This week on Technotopia I talked to Christian Villum, a designer and thinker at the Danish Design Center. His vision of the future is simple: with the right kind of education and the right tools, cities can be reborn with design thinking. His background in hacktivism and making also allowed him to talk about the future of 3D printing in schools and cities. He’s a founding member of… Read More
As competition between television streaming services heats up, Dish’s Sling TV announced a new feature designed to better compete with rivals like Sony’s PlayStation Vue and others: it’s debuting a cloud DVR that will allow customers to record shows and movies to watch later at their convenience. Vue already offers a similar option, which has been one of its… Read More
Like just about everyone else, Samsung had a rough 2016 – though the South Korean company’s year was perhaps even tougher than most. There was that drawn out Galaxy Note incident, which entailed two recalls and a on-going apology parade, coupled with the subsequent recall of 2.8 million washing machines over reports of malfunctions and injuries, including a broken jaw. The… Read More
As promised, Hello Games has released a major new update for its ambitious space exploration game No Man’s Sky. The new update was promised late last week, but arrived early on Sunday, giving game owners a bunch of new ways to play, including two brand new game modes and a base building system. Base building allows players to craft buildings and storage capacity either on a… Read More
360-degree cameras are still somewhat of a novelty, with a range of options offering decent quality for around $300 or so. A new device launching on Indiegogo Monday could bring some better balance to the cost/effectiveness equation – the Insta360 Air is a clip-on 360-degree video camera with livestreaming capabilities that will cost $99 in pre-order, or $119 when it’s available… Read More
After Disrupt in London I’ll be heading over to Wroclaw, Poland for a double dose of meet-up fun. The meetups coincided with a few events in Wroclaw and you’re welcome to come to one or both. The first meetup is part of ImpaceCEE and will be held on Wednesday, December 7. You can RSVP here. It’s primarily Fintech-related but, again, you’re welcome to come along to chat… Read More
CNN has acquired Beme, the social app co-founded by YouTuber Casey Neistat. As part of the deal, Neistat will lead the Beme team as a new standalone media sub-brand operating under CNN’s umbrella as executive producer, and all 11 members of the Beme team will join the ranks of the news network, according to Variety. Beme’s had an interesting history, with a founding vision of… Read More
TechCrunch Disrupt in London is on December 5-6. That’s next week. Grab tickets here. IN amongst our discussion about startups, investing and the future of tech, we are delighted to be joined by two outspoken investors. In many ways these two speakers are not afraid to counter the prevailing views of the time and have both gained reputations of being champions of entrepreneurs.… Read More
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tickets are now on sale, letting you snag seats now for the December 16 premiere. The newest Star Wars movie is also the first to step outside the main plot line revolving around Luke, Han, Leia and their family, with a plot that details the steps taken to retrieve the plans for the first Death Star, which acts as the prime motivating plot device at the beginning… Read More
“Competence is under-rated,” is not what one would expect to hear from an investor and member of multiple boards on the topic of what makes a great director. However, for Rory O’Driscoll, a founding partner at Scale Venture Partners, do no harm may be the most important motto for a director to keep in mind. “In the mind of the entrepreneur; they’re not thinking is… Read More
At TechCrunch, we’re not prone to hyperbole, so we can say things like “Disrupt is the gift that keeps on giving” and really mean it. Plus, we really like presents. This Cyber Monday, we’re treating anyone who buys a General Admission pass to a gift worth up to $200 from the TechCrunch Gift Guide. Just choose your gift, buy your ticket, and presto, you’ve got… Read More
Okay you’ve been excellent at procrastinating so far, but the time to act is now. This is the last week to get your discounted early-bird tickets to Disrupt London 2016 for just £950 apiece, a full £250 less than they’ll be at the door once the show floor opens on Monday, December 5. Seriously. No more extensions. No more exceptions. Just £250 less in your pocket if you wait… Read More
Every scientist wants their paper to appear in Cell, Nature or Science. Being associated with such publications is synonymous with prestige and excellence. However, these journals are typically known to have an acceptance rate of 5-10 percent. ScienceMatters is trying to pave the way to a more democratized system by offering an open-source publishing platform for scientists to share their work. Read More
There is a pervasive underlying fear from generations raised on dystopian science fiction that artificial intelligence and robotics will be the undoing of humankind. Eventually, the conventional thinking goes — even the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are on board here — artificial intelligence will become smarter than the organic variety and terrible things will happen… Read More
We are so doomed it’s almost funny, and always have been. Don’t worry, I’m not being political! …well, not exactly. I’m talking about the State of Internet Security, which is, as always, disastrous-verging-on-cataclysmic. Are you worried about Russian hackers? Hah! You should be so lucky as to be hacked. We should all be so lucky as to have a functional Internet they… Read More
The functions of government outlined in the U.S. Constitution can be broadly broken down into the promotion of unity, justice, peace, defense and welfare. Nearly 230 years later, in an age when software rules the world, these principles remain constant — but the way in which the average citizen experiences and interacts with government and politics has changed immeasurably. Read More
Who needs a smart car when you have a cool car? The Dashbot is a $49 add on for your vehicle that allows you to interact with your phone and Alexa while driving, thereby keeping your hands free to fend off pomaded villains and to swoop in an save innocent people before a helicopter explodes overhead. The product is a sort of Bluetooth speaker on steroids with lots of functionality built-in and… Read More
Even before smartwatches, I did not wear a watch. I did not buy an Apple Watch or Pebble, despite the cool factor, even though I always upgrade to the latest iPhone as soon as it comes out. I would also suggest that in order for an innovative new device to take off and become a platform, it actually needs to pioneer a new user interface that utilizes a different one of our limbs or senses. Read More
