Techmeme: A look at how Netflix handles major premieres, VPN usage, local competition, and more after expansion to 130 new countries (Brian Barrett/Wired)

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March 28, 2016, 7:00 AM

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Mat Honan / BuzzFeed:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai talks about his upbringing, legacy, expanding internet access, importance of product, and more in wide-ranging profile — Searching For Google CEO Sundar Pichai, The Most Powerful Tech Giant You've Never Heard Of — universally known as CES, is a riot of technology.

More: PhoneArena. Tweets: @patrickfrench, @louisgray, @nickbilton, @dangillmor, @stevekandell, @ruskin147, @danielpunkass, @benthompson, @regajha, @efeng, @caseyjohnston, @buzzfeedben, @hunterwalk, @fxshaw, @anarsimpson, @fwd, @mat and @tomgara

Brian Barrett / Wired:

A look at how Netflix handles major premieres, VPN usage, local competition, and more after expansion to 130 new countries — Netflix's Grand, Daring, Maybe Crazy Plan to Conquer the World — Late into the night on St. Patrick's Day, Netflix hosted a makeshift “war room” at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters.

More: Fortune, Gizmodo and Business Insider. Tweets: @john_bailey

Stephen Lovely / AllFlicks:

Netflix's US Catalog Has Shrunk by More Than 2,500 Titles in Less Than 2.5 Years — It's not your imagination - Netflix's catalog is getting smaller. As competition in the OTT streaming space has increased, Netflix's once-massive selection has decreased. In fact, it has shrunk by a third in less than two and a half years.

More: Business Insider, Digital Trends, Fortune, Slashdot, TIME, Tech Times, Droid Life and BGR

Tweets: @sambeal and @ericjackson

See also Mediagazer

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:

Bug in iOS 9.3 crashes some iPhones and iPads when opening links in Safari and other apps, affects latest as well as older devices — Some users reporting iPhone crashes on iOS 9.3 when tapping links in Safari and other apps [Update] — Update: Although details around the problem …

Peter Rubin / Wired:

Behind the development of Oculus Rift, now shipping with a simplified interface and a refined setup process — The Inside Story of How Oculus Cracked the Impossible Design of VR — Palmer Luckey has never used an Oculus Rift. — That's what the founder of Oculus keeps telling himself …

More: VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Re/code

Tweets: @palmerluckey, @joshconstine and @mhbergen

Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:

While games dominate VR now, we will find many more uses for it, just as we did with PCs

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

VC deals and investments in VR and AR have tripled since Facebook acquired Oculus for $2B two years ago

More: MacNN, VentureBeat, CNET, Business Insider, Windows Central and The Next Web. Thanks:@aprilolanoff

Glyn Moody / Ars Technica UK:

European Commission launches public consultation on “neighboring rights” for publishers, a “Google tax” for snippets — “Google tax” on snippets under serious consideration by European Commission — The German Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda is leading the fight against a Google tax.

More: Digital Single Market, Fortune, Techdirt and The Next Web

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:

KGI: Apple planning new iPhone model for 2017 with curved glass case, 5.8-inch AMOLED display, and wireless charging — New iPhone model with curved glass case, 5.8" AMOLED display due in 2017, insider says — Apple has plans to introduce a new high-end iPhone model in 2017 that sports …

More: Forbes, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, CNET, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, Fone Arena, TechSpot, Tech Times, Pocketnow, NEWS.com.au, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone in Canada Blog, PhoneDog.com, Redmond Pie, Investor's Business Daily, BGR, Patently Apple, ZDNet, PhoneArena, iClarified and iMore. Tweets: @abdophoto. Thanks:@mikeycampbell81

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Sources: Dell may announce $3.5B sale of IT services unit to Japan's NTT as soon as Monday — Dell could announce the sale of its IT services unit to Japan's NTT for $3.5 billion as soon as Monday — Capping a process that began late last year, Dell could announce as early as Monday …

More: Reuters, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and SiliconANGLE

Henrik Joreteg / Henrik Joreteg's Blog:

Why one web developer left iOS: Progressive Web Apps are indistinguishable from native apps on Android, but not on iOS due to some WebKit limitations — Why I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS — Monday of last week I was all excited. I had just gotten the green light …

More: Chris Thoburn. Tweets: @jukkan, @mattcutts, @chadwallacehart and @brendandburns

Zack O'Malley Greenburg / Forbes:

Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary reveal their $30M fund is now valued at $250M with investments in 70+ startups including Airbnb, Uber, Shazam, Skype, and Spotify — How Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary Built A $250 Million Portfolio With Startups Like Uber And Airbnb

Tweets: @benioff and @davemcclure

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

In Angola, Wikipedia Zero and Facebook Free Basics are being used to create a clandestine file sharing network — Angola's Wikipedia Pirates Are Exposing the Problems With Digital Colonialism — Wikimedia and Facebook have given Angolans free access to their websites, but not to the rest of the internet.

More: Engadget, The Overspill, ResearchBuzz, Motherboard and Techdirt

Tweets: @benedictevans, @stevesi, @derektmead and @stevesi

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