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Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs considers buying Yahoo

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Yahoo
Apple could have teamed up with Disney to make an offer.
Photo: Yahoo

February 4 Today in Apple historyFebruary 4, 2008: Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly considers buying the search engine Yahoo. Apple is one of several interested companies, following reports that Microsoft offered $44.6 billion for the web portal the previous week.

Nothing ultimately comes of it, but Apple’s interest is later confirmed in an authorized biography of Jobs.

NFL ‘considers’ its own streaming service for mobile devices

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NFL plans its own streaming service
It could cost just $5 a month.
Photo: Adrian Curiel/Unsplash

There may soon be yet another streaming service to add to your roster. The National Football League is said to be considering a platform of its own, dubbed NFL+, that will stream live games to smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

NFL+ could also provide access to radio, podcasts and team content, according to a new report, which claims teams were briefed on the plans at the annual NFL owners’ meeting that recently took place in Palm Beach, Florida.

Verizon’s new Yahoo Mobile phone service boasts $40 unlimited data

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Yahoo Mobile on iPhone 11
Verizon offers a cheaper unlimited data plan for iPhone via its Yahoo Mobile service.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A phone service Verizon launched today offers iPhone and Androids unlimited data for $39.99, including tethering. That’s significantly less than the cost of this carrier’s regular unlimited plan.

But, of course, there are limitations in the new service, dubbed Yahoo Mobile.

Apple runs afoul of Japanese government again

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Apple Japan required carriers to subsidize iPhone
Apple Japan allegedly used strong-arm tactics to get Yahoo's Game Plus online service shut down.
Photo: Apple

For the second time this year, Apple is being investigated by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission. This time, it may have forced Yahoo to scale back a web-only gaming platform that competes with the App Store.

Apple Japan seems to play hardball. This summer, the FTC made it stop forcing Japanese carriers to put subsidies on iOS handsets.

Yahoo hack hit all 3 billion accounts in 2013

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Yahoo
The hack was bigger than anyone imagined.
Photo: Yahoo

Yahoo’s huge security breach was already considered the largest hack ever when it was revealed at the end of last year, but it appears to have been even worse than the company originally knew.

In a new filing with the SEC, Yahoo, which is now part of Oath, disclosed that all of its approximately 3 billion accounts were impacted by the breach. If you’re still using an old Yahoo password, now is a really good time to change it.

Verizon CEO reveals plan to launch TV streaming service

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AOL just got bought by the king of mobile.
Verizon has a massive platform for video content.
Photo: Verizon

Once Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo finally gets completed this summer, a new TV streaming service could roll out to customers shortly after.

The news that Verizon is planning to enter the highly competitive streaming TV market was revealed today by the company’s CEO Lowell McAdam, who says the platform will be a great place to test out an over-the-top service.

Leaked Fitbit smartwatch looks too ugly to beat Apple Watch

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Fitbit's first true watch looks boring.
Fitbit's first true watch looks boring.
Photo: Yahoo

Photos of the first real smartwatch by Fitbit leaked to the internet today and based on the teaser images, Apple doesn’t have much to worry about.

Fitbit is supposedly planning to launch its proper smartwatch this fall along with a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. The company originally planned to unveil the products this spring to get a head start on Apple, but it looks like they could use some more development.

Take a closer look:

Apple backs transgender student in Supreme Court fight

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Supreme Court plaintiff and LGBT rights advocate Gavin Grimm.
Apple is backing Supreme Court plaintiff and LGBT rights advocate Gavin Grimm.
Photo: Geoff Livingston/Flickr CC

Apple and dozens of other top tech companies filed a Supreme Court brief today in support of a transgender boy’s fight for equality.

In the case, Gavin Grimm, a transgender student from Virginia, is suing the Gloucester County School Board for creating a bathroom policy he says discriminates against transgender students by separating them from their peers.

Warren Buffett is betting big on Apple

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Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Apple could send the price back up.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Some of the world’s biggest investors have ditched their Apple shares lately, but where others see doom and gloom Warren Buffett sees an opportunity to make some serious money. 

Warren Buffet’s legendary investment firm Berkshire Hathaway has taken a large position in Apple stock, scooping up 9.81 million shares, worth about $1.07 billion.

Hack exposes millions of Gmail, Microsoft and Yahoo logins

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Google-Chrome
And some hackers want less than $1 for them.
Photo: Jay Wennington/Unsplash

The usernames and passwords for over 270 million hacked email accounts are being traded on Russia’s black market.

One security expert warns that while most of them are Mail.ru accounts for Russia’s most popular email service, tens of millions of them belong to Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo Mail users.

Apple passes on bid for NFL streaming rights

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Apple TV won't be streaming football this year.
Apple TV won't be streaming football this year.
Photo: NFL

As it turns out, Apple is not ready for some football.

The iPhone-maker was expected to be among a number of tech giants bidding for the streaming rights to 18 regular season football games this year, but it appears the company has decided to pass on the option to bid, figuring it wouldn’t be a big enough draw for the Apple TV platform. 

Move over, Marissa! Angela Ahrendts is highest-paid woman in U.S.

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Ahrendts
Will.i.am cheesin' with Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts at the Apple Watch unveiling. Photo: Leander Kahney/ Cult of Mac
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Stealing Angela Ahrendts away from Burberry didn’t come cheap for Apple. The new VP of retail operations quickly became one of the top paid execs at Apple in 2014, and according to a new report, the former Burberry CEO has already become the highest paid woman in the U.S., beating out Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer.

How Yahoo plans to blast your Apple Watch with news

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Will you read the news on Apple Watch? Photo: Apple

Developers are making a mad dash to finish their first Apple Watch apps before the wearable goes on sale in April. Yahoo is among those looking to make a big splash with must-have apps, and when it comes to bringing you the news, the company is hoping you’ll want it in bite-size chunks.

Yahoo’s Nick D’Aloisio sat down with Bloomberg today to talk about how digesting the news is going to change once you slap a tiny Apple Watch screen to your wrist. To bring long-form news to wearers, D’Aloisio says Yahoo Digest will focus on giving you the most salient pieces of a story, accompanied by little visual elements called atoms.

Watch Nick explain the news revolution Yahoo plans to unleash:

Yahoo aims to kill passwords with on-demand codes

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Yahoo is stepping up its security game. Photo: Yahoo
Yahoo is stepping up its security game. Photo: Yahoo

Passwords are easy to forget. They’re even easier to steal. Now Yahoo has unveiled a new scheme to make permanent passwords as outdated as Morse code.

Yahoo is rolling out its “on-demand” email passwords that utilize phone notifications so you’ll never have to memorize a password again. It works kind of like two-factor authentication, except you don’t ever have to type in your primary password.

Jony Ive was ‘tormented’ with jealousy over Yahoo’s beautiful weather app

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Photo: AddictiveTips
Jony Ive's jealousy over Yahoo weather app yielded a startling imitation. Photo: AddictiveTips

One of the first projects Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer oversaw as CEO was the Yahoo Weather app. The app was so well received that it even ended up receiving a coveted Apple Design Award in 2013.

Apple also redesigned its stock Weather app to look just like it in iOS 7.

It turns out that it wasn’t a coincidence the two apps looked so similar. Jony Ive was “tormented” with jealously of Yahoo Weather’s design.

Yahoo really wants to replace Google search in Safari

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Yahoo is stepping up its security game. Photo: Yahoo
Yahoo has been vying for the default search spot in Safari, and 2015 might be the year it finally happens. Photo: Yahoo

Thanks to contractual obligations that are purportedly ending this year, Google’s days as Safari’s search provider could be numbered. And Yahoo wants to take its spot.

During Yahoo’s quarterly earnings call yesterday, Marissa Mayer reiterated her interest in being Safari’s main search engine. “The Safari platform is basically one of the premier search deals in the world if not the premier search deal in the world,” she said in response to a question about Yahoo’s plans for search.

The best mail client on mobile just got even better

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CloudMagic, the best third-party email client for mobile, just got even better thanks to a major new update that’s available right now on Android and iOS. In addition to adding quick filters for things like unread and starred messages, the release brings customizable alert tones, account nicknames, access to spam folders, and lots more.

Flickr update adds new sharing and tagging options

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Yahoo’s iOS Flickr client got a revamp this morning, adding several handy features — including new options related to sharing, tagging, and describing your photo albums.

Users now have the ability to share their albums via Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter, in addition to Mail and SMS. The update also provides users with the chance to add and edit both tags and descriptions of their photos from inside the app.

Tim Cook, tech leaders urge Senate to curb government surveillance

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Congress has dropped the ball on surveillance reform, according to Tim Cook and a host of other top tech CEOs throughout the country.

In a full-page ad printed in today’s Washington Times, the tech companies tell the Senate it’s been a year since revelations on the NSA’s over reach were made known to citizens, but Congress has failed to pass a version of the  USA Freedom Act that would restore the confidence of internet users.

Here’s the full ad: