Tech

• Google’s wearable Glass gadget: cool or creepy? SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its “Glass” wearable computer during this week’s developer conference. Missing from the agenda, however, was a session on etiquette when using the recording-capa… Like this:Like Loading...
• New Xbox more than a game console for Microsoft SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer… Like this:Like Loading...
• The Time Has Come For Chrome In The Home I’ve spent the last two weeks wandering around London, Paris, and Istanbul (not Constantinople.) As an experiment, I left my trusty MacBook Pro behind and brought only the $199 Chromebook on which I type this. And to my considerable surprise it has served admirably. So admirably, in fact, that I believe ChromeOS is only one ...
• With $1.5M Led By Winklevoss Capital, BitInstant Aims To Be The Go-To Site To Buy And Sell Bitcoins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin Harvard graduates who famously sparred with Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook and are now working as tech investors through Winklevoss Capital, are part of the growing group of venture capitalists who have taken a keen interest in Bitcoins. Last month, it was revealed that they personally own ...
• Behind The Scenes Of The Big Google Maps Redesign And Its Technical Challenges Google unveiled its completely redesigned Google Maps product on the web at I/O 2013, and at a panel dedicated to the new Maps experience, Maps User Experience Design Lead Jonah Jones and Engineering Director for Maps on the web Yatin Chawathe took us through what went into creating Maps and the engineering effort behind the ...
• Google Play In-App Purchase Revenue Growth Jumps 7X In One Year, Subscription Revenue Growing 2X Each Quarter Google held a session today at I/O 2013 about how to make money on Android, and in the initial few minutes it shared some updated stats around Google Play revenues and how those are progressing. Not surprisingly, the big growth is coming with in-app purchases, though Google’s recently launched subscription model is also making headway. Like ...
• Google Faces Another Antitrust Probe As Canadian Agency Prepares Formal Investigation Google is facing another competition investigation, according to the Financial Post. The Canadian Competition Bureau has informed Mountain View of its plans to launch a formal investigation of its Canadian operations. It has not yet requested any information or documents from Google but has informed the search giant of its intention to launch a probe. Like ...
• Google+ App For Android Quietly Switched To WebP Image Format A Month And A Half Ago, Saves 50% Bandwidth About a month and a half ago, Google switched to its own WebP image format in its Google+ Android app, the company revealed at its I/O developer conference in San Francisco today. This, Stephen Konig, a Google product manager who focuses on WebP and Chrome Remote desktop, and Make the Web Fast team member and Chrome developer advocate Ilya ...
• Amidst Tumblr Acquisition Rumors, Yahoo To Hold Product Event With Marissa Mayer On Monday On Monday, it seems that we may get a better sense of what Yahoo plans to build in the wake of its acquisition spree, as CNBC is reporting that the company will be holding a “product-related” news event on Monday in New York City. Marissa Mayer will reportedly be speaking at the press conference, but ...
• Postach.io Turns An Evernote Notebook Into A Blog One of the more interesting projects to emerge from Evernote’s 2013 Devcup hackathon is called Postach.io, a new blogging platform that turns your Evernote notebook into a content management system. Input Logic, the Vancouver-based company behind the now just four-week-old service, has already caught the attention of local investors, as well as Evernote, who met ...
• Don’t Let Your Company’s Scale Tip Your Bathroom Scale Any programmer or blogger knows that when you work on the Internet, on a computer, it’s easy to gain weight. Tech office pantries are stocked with Red Bull, candy, chips and even things you wouldn’t think were too unhealthy, like protein bars. Protein bars are basically injections of sugar. That’s why they taste like a ...
• Facebook’s Growth Since IPO In 12 Big Numbers $FB is still stuck at $26.25, way down from its $38 IPO price, but it’s made important progress since going public a year ago. Daily users up 26%, mobile monthly users up 56%, and revenue up 38% are some highlights. It’s running out of people to sign up in the developed world, but with this ...
• Ask A VC: Accel Partners’ Rich Wong On Whether You Can Build A Great Tech Company Outside Silicon Valley This week, we hosted Accel Partners’ Rich Wong in the studio for our Ask A VC show. Wong, who has invested in Angry Birds (Rovio), Dealer.com, Mobilespaces, Atlassian, MoPub, talked about where he sees the next wave of disruption in mobile technologies. He believes mobile security is a huge opportunity mobile, especially at the enterprise level. Like ...
• Apple Boots Bang With Friends From The App Store Uh oh. Less than ten days after Bang With Friends made its mobile debut on the iOS App Store, Apple has seemingly changed its mind and given it the boot. Like this:Like Loading...
• Gmail And The Stock Android Email App Combined Have Over 100M Mobile Users Google’s Vikram Aggarwal, a software engineer working on the Android platform, revealed today that Gmail and Email, the native Android client that still ships on Android devices as well, now has a combined user base of over 100 million across the Android install base. It’s an interesting stat, because although Gmail and Email only represent ...
• Firefox 23 Lands In Aurora Channel: Kills Blink Element, Introduces Slew Of New Dev Tools Mozilla today bumped up Firefox Aurora, the pre-beta release channel of the popular browser, to version 23. With this, it is introducing a number of new tools for developers that will now slowly make their way into the stable release channel over the next few months. Sadly (or maybe not), this is also the first ...
• Zynga Tells CupidWithFriends To Stop Using ‘With Friends’ Zynga has apparently told the makers of the dating website CupidWithFriends that they need to change the site’s name, because it allegedly infringes on Zynga’s trademarks. CupidWithFriends was built by the startup Apartment 7 (which also released the dating apps Flock and Wednesday Night). The site launched a couple of months ago, allowing users to build ...
• Uber Prepares For Another Fight With DC Regulators Just about six months ago, Uber won a big battle with D.C. regulators to have its on-demand car service approved for operation within the nation’s capital. But new regulations from the D.C. Taxi Commission could severely hamper the company’s ability to offer low-cost services in the nation’s capital. Like this:Like Loading...
• Google Now Introduces Mark Up Tools For Select Partners To Flag Flights, Hotel Stays And Reservations In Emails Google made a relatively quiet announcement today regarding how it’s pushing the developer ecosystem forward around Google Now, its intelligent personal assistant for Android devices. The company has begun extending mark up tools for emails from select partners, which help highlight flight schedules, hotel bookings and various types of reservations, to make sure that Gmail ...
• GrubSeam? Online Takeout Giants GrubHub And Seamless In Talks To Merge Today, thanks to the maturation of the web, digital tech, and smartphones now in seemingly every pocket, startups are finding it easier than ever before to build scalable solutions to finally address the many inefficiencies in our food manufacturing, production and distribution systems. As interest in food tech balloons, one area in particular appears to ...
• Tumblr May Reject Yahoo’s $1.1B Acquisition Offer For Being “Too Low” Sources close to to acquisition talks between Yahoo and Tumblr say the blogging platform feels that Yahoo’s $1.1 billion offer as “too low” and view it as “only a first offer”. Yahoo may have to significantly increase the offer to close the deal. An acquisition by some tech giant is likely in the cards for ...
• Exclusive: EU cites Chinese telecoms Huawei and ZTE for trade violations NEW YORK (Reuters) – Europe’s top trade official for the first time late on Friday officially cited Chinese mobile telecommunications equipment makers Huawei and ZTE Corp for violating anti-dumping and anti-subsidy guidelines. Like this:Like Loading...
• This Week On The TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast: All Google I/O, All The Time Google’s major developer conference, Google I/O, went down this week. Was it a bit of a letdown? Probably. Did cool stuff still come out of the event? Eh? Maybe? We discuss these topics and more this week on the TC Gadgets podcast. In fact, we even had Frederic Lardinois join as a guest, along with ...
• HTC Pledges To Pump Up ‘One’ Production While Samsung’s New Flagship Ships Like Crazy Oh HTC. You’ve produced one of the finest Android smartphones ever (seriously, just look at all these reviews), but you’ve faced more than your share of challenges when it came to actually pumping your top-tier One smartphone. As it happens, that may all soon change. FocusTaiwan reported earlier today that HTC is preparing to pump out ...
• Corning Announces ‘Lotus XT’ Substrate Glass for Brighter, Cheaper Mobile Displays Corning yesterday announced (via Engadget) the launch of its latest glass substrate for LCD and OLED displays, Lotus XT Glass. While Corning is famous for its Gorilla Glass used by Apple and other device manufacturers to provide durable covers for thei… Like this:Like Loading...
• Apple and Sony ‘iRadio’ Negotiations Stalling Over Skipped Songs Earlier today a report suggested that the launch of Apple’s upcoming streaming music service deemed “iRadio” may be delayed due to difficult negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. CNET is offering some additional information on Apple’s trouble with Sony Music, explaining that the fees to be paid for skipped songs have become a ...
• Rivals get longer to comment on Google EU antitrust offer: source BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have given some of Google’s rivals more time to study its proposals to settle anti-competitive complaints, which could provide more leverage to pry further concessions from the Internet search giant. Like this:Like Loading...
• After Google, Amazon to be grilled on UK tax presence LONDON (Reuters) – Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. will be called back to the British parliament to clarify how its activities in the UK justify its low corporate income tax bill, two lawmakers told Reuters. Like this:Like Loading...
• U.S. authorities seize accounts of major Bitcoin operator ST. LOUIS, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – U.S. authorities have seized two accounts linked to a major operator in the booming Bitcoin digital currency market, Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox. The move may prevent the firm from facilitating the purchas… Like this:Like Loading...
• Tableau Software shares soar in NYSE debut (Reuters) – Shares of Tableau Software Inc rose as much as 58 percent in their trading debut as investors expect the rising interest in big data to power the data analysis software maker’s growth. Like this:Like Loading...
• Yahoo Japan suspects 22 million user IDs leaked: Kyodo (Reuters) – Yahoo Japan Corp said on Friday night it suspected that up to 22 million of its user IDs may have been “leaked” and it detected an unauthorized attempt to access the administrative system of its web portal Yahoo Japan, the Kyodo news agency… Like this:Like Loading...
• Sony to name Chugai Pharma’s CEO as chairman: Nikkei (Reuters) – Sony Corp plans to appoint Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Chief Executive Osamu Nagayama as chairman, the Nikkei reported. Like this:Like Loading...
• Sanyo may cease to exist under Panasonic reorganization: Nikkei (Reuters) – Sanyo Electric Co may cease to exist under a reorganization by Panasonic Corp that includes global jobs cuts, Nikkei reported on Friday. Like this:Like Loading...
• FCC nominee Wheeler will divest holdings if confirmed WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tom Wheeler, nominated to become the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pledged to divest stakes in AT&T Inc, Dish Network Corp, Google Inc and dozens of other tech and telecoms companies if he is confirmed. Like this:Like Loading...
• All eyes on Vodafone’s Colao for signs on Verizon LONDON (Reuters) – After months of speculation, Vodafone’s Vittorio Colao will be under pressure next week to set out whether he may sell its prized stake in Verizon Wireless in what would be one of the biggest deals ever. Like this:Like Loading...
• Plaintiffs in Mexico Yahoo case say will appeal court ruling MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Two Mexican firms embroiled in a contractual dispute with Yahoo Inc will appeal a court ruling that overturned an earlier $2.75 billion judgment in their favor, a director of the companies said on Friday. Like this:Like Loading...
• DirecTV interested in buying video website Hulu: source (Reuters) – The largest U.S. satellite video provider, DirecTV, is one of the companies considering a bid for online video website Hulu, according to a source familiar with the situation. Like this:Like Loading...
• Yahoo to vote on $1.1 billion Tumblr buy: AllThingsD SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc’s board will meet on Sunday to vote on whether to offer $1.1 billion in cash for New York-based blogging service Tumblr, tech blog AllThingsD cited sources close to the situation as saying on Friday. Like this:Like Loading...
• U.S. Department of Defense Approves iOS 6 Devices for Military Networks Following a report from earlier this month indicating that the U.S. Department of Defense was preparing to approve Apple devices running iOS 6 for use on military networks, Bloomberg now reports that the department has officially issued the authorization, opening the door for greater use of Apple’s products. The Defense Department said in a statement today ...
• Difficult Negotiations May Prevent ‘iRadio’ Launch at WWDC Last week, we noted that Apple was still struggling to convince the major music labels to sign on to its planned streaming service, informally dubbed “iRadio”, with Sony and Warner reportedly holding out even after market leader Universal had agreed to Apple’s revised terms. In a new article highlighting how Google was able to ...
• Tightening MacBook Air Supplies at Resellers Hint at Upcoming Refresh As noted by AppleInsider, MacBook Air supplies are beginning to dry up as Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference approaches. Currently, the 13.3-inch 256GB 1.8Ghz MacBook Air is out of stock at Amazon.com, with a listed one to two month waiting period. While the low end 13.3-inch MacBook Air is in stock, the 11.6-inch MacBook ...
• Gameloft’s ‘N.O.V.A. 3′ and ‘Gangstar Rio: City of Saints’ Are Free for the Weekend [iOS Blog] Gameloft is offering up two of its most popular games for free this weekend. Both N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance and Gangstar Rio: City of Saints can be downloaded at no cost for the first time ever. Originally released last year, N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter with impressive graphics and ...
• NVIDIA’s Shield May Be A Tough Sell, But Now You Can Pre-Order It From GameStop And Newegg Anyway If you were among the select few that signed up for NVIDIA’s Shield newsletter then you’ve been able to pre-order the company’s curious handset for a few days now. The remainder of the gaming masses originally had to wait until Monday for their own turn, but that’s no longer the case — NVIDIA’s retail partners ...
• Michigan Tech Sponsors A 3D Printers For Peace Contest Now that Defense Distributed is on the defensive, it’s time to think a bit harder about what 3D printing really means. To that end, Michigan Tech is sponsoring a Printers For Peace contest that is encouraging designers and engineers to make amazing stuff using a 3D printer that can change the world for the better. ...
• New CEO vows Intel will be more responsive in mobile push SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel Corp’s new CEO Brian Krzanich said on Thursday that under his leadership the top chipmaker will be more responsive to customers in an intensified focus on the fast-growing smartphone and tablet market where it lags its r… Like this:Like Loading...
• America Movil binds Brazil units closer with Wi-Fi offering RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Carlos Slim’s America Movil subsidiaries in Brazil announced on Thursday a new combined broadband service, increasing their operational integration ahead of an expected corporate merger in the country. Like this:Like Loading...
• Facebook, Twitter apps come to Glass, Google’s wearable computer SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social networking services Facebook Inc and Twitter are coming to Google Glass, the wearable computer made by the Internet search company. Like this:Like Loading...
• Yahoo says Mexico appeals court throws out $2.75 billion ruling MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc said on Thursday that a Mexican appellate court had thrown out a $2.75 billion ruling by a lower court against Yahoo and Yahoo Mexico in a contractual dispute with two Mexican firms. Like this:Like Loading...
• A stretched Samsung chases rival Apple’s suppliers SEOUL (Reuters) – Overtaking Apple Inc as the world’s leading maker of smartphones has stretched Samsung Electronics Co’s in-house supply lines, and the South Korean firm is now courting some of its rival’s main parts suppliers. Like this:Like Loading...
• Dell’s profit dives as billionaire battle rages on SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc, the subject of a takeover battle between activist investor Carl Icahn and the company’s billionaire founder, reported a 79 percent slide in profit as personal computer sales continued to shrink. Like this:Like Loading...
• EBay developers working on possible apps for Google Glass SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Developers at eBay Inc are working on potential applications for Google Inc’s Glass project, opening up the possibility that shopping and broader commercial activities might be conducted through the wearable technology. Like this:Like Loading...
• Ex-Groupon CEO Mason moving to San Francisco to start new company SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Former Groupon Inc. Chief Executive Andrew Mason is moving to San Francisco to start a company after recently recording an album of “motivational business music,” according to an update on his blog on Thursday. Like this:Like Loading...
• Dell’s profit dives as billionaire battle rages on SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc, the subject of a takeover battle between activist investor Carl Icahn and the company’s billionaire founder, reported a 79 percent slide in profit as personal computer sales continued to shrink. Like this:Like Loading...
• A stretched Samsung chases rival Apple’s suppliers SEOUL (Reuters) – Overtaking Apple Inc as the world’s leading maker of smartphones has stretched Samsung Electronics Co’s in-house supply lines, and the South Korean firm is now courting some of its rival’s main parts suppliers. Like this:Like Loading...
• Apple’s Cook to propose tax changes at congressional hearing: report (Reuters) – Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook will propose tax changes that would encourage firms to bring home more of their offshore funds when he faces congressional queries next Tuesday over his company’s overseas cash holdings and tax bills, the Washington P… Like this:Like Loading...
• Foxconn says needs more time to further cut workers’ overtime TAIPEI (Reuters) – Foxconn Technology Group said on Friday it needs more time to reduce overtime at its China factories after labor monitors appointed by top client Apple Inc said cutting workers’ hours by a July 1 target would be a challenge. Like this:Like Loading...
• Google’s Schmidt to meet Britain’s Cameron as tax row rages LONDON (Reuters) – Google Inc’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is due to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday as a participant of an advisory group just days after UK lawmakers lambasted the Internet company’s tax affairs. Like this:Like Loading...
• Pro-Assad hackers attack UK newspaper FT’s website, Twitter feed LONDON (Reuters) – The website of British newspaper the Financial Times was hacked on Friday, apparently by the “Syrian Electronic Army”, a group of hackers and on-line activists who say they support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Like this:Like Loading...
• Pro-Assad hackers attack UK newspaper FT’s website, Twitter feed LONDON (Reuters) – The website of British newspaper the Financial Times was hacked on Friday, apparently by the “Syrian Electronic Army”, a group of hackers and on-line activists who say they support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Like this:Like Loading...
• Galaxy S4 Will Pass 10M Shipments Next Week Less Than A Month After Launch, Says Samsung Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, is poised to pass 10 million shipments next week less than a month after the device launched, says co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun, according to the Korea Times. The S4′s international release took place on April 27, after the phone launched in Samsung’s home market on April 26. Like this:Like Loading...
• Penitent Romanian hacker aims to protect world’s ATMs VASLUI, Romania (Reuters) – Valentin Boanta, sitting in his jail cell, proudly explains the device he has invented which, he says, could make the world’s ATMs impregnable even to tech-savvy criminals like himself. Like this:Like Loading...
• Pebble Nabs $15M In Funding, Outs PebbleKit SDK And Pebble Sports API To Spur Smartwatch App Development Get ready for a whole lot more Pebble. The smartwatch company just announced several software enhancements for the Pebble and a $15M Series A led by Charles River Ventures. Pebble is not going to sit around, scared of iWatch rumors. They’re plowing forward on their own accord and committed to providing the best platform possible ...
• Here’s A Weekend Project For First-Time Tinkerers: Turn Your Converse Into A DIY Light Show The weekend isn’t upon us just yet, but here’s a little project to tuck away for when the Sunday doldrums set in — the New York-based tinkerers/part suppliers at Adafruit Industries have worked up a way to give your old pair of Chuck Taylors a bit of luminescent DIY flair. Like this:Like Loading...
• Leap Motion Talks New Beta, We Go Hands On With Motion-Controlled Google Earth Leap Motion was showing off its still unreleased gesture motion controller for computers at Google I/O 2013. The demo unit allowed you to use the controller to navigate Google Earth, and the functionality felt ready for prime time to me, as this was the first time I’d ever used the Leap Motion. The controls seemed ...
• Google Says All 2,000 Glass Explorers Have Been Invited To Pick Up Their Device Today, Steve Lee of the Google X and Glass Team, announced that as of last week, all 2,000 developers who signed up for the Glass Explorer program at last year’s I/O conference have now been invited to pick up their devices from Google’s offices in Mountain View, New York City or Los Angeles. Like this:Like Loading...
• NVIDIA’s Shield Mobile Gaming System Feels Like The Way Android Games Should Be Played NVIDIA brought its new Shield handheld gaming system to Google I/O this year and showed off a near-production device. The Shield made its debut at CES this year, surprising most since it’s a consumer handheld device from a company that generally makes internal components. But it has some neat tricks up its sleeve, including a ...
• Apple Updates iTunes to Version 11.0.3 With New MiniPlayer and Improvements Apple has released an update to its iTunes music and media application, bringing it to version 11.0.3. The update updates the compact MiniPlayer, adding album artwork and a progress bar, as well as better support for multi-disc albums and large iTunes… Like this:Like Loading...
• Newly Discovered Mac Malware Captures and Stores Screenshots New Mac spyware was discovered earlier this week on a computer at the Oslo Freedom Forum, an annual human rights conference. Located by computer security researcher Jacob Appelbaum, the malware, which has been deemed OSX/KitM.A, is currently being inve… Like this:Like Loading...
• Apple Releases MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.0 [Mac Blog] Apple today released MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.0, an update for Mid-2012 MacBook Air models to address an issue with recovering from crashes.This update is recommended for MacBook Air (mid 2012) models. This update addresses a storage… Like this:Like Loading...
• eBay for iOS Updated with Multiple Item Checkout, Driver’s License Scanning [iOS Blog] eBay today released updates to its iPhone and iPad apps, offering a redesigned user interface that includes multiple search views, an improved bidding process for ending auctions, and new shopping cart functionality. With the new shopping cart, users can add multiple items to the cart and purchase them at the same time with a ...
• Tim Cook Defends Apple’s Tax Record Ahead of Senate Committee Appearance [Updated] Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a break from his predecessor, is giving a number of interviews to Washington press outlets ahead of his appearance in front of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation next week. Washington newspaper Politico spoke to Cook about Apple’s offshore cash pile — which the company has thus far refused to ...
• Tim Cook Shares Details About New ‘Made in USA’ Mac Model In his interview with Politico earlier today, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some additional details about the new Mac model that will be manufactured in the United States when it is announced later this year. Cook said that not only will the machine be assembled in the U.S., many of the components will be sourced ...
• CW Strikes Deal with Apple to Bring Content to Apple TV The CW has struck a deal that will bring the network’s content to the Apple TV, reports Deadline. At the company’s annual Upfront Presentation in New York today, CW president Mark Pedowitz announced that the CW’s TV Now applications, which are currently available on Xbox 360 and Windows 8, will be coming to the Apple TV ...
• FTC Begins Sending COPPA Letters to App Developers Ahead of July Rule Change [iOS Blog] The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun sending educational letters to app developers to make them aware of upcoming changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that was updated back in December. The two letters inform developers that the restricted collection of personal information of kids 13-and-under has been expanded to ...
• Haunting Melissa App Brings Episodic Movie Exclusively to iPhone and iPad [iOS Blog] Haunting Melissa, from Hooked Media Digital and “The Ring” producer Neil Edelstein, is an app that aims to deliver movies on mobile devices in an entirely new way. Much like a TV show on iTunes, the film is broken up into segments that can be unlocked by sharing a user’s viewing experience on Facebook, ...