Australia banks agree Android Pay deal, Apple Pay still frozen out

By Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) – Big Australian banks have agreed to accept payments made on mobile devices using Google Inc's Android Pay, leaving Apple Inc's rival Apple Pay system out in the cold as the tech giant struggles to coax lenders to accept its terms. Banks including Westpac Banking Corp , ANZ Banking Group and Macquarie will accept contactless payments via Android smartphones when Google rolls out the service in first-half 2016, the tech giant said on Wednesday.

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U.S. TV networks court YouTube crowd in quest for digital viewers

By Lisa Richwine ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) – For the first time, cable TV network Nickelodeon staged a casting call at VidCon, a convention that draws stars of YouTube and social media like Vine, Instagram and Snapchat and their passionate followers. The Viacom-owned channel's talent search is one way traditional TV networks are recruiting Internet personalities to build audiences. YouTube stars include comedians, beauty gurus, product reviewers, gamers, musicians and fitness buffs who post videos of themselves, often looking directly into the camera.

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Clinton, congressional Benghazi panel at odds over appearance date

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign said on Saturday the former secretary of state will testify on Oct. 22 before a House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks, but a spokesman for the panel said no date had been set. Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the Benghazi investigation committee, had sought to hear from Clinton on the attacks, in which four Americans were killed, and her use of a private email account while she was America's top diplomat.

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PlentyOfFish for Match.com owner at $575 million

IAC/InterActive Corp’s Match Group, which owns Match.com, agreed to buy dating website PlentyOfFish for $575 million to push deeper into the lucrative mobile-based dating business, ahead of its planned public listing. Canada-based PlentyOfFish was launched in 2003 and has over 90 million registered users worldwide, 80 percent of whom access the services on mobile devices, according to its website. The company’s founder and Chief Executive Markus Frind grew the site to 10 million users on his own while running the company out of his Vancouver apartment.

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Microsoft warns Windows PCs also vulnerable to ‘Freak’ attacks

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of millions of Windows PC users are vulnerable to attacks exploiting the recently uncovered “Freak” security vulnerability, which was initially believed to only threaten mobile devices and Mac computers, Microsoft Corp warned. News of the vulnerability surfaced on Tuesday when a group of nine security experts disclosed that ubiquitous Internet encryption technology could make devices running Apple Inc's iOS and Mac operating systems, along with Google Inc's Android browser vulnerable to cyber attacks

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Google fourth-quarter revenue misses Wall Street target

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc's revenue grew 15 percent in the fourth quarter but fell short of Wall Street's target on declining online ad prices and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. Shares of Google edged up 0.1 percent to $510.66 in extended trading after an initial dip on the news

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