Techmeme
December 26, 2014, 11:15 AM

Top News

Dave Smith / Business Insider:
PlayStation Network And Xbox Live Are Down, And The Notorious Hacker Gang ‘Lizard Squad’ Is Taking Credit  —  Hackers don't take a holiday, it seems.  Hours after Microsoft's Xbox Live went down Wednesday, Sony's PlayStation Network went down, too.  These are the two networks that users of consoles access to play games online.
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
The Interview is a pirate hit with over 750K estimated torrent downloads; restricted availability outside the US a possible driving factor  —  The Interview Is A Pirate Hit With 200k Downloads (Updated)  —  Facing a “terrorist” threat theaters all around the U.S. backed away from showing The Interview last week.
Steve Kovach / Business Insider:
The Interview now available to rent for $5.99 or purchase for $14.99 through YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video, and SeeTheInterview.com  —  Where To Watch ‘The Interview’ Online Right Now  —  Sony will release “The Interview” online Wednesday, the company announced.
Kim Zetter / Wired:
David Lerman / Bloomberg:
NSA reports show agency may have violated laws by unauthorized surveillance of Americans for over a decade  —  U.S. Spy Agency Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans  —  The National Security Agency today released reports on intelligence collection that may have violated the law …
Eric Meyer / Thoughts From Eric:
Facebook's Year in Review suggestions may in some cases be inadvertently tactless, hurtful  —  Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty  —  I didn't go looking for grief this afternoon, but it found me anyway, and I have designers and programmers to thank for it.  In this case, the designers and programmers are somewhere at Facebook.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Withings Activité review: too expensive for mass market at $450, but will appeal to watch enthusiasts  —  Withings Activité Fitness Tracking Watch Review  —  Wearable tech has seemed on a fairly straightforward path throughout the course of its initial development …
More: The Verge
Gerry Shih / Reuters:
Huawei's low cost Honor smartphone unit sales up to 20M from 1M in one year after replicating Xiaomi's online strategy  —  Huawei's smartphone sales shoot up after copying Xiaomi's online strategy  —  (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] has taken sales of its low-price Honor brand …
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Samsung shutters flagship London store amid falling sales  —  Closing down a marquee location in one of Europe's biggest malls  —  What are Samsung Experience Stores?  Why, they're a dying species, if the latest development in Samsung's efforts to establish its own retail empire are any indication.
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
NFL to post game highlights and other video clips on Facebook with Verizon Wireless ads, share ad revenues with Facebook  —  Facebook Scores NFL Video Clips With Ads From Verizon  —  Facebook has scored a big partner as it ramps up its online video ambitions: the National Football League.
Robin Sinha / NDTV Gadgets:
Mozilla and Japan's KDDI launch Fx0, the first Firefox OS phone with 4G LTE, NFC; made by LG, costs about $420  —  LG Fx0 Firefox OS 2.0 Smartphone With Transparent Body Launched  —  LG, Mozilla and KDDI have launched Japan's first Firefox OS smartphone, the Fx0, which will go on sale Thursday.

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More News

John Timmer / Ars Technica:

Earlier Picks

John Ribeiro / PC World: