Facebook to acquire Oculus VR for approximately $2 billion  —  Facebook to Acquire Oculus  —  Acquisition positions Facebook to accelerate Oculus' growth in gaming, communications and new social experiences  —  Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR …

Ahead of Samsung patent case, Apple engineer recalls the marathon to create the iPhone  —  Jobs gave the engineer an ultimatum: Lay out a vision for the iPhone fast or lose the job  —  In February 2005, Apple Inc. 's then chief executive, Steve Jobs, gave senior software engineer Greg Christie an ultimatum.

Google Slashes Cloud Prices: Google vs AWS Price Comparison  —  Today Google threw down the gauntlet to challenge AWS public cloud supremacy by announcing significant price reductions across its Google Cloud Platform.  The eye-opening price cuts covered compute (32-percent reduction), storage …

Google General Counsel to Arrington Allegation: We Don't Snoop on Gmail to Find Leakers  —  In an unusual move, Google is responding directly to former TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington's allegation that it accessed his Gmail account to root out his source for a major story.

Turkish court orders stay of execution on government's Twitter ban  —  Ankara court grants stay of execution for government's Twitter ban  —  An Ankara administrative court has issued a stay of execution on an executive decision adopted by Turkey's telecommunication's authority (TB) …

TechCrunch's Picks: The Top 8 Startups From Y Combinator W14 Demo Day  —  While today saw Paul Graham physically pass the reins to new Y Combinator president Sam Altman, the bigger buzz at Demo Day was about how most investors thought this was the best YC class yet.

Apple plans to add more diversity to Emoji character set  —  What Does Apple Think About The Lack Of Diversity In Emojis?  We Have Their Response.  —  When you browse through the emojis on your phone, there are very few non-Caucasian ones to choose from.  I mean, they have a water buffalo but no representation of people of color?

Instagram now has 200M active monthly users, 20B total photos shared  —  Instagram Today: 200 Million Strong  —  Today, we're excited to share that the Instagram community has grown to more than 200 million Instagrammers capturing and sharing their lives every month.

Fleksy keyboard for Android now has achievement badges and cloud syncing  —  Even though Fleksy's predictive touch typing is fairly easy to learn, not everyone is familiar with all that this alternative keyboard has to offer.  That's one of the reasons the company has incorporated …

Sprint's Hesse: HD Voice Goes Nationwide in July  —  BOSTON — Oracle Industry Connect — Sprint CEO Dan Hesse revealed in his keynote here Tuesday that the operator is ready to launch its HD Voice service across the US in July.  —  HD Voice increases the clarity of a voice call across seven octaves …

Google Takedown Notices Surge 711,887 Percent in Four Years  —  Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) aimed to ready copyright law for the digital age.  —  The law heightened punishment for copyright infringement over the Internet and criminalized circumvention of DRM.

U.S. Withdraws from ICANN: Why It's No Big Deal  —  The misguided freakout over ICANN  —  On March 14, the U.S. government announced that it would seek to relinquish a privileged role in the management of Internet names and numbers.  An organization called ICANN—the non-profit Internet Corporation …

‘Candy Crush’ Maker Prices IPO at $22.50  —  Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Videogame Maker Hasn't Raised IPO Size  —  With the shares of videogame maker King Digital Entertainment PLC set to begin trading Wednesday, the central question facing investors is whether the company can pull off another blockbuster like “Candy Crush Saga.”

Bitcoin Is Property Not Currency in Tax System, IRS Says  —  The U.S. government will treat Bitcoin as property for tax purposes, applying rules it uses to govern stocks and barter transactions, the Internal Revenue Service said in its first substantive ruling on the issue.