Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Cyanogen announces shut down of all services and nightly builds on December 31; users with devices running Cyanogen OS must switch to open source CyanogenMod  —  It's been a rocky few months for Cyanogen, the ambitious startup that aimed to build a better version of Android than Google.

Laura Stevens / Wall Street Journal:
How shopping online, shared Amazon accounts, web browser histories, and targeted advertising make it hard to keep holiday gifts secret from family and friends  —  Online shopping makes it simple to buy gifts, but cookies, browsing histories and thumbprint passwords make it hard to hide them; it's from Amazon, not Santa

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook removes precise location sharing in Nearby Friends, starts testing new “Wave” feature for sending waving emoji to nearby friends  —  Nearby Friends didn't turn into the Foursquare-killer it could have been, but Facebook is still trying to help people meet up in person... with a few changes.

Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Automile, maker of fleet management software and a vehicle tracking device, raises $7.5M Series A from SaaStr, Salesforce Ventures, Niklas Zennstrom, and others  —  Automile, a fleet logistics and management startup, has closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by SaaStr with participation …

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple Pulls All Withings Accessories From Apple Online Store Following Nokia Lawsuit  —  In the wake of its legal dispute with Nokia, Apple has pulled all Withings-branded accessories from its online store and presumably from all of its retail stores around the world.

Lucy Battersby / Sydney Morning Herald:
Federal Court of Australia fines Valve 3M Australian dollars over Steam store refund policies  —  Gaming company Valve Corporation has been hit with a $3 million fine after the Federal Court found its online games site Steam breached Australian Consumer Laws.

Michael Simon / Macworld:
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says company plans to release 2-3 mobile games a year, starting in 2017  —  While Android users might still be waiting for their chance to play it, Super Mario Run has blasted to the top of Apple's App Store charts and smashed download records.

Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal:
After US put Alibaba's Taobao site back on counterfeiters blacklist, Alibaba says it will create advisory board with international brands to tackle fake goods  —  Advisory board is intended to improve intellectual-property enforcement  —  Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. …

Kate Kaye / Ad Age:
Facebook has held talks with the marketing industry's Media Rating Council about auditing its metrics, engaging in MRC accreditation process  —  The marketing industry's Media Rating Council has held recent talks with Facebook about auditing its measurement methodologies …

Steven Loeb / VatorNews:
Glu Mobile buys Plain Vanilla for $1.2M, forgives $7.5M in promissory notes; Plain Vanilla, developer of once popular trivia game QuizUp had raised over $40M  —  Plain Vanilla had raised over $40M, but was sold for just $1.2M after closing shop in August  —  In the years I've covered …

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney-ABC to produce several original series for Snapchat, in bid to target younger viewers, starting with an after-party show for The Bachelor, debuting Jan 3  —  Snapchat has pulled Disney-ABC Television Group into its expanding original programming orbit, with the parties setting …

Lulu Yilun Chen / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alibaba's on-demand services unit Koubei close to raising $1.2B round at $8B valuation from Silver Lake, Jack Ma's Yunfeng, others  —  Primavera, CIC also said part of higher-than-expected funding  —  Other backers said to include CDH Investments, Yunfeng

Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:
Apple Music executives Jimmy Iovine and Larry Jackson talk about working with stars and exclusives, the role of labels, and how Apple Music supports musicians  —  By all modern metrics, Drake was far and away the most listened-to artist of 2016, a year when music consumers further abandoned CDs …

Tony Romm / Politico:
US government now presents travelers entering on visa waiver program with optional request to provide names of their social media accounts  —  NEW YORK — The U.S. government quietly began requesting that select foreign visitors provide their Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts upon arriving …