Techmeme
March 16, 2016, 8:50 AM

Top News

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Instagram to begin testing an algorithm-based personalized feed for users, moving away from reverse chronological order  —  Instagram May Change Your Feed, Personalizing It With an Algorithm  —  For years, we have been trained to view web postings from our friends in a certain order.
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
PlayStation VR headset to arrive in October for $399, less than Oculus Rift at $599 and HTC Vive at $799, but excludes camera required for gameplay  —  PlayStation VR Will Arrive in October for $399  —  Sony took to the stage today during GDC 2016 in SF to show off the consumer-ready version of its PlayStation VR headset.
Ashley Cullins / Hollywood Reporter:
Pennsylvania man charged with hacking iCloud, Gmail accounts of celebrities, admits to phishing, but prosecutors find no evidence that he shared images  —  Hacker Admits to Stealing Celebrity Nude Photos, Takes Plea Deal  —  Prosecutors estimate Ryan Collins, 36, accessed at least 50 iCloud accounts …
Kif Leswing / Business Insider:
Apple asks court to guard civil liberties in final filing ahead of March 22 hearing  —  Apple just filed its final response before it meets the FBI in court  —  Apple will face the FBI in federal court in California on March 22 to address whether it needs to help the agency break into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Google says 75% of web requests to its non-YouTube sites are now encrypted, up from about 50% two years ago  —  Google is giving itself an encryption report card  —  Today, Google added a new section to its transparency report, giving users a running tally of how many Google requests use HTTPS encryption.
Emily Jane Fox / Vanity Fair:
Apple News now lets publishers of all sizes edit and deliver their stories in the Apple News format, improves statistics dashboard, and launches ad campaign  —  Apple Just Opened Up Its News App In a Big Way  —  Apple will now let individuals and independent publishers deliver content through its native news platform.
Samantha Murphy Kelly / Mashable:
Fossil launches two $275 Android Wear smartwatches and other connected wearables as it expands its Q line and aims for 100 new “connected devices” in 2016  —  Fossil launches 7 new fashion-forward smartwatches, trackers  —  Fossil Group is hard at work delivering its tall-order promise …
Kurt Wagner / Re/code:
Snapchat Hires Longtime Pandora Exec Tom Conrad as VP of Product  —  Snapchat has hired longtime Pandora executive Tom Conrad as its new VP of Product.  —  Conrad spent a decade at Pandora and was running product and also serving as the company's CTO by the time he left back in 2014.

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Earlier Picks

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
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Tom Warren / The Verge:
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat: