Techmeme: Twitter is blocking Meerkat's auto-tweet feature, stunting the app's recent rapid growth (Napier Lopez/The Next Web)

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March 2, 2015, 1:50 PM

Top News

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:

Android Pay Is Real, And Will Give Developers The Reins As An API

More: The Verge, The Next Web, AppleInsider, SlashGear and Vserv

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.

More: PayPal Forward, Gigaom, ReadWrite, The Next Web, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Business Insider, SlashGear, Paydiant, Inc., Seeking Alpha and NFC World+. Tweets: @delrey

Ruth Reader / VentureBeat:

PayPal announces NFC-enabled card reader coming to Australia and the U.K. this summer, U.S. later this year

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

David Besbris no longer running Google+, replaced by longtime VP of Product Bradley Horowitz — Bradley Horowitz Is Now Running Google+ — More changes afoot at Google+. TechCrunch has learned, and now confirmed with Google, that David Besbris has left his role as the head of the company's social and identity product.

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 …

More: Business Insider, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, PC World, The Verge, ReadWrite, Business Insider, BetaNews, Ars Technica, Wired, Gigaom and TechnoBuffalo

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.

More: The Next Web, Business Insider, MacRumors, iMore, TechnoBuffalo, App Advice, iPhone in Canada Blog, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, Tech Times and iLounge. Tweets: @markgurman. See also Mediagazer

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.

Tweets: @thegrugq

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.

More: Business Insider and WebProNews. Tweets: @pogue, @samfbiddle and @nichcarlson

Napier Lopez / The Next Web:

Twitter is blocking Meerkat's auto-tweet feature, stunting the app's recent rapid growth — days until TNW Conference Europe. Join 3,500 people on April 23-24. — Napier Lopez — Well, that didn't take long. After a viral growth spurt in its user numbers yesterday …

More: VentureBreak. Tweets: @martinsfp

Amanda Connolly / The Next Web:

Meerkat for iOS lets you live stream video to your Twitter followers

More: TechCrunch, SocialTimes and Laughing Squid

Tweets: @peterpham, @joshelman, @justinkan, @benbajarin, @theromit, @hunterwalk and @hunterwalk

Kevin Fitchard / Gigaom:

T-Mobile will launch LTE in the Wi-Fi airwaves in 2016 — T-Mobile came up short compared to Verizon and AT&T in the last 4G spectrum auction, but it looks like it's found another source of airwaves, and these won't cost it anything. At Mobile World Congress on Monday …

More: PC World, PR Newswire, Engadget, AVC, FierceWireless, PC Magazine, CNET and SlashGear. Tweets: @kfitchard

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Xiaomi Introduces A GoPro-Style Action Camera That Costs Just $64 — Xiaomi is back with another reminder that it doesn't just make phones. (Despite dethroning Samsung as China's top smartphone company in 2014.) Xiaomi's latest device is a GoPro-like camera which, as we've come to expect …

More: The Verge, Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, PC World, Phones Review, Engadget, Android Authority, Tech Times, BetaNews, Hypebeast, BGR India and GeekTime

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

6" Alcatel Hero 2+ comes with CyanogenMod, octacore Mediatek CPU, available for $299 unlocked in US this spring — Alcatel's Hero 2+ will come to the US with Cyanogen OS — Today at Mobile World Congress, Cyanogen and Alcatel announced the Hero 2+, a 6-inch smartphone that will come with Cyanogen OS preinstalled.

More: CNET and ZDNet

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Alcatel's flagship Idol 3 smartphones feature mid-range specs at low cost, will be available unlocked in the US this spring starting at just $200

More: Gigaom, Android Authority, Gizmodo, Tech Trader Daily and Tech Trader Daily

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 …

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

HP to acquire Aruba Networks in a deal valued at $3B to bolster wireless networking capability — HP confirms Aruba Networks purchase, eyes bulked up networking unit — Summary:The deal, valued at $3 billion and $2.7 billion net of debt and cash, gives HP more heft to tackle campus networks and wireless technology.

More: Yahoo! Finance, Mercury News, InfoWorld, Re/code, CNET, The Register, USA Today, Associated Press, Gigaom, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business and New York Times

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Sources: social news reader Prismatic on the block, with Microsoft the front runner in buying it; Apple and Yahoo have also expressed serious interest — Microsoft Wants To Buy Social News Reader Prismatic — Microsoft has been busy snatching up startups to fill out its mobile apps portfolio …

More: 9to5Mac, SiliconANGLE, Neowin, Windows Central and PhoneArena. Tweets: @gaberivera

Stephen Shankland / CNET:

Silent Circle reveals secure Blackphone 2 phone, Blackphone+ tablet — The privacy protection company will upgrade its snoop-resistant handset later this year and introduce a tablet, too. Also new: a push for business customers spooked by Sony hacks.

More: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, Engadget, Gizmodo, Android Police, The Verge, PC World, Guardian, Electronista, Android Authority, New York Times, Inquirer, ZDNet and Gigaom. Tweets: @digiphile

Matthew Miller / ZDNet:

MWC 2015: Cyanogen announces Qualcomm partnership and company rebranding — Summary:Cyanogen made a couple of announcements at MWC today. One is a partnership to reach more people with Cyanogen OS and the other focuses on the company's look.

More: Cyanogen, The Verge, GeekWire, Gigaom, Android Police, Engadget, Re/code, Android Authority, GSMArena Blog, Phandroid, PhoneDog.com, HotHardware.com News, TechCrunch and AndroidHeadlines.com

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

India's Ola Buys Smaller Rival TaxiForSure For $200M To Put Pressure On Uber — Ola, the SoftBank-backed competitor to Uber, has dished out $200 million to buy smaller rival TaxiForSure in what looks like being the first of a number of consolidation moves in India's taxi-hailing space.

More: MediaNama, The Hindu Business Line, The Economic Times, NextBigWhat, The Economic Times and YourStory.com

Dante D'Orazio / The Verge:

Qualcomm announces Spandragon Sense ID fingerprint sensor, uses ultrasound to scan 3D images — Qualcomm's new fingerprint sensor should be better than Touch ID — Ever since the iPhone 5S came out in 2013, Apple has had one feature no one could match: Touch ID.

More: AnandTech, Engadget, PR Newswire, BGR, Ars Technica, Computerworld, SlashGear, Gigaom, NEWS.com.au, Tech Times, GSMArena Blog, CNET, ZDNet and VentureBeat

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Cybersecurity company Veracode files for IPO, plans to go public in May — Exclusive: Veracode files for IPO — Cybersecurity company Veracode is planning to go public in May, Fortune has learned. — The Burlington, Mass.-based company already has filed confidential IPO documents with the SEC …

More: BetaBoston. Tweets: @jeremiahg

JC Torres / SlashGear:

Jolla's Sailfish OS reaches 2.0, embraces Intel, licensing — There comes a time when every child grows up and starts to leave home for his or her own adventures. For Jolla's own Sailfish OS, that time has come. In preparation for the upcoming launch of the successfully crowdfunded Jolla …

More: TechCrunch, Engadget, GSMArena.com, Gigaom, Ubergizmo, The Next Web and CNET

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 …

More: Engadget, ZDNet, PC World, Inquirer, Wired, Android Police, CNET, Reuters, VentureBeat, TelecomLead, NDTV Gadgets, V3.co.uk, Ars Technica, ExtremeTech and Bloomberg Business

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 …

More: Android Police, Android Authority and PC World. Thanks:@kevinctofel

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