Techmeme
December 19, 2014, 2:50 PM

Top News

FBI:
FBI concludes that the North Korean government is responsible for Sony Pictures hack  —  Update on Sony Investigation … Today, the FBI would like to provide an update on the status of our investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).
Re/code:
Obama calls Sony canceling The Interview a “mistake”, says North Korea acted alone; White House contemplating “proportional response”  —  President Obama Says Sony Made “Mistake” in Canceling “The Interview” Film  —  President Obama, speaking at his year-end presser …
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
In new email sent to Sony executives, hackers threaten further release of “sensitive data” pending any “additional trouble”  —  Source: Hackers send new message to Sony  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney)  —  The hackers behind a devastating cyberattack at Sony Pictures …
Rhiannon Williams / Telegraph:
Apple CEO Tim Cook is “deeply offended” by the BBC's labor abuse allegations  —  Apple goes to war with the BBC  —  Exclusive: Chief executive Tim Cook ‘deeply offended’ by allegations made by BBC's Panorama programme that Apple is failing to protect its Chinese factory workers
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Messenger gets performance improvements, message sending/sent/delivered/read receipts  —  Facebook Messenger Shows Its New Speed With FacePile Read Receipts  —  Milliseconds make a difference when it comes to chat.  The less lag, the more it feels like being in the same room.
Andy / TorrentFreak:
MPAA says Google positioning itself as a defender of free speech is shameful  —  Google & MPAA Publicly Slam Each Other Over Piracy  —  Even after running for weeks, the fallout from the Sony hacking fiasco is showing no signs of waning.  In fact in some areas it appears that matters are only getting worse.
Kent Walker / Google Public Policy Blog:
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 …
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 …
Danny Yadron / Wall Street Journal:
Poll: 45% of Americans have been notified that payment card details were stolen in a data breach  —  Poll Shows Broad Impact of Cyberattacks  —  Just fewer than half of Americans say that a retailer, bank or credit-card company has told them or a household member that their payment card details …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Computer intrusion inflicts massive damage on German steel factory  —  A German steel factory suffered significant damage after attackers gained unauthorized access to computerized systems that help control its blast furnace, according to a report published Friday by IDG News.
More: ITworld.com and Gigaom
Sean Portnoy / ZDNet:
Intel launches free Easy Migration app to help users transfer files from Windows, Android, iOS to Chromebooks  —  Intel launches free Easy Migration app to transfer files to Chromebooks  —  Summary:The software helps users move files from their Android, iOS, and Windows devices to an Intel-powered laptop running the Chrome OS.
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 (update)  —  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.
Amy Schatz / Re/code:
T-Mobile settles FTC's cramming charges lawsuit for $90M, will give refunds to customers  —  T-Mobile Settles Government “Cramming” Charges for $90 Million  —  T-Mobile settled a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accused the company of profiting from unauthorized charges placed …
Owen Thomas / ReadWrite:
Square ports feature that lets you pay by saying your name from discontinued Wallet app to Square Order, offers the service free to merchants  —  Square Is Resurrecting Wallet, Its Pay-By-Name Mobile App, And Giving It Away  —  Wallet, the pay-by-name app that payments company Square introduced …
More: ReadWriteTweets: @mdudasThanks:@owenthomas
Kevin C. Tofel / Gigaom:
Sales rise in McDonald's tests of beacons for wireless offers of promotions on iOS/Android  —  Hold the beacon: McDonald's tests wireless offers near stores  —  Credit: Flickr / Kenny Louie  —  Credit: Flickr / Kenny Louie  —  McDonald's was one of the first retail locations I used …
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
Xbox One To Get Pandora, Vevo, Popcornflix And More Apps This Week  —  Microsoft might have said that they're done shipping their big Xbox One software updates for the year — but that doesn't mean they can't release a few new toys in the form of apps.  —  The company has just announced five …

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Junio C Hamano / Gmane: