can decrypt cell phone calls and texts — German researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls. — German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers …

More: iMore, TweakTown News and Gizmodo

Tweets: @acarvin, @csoghoian and @bhpascal

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

Instagram purges spambots; popular accounts lose millions of followers, with the company losing the most at 18.9M — Millions of Fake Instagram Users Disappear in Purge — Social media services like Facebook and Twitter are always battling against spam or fake accounts that hijack hashtags …

More: The Verge, Digital Trends, The Next Web, Business Insider, Business Insider and SiliconANGLE

Junio C Hamano / Gmane:

Vulnerability in Git, Mercurial allows for arbitrary code execution on OSX, Windows; affects Visual Studio, Github client app, among others — Subject: [ANNOUNCE] Git v2.2.1 (and updates to older maintenance tracks) — Newsgroups: gmane.linux.kernel, gmane.comp.version-control.git

More: GitHub, Ars Technica, MSDN Blogs, The New Stack, VentureBeat and WordPress Tavern

Tweets: @markmc_ and @wilkieii

Matthew Wee / Yahoo:

The Yahoo App Adds Local News, Commenting, and More on Android and iOS in the U.S. — Want to know more about what's going on around you? Today we're bringing local news to your fingertips with the Yahoo App. As you move around the country, you'll be able to see what's going on in your area.

More: VentureBeat, WebProNews, 9to5Google, App Advice and 9to5Mac

Michael Mimoso / Threatpost:

Vulnerability in embedded web server software from 2002 leaves about 12M home routers exposed — 12 Million Home Routers Vulnerable to Takeover — More than 12 million devices running an embedded webserver called RomPager are vulnerable to a simple attack that could give a hacker man …

More: Re/code, CIO.com, SC Magazine, The Register, Techworld.com, Ars Technica and Marketwire

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Samsung to shut down its ChatOn messaging service Feb. 1, 2015 in all markets except U.S. — Samsung's ChatOn service will shut down next year — but not in the US — After denying reports that its ChatOn service was close to being disbanded on a region-by-region basis, Samsung has announced in Korea that it's going away.

More: english.yonhapnews.co.kr and Android Central

Rachel King / ZDNet:

Google launching open source Cloud Dataflow SDK for Java — Summary:Cloud Dataflow fills a major puzzle piece in Google's rapidly evolving and growing cloud stack as the Internet giant continues to challenge Amazon Web Services. — Google is looking to woo cloud developers once again …

More: GitHub, Google Cloud Platform Blog, VentureBeat and InfoQ

Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:

GameAnalytics Scores $5.5M Series A, Hires Ex-Aol European MD As CEO — GameAnalytics, a free analytics platform for games developers, has leveled-up its funding. The Copenhagen-headquartered startup, which also has a sales office in London and a development hub in Berlin, has closed a $5.5 million Series A round.

More: VentureBeat, Pocket Gamer.biz, VentureBeat, Tech City News and Webrazzi

Lizette Chapman / Wall Street Journal:

Mobile analytics firm Mixpanel raises $65M Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz at an $865M valuation — Mixpanel Raises $65 Million to Build Predictive Data Tech — Suhail Doshi has big dreams for his mobile and Web analytics company Mixpanel Inc. and has just raised $65 million …

More: Mixpanel, TechCrunch and VentureBeat

Tweets: @fmanjoo, @mims and @howardlindzon

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

US telcos can operate in Cuba as part of new reform, White House says — As part of a surprise move to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, the White House announced that it would be “initiating new efforts” to help the island nation access the Internet.

More: New York Times, Electronista, Light Reading, The White House, eWeek, Engadget and RCR Wireless News. Tweets: @greghendershott

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