Both BlackBerry and Samsung are flatly denying reports that they engaged in merger talks. In an email, Samsung tells Bloomberg that the reports are are “groundless.” In a statement, BlackBerry said it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung.” Citing a source and supporting documents, Reuters reported that Samsung approached BlackBerry with an initial takeover offer of $13.35 to $15.49 a share, which would value BlackBerry at up to $7.5 billion.

LinkedIn is reportedly working on an app and some complimentary tools to help connect employers and their existing employees. “That includes a new product for sharing employee contact information, as well as something intended to help companies share its content with specific groups of employees,” Re/Code reports, citing comments from a LinkedIn spokesperson. “The hope is that LinkedIn users will be able to communicate better with those at their own company.”  

Pretty soon, the Google Translate Android app will let users simply hold up their phones in front of foreign text for an instant translation -- and without a Web connection. “The near-instant augmented reality translation of signs and menus from any one of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish -- without needing an Internet connection … makes me boggle,” in the words of 9To5Google’s Ben Lovejoy.  

Driven by better sales of higher-end smartphones, Huawei Technologies saw its revenue grow by about 20%, last year, to $46.3 billion. “Sales growth was led by a 32% rise in consumer business due to the increasing popularity of its mid- to high-end phones,” Bloomberg reports, citing comments by Huawei Chief Financial Officer Cathy Meng. “Huawei, China’s largest maker of phone-network equipment, is widening its portfolio of mobile devices, business-computing products and cloud services.”  

British Prime Minister David Cameron is vowing to ban encrypted messaging services like SnapChat and WhatsApp if his intelligence services are not able to decode the communications. “The statement comes as many European politicians are demanding that Internet companies like Google and Facebook provide greater information about people’s online activities after several recent terrorist threats,” The New York Times reports.  

Is there any truth to the rumor that Twitter is looking to replace CEO Dick Costolo -- and specifically with Adam Bain, the social giant’s head of global revenue? None at all, according to TechCrunch’s Alexia Tsotsis. “These [rumors] are most likely the outgrowth of analysts like Walter Price and Robert Peck calling for Costolo’s head, and former Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn suggesting that Twitter and Yahoo merge,” Tsotsis reports, citing a source. “According to another source, *if* someone does end up replacing Costolo, it would be Bain.”  

President Obama is calling for federal legislation that will compel companies to be more open about online security breaches, and their impact on individual consumers. “The Personal Data Notification and Protection Act would demand a single, national standard requiring companies to inform their customers within 30 days of discovering their data has been hacked,” The New York Times reports.  

Spotify now has 60 million active users -- 15 million of whom are paying subscribers -- according to the music streaming service. Yet, “in an increasingly competitive space, with heavyweights such as Apple and Google serving up their own music-streaming services … Spotify is facing an uphill battle to boost its revenues and appease its investors,” Venture Beat reports. As such, “rumors abounded last year that Spotify may be bought by a big-gun such as Google.”  

What does mobile messaging have to do with tech-driven taxi services like Uber? Everything, now that Japanese-based messaging app Line has launched Line Taxi. With the new service, “Payment is carried out via a credit card registered to [its recently launched pay service] Line Pay, so much of the user experience is essentially identical to Uber,” Tech In Asia reports. Rather than recruit its own fleet of taxis, “Line has partnered with Nihon Kotsu, the nation’s largest taxi company.” 

Trying to marginalize the print world one document at a time, Evernote just released an app for easing scanning. With Scannable, “Scanning is automatic,” App Advice reports. “After opening the app, simply point the camera at the document, and it is captured into the app … Each image can be reviewed in the bottom capture tray.”