Techmeme
March 2, 2015, 5:15 PM

Top News

Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:
Google quietly backs away from encrypting new Lollipop devices by default  —  Encrypted storage will only be required in “future versions of Android.”  —  Last year, Google made headlines when it revealed that its next version of Android would require full-disk encryption on all new phones.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Sundar Pichai: Google Will Give Details Of Its U.S. Mobile Network ‘In The Coming Months’  —  While Google continues to build out “cell towers in the sky” in the form of balloons and solar-powered airplanes, it's also gearing up to launch an experimental mobile network in the U.S. Today …
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Sundar Pichai confirms Android Pay, says it will exist as an “API layer” for developers  —  Android Pay Is Real, And Will Give Developers The Reins As An API  —  Google's Sundar Pichai essentially used today's Mobile World Congress keynote to let the cat out of the bag …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Tim Cook says Apple Watch will be available outside U.S. in April  —  Speaking at the Berlin flagship Apple Store last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees that the Apple Watch will not be exclusive to the United States in April, according to employees in attendance.
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
PayPal to Pay $280 Million for Paydiant to Help Retailers Compete With Apple Pay  —  PayPal isn't giving up on payments in brick-and-mortar stores.  —  The eBay payment unit plans to acquire Paydiant, a payments startup that licenses a technology platform used by big retail chains to create their own branded mobile wallet apps.
Steven Levy / Backchannel:
On its 20th anniversary, Marissa Mayer talks about turning around Yahoo  —  On Yahoo's 20th Anniversary, its CEO presents a progress report on how she's turning around—and maybe transforming—an Internet icon  —  It is sunset in Sunnyvale, but Marissa Mayer's day is far from over.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases first OS X 10.10.3 Public Beta with new Photos app  —  Apple today released the first Public Beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.3.  The new release includes the iCloud-based Photos application for the Mac, new Emojis across the system, and simpler login to Google accounts …
Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:
Netflix will launch in New Zealand and Australia on March 24  —  Netflix is announcing that its video streaming services will become available in New Zealand and Australia on March 24, 2015.  —  The service will be available on smart televisions made by Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Philips …
Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Intel at MWC 2015: SoFIA, Rockchip, Low Cost Integrated LTE, Atom Renaming and 14nm Cherry Trail  —  After day zero at Mobile World Congress already boasting some impressive releases, Intel tackles their platform on day one on several different fronts.  As part of a pre-briefing …
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Google+ divided into Photos and Streams, with new boss  —  Google's social network gets a new leader in Brad Horowitz, and likely will see the Hangouts communication service stand alone, too.  —  BARCELONA — Google is taking another pass at energizing its Google+ social networking service …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Christian Nutt / Gamasutra:
Epic makes Unreal Engine 4 free to download, retains 5% royalty fee on gross revenue  —  Unreal Engine 4 is now free-to-download for everyone  —  One year ago, Epic Games announced that it was transitioning Unreal Engine 4 to a subscription model.  After a successful year of experimenting …
Niall Kennedy / The Twitter Blog:
Embed Twitter-hosted video on your website  —  With the new embedded video widget, you can highlight Twitter-hosted video on your website, enhanced by the same JavaScript used to render Tweet buttons and embedded Tweets.  —  Video embeds are available for videos captured …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL are budget phones with free Office 365  —  Microsoft is looking to Office to tempt consumers to buy a Windows phone.  At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, the software maker is unveiling two new low-cost Lumia smartphones complete with a free version …
Kevin Roose / Fusion:
Tinder's new Tinder Plus option costs nearly 4X as much in Europe if you're over 28 years old  —  Sorry, olds: Tinder's new premium option in Europe costs more if you're older than 28  —  For lonely Europeans who have passed their mid-twenties, looking for love just got a little more expensive.
Kevin C. Tofel / Gigaom:
Amid new watches, Android Wear crosses 1M downloads  —  The number of Android Wear downloads has crossed the into the one to five million range on Google Play, suggesting that around one million people are wearing smartwatches powered by Google software.  —  Last month, estimates …
Natt Garun / The Next Web:
Google launches Player Analytics and custom native ads tools for game developers  —  Appropriately announced at today's Game Developer Conference 2015, Google unveiled updates for developers on its Google Play Games platform, with a focus on more effective audience targeting.
Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:
Judge halts movie industry-backed probe against Google  —  A federal judge has agreed to put the brakes on an investigation into Google by Mississippi Attorney General, Jim Hood, after the company complained that Hood's inquiry was an illegal censorship campaign cooked up by Hollywood.

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Stephen Shankland / CNET:

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