Techmeme
December 29, 2017, 9:45 PM

Top News

Apple:
Apple apologizes for inadequately communicating battery management practices that slowed down iPhones with older batteries, will offer $29 battery replacements  —  We've been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process.
More: iFixit, BGR, Patently Apple, 9to5Mac, iMore, MacRumors, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, International Business Times, Forbes, Macworld, The Verge, Washington Post, TechCrunch, TechSpot, PhoneDog.com, SlashGear, Digital Trends, iPhone in Canada Blog, Neowin, USA Today, Mashable, iPhone Hacks, Computerworld, TheStreet, Geek.com, PYMNTS.com, iDownloadBlog.com, Firstpost, BleepingComputer.com, Lifehacker, Slashdot, Silicon Valley Business …, MacDailyNews, Petri, DSLreports, Washington Post, iPhone Hacks, AppAdvice.com, CNBC, The Mac Observer, International Business Times, Tech Times, BGR India, ExtremeTech, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, AnandTech, New York Times, Daring Fireball, Newser, Trak.in, Fone Arena, CNET, The Hill, ZDNet, Softpedia News, Six Colors, Pocket-lint, Recode, Cult of Mac, TechnoBuffalo, Michael Tsai, TechConnect, Fortune, BBC, ABC News, CNNMoney, Deadline, Tom's Guide, San Francisco Chronicle, WRAL TechWire, New York Magazine, Insanely Great Mac, GeekWire, MacStories, BetaNews, Ars Technica, Slate, Engadget, Gizmodo, Liliputing, PhoneArena, MacRumors, Digital Photography Review, The Tech Report, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, TmoNews, VentureBeat, and NBC Bay Area
Victor H. / PhoneArena:
LG, HTC, Motorola say they don't throttle phones with older batteries; Samsung says it doesn't throttle via software updates “over the lifecycles of the phone”  —  Two of the biggest Android phone makers - Samsung and LG - have just confirmed that they do not slow down phones …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Apple says it will issue an iOS software update in early 2018 with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery  —  Batteries are “consumable components” now  —  Apple just published a letter to customers apologizing for the “misunderstanding” …
Apple Support:
Justin Sink / Bloomberg:
In a tweet, President Donald Trump calls on the United States Postal Service to charge Amazon “much more” in postage fees  —  Latest criticism of online retailer and its CEO Jeff Bezos  —  Amazon stock opens as much as 0.6 percent lower after tweet
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Gamers say deadly shooting of a man Thursday night by Wichita police was the result of a swatting prank  —  A 28-year-old Kansas man was shot and killed by police officers on the evening of Dec. 28 after someone fraudulently reported a hostage situation ongoing at his home.
Financial Times:
Pavel Lerner, an executive of Bitcoin exchange Exmo who was kidnapped in Ukraine, was released after paying $1M+ ransom in bitcoins, according to a Ukrainian MP  —  An executive of a UK-registered cryptocurrency exchange kidnapped in Ukraine this week has been released after paying a ransom …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
SoftBank agrees to buy at least 14% of Uber from shareholders at a $48B valuation, will invest an additional $1.25B at a $67.5B valuation, documents show  —  SAN FRANCISCO — A group of Uber's largest shareholders have agreed to sell a significant stake in the ride-hailing giant at a steep discount …
Robby Payne / Chrome Unboxed:
Android apps in the upcoming Chrome OS 64 update will be able to run in the background  —  Thanks to some reader input, we've been made aware that a missing feature we discussed not long ago that is now coming soon to a Chromebook near you.  —  That feature?  Android Parallel Tasks.
Ryan Whitwam / Android Police:
Google removes Pixel C, released in December 2015, from the Google Store; Pixel C was the only Android tablet the company sold  —  Google started selling the Pixel C about two years ago as an Android flagship tablet.  The price was high, but it was a good Android tablet.  Well, as good as Android tablets could be.

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