Techmeme: NSA had broadly deployed technology to convert spoken words from phone calls into searchable text by 2006, Snowden documents reveal (Dan Froomkin/The Intercept)

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May 6, 2015, 12:45 AM

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Bloomberg Business:

Microsoft evaluates possible bid for Salesforce though companies are not in talks — Microsoft Is Said to Evaluate Possible Bid for Salesforce.com — Microsoft Corp. is evaluating a bid for Salesforce.com Inc., after the cloud software provider was approached by another would-be buyer, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Sources: Apple to announce new Beats at WWDC on June 8 with consumer non-beta launch late June — Beats revamp still debuting at WWDC, global release late-June, iOS 9 details revealed — According to a report today from Billboard, Apple does not have the deals in place to launch …

Matt Townsend / Bloomberg Business:

Home Depot announces it will accept Apple Pay after equipment upgrade, making it the biggest retailer to do so with more than 2K stores — Home Depot to Become Largest Retailer to Accept Apple Pay — Home Depot Inc. plans to enable Apple Inc.'s mobile-payment platform at its more than 2,000 stores …

More: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, MacRumors, iMore, Cult of Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, Patently Apple, O'Grady's PowerPage, Ubergizmo, MacNN, iDownloadBlog.com, App Advice and The Mac Observer

New York Times:

Google Ventures' Bill Maris likens the $6M cash-out by founders of portfolio company Secret to a “bank heist” in interview — The Lessons Google Ventures Learned From Secret — For many in Silicon Valley, the rapid rise and precipitous fall of Secret, the prominent start …

More: Business Insider and Medium. Tweets: @andrewchen, @caseynewton, @netspencer, @dgelles, @mdudas and @sambeal

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Google rolls out new ad formats for small screens as mobile searches overtake desktop in US, Japan, and eight other countries — Google Rolls Out New Ads as Mobile Searches Top PCs in 10 Countries — Google Tuesday expanded its suite of ads for mobile devices that offer users information …

More: Inside AdWords, VentureBeat, New York Times, Search Engine Land, SlashGear, Consumerist, Search Engine Watch, TechSpot and Business Insider

Tweets: @amir, @aaronwall and @alistairmbarr

Nitasha Tiku / The Verge:

Source: Twitter CFO Anthony Noto to head marketing department as search for CMO continues — Twitter gives control of its hapless marketing department to its chief financial officer — As an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, Anthony Noto orchestrated Twitter's initial public offering.

More: Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, SocialTimes and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @nitashatiku, @selviano, @mathewi, @fioraaeterna, @jyarow and @mikeisaac

Madeline McMahon / Bloomberg Business:

Apple's Ahrendts was the top-paid woman in the US last year with $83M, Marissa Mayer was the country's highest-paid female CEO making $59.1M — Apple's Ahrendts Emerges as Top-Paid U.S. Woman With $83 Million — Angela Ahrendts, Apple Inc.'s senior vice president of retail and online stores …

More: Telegraph, Guardian, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, Tech News Today, 9to5Mac, Benzinga, AppleInsider, Mashable, Business Insider Australia, abc7news.com, iPhone in Canada Blog and SiliconBeat

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Google to let developers A/B test app profile pages on Play Store, try different price points, will likely announce at Google I/O 2015 — Google Sweetens Android for App Developers — App stores have hardly been hotbeds of innovation in recent years. But Google is taking some new steps …

More: The Next Web, Engadget, The Verge, Pocketnow, Digital Trends, Ubergizmo, ITworld.com, Business Insider, Droid Life, Android Authority and 9to5Google

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:

OpenTV files lawsuit against Apple alleging iTunes software violates five streaming patents — Interactive TV Pioneer OpenTV Sues Apple, Alleging Patent Infringement — Interactive television pioneer OpenTV has sued Apple, alleging that the Cupertino technology giant infringed on its patents.

More: Engadget, CNET, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac and MacRumors

Antonio Regalado / MIT Technology Review:

Sources: Apple working with US researchers to offer DNA testing via ResearchKit — Apple Has Plans for Your DNA — The iPhone could become a new tool in genetic studies. — Of all the rumors ever to swirl around the world's most valuable company, this may be the first that could involve spitting in a plastic cup.

More: Forbes, 9to5Mac, BuzzFeed, iDownloadBlog.com, VentureBeat, The Verge, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac and iMore

BBC:

EU court rules Skype's name is too similar to Britain's Sky broadcasting, preventing Microsoft from registering trademark — Court says Skype's name is too similar to Sky's — The court said Skype's logo resembled a cloud — Video chat software Skype's name is so similar …

More: Engadget, iMore, The Next Web, Neowin, Pocket-lint, Electronista, The Verge and CNET. Tweets: @caseynewton

Andrew Webster / The Verge:

GOG's DRM-free Steam competitor is finally open to everyone — GOG is best known for its library of classic games — it was originally called Good Old Games — but last year the company announced a new venture that would put it in direct competition with PC gaming behemoth Steam.

More: GOG.com news, Digital Trends, Engadget, Gamasutra, Ars Technica, PC Gamer, IGN, SiliconANGLE, Polygon, PCWorld, Forbes, gameinformer.com, Lifehacker, Kotaku, MCV: Home Stream and GameSpot

Sharon Begley / Reuters:

IBM's Watson to guide cancer therapies at 14 centers, analyzing tumors' genetic make-up with the findings of scientific papers and clinical trials — IBM's Watson to guide cancer therapies at 14 centers — (Reuters) - Fourteen U.S. and Canadian cancer institutes will use International …

More: PR Newswire, Bloomberg Business, EHRintelligence.com, PR Newswire, HealthITAnalytics, US News, Tech Times, Engadget and PR Newswire

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Netflix urges FCC to reject AT&T/DirecTV merger “as currently proposed” — AT&T/DirecTV will have incentive to harm online video providers, Netflix says. — Netflix wants the Federal Communications Commission to reject AT&T's proposed acquisition of DirecTV, or at least impose conditions …

More: Reuters, Bloomberg Business, Consumerist, Wireless Week, The Register, TelecomLead, Associated Press, WebProNews, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, DSLreports, Financial Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Business Insider, FierceCable, The Hill and GamePolitics blogs. See also Mediagazer

Stacey Higginbotham / Fortune:

Comcast expands home automation platform with nine new partners including Nest, August, and Automatic, plans SDK later this year — Comcast's Xfinity home platform adds Nest, August, and more — Comcast has expanded its home automation lineup by adding support for devices …

More: Seeking Alpha. Tweets: @gigastacey

Klint Finley / Wired:

Facebook and IBM partner to combine retail data and Facebook user data to improve ad targeting — Facebook and IBM Team Up To Supercharge Personalized Ads — Facebook and IBM are teaming up to help retailers better target advertising on the world's largest social network.

More: New York Times, Fortune, ZDNet, TechCrunch and AdAge

Jacob Gershman / Wall Street Journal:

US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses decision, rules citizens have no expectation of privacy when third party company holds data such as cell phone records — Appeals Court Overturns Privacy Win in Phone-Tracking Case — Police don't need a warrant to track the cellphones of criminal suspects …

More: Motherboard, ZDNet and The Verge

Dan Froomkin / The Intercept:

NSA had broadly deployed technology to convert spoken words from phone calls into searchable text by 2006, Snowden documents reveal — How the NSA Converts Spoken Words Into Searchable Text — Most people realize that emails and other digital communications they once considered private can now become part of their permanent record.

More: Slashdot, Ars Technica, RT, Engadget and The Hill. Tweets: @csoghoian

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft's Outlook.com will be powered by Office 365, but the name will remain the same — Microsoft's Outlook.com will be powered by Office 365 — Microsoft is planning to replace the technology and interface of Outlook.com with Office 365. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell …

More: Windows Central and WinBeta

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Millions of Snapcodes, Snapchat's QR codes for users, being scanned each week, can now be downloaded in vector format to share on sites and posters — How Snapchat Made QR Codes Cool Again — QR codes have been a laughing-stock for years now. The gangly square bar codes were slapped …

More: Snapchat. Thanks:@joshconstine

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Snapchat rolls out update letting users embellish Discover clips with text and drawings, share them with friends

More: Wired, Los Angeles Times, ClickZ, The Daily Dot, Mashable, Business Insider, The Next Web and VentureBeat

Tweets: @catalinacma, @joshconstine and @kevindeshazo

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