Analyzing activity from nearly 300,000 users, we found that tvOS apps retained poorly compared to their phone- or tablet-based sister apps. We concluded that any updates to tvOS must focus on solving this retention problem if tvOS is to be a success. At WWDC, Apple announced changes to the way tvOS works and integrates with other Apple products. Will these changes solve the tvOS retention issue? Read More
Atlassian today announced that it has acquired StatusPage, a Y Combinator-incubated service that allows online businesses to keep their users updated about the status of their online services. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. This marks Atlassian’s first acquisition since going public last December. Adding a service like StatusPage, which launched three… Read More
Pretty much every PR agency under the sun has had a meeting this week trying to determine how they can get a slice of the Pokemon GO popularity, and, to be fair, so has every newsroom. But now it’s time for T-Mobile to bask in the sunshine with its contribution to the media lightning storm. T-Mobile announced today that as a part of its “T-Mobile Tuesdays” promotion… Read More
Your next colleague could be an industrial robot. Ford has a pilot project which could pave the way for humans and robots to eventually work hand-in-hand in all of the automaker’s assembly lines worldwide. The automaker has new collaborative robots, known as co-bots, helping workers fit shock absorbers to Fiesta cars in Ford’s assembly plant in Cologne, Germany. The task… Read More
Is nothing sacred? The rugged trails that over history have been trod by cowboys, gauchos, ranch hands, and in Australia, swagmen, are now to be presided over by cold, calculating machines. SwagBot is the vanguard of our incoming steer-driving overlords, its independent all-wheel drive churning carelessly the mud in which once toiled our manly forbears and their snorting charges. Read More
In a surprise federal court ruling, Microsoft has won its lawsuit against the United States Government over a warrant for a customers’ emails. The company has been fighting since 2013 to resist turning over the emails, which are stored in an Irish data center. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled today that Microsoft is not required to comply with a warrant for the… Read More
500 Startups founding partner Dave McClure took the stage at Startupfest in Montreal on Thursday to chat with festival co-founder Phil Telio, and while a lot of what he covered was the McClure Classic Hits playlist you might recognize if you’ve ever seen him speak, he also shed some light on what he sees as 500 Startups’ competitive advantage in the field of high-profile… Read More
Reading the links your friends share with you in Messenger is getting a little easier, starting today. Facebook says it’s beginning to roll out support for “Instant Articles” – the fast-loading, distraction-free versions of publishers’ sites – in its popular mobile messaging app. The Android version of Messenger will be the first to receive this… Read More
Was Tesla’s Autopilot mode too much autonomy, too soon? Consumer Reports seems to think so. On Thursday, the publication called for the automaker to disable its hands-free operation until the system can be made safer. Consumer Reports came to this decision after its experts concluded that some Tesla owners believe that the vehicles can drive themselves, creating the hazardous situations… Read More
Microsoft wants more data scientists in the job market. But some young people need to acquire their knowledge starting completely anew, while mid-career professionals need to build on their previous experience.
To plug the skills gap for both categories, Microsoft launched a series of classes in data science through edX.org, the nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard… Read More
Long before there was a Dyson V8 Absolute vacuum, a bias existed about the pricing and overall effectiveness of Dyson products. While I am not trying to prove or disprove that, I am going to share my impressions of their latest (expensive) household appliance: the V8 Absolute vacuum.
After all, you need to know if it sucks or not. Spoiler: it does a bit of both. Read More
Pinterest today said it was acquiring the team behind Math Camp, the creators of Highlight, and will be sunsetting its applications Roll and Shorts in the next few weeks. The acquisition shouldn’t seem like a twist — Highlight captured a ton of buzz at SXSW a few years ago, but the reality is Highlight and Math Camp’s later applications never really blew up in such a way… Read More
It feels like we keep saying it year after year, but Flash’s days really are numbered — and one of the largest Flash video streaming sites on the web, Twitch, is about to hit the button and switch to HTML5. But first: a beta! Read More
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed former Hyperloop One CTO and co-founder Brogan BamBrogan’s restraining order against the company’s former head of legal Afshin Pishevar. BamBrogan and several other former employees are suing Hyperloop One for wrongful termination and claims of failure toward fiduciary duty. BamBrogan separately filed a restraining order against Pishevar for… Read More
Today, ISI Technology announced the closing of their $5 million Series A led by Wave Equity Partners. ISI is the maker of the Heatworks technology; a fully electronic water heater. It happens every morning in households across the US: Turn the water on then check your email, brush your teeth or just wander around the bathroom for several minutes, waiting for hot water to arrive. In that time… Read More
Let’s talk about autonomous vehicles. Again. In the aftermath of the recent fatal crash that occurred in a Tesla running in Autopilot mode, it seems like it’s a topic worth digging into.
I attended a panel this spring before the Formula E race in Long Beach, California. In light of the upcoming Roborace series that will run as a support for the all-electric races, the panelists… Read More
During the primary season, tech industry leaders kept fairly quiet on the subject of the presidential race and its most notorious contender, Donald Trump. A few investors snarked about him on Twitter, and his campaign netted minimal donations from Silicon Valley. But now, many CEOs are denouncing the presumptive nominee in an open letter. “We have listened to Donald Trump over the past… Read More
Guns are bad (and good). The EU is great (and terrible). Mr. Trump is full of shit (and a genius). The news landscape is complicated and there is always another side to the story. Enter Discors, who today launched an iOS app and announced they’ve raised a healthy stack of Benjamins to help people get a deeper view on what’s going on in the world. Read More
Thanks to Google, the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee has agreed to add 11 new emoji that represent professions for men and women across all races. Back in May, Google proposed a new set of emojis to the Unicode Technical Committee that “represents a wide range of professions for women and men with a goal of highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empowering girls… Read More
At Montreal’s Startupfest on Thursday, Shopify co-founder and CEO Tobias Lütke sat down with Recode’s Kara Swisher to talk about what Shopify does, and how it can compete as a platform for online retail when giants like Facebook have a keen eye on potentially owning the space. Swisher asked Tobias about whether merchants really need Shopify’s software, when Facebook and… Read More
