Welcome back to reality. Labor Day weekend signifies the end of summer and the day after Labor Day is always a tough news day. Most of the news is a retake or remake of last week's news or items that "broke" over the weekend. But there are some gems hidden out there. Most noteworthy are the continued dance card being played by T-Mobile where interested buyers come along and kick the tires, look under the hood and make an offer. Don't be surprised to see USA private equity come in along with, or without Illiad, and some sort of John Legere management led buyout or even a consortium that involves Vodafone in some way….Apple gets knocked around for the Celbrity Photo Scandal but will survive….but in their own way just served app developers notice about health and fitness data and how it relates to marketing…Uber has to fight the Germans as the courts are looking to slow them down.. All this and more, SO ON WITH THE NEWS…

Iliad in Talks with Third Parties About Possible Fresh Bid for T-Mobile US

French telecommunications company Iliad SA said it isn't giving up its pursuit of T-Mobile US Inc. and is considering teaming up with partners possibly to make a better offer for the U.S.'s fourth-largest mobile operator by subscribers. Iliad saidMonday that it was in talks with several potential partners-industrial and financial…

Lawful intercept by authorities, hopefully with a proper search warrant issued by a judge, is being challenged across the USA as mobile networks upgrade to LTE/4G and refarm their 2G spectrum. Technology that makes it possible is now on the market, but municipalities need to upgrade.

Cities scramble to upgrade 'stingray' tracking as end of 2G network looms

Documents released last week by the City of Oakland revealthat it is one of a handful of American jurisdictions attempting to upgrade an existing cellular surveillance system, commonly known as a stingray.

Google has entered the game of crowdfunding via YouTube. This creates a whole new way to build audience, grow followers and supporters all at the same time and likely will either compliment or put some additional competition towards sites like Tilt, KickStarter and Indiegogo but as pal and cofounder of Velocity Growth Jeff Belk (ex Qualcomm CMO/CSO) likes to say, "crowdfunding is like the Gold Rush and everyone's panning for gold."

YouTube launches fan funding for independent content creators 

Google-owned YouTube has launched a donation feature for YouTube channels, which could act as a crowdfunding tool to get entrepreneurs off the ground. YouTube's bread-and-butter is content created by independent channels worldwide, and to further encourage this business branch, the company has now launched fan-based donations.

Somtimes building a better mousetrap can lead to comparisons that aren't fair. Other times starting a crowdfunding campaign can be problematic or overly frivolous.

Kickstarter users fundraise for products already sold on Amazon

What do crowdfunding Web site Kickstarter and online retailer Amazon.com have in common? Too much, critics charge. Kickstarter fans, who have become a bit prickly over what they feel are too many frivolous campaigns, are seeing another worrisome trend crop up: entrepreneurs turning to the fundraising Web site to develop products that are already available elsewhere.

Apple is laying out some rules about information and apps. In doing so Apple is being both industry consistent and also setting a new line in the sand to insure the development of mHealth technology.

Apple Bars Developers From Sharing Health Data

Apple has warned developers that they must not provide advertisers with personal data that they collect from applications built using the company's health software. The policy-consistent with the standards of companies such as FitBit-establishes a higher standard of privacy for health monitoring devices.

For years developer have been asking Apple "why didn't my app get approved" only to receive mostly non answers. In a move towards greater transparency Apple has put out a checklist. Is this the complete story? No way, but it's a start.

Apple Developer Rules Made Clear

Before you develop your app, it's important to become familiar with the technical, content, and design criteria that we use to review all apps. We've highlighted some of the most common issues that cause apps to get rejected to help you better prepare your apps before submitting them for review.

Funny how the iCloud Celebrity Photo hacks occured just before the iPhone 6 launch..hmmm. The conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this one. Net net, nothing is really that secure.

Nude celebs on iCloud? The timing for Apple Inc. couldn't be worse.

The story had everything going for it. Hundreds of nude photos (some real) of Jennifer Lawrence and other A-list Hollywood celebrities. A security vulnerability (since closed) in Apple's iCloud. Hackers armed with a new "brute force" attack script. False accusations by the amateur detectives on the Internet.

Poor Skype. Everyone wants your users. And someone will get them is my guess. Of late Skype's performance has been having issues but the service is also now in its second decade of life and upstarts in technology can come along at any moment and change the game. Here's one.

Out in the Open: Hackers Build a Skype That's Not Controlled by Microsoft 

The web forum 4chan is known mostly as a place to share juvenile and, to put it mildly, politically incorrect images. But it's also the birthplace of one of the latest attempts to subvert the NSA's mass surveillance program. When whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that full extent of the NSA's activities last year, members of…

Uber is facing a challenge in Germany. My guess is eventually this all ends up at the EU level not at the country by country level as a battle for consumer's choice vs. monopoly control of the taxi and limo industry.

German court orders Uber to suspend services across the country

Uber is banned across Germany, at least for now. It emergedon Tuesday that the Frankfurt Regional Court imposed a preliminary injunction on Uber last week, ahead of a full court case over the service's legality. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, the court said Uber was illegal because its drivers do not carry the appropriate permits.

How to Make a Drone Delivery: Google's Winging It 

Google on Thursday introduced Project Wing, a drone-based delivery project it has been working on quietly for the past two years. Members of the Google[x] team – aka "Moonshots" — recently held field tests of the technology in Australia.

Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar relax PED rules

Australian carriers Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar have all relaxed their rules on the use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) in-flight following a change in policy by the country's Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The development means passengers can use their PEDs from gate-to-gate, whereas previously they had to switch them off during taxiing, take-off and landing.