Trump leads on social media ahead of Republican debate

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ben Carson may be ahead of Donald Trump in the most recent national Republican presidential primary opinion poll but the celebrity billionaire is still the winner on social media. In the run up to Wednesday night's third debate for Republican candidates, Trump has averaged a score of 7.3 on Thomson Reuters social media sentiment analysis index in the six weeks since the previous debate. Carson, meanwhile, has averaged negative 3

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Twitter tries to spur growth with shopping and political donations

Twitter Inc's plans to let users buy goods and make political donations through tweets offer a path to reach new customers and build profit at a time the company has struggled to increase its audience. On Tuesday, Twitter announced it has partnered with mobile payment company Square Inc to accept online donations for U.S. political campaigns

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Comcast to offer streaming services for $15 a month

(Reuters) – Cable company Comcast Corp said it is beta testing a new cable streaming service called Stream, which will broadcast live TV from HBO and about a dozen other networks for $15 per month. Launching with Boston, followed by Chicago and Seattle, Stream would let Comcast’s Xfinity Internet customers stream live TV over phones, tablets and laptops. (http://comca.st/1HXZAkF) The service, which will be available everywhere in the United States by early 2016, also comes with on-demand movies and recording features, Comcast said

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Tennis-Tennis Australia apologises for putting Tomic in ‘Hall of Shame’

Tennis Australia has apologised for a ‘clerical error’ in a media release that said estranged local player Bernard Tomic was playing in a ‘Hall of Shame’ event against compatriot John-Patrick Smith. The media release said Tomic, who was dumped from Australia’s Davis Cup team after a rant against officials, was playing Smith in the ‘Hall of Shame Tennis Championships’, causing a stir on social media networks.

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Italian cyber-security firm suspects foreign government was behind mass attack

Italian cyber-security firm Hacking Team said a government might have been behind a massive hack of its systems and warned that the subsequent leaking of its computer codes could prove a field day for criminals. Unknown hackers last week downloaded 400GB of data from the firm, which makes surveillance software that allows law enforcement and intelligence agencies to tap into the phones and computers of suspects

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BlackBerry snags two new domain names as Android chatter heats up

By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry Ltd , which has been coy about its ambitions to make a mainstream Android smartphone, fueled more speculation about its plans this week when it scooped up two Android-related domain names. The purchase of the domain names is particularly interesting since BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen has declined to confirm a June Reuters report that said the company was planning an Android phone.

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Carmakers to tech partners: Keep your hands off our data

By Julia Love and Paul Lienert SAN FRANCISCO/DETROIT (Reuters) – Carmakers are limiting the data they share with technology partners Apple Inc and Google Inc through new systems that link smartphones to vehicle infotainment systems, defending access to information about what drivers do in their cars.      Auto companies hope that the vehicle data will one day generate billions of dollars in e-commerce, though they are just beginning to form strategies for monetizing the information. Apple and Google already make money from smartphone owners by providing a variety of products and services, from digital music to targeted advertising, and connecting phones to car systems will almost certainly extend their reach.

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