Setting up a connected home is a piecemeal proposition at the moment. Apple, Google and Amazon all working to push out their respective frameworks as quickly as humanly possible, but for the time being, actually automating the process is a matter of picking up devices here and there. Elgato is offering an interesting take on the space with its Eve series of outlets, switches and sensors,… Read More
Facebook’s recent workaround for Adblock Plus and other ad blockers is already earning it money. On today’s blockbuster Q3 earnings call, the company said desktop ad revenue grew 18 percent year-over-year this quarter compared to around 9 percent in previous quarters, and that thwarting ad blockers was largely the cause for that boost. While Adblock Plus announced it would… Read More
In an interview with The Independent, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller looked back at last week’s Apple event and justified some of the decisions behind the new MacBook Pro. Let’s go through the new information in this interview. Schiller is saying that the MacBook Pro is the fastest selling pro laptop from Apple. “And we are proud to tell you that so… Read More
Today on Facebook’s blockbuster Q3 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg said Internet.org has helped 40 million people get online. Indeed, 0.5% percent of the world’s population is now connected to the internet thanks to Facebook’s accessibility initiatives. The company even said Internet.org contributed to monthly user growth, which accelerated from 3.63 percent to 4.67… Read More
Hardware reporter and reviewer Stefan Etienne joins me this week to share first-person impressions of the new entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, and we discuss ports — or the lack thereof. Is a dongle-filled future really going to impact the ability of professionals to get work done with the latest MBP? Stefan has some thoughts on the issue. We also survey the field of recent Windows… Read More
Microsoft impressed a lot of people last week with its announcement of the Surface Studio, a desktop-tablet hybrid with a clever and elegant dial interface. Apparently Dell has been thinking along the same lines, because they just teased something very, very similar — right down to the dial. Read More
Another day, another lawsuit against Uber. This time it’s coming from DeSoto Cab, the oldest cab company in San Francisco. DeSoto, which recently rebranded as Flywheel Taxi, has accused Uber of things like monopolization, illegal and unfair practices and predatory pricing, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District court of Northern California today. “In reality, Uber… Read More
Since the dawn of consumer history, tickets have been a product defined by scarcity and lack of accessibility. The result is an abysmal category user experience that’s most often talked about with undertones of anger, skepticism and distrust. For evidence of scarcity in action, look no further than the World Series between the Cubs and Indians, which is the most expensive we’ve… Read More
Microsoft introduced Microsoft Teams today to much fanfare and hoopla — as only Microsoft can seem to do these days. But when you take a close look at today’s announcement, what have you really got here — a 10-year-old idea on how to communicate and collaborate in the enterprise with a distinctly Microsoft twist. As I wrote previously about Slack and more recently Workplace… Read More
Now that the insane, oh-my-god-it’s-everywhere hype cycle has tapered off a bit for Pokémon GO, Niantic gets to crack the classic startup conundrum: How the heck do they keep people coming back? The company is about to take its first swing at the problem by way of daily bonuses. The more regularly you play, the more you’re rewarded. Read More
Facebook had a wildly successful Q3, earning $7.01 billion in revenue and $1.09 EPS. That’s off of from 1.79 billion monthly users, up 16% year-over-year, and growing 4.67% this quarter, speeding up from 3.63% last quarter. Daily active users rose to 1.18 from 1.13 billion last quarter, and up 17% year-over-year. Facebook now has 1.66 billion mobile MAUs up 5.7% from 1.57 billion in… Read More
Apple released a new video ad just in time for Game 7 of the World Series (that’s baseball, and it’s not really a “world” cup). And this is a good one.
Like previous ads, Apple is focusing on just one new feature in the iPhone 7. All of my friends have been asking me what’s new in the iPhone 7. After so many iterations, it’s hard to keep up with new… Read More
The Kenyan software company Ushahidi has launched a campaign to observe the upcoming U.S. elections. The operation, called USA Election Monitor, will track voting irregularities reported via website, email, Twitter and SMS and post accounts to an online interactive map. “It’s a citizen-inspired, citizen-led election deployment,” Ushahidi’s Executive Director Daudi… Read More
The global video game industry is exploding in popularity. Companies such as ESPN, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts have formed their own e-sports divisions in recent months, and the gaming market exceeds $90 billion, up 9 percent in the last year. It is bigger than the movie industry and predicted to expand with new emerging platforms like VR. Greylock investment partner Josh Elman… Read More
If you want to add a head-up display (HUD) to your car, you’ve certainly got choices. In addition to Navdy and its Chinese clone Roav, Carrobot launched in October to bring its eye-level interface to cars that don’t have the tech built in. Carrobot distinguishes itself from its competitors, most notably Navdy and Exploride, by having full voice control for all functions as well as… Read More
When we last left Polish smart lighting company Silvair they were working on a way to create a Bluetooth mesh network between you, your kettle, your lightbulbs, and countless other devices in the home. After two years of work the company has perfected their systems and are now offering occupancy sensing, beacons, customer tracking and lighting to enterprise customers using a unique set of… Read More
Crosley has teamed up with renowned leather maker Moore & Giles to release a limited edition of its high-end C10 turntable. The special version of the C10 features a leather slip mat plus a layer of leather on top of the base. And it’s extremely limited. In fact, only 40 were made, and TechCrunch was able to get its hands on the very first unit. From a technical perspective, this… Read More
A controversial legislative framework that will strengthen and set in stone mass surveillance capabilities in the U.K. — including authorizing state agents to hack devices/services en masse and requiring ISPs to retain a year’s worth of website access logs on all users — looks set to come into force later this year, after the last opportunity to amend the draft passed by… Read More
Twitch, the Amazon-owned video streaming platform which is today used by over 2 million broadcasters, announced today its plans to begin selling video ads in its partners’ live streams. These ads will roll out this week, and will be delivered through Twitch’s new SureStream video technology platform, which also offers smoother and more reliable streams, including ads, the… Read More
In light of recent news that Wells Fargo fraudulently opened thousands of customer accounts, it’s not hard to sympathize with peoples’ mistrust of Wall Street, especially for groups that have already been tough for banks to win over. Read More
