Techmeme
January 13, 2015, 4:55 AM

Top News

Mark Scott / New York Times:
British Prime Minister wants to ban encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and iMessage if security agencies can't access them  —  British Prime Minister Suggests Banning Some Online Messaging Apps  —  LONDON — Popular messaging services like Snapchat and WhatsApp are in the cross hairs in Britain.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Latest iOS 8.2 iPhone beta adds Apple Watch Bluetooth support, confirms app  —  The latest iOS 8.2 beta for the iPhone adds support for Apple's next major product launch: the Apple Watch.  Inside of the Bluetooth Settings menu is a new panel specifically for pairing an iPhone with the Apple Watch.
Tiernan Ray / Tech Trader Daily:
AMD's Graphics, Marketing, Strategy Execs All Depart  —  Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) this evening announced via an 8-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission that its director director of its microprocessor and its graphics chips, or GPU, John Byrne, is leaving the company, “to pursue other opportunities.”
Re/code:
Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso hands over CEO Role to Sheree Waterson as it focuses on expansion to more physical stores  —  Nasty Gal Founder Hands Over CEO Role at Cutting-Edge Online Fashion Retailer  —  Sophia Amoruso will always be the #GirlBoss.  But she's giving up the official boss title at Nasty Gal.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google launches Chrome Remote Desktop for iOS  —  Google today launched its Chrome Remote Desktop app for iOS, some nine months after releasing the tool on its own mobile platform.  Like its Android counterpart, the iOS version lets you remotely control your computer using your smartphone or tablet.
Nick Statt / CNET:
Top AI experts sign open letter calling for research that maximizes societal benefit of AI  —  Artificial intelligence experts sign open letter to protect mankind from machines  —  The Future of Life Institute wants humanity to tread lightly while on the road to human-level artificial intelligence.
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
NoSQL Pioneer Basho Scores $25M To Attempt A Comeback  —  Basho was once a rising star in the NoSQL space, but over time other vendors began to move in, and it lost a step or two — then came a big turnover of key personnel last year.  With company ready to start anew, CEO Adam Wray …
Brian Resnick / National Journal:
CNN reaches agreement with FAA to test multiple professional-grade drones for newsgathering  —  CNN's Drone Journalism Is Just the Beginning  —  Free speech, meet the quadcopter.  —  CNN announced Monday it has come to an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Sources: Twitter in talks to buy Yo-like startup ZipDial for $30M-$40M, in effort to enter Indian market  —  Twitter Is In Talks With India's ZipDial  —  We have heard that Twitter is making another acquisition, with international growth and mobile marketing in mind.
More: Benzinga, bgr.in and BenzingaTweets: @rafat
Adam Clark Estes / Gizmodo:
Hackers claiming to be ISIS “Cyber Caliphate” seize US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts  —  Someone Claiming to Be ISIS Says They Hacked CENTCOM, Leaks Docs Online  —  U.S. Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts just lit up in a bad way.
Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times:
EMC to Add 2 Directors in Temporary Truce With Elliott Management  —  The data storage giant EMC has reached a truce with a prominent activist hedge fund — for now, anyway — by agreeing to add two directors to its board.  —  EMC said on Monday that José E. Almeida …
Mike Snider / USA Today:
Majority of shuttle drivers for Apple, eBay, Yahoo, and Zynga want to join Teamsters union  —  More tech shuttle drivers want union  —  The move to unionize Silicon Valley shuttle bus drivers is spreading.  —  The Teamsters have contacted the CEOs of six Silicon Valley-area companies …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Tinder acquires Chill, the creators of ephemeral messenger app Tappy, as part of a strategic acquihire; Tappy to shut down  —  Tinder Acquires Ephemeral Messenger Tappy  —  Tinder has just closed its first acquisition.  The IAC-backed startup has purchased Chill, creators of Tappy, as part of a strategic acquihire.
Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority:
New MDK for Project Ara released ahead of second developer conference  —  Google has just released the second version of their Module Developers Kit (MDK .2) for Project Ara, which expands on how developers should go about creating new modules.  We weren't planning to see anything regarding …
More: 9to5Google and Gigaom
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
Sequoia-backed international restaurant discovery service Zomato buys IAC's Urbanspoon for $50M to $60M to enter US market  —  Restaurant Discovery Site Zomato Buys IAC's Urbanspoon, Enters The U.S.  —  Zomato, the restaurant discovery site backed by Sequoia, has bought Urbanspoon from IAC …

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Google:
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