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RT @Techmeme: Encryption Has Foiled Wiretaps for First Time Ever, Feds Say (@dmkravets / Wired)

RT @Techmeme: Secret Court Declassifies Yahoo's Role in Disclosure Fight (NYT Bits)

RT @Techmeme: Secret Court Declassifies Yahoo's Role in Disclosure Fight (NYT Bits)

Pincus’s cooperation was indeed key in the hiring, said sources. It would have to be: He has 61 percent voting control in Zynga, which he founded in 2007. Sources added that Pincus has lately come to the conclusion that the company needed a top manager as CEO, so that he could focus on creating hit games and other products.

That world formed the web’s foundations — without that world to build on, Google, Facebook, and Twitter couldn’t exist. But they’ve now grown so large that everything from that web-native world is now a threat to them, and they want to shut it down. “Sunset” it. “Clean it up.” “Retire” it. Get it out of the way so they can get even bigger and build even bigger proprietary barriers to anyone trying to claim their territory. Well, fuck them, and fuck that. We need to keep pushing forward without them, and do what we’ve always done before: route around the obstructions and maintain what’s great about the web. Keep building and supporting new tools, technologies, and platforms to empower independence, interoperability, and web property ownership.

“A Trojan application … has the ability to read arbitrary application data on the device (email, SMS messages, documents, etc.), retrieve all stored account & service passwords,” Bluebox CTO Jeff Forristal posted. “It can essentially take over the normal functioning of the phone and control any function.”

Another element of the new iPhone sales push, Cook reportedly hinted, is the upcoming launch of an iPhone trade-in-program coming for Apple Stores. Sources say that the program is likely to appear within the next few months. This initiative, which was previously reported by Bloomberg, will have a large, promoted presence in Apple Stores, sources say. The program is described as “competitive” to other offerings in the existing iPhone trade-in marketplace. Apple’s program could also include encouragement for customers to upgrade a damaged older iPhone model to a refurbished iPhone 5, according to one source.

RT @Techmeme: Apple testing Android-like local voice dictation for iOS (@markgurman / 9to5Mac)

RT @Techmeme: Apple testing Android-like local voice dictation for iOS (@markgurman / 9to5Mac)

He went on to recommend people not rely on Cryptocat to keep their conversations private until the code and the cryptography in it are thoroughly audited by professional penetration testers and cryptographers. "If a mistake like this was allowed in and overlooked for so long, I've no doubt that other weaknesses exist," Caudill said. Users looking for a safer chat encryption alternative should consider apps bundled with software from the TOR project switching to PGP-encrypted e-mail instead.

Today, Bloomberg reports that the company is looking at current Head of Windows Product Development Julie Larson-Green to lead that division, which will oversee the Xbox line as well as Microsoft's surface tablets and other hardware. The business news site cited an anonymous person "familiar with the matter" for the insider information, but it notes that the decision isn't yet final and could still change before the reorganization is officially announced, possibly next week.

Today, T-Mobile announced a new plan that will allow users to trade-in their old devices and upgrade their phones up to twice per year. The monthly cost for this plan—which includes device insurance and is added on top of your regular plan/device cost—is just $10/month.

RT @Techmeme: Report: Apple mulling $280M purchase of PrimeSense, the Israeili 3D body sensor firm behind…

RT @Techmeme: Report: Apple mulling $280M purchase of PrimeSense, the Israeili 3D body sensor firm behind…

RT @Techmeme: Similar to T-Mobile's new plans, Verizon to launch 'Edge' upgrade service Aug. 25…

RT @Techmeme: Similar to T-Mobile's new plans, Verizon to launch 'Edge' upgrade service Aug. 25…

Android developer revenue closing in on iOS

RT @appletweets: Apple predicted to beat market consensus with 29M iPhones shipped in June quarter: Potential upside in Apple's...

RT @appletweets: Tumblr releases emergency update to fix password sniffing bug: Tumblr has released an emergency update for i...

RT @Techmeme: Russia says 'nyet' to Apple's iPhone (@philiped / Fortune)

RT @Techmeme: Russia says 'nyet' to Apple's iPhone (@philiped / Fortune)

I was just doing research on Android versus iOS security and was surprised by what I discovered. Did you know that for every 1 Android vulnerability there were about 9 iOS vulnerabilities? Now, this probably shouldn't come as a surprise considering iOS has always had security issues. In fact, it was so bad that you could jailbreak an iOS device by just visiting a web site at one time - it doesn't get much simpler than that. So it's kind of peculiar to hear Phil Schiller criticize Android security and telling people to be safe out there when iOS is basically one of the most insecure mobile OS's ever created. Phil probably doesn't realize that one of the benefits of being an open source OS is that the top security researches from all over the world have gone through the Android code base and picked it apart. Anyway, let's get to the vulnerabilities.

It’s said that the iPhone 5S will be rocking a 4-inch 1136×640 IGZO display, made by either Sharp or LG. The phone will also be equipped with NFC and a fingerprint scanner for security and privacy purposes. We also may be seeing a 12-megapixel rear camera on the iPhone 5S, complete with a dual LED flash.

And what, pray, is this vision, this single strategy upon which all are to agree? Why, "to execute even better on our strategy to deliver a family of devices and services that best empower people for the activities they value most and the enterprise extensions and services that are most valuable to business." Which, translated, reads: we haven't a clue, really, but we need to be seen to be doing something.

In general, the convergence we saw developing in Q2 has started to reverse. In April, the gap between the pros’ and the amateurs’ revenue estimates was just 1.3%. Now they seem to be drifting apart again. The revenue gap for Q3 has more than doubled, to 3.5%. On earnings, the two groups are, on average, 7.1% apart.

On its Podcasts page in the iTunes Store, Apple has announced that there have been one billion iTunes podcasts subscriptions since since the company launched its Podcasts section in 2005 as an alternative to radio shows. Podcasts allows anyone from individuals to companies to create their own shows and offer them for download/streaming to Apple’s iTunes customers. Apple has also made the announcement via Twitter:

People at Apple's suppliers said it asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than its current iPhone in recent months, and has asked for screen designs for a new tablet measuring slightly less than 13 inches. Whether the designs will make their way to market is unclear, but they could lead to Apple phones and tablets that are larger than the current 4-inch iPhone 5 and 9.7-inch iPad.

Now Eolas appears to be gone for good. The company mounted a lengthy appeal, but it was all for naught; this morning, a three-judge appeals panel affirmed the jury's verdict without comment.