Techmeme
October 4, 2016, 8:20 PM

Top News

Joseph Menn / Reuters:
Sources: Yahoo built system in 2015 to scan users' emails for specific string for US intel, which led to Alex Stamos resigning and noting privacy flaw in system  —  Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided …
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Government directive to Yahoo likely asked for warrantless scanning of all domestic comms; EFF lawyer says 4th Amendment implications are staggering  —  There's no good reason to have a Yahoo account these days.  But after Tuesday's bombshell report by Reuters, indicating the enormous …
David Cardinal / DxOMark:
DxOMark gives the Google Pixel's camera a score of 89, the highest ever and three points above the iPhone 7  —  Mobile Review  —  Overview  —  With an overall DxOMark Mobile score of 89, pixel, the latest Google smartphone, is the highest-rated smartphone camera we have ever tested.
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Google debuts 5" Pixel, 5.5" Pixel XL phones with integrated Google Assistant, 12.3MP f/2.0 camera, background Android updates, quick charge, no OIS for photos  —  The future of Android is here  —  Following an absolute deluge of pre-event leaks and revelations, Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are now finally official.
Brian Rakowski / The Keyword:
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google says it has “no plans” for more Nexus-branded products  —  With the announcement of Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL today, there has been the question of what's happening to the long-running Nexus hardware program, which started in 2010 with the Nexus One and has been comprised …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Google announces $79 Daydream VR headset, Daydream View, which works with select Android phones including Pixel  —  Google's VR future looks pretty comfy.  —  Today at its October hardware/software/everything event, the company showed off its latest VR initiatives including a Daydream headset.
Clay Bavor / The Keyword:
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Facebook Messenger has finished rolling out “Secret Conversations” to all 900M+ users for opt-in end-to-end encryption, available in its latest update  —  Last spring WhatsApp pushed out code adding a new layer of security to a billion users' apps, creating the largest end-to-end encrypted messaging network in history.
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Google unveils $129 Google Wi-Fi modular router, with packs of three available for $299; pre-orders open in November, will ship in December  —  At a press event in San Francisco today, Google announced a completely new product, the Google Wifi router.  The introduction comes a few weeks …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google debuts Home, their Echo competitor, with free 6-mo. YouTube Red subscription, Assistant and Cast integration; ships Nov. 4 for $129, pre-orders open now  —  Google Home, the company's answer to Amazon's Echo, made its official debut at the Google I/O developer conference earlier this year.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Yahoo rebrands its main mobile app as Yahoo Newsroom, a personalized news app that lets users share links to stories  —  Yahoo's homepage used to be the place where web users started their day, reading the top headlines, sports scores, stock updates, and other news.  On mobile, that's no longer always the case.

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