• Venezuela and Nicaragua offer asylum to Edward Snowden – The offer’s made, but will Snowden accept it, and can he even get to either of those countries from Moscow, where he’s holed up. Also ‘Restore The 4th’ galvanizes over 100 nation-wide protests against NSA, PRISM, and government spying
• How To Opt Out Of AT&T’s Plan To Sell Everything It Knows About You And Your Smartphone Use – As does competitor Verizon, AT&T is now selling info gleaned from your smartphone in anonymous, aggregated form to advertisers. If you’re an AT&T smartphone user and want to opt out, you can do so here.
• Jay-Z Is Watching, and He Knows Your Friends – You can use a free app to get Beyoncé’s husband’s latest album, but to unlock lyrics you’ll have to tout the album in an update to Twitter or Facebook. Yep, Jay-Z’s turning his fans into spammers.
• BBC to end 3D TV experiment with ‘Doctor Who’ special later this year – Really, no one wants to wear those stupid glasses to watch television. ESPN also ended its 3D TV service earlier this year.
• RIAA Hits 25 Million Google Takedowns, Web Blocking Making Things Worse – It’s a game of digital whack-a-mole.
• Japan’s DoCoMo holds out to iPhone mania, but at what cost? – Japan’s largest carrier doesn’t offer the iPhone because Apple won’t allow the device to be loaded down with extra software and services. Customers who want the device are leaving for other carriers as a result.
• Newly Published Apple Mapping Patent Details Route Feedback System, Real-Time Accident Reporting – It’s similar in concept to Waze.
• FCC officially approves Softbank buyout of Sprint and Sprint buyout of ClearWire – Sprint says it now expects the deal to close in “early July 2013”.
• Michael Dell, Silver Lake Said to Rule Out Raising Offer – Dell’s board wanted more money for the buyout.
• IT spending to rise just 2 percent this year, says Gartner – Spending had been projected to increase by 4.1 percent.
• Amazon and Barnes & Noble slash prices on tablets in Europe – Amazon also recently cut its prices on its Kindle Fire HD tablets in the U.S.
• Google sends invites to 11 July press event – subtly hints at Moto X unveiling in ad? but Moto X not on agenda for upcoming Google event, says source
• Who will get Hulu? No clear answer at close of latest bidding – It’s possible Hulu won’t be sold at all.
