Somewhere along the lines, while it was hard at work on the Ionic, it occurred to Fitbit that it really ought to make a pair of Bluetooth headphones, too. After all, ditching the smartphone during a workout is one of the smartwatch’s selling points, thanks to mobile payment and offline caching for music services like Pandora, so wireless earbuds are a bit of a no-brainer. Read More
About ten months ago, Microsoft promised the VR industry a shot in the arm and an update to PC-tethered systems by way of their “mixed reality” platform and OEM partner-crafted headsets which would boast inside-out tracking, lower system spec requirements, 1440p per eye displays and a much lower price point, with headsets starting at just $299. Many of the headsets will be… Read More
The Ionic needs to be a big product for Fitbit. Sure, the company’s CEO assured me that it’s not make or break, but after years of research and development and tens of millions in acquisitions, Fitbit needs a hit. The company’s hedging its bets a bit by bringing on third party launch partners like Starbucks and Pandora for its new app store, and is teaming up one key company… Read More
It looks like Sonos is nearing the release of a speaker that has a built-in voice control assistant. According to an FCC filing found by Dave Zatz, the company is seeking to get approval from the U.S. Government to sell a speaker that sports “integrated voice control functionality with far field microphones” and “multiple voice platforms.” It’s impossible to say… Read More
VMware, the company that gave rise to the virtual machine concept in the enterprise data center, announced a series of products and services today at VMworld in Las Vegas that show a company clearly shifting to managing hybrid environments. The hybrid strategy really began to gain momentum last year when the company forged agreements with the top public cloud vendors including Microsoft,… Read More
CBS is to branch into Australia after it announced a deal to acquire struggling broadcaster Network Ten. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, could save the network from a difficult patch. Network Ten has been in voluntary administration since June after key investors withdrew financial support following a drop in ad sales and continued losses. CBS could use its newfound… Read More
Uber’s search for a replacement for its former co-founder CEO Travis Kalanick looks to have reached its conclusion.
Dara Khosrowshahi, the current CEO of Expedia, has been officially offered the job, multiple sources close to the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
Unlike higher-profile Uber CEO candidates Meg Whitman of HP and Jeff Immelt of GE, Khosrowshahi is fairly under the radar. Read More
SpaceX held its second Hyperloop Pod design competition for student teams at the test track built near its headquarters today. The mile-long track saw three finalist teams battle it out for speed supremacy, including WARR Hyperloop from Germany, Switzerland’s Swissloop and Paradigm, a North American team with members from Northeastern and Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.… Read More
China’s crackdown on Internet freedom is getting even more intense. Last Friday, the country’s top Internet censor announced a new set of regulations (link via Google Translate) meant to eliminate posts by anonymous users on Internet forums and other platforms. The Cyberspace Administration of China will start enforcing those rules on Oct. 1. Read More
Despite a request from the U.S. Coast Guard to call their Houston Command Center for rescue instead of posting on social media, many local residents stranded by Hurricane Harvey are still tweeting pleas for help. Some say they keep getting busy signals when calling the Coast Guard. Other Twitter users have also set up accounts specifically for directing rescuers to stranded people. Read More
An Uber spokesperson tells us its board has reached a decision to offer someone the CEO role. “The Board has voted and will announce the decision to employees first.” We’ve confirmed from a source familiar with the situation that this person is Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia. Kara Swisher of Recode was first with the news. Also read: Who is new Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi?… Read More
Reddit’s first employee has taken over the reigns as CTO of the popular internet company.
Chris Slowe was the company’s founding engineer when he joined the team in late 2005. Slowe joined Reddit after getting to know co-founders Alexis Ohanian and current-CEO Steve Huffman in Y-Combinator’s first batch where he was serving as the founder of a different startup at the… Read More
Machine intelligence startups are the black sheep of the startup world. The new kids on the block are challenging investors to do their technical homework and differentiate themselves in intentional ways. Y Combinator joined a growing list of investors offering exclusive services to these companies in a specialized AI track for its latest S17 batch of startups.
In the competitive world of… Read More
Last week, Amazon said that its massive $13.7 billion deal to acquire Whole Foods is wrapping up on Monday — giving it access to one of the strongest food brands in the United States, as well as hundreds of grocery stores in metropolitan areas. That means it’s going to be easier and easier for people to get access to great ingredients, and there’s been a continued trickle… Read More
Those searching for a way to help Texans impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Harvey need look no further than iTunes or the iOS App Store. Apple has made donating to the American Red Cross a bit easier by adding a button directly to its commerce platforms. The company is collecting donations in $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 increments, with all of the proceeds going to help the… Read More
You may remember that time I decided to do whatever startup Journy told me to do during my trip to Berlin with my mom. Well, I mostly stuck to that plan and we had a really good time. Here’s a quick recap. Journy is designed to function somewhere in between a high-end travel service and a DIY approach to jetsetting. For $25 a day, Journy will act as your personal concierge for your… Read More
Turns out, observing other people’s lives is actually a biological instinct. And in the age of social media, where lives are presented on a platter and require only the slip of a thumb, it’s easy to indulge in those instincts. In fact, sometimes, we let our impulses run wild in the most unproductive ways.
But why the fascination? Whether we social media stalk out of adoration… Read More
“Smashing thru,” the caption reads, “Captain America came face to face with Hitler … ” The 10-cent book appeared on store shelves a full year before Pearl Harbor officially woke the sleeping giant and forced America to enter World War II. He wasn’t the first superhero (that matter is indeed, the subject of much debate), though he would help usher in a new… Read More
The GameBoy Pocket remains one of the best-designed pieces of mobile gaming kit ever in my opinion, which is why I was intrigued by the BittBoy, a new third-party portable console that clearly owes a lot of inspiration to the GameBoy. The tiny handheld packs a library of “300” games built-in, controls that will feel familiar to any Nintendo fan, a battery you can recharge via… Read More
I’ve seen, of late, a tendency for young, intelligent men (and sometimes women, although this is primarily a male phenomenon) to fight back against the inequity of the startup ecosystem by joining political movements that are far right of Libertarianism. This tendency, one borne out of helplessness and frustration, is also defined by a certain mindset: that the world owes them success. To… Read More
