For years we’ve been skeptical, and rightly so, of the “art filters” you can put on your photos, webcam videos and so on. But Google may have made them relevant again — or at the very least, interesting — by letting you mix and match them in real time using a single specialized neural network. Read More
This week’s TCBC podcast is all about events: Microsoft’s and Apple’s, both of which happen this week and both of which will be covered by Romain Dillet, who joins as my guest for the episode. We’re fresh from watching and writing about Microsoft’s event earlier today, where it revealed its Surface Studio PC and a host of software improvements coming to Windows… Read More
Well that was unexpected — Tesla reported today in its third-quarter that it had earnings of 74 cents per share, compared to Wall Street’s expectations of a loss of 54 cents per share.
In other words: Tesla said it actually made a profit this quarter on a GAAP basis. Tesla shares quickly jumped around 5.5 percent following the company posting a rare profit for the… Read More
23andMe won’t continue with next-generation DNA sequencing and has reportedly laid off the lab working on the project. About half-a-dozen workers were laid off from the Salt Lake City, Utah-based lab, according to BuzzFeed, which first reported the news. By our own count based on LinkedIn, at least five members of the lab have been let go, including its chief medical officer, Dr.… Read More
While Uber and others fight over private car transportation, there remains an elephant in the room which has simply not been disrupted yet and which actually carries far more people on the planet: Buses. You may laugh at the idea, but we are not talking about creating an “Uber for buses” here. The complication for passengers is not the bus coming to you, but the ability to… Read More
In May earlier this year, Snapchat raised around $1.8 billion in a financing round that valued it at around $18 billion — and now it looks like that valuation could double in its upcoming IPO. Bloomberg is reporting that Snapchat is looking to raise as much as $4 billion in its initial public offering that could value it as high as $35 billion. Previously, the company was reportedly… Read More
Airbnb recently released its 2016 diversity report, showing a 57% white workforce (last year, Airbnb was 63% white) and 43% female workforce — a 3% decline from last year. Although Airbnb lost some female employees, the company noted that it has doubled the number of women in senior leadership roles and increased the number of women in technical roles. Regarding underrepresented… Read More
Strange is it sounds, Microsoft Paint is once again a Windows focal point. Thirty-one years after its introduction with the first version of the operating system, the software giant has given the application one of biggest revamps, putting it at the center of a 3D content ecosystem that will play a key role in future hardware and software offerings. When you get a chance to sit down with… Read More
Lifestage, Facebook’s newer “teens-only” app designed to counteract the Snapchat threat by giving younger users a place to connect outside of Facebook’s larger social network, has now arrived on Android. Previously an iPhone-only application, this experimental app represents Facebook’s attempt to woo the high schooler crowd, while also testing other features… Read More
If you’ve been waiting for Apple’s AirPod wireless headphones to go on sale, you’re going to have to wait a little longer. Apple says that they are not ready and they it will need ‘a little more time’. “The early response to AirPods has been incredible. We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready, and we need a little more time… Read More
YouTube today officially launched a new feature for video creators called End Screens, which are designed to keep users engaged with the YouTube app and creators’ content. The feature, which places thumbnails at the end of the video, can be used to prompt viewers to watch more of the creator’s videos when they finish watching the first one, or take other actions, like subscribing… Read More
Easily the surprise hit of today’s big Window 10 event in New York City today, the Surface Dial is the new input device that none of us knew we needed. The $100 peripheral is, as “a completely new way to interact with technology and create in the most natural, immersive way,” according to the company’s press material. What that means in non-marketing speak is that the… Read More
The LG V20 is the immediate successor to the V10 — a smartphone that LG had christened to be the first with a notification bar that was also a “second screen.” Their first attempt was a ruggedized phone that turned out to be well-loved by those who bought it, but the V20 aims to go above that and solidify the concept. The V20 is an enormous phone with no app drawer, lots… Read More
#Beyond140 is coming to fruition with the removal of one of the most annoying laws of Twitter. Some iOS users are now part of a test group that no longer sees a recipients’ usernames appear or count against the 140 character limit when they post replies. This leaves more room for actual discussion. It also prevents the dreaded “Twitter Canoe”, where more and more users join… Read More
And they say wild west justice is no more. Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade goods, has just reached a deal with Adyen, a global payments processor, to run its payments backend for the over 1.7 million sellers on the site. You may remember a few months ago that Worldpay, Etsy’s prior payments processor, was party to a month long calamity that disrupted millions in… Read More
While machine learning is introducing innovation and change to many sectors, it also is bringing trouble and worries to others. One of the most worrying aspects of emerging machine learning technologies is their invasiveness on user privacy. Read More
We knew Microsoft was launching a new Surface device at today’s big Windows 10 event. And we had caught wind that the newest entry in the company’s in-house hybrid would be an all-in-one of some sort – something along the lines of a Windows version of the iMac. What we didn’t see coming, however, was how strong a creative play the software giant would be offering up… Read More
Take a breath because there’s lots to cover, but here’s everything Microsoft unveiled at their October 26, 2016 event, including the new Surface Studio all-in-one creative computer. Read More
Darkstore is expanding its warehouse-as-a-service product into New York and Phoenix, following the launch of its San Francisco Darkstore in May. The decision to launch in additional markets is driven by the demand from Darkstore’s brand customers,” Darkstore CEO Lee Hnetinka told me via email. Tuft & Needle, Darkstore’s first customer, is based in Phoenix and is one of… Read More
Okay, this is cool. Microsoft kind of powered past the Surface Dial in all of the pomp and circumstance around the new Creators Update version of Windows 10 and the Surface Studio all in one, but the new wireless peripheral offers up some interesting new methods for interacting with the company products. The name and form factor tell you a lot about what you need to know here — the dial… Read More
