People Are More Freaked Out by Hacking Than Tracking, Survey Finds

Of course, the computer industry is well served by seeing one the fears of its main business models pale in comparison to the threat of evil hackers.

No Cheap Shots With This $300 Bluetooth Basketball

The future of basketball looks pretty high-tech. (You still have to practice.)

Voices

Google in $17 Million Settlement Over Improper Web Tracking

Google has agreed to pay $17 million to settle allegations brought by 37 states and the District of Columbia that it placed unauthorized tracking “cookies” on Web browsers in 2011 and 2012.

News Byte

Under Armour Buys MapMyFitness for $150 Million

Performance-gear maker Under Armour, which has been increasing its efforts in the digital-fitness space, has said it will acquire MapMyFitness for $150 million. Austin-based MapMyFitness makes a family of iOS and Android apps — MapMyRun, MapMyRide and MapMyWalk — that track workouts and allow people to share those maps through the apps. MapMyFitness claims over 20 million registered users.

Facebook Brings Ad Tracking to Your Phone

And starts competing with its ad tech partners, too.

In-Store Tracking Isn’t Going Anywhere: Nomi Close to Landing Around $10 Million Series B Investment

An attempt to bring more intelligence to the still-dominant offline retail industry.

A Handy Guide to Deleting Digital Accounts

Feel like you get the runaround when you try to delete a social networking site or other Web services? This might help.
Delete

News Byte

Jawbone Hires Leading Data Scientist to Help Take Wearable Tech to Next Level

Jawbone, maker of Bluetooth audio speakers and also the wearable Up activity tracker, has hired leading data scientist Monica Rogati as a VP of data for the Bay Area-based startup. Rogati joins Jawbone from LinkedIn, where she was a senior data scientist and had worked to build features such as “People You May Know” and “Groups You May Like.” In recent months, Jawbone has acquired data and digital design firms Massive Health and Visere, as well as BodyMedia, to bolster its position in the wearable health and fitness space. Rogati’s hire was reported earlier by TechCrunch.

Comparing Wearables: Fitbit Flex vs. Jawbone Up and More

Which activity tracker is the right one for you?

News Byte

RunKeeper Adds More Food Tracking With MyFitnessPal Pair-Up

RunKeeper, the popular GPS-based mobile app for runners, is adding more food-tracking features to the app through a partnership with MyFitnessPal, a free calorie counter and nutrition tracker. Exercise data entered in RunKeeper will now impact daily calorie allotment in MyFitnessPal, and the calories logged via MyFitnessPal will appear in the RunKeeper app. RunKeeper, which is free and runs on iPhone and Android devices, has 20 million mobile users, while MyFitnessPal claims 40 million users. RunKeeper also syncs data from Up by Jawbone, Fitbit, Withings and Lose It!, to name a few apps.