Techmeme: Lenovo unveils 5-inch VIBE Shot 2-in-one 16MP smartphone/camera with image stabilization, tri-color flash; available June for $349 (AnandTech)

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March 3, 2015, 12:45 AM

Top News

Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:

Google quietly backs away from encrypting new Lollipop devices by default — Encrypted storage will only be required in “future versions of Android.” — Last year, Google made headlines when it revealed that its next version of Android would require full-disk encryption on all new phones.

More: PC World, Engadget, iMore, MobileSyrup.com, Gigaom, The Register, Phandroid, PhoneDog.com, VentureBeat, AppleInsider, Android Authority, Droid Life, 9to5Google, OSNews, BGR, NextBigWhat, Global Nerdy and Android Police

Tweets: @ageis and @thegrugq

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Tim Cook says Apple Watch will be available outside U.S. in April — Speaking at the Berlin flagship Apple Store last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees that the Apple Watch will not be exclusive to the United States in April, according to employees in attendance.

More: App Advice, Electronista, Tech2, Ubergizmo, iPhone in Canada Blog, Macworld, CNET, BGR, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com and The Next Web

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Cook teases ‘ton’ of Apple Watch announcements, including Panera Bread, Salesforce enterprise & fitness apps — In addition to discussing the international Apple Watch launch and accessibility efforts at a briefing in Germany, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased “a whole ton of announcements coming shortly …

More: App Advice, MacDailyNews, Business Insider and iPhone in Canada Blog. Tweets: @markgurman

Luke Westaway / CNET:

The Lenovo A7000 is a $169, 5.5-inch 4G LTE smartphone with Dolby sound — BARCELONA — Once the preserve of the high-fallutin', gadget-lovin' elite, smartphones no longer need to cost the Earth. The latest mobile to offer smartphone tech on a modest budget is Lenovo's A7000 …

More: Android Authority, PC Pro, NDTV Gadgets, India - The Huffington Post, Tech2 and MobileBurn.com

AnandTech:

Lenovo unveils 5-inch VIBE Shot 2-in-one 16MP smartphone/camera with image stabilization, tri-color flash; available June for $349 — Lenovo at MWC 2015: VIBE Shot SmartPhone/Camera Crossover Announced — As part of our booth tour at Lenovo during Mobile World Congress …

More: Lenovo Newsroom, Engadget, Android Authority, PhoneArena, Tom's Guide, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, PhoneDog.com, GadgeTell, Pocket-lint, Android and Me, Android Authority, Android Police, The Verge, ShinyShiny and PhoneArena

Sebastian Anthony / Ars Technica:

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 will feature Kryo CPU, Krait's 64-bit successor — At long last, it's (almost) time for Qualcomm's custom-designed 64-bit chip. — BARCELONA, Spain—Qualcomm, after an agonizingly long wait, has finally revealed a few details about its next-gen, top-end CPU core.

More: AnandTech, Engadget, Ars Technica, Forbes, TechnoBuffalo, Wired.co.uk, Wired.co.uk, BBC, Pocket-lint, Android Authority, Neowin and CNET

Joel Hruska / ExtremeTech:

Qualcomm's cognitive compute processors are coming to Snapdragon 820

More: Droid Life, Ubergizmo, Forbes, Android Police and Android Central

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

PayPal to Pay $280 Million for Paydiant to Help Retailers Compete With Apple Pay — PayPal isn't giving up on payments in brick-and-mortar stores. — The eBay payment unit plans to acquire Paydiant, a payments startup that licenses a technology platform used by big retail chains to create their own branded mobile wallet apps.

Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:

PayPal announces NFC-enabled card reader coming to Australia and the U.K. this summer, U.S. later this year

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Sundar Pichai: Google Will Give Details Of Its U.S. Mobile Network ‘In The Coming Months’ — While Google continues to build out “cell towers in the sky” in the form of balloons and solar-powered airplanes, it's also gearing up to launch an experimental mobile network in the U.S. Today …

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Sundar Pichai confirms Android Pay, says it will exist as an “API layer” for developers

More: The Next Web, SlashGear, Android Central, InvestorPlace, Computerworld, AppleInsider, Android Police, MacRumors, Ubergizmo, Android Authority and iPhone in Canada Blog

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple releases first OS X 10.10.3 Public Beta with new Photos app — Apple today released the first Public Beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.3. The new release includes the iCloud-based Photos application for the Mac, new Emojis across the system, and simpler login to Google accounts …

More: MacRumors, The Next Web, The Verge, iMore, Ars Technica, GeekWire, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, InvestorPlace, MacRumors, iClarified, iThinkDifferent, O'Grady's PowerPage, TechCrunch, Macworld and Engadget

Niall Kennedy / The Twitter Blog:

Embed Twitter-hosted video on your website — With the new embedded video widget, you can highlight Twitter-hosted video on your website, enhanced by the same JavaScript used to render Tweet buttons and embedded Tweets. — Video embeds are available for videos captured …

More: The Verge, WebProNews, SocialTimes, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Mashable, Tubefilter and VentureBeat

Steven Levy / Backchannel:

On its 20th anniversary, Marissa Mayer talks about turning around Yahoo — On Yahoo's 20th Anniversary, its CEO presents a progress report on how she's turning around—and maybe transforming—an Internet icon — It is sunset in Sunnyvale, but Marissa Mayer's day is far from over.

More: Yahoo, Silicon Valley Watcher, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Quartz and WebProNews

Tweets: @pogue, @kimmaicutler and @dmac1

Jeff Mason / Reuters:

Obama criticizes China's new rules requiring US tech companies to provide backdoor access, says Beijing must change policy if it wants to do business with USA — Exclusive: Obama sharply criticizes China's plans for new technology rules — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama …

More: Motherboard, NBC News and The Hill

Tweets: @matthew_d_green, @lorenzofb and @loosewire

Stephen Shankland / CNET:

Mark Zuckerberg praises carriers at MWC, attempts to allay concerns that Internet.org is a threat to their business — Zuckerberg: Carriers will connect the world, not sci-fi — Facebook's CEO downplays Google's drone and balloon ideas for broadening Net access, saying it's the carriers …

Kashmir Hill / Fusion:

Open Whisper System's Signal app for encrypted calls gets encrypted texting in version 2.0 for iOS — You can now call or text anyone with end-to-end encryption, for free — For years, smartphone users have been out of luck if they wanted to call or text everyone in their address books …

More: Open Whisper Systems Blog, Wired, The Intercept, Threatpost, Ars Technica, Forbes, The Next Web, RT and The Verge. Tweets: @micahflee

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Judge halts movie industry-backed probe against Google — A federal judge has agreed to put the brakes on an investigation into Google by Mississippi Attorney General, Jim Hood, after the company complained that Hood's inquiry was an illegal censorship campaign cooked up by Hollywood.

More: Northeast Mississippi …, Computerworld, Techdirt, Wall Street Journal and The Verge. See also Mediagazer

Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:

Netflix will launch in New Zealand and Australia on March 24 — Netflix is announcing that its video streaming services will become available in New Zealand and Australia on March 24, 2015. — The service will be available on smart televisions made by Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Philips …

More: Netflix, ZDNet, The Next Web and NEWS.com.au. See also Mediagazer

Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Intel at MWC 2015: SoFIA, Rockchip, Low Cost Integrated LTE, Atom Renaming and 14nm Cherry Trail — After day zero at Mobile World Congress already boasting some impressive releases, Intel tackles their platform on day one on several different fronts. As part of a pre-briefing …

More: Intel Newsroom, Engadget, Tech Trader Daily, PC World, NDTV Gadgets, Seeking Alpha, TelecomLead, ZDNet, V3.co.uk, Wired, Reuters, Bloomberg Business, ExtremeTech, Inquirer, Android Police, CNET, VentureBeat and Ars Technica

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Mozilla launches 64-bit Firefox Developer Edition for Windows — Mozilla today released Firefox Developer Edition 38, which for the first time includes a 64-bit flavor for Windows. You can download the new version now directly from Mozilla.org. — So, what does a 64-bit version of Firefox offer for the user?

More: Mozilla Hacks and The Next Web

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

6" Alcatel Hero 2+ comes with Cyanogen OS, octacore Mediatek CPU, available for $299 unlocked in US this spring — Alcatel's Hero 2+ will come to the US with Cyanogen OS — Today at Mobile World Congress, Cyanogen and Alcatel announced the Hero 2+, a 6-inch smartphone that will come with Cyanogen OS preinstalled.

More: SiliconBeat, PhoneNews.com, PC Magazine, CNET and Android Authority

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Alcatel's flagship Idol 3 smartphones feature mid-range specs at low cost, will be available unlocked in the US this spring starting at just $200

More: Android Authority

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