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Ballmer's Biggest Regret Is Missing Out On "The New Device Called The Phone"
Sep 20, 12:19AM
Wrapping its analyst meetup, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer revealed his largest regret regarding product choices: Missing out on phones, which he claims has harmed Windows itself. If Gates was late to the Internet, Ballmer was late to phones. It's oddly nice to hear him admit it out loud. That Vista was what cost Microsoft early aggression into phones is almost ironic.Microsoft's Office 365 Consumer Edition Doubles To 2M Subscribers Since May
Sep 19, 11:01PM
Today at its analyst event, Microsoft announced a new milestone for its Office 365 Home Premium product, its cloud-based subscription-paid productivity suite, stating that it now has more than 2 million paid subscribers. That is up 100%, or 1 million subscribers, since May 29th. Previously, Microsoft touted that it had signed up its first 1 million consumer subscribers for Office 365 in 100 days.WTF Is Calico, And Why Does Google Think Its Mysterious New Company Can Defy Aging?
Sep 19, 11:00PM
The sad truth is that, if everyone on the Forbes 400 list simultaneously (and tragically) got Cancer, or Parkinsons (or any given disease for that matter), the world would probably be well on its way to finding a cure for these illnesses, thanks to the enormous wealth that would be incentivized to back those efforts.Microsoft's Business In Three Charts
Sep 19, 10:34PM
Microsoft, like other public companies, doesn't like to disclose more about its business than it has to, but today, in the middle of a reorganization and a very public CEO search, a little openness could go far to settling the nerves of jittery investors. Today at its analyst nerdmoot, the company showed three charts that strip down its business into its component parts.WSJ Confirms It's Parting Ways With All Things D, Adding 20 New Hires And International Conference
Sep 19, 10:16PM
The Dow Jones-owned Wall Street Journal has confirmed today that it will part ways with All Things D. The media publication — and conference powerhouse — is still in talks with potential suitors but its relationship with the Journal is dead. The news was first reported by Fortune’s Dan Primack. Negotiations have been going on for some time and sources tell us that this is largely due to the fact that Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the founders and standard-holders of the ATD brand, have been looking for funding to expand the business, rather than simply selling out to a larger media publication. One of the potential acquirers, we’re hearing, was AOL, which owns TechCrunch, Engadget, Autoblog and other blog properties including Patch. “We plan to embark on a major global expansion of our technology coverage, which will include adding 20 reviewers, bloggers, visual journalists, editors, and reporters covering digital,” said Gerard Baker, Editor in Chief of Dow Jones and Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal. “As part of this global push, we will also be expanding our conference franchise to include an international technology conference and building a new digital home for our first-class technology news and product reviews on The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. “ At this point the ATD brand remains with the Wall Street Journal, which would likely continue to use it in some fashion. The fate of the conferences, from what we know, is still up in the air. Whether a deal is cut to have them continue to run the conferences — or to buy them out — while parting ways on other matters, is yet to be determined. It seems unlikely that Dow Jones will want to let the lucrative events, run by Mossberg and Swisher, out of their grasp, and it’s difficult to see how that relationship would work out. It seems doubtful that they would shutter them entirely, however, as they’ve become marquee events. The Wall Street Journal says that part of its deal will be for a new conference that will focus on international markets. As far as the team goes, they are contracted with a corporation owned by Swisher and Mossberg, so they will stick together wherever the team ends up. This will be a deal for the whole kit and kaboodle, even Mike Isaac. Primack reports that ATD won’t share any content and ‘certain’ advertising functions withPlaying Starcraft 2 Might Make You Smarter
Sep 19, 9:48PM
This won't come as a surprise if you're familiar with the game's genre, but playing Starcraft 2 might make you smarter. Starcraft 2 is a so-called "real-time strategy game," a form of video game that involves resource management and military planning in parallel, while restricting the amount of information that each player has.The Caktus Hug Sensor Makes Sure You're Drinking Enough Water
Sep 19, 8:38PM
Summer's all but over, but it's no less important to stay hydrated. According to the CDC 43 percent of Americans drink fewer than four glasses of water a day, and while the actual amount you should drink varies from person to person, four glasses probably doesn't cut it. That's where Caktus, a neat Finnish hardware startup that presented at TechLaunch's second New Jersey demo day, comes into play. Their mission? To fix that dearth of drinking with an app and a curious sensor that straps onto your water bottle.Why High-Skilled Immigration Reform Is Stuck
Sep 19, 8:25PM
In April, the Senate put together a comprehensive immigration reform bill that was then sent to the House of Representatives where it currently languishes. Once wrapped into the larger comprehensive immigration reform push, high-skilled immigration reform's success became dependent on the passage of the full bill.Announcing The First Hardware Battlefield Where One Startup Will Win $50,000
Sep 19, 8:24PM
Hardware is king. VCs are investing, hackers are taking notice, and a subculture of "artisinal" design, prototyping, and manufacturing has grown almost overnight. And now we're looking for some of the best hardware startups in the world to compete in something completely new and completely cool: The TechCrunch Hardware Battlefield.iOS 7 Lock Screen Vulnerability Discovered Which Gives Access To Photos And Social Sharing, Apple Is Working On Fix
Sep 19, 7:44PM
Vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS lock screens have become a fixture of new iOS releases over the past few years, and iOS 7 is not exempt. A new method for bypassing the passcode on a lock screen has been discovered by idle hands and reported by Forbes’ Andy Greenberg. Update below. The lock screen bypass method involves sliding up Control Center, tapping on the timer button and holding down the power button until the cancel option comes up. You then tap on the cancel button then double-tap the home button. This gives you access to the multitasking UI. While most apps are locked out, the Camera option is accessible. This allows you to access the camera interface, but with the ability to scroll through all of the owner’s photos, not just the ones shot in the time since the phone was last locked — in the manner that the camera has worked for some time now. Not only can you scroll through the photos, but you can also tap on the share button to send photos out via email or social channels like Twitter or Facebook. So once you’re in you can post photos to Flickr or send them via email. Though Greenberg characterizes this as ‘hijacking’ those accounts, that seems a bit dramatic. Still, there is potential for embarrassment or harm if sensitive (ahem) photos get stolen or shared out through your social accounts. The bypass method has been verified by us to work properly and to not be overly difficult to execute. It took me about three tries to get it right on an iPhone 5 running iOS 7. As Greenberg notes, it’s hard to tell whether this works on an iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s as of yet. Of note: once you’re on the share sheet, you can choose a contact to send the item to, technically gaining access to the contact list (but not their details) of the device’s owner. Note that this vulnerability is incredibly easy to prevent for now. Just visit Settings>Control Center and toggle off ‘Access on Lock Screen’ to patch it up. The discovery was made by Jose Rodriguez, a soldier in Spain’s Canary Islands, who has a history of discovering these tricky bypass methods. His secret? Plenty of time waiting in cars in his former job as a driver for government officials. With past vulnerabilities, a software fix has come in a ‘point’ release of15Five, The Employee-Manager Feedback Network, Launches 2.0 With Like Buttons, Private Messaging And More
Sep 19, 7:32PM
15Five, a startup backed by the likes of 500 Startups and Yammer's David Sacks that provides a platform to help the working world communicate better with its managers, has had a dose of its own medicine. Taking feedback collected from its users since its exit from beta in August 2012, the company is today rolling out a rebuilt version 2.0, with a smoother interface, an easier way to get new employees involved, and more features geared at larger groups and teams with matrix reporting structures -- that is, teams reporting to more than one manager.Pinterest Will Start Showing Ads As Traffic Keeps Growing But Shifts To Mobile
Sep 19, 7:29PM
After four years, Pinterest is taking its first serious steps towards monetization. CEO Ben Silbermann today told users "we're going to start experimenting with promoting certain pins from a select group of businesses" because "it's so important that Pinterest is a service that will be here to stay."Branding Brand Rides M-Commerce Wave To $9.5 Million Series B
Sep 19, 7:28PM
You may not be familiar with the m-commerce vendor known as Branding Brand, but you've likely encountered its work. The company, which is today announcing a $9.5 million Series B, powers the mobile e-commerce sites and apps for more than 200 of the top retailers worldwide, including American Eagle Outfitters, Costco, Ralph Lauren, Sephora, Calvin Klein, Crate & Barrel, Nasty Gal, Kate Spade, Bath & BodyWorks, Brookstone, The Children's Place, Steve Madden, Timberland, Tommy Hilfiger, Dick's Sporting Goods, and dozens of others.Google Makes Its New Flat Logo And "App Launcher" Style Nav Menu Official, Will Roll Out Over The Next Few Weeks
Sep 19, 7:26PM
Google just got a refreshed flat logo and the black navigation bar is gone. Earlier this morning, we reported that Google’s new “App Launcher” style navigational menu was just weeks away from launch. Turns out, it is much closer to launching, as the company just made the change official. Gone is the black bar that runs atop all of Google’s properties. It’s now been replaced with a new menu that sits next to the Share and account info. The launcher, which looks just like the app launcher on Chrome OS, brings up an App grid with your favorite Google services. Google previously attempted to revamp the navigation bar back in 2011 by canning it in favor of a drop-down menu inside the Google logo. While the company officially announced this change, it later gave up on this idea. It’ll be interesting to see how Google’s users will react to today’s change. With this announcement, Google is also making its new flat logo official. The new logo had already been spotted across the web for the last few weeks, but given Google’s fondness for bucket testing small changes, it wasn’t clear if this was ever going to become the official logo. We’ll have to wait and see if Google will post a Yahoo-like explanation of the design process behind the flatter logo, but here is what the company had to say about it so far: “As part of this design, we've also refined the color palette and letter shapes of the Google logo.” That’s it.Kamcord Brings In-Game Screen Recording Tools To Android
Sep 19, 7:17PM
Just about every time I've spoken to Kamcord founder Matt Zitzmann in the year since the company launched, I've asked one question toward the end of our conversations to gauge the team's progress: "Have you guys figured out Android support yet?" Every time the answer has been "no."Google Makes Quickoffice For iOS And Android Free For Everyone
Sep 19, 6:54PM
It's been more than a year since Google acquired Quickoffice, a mobile app for editing Microsoft Office files on tablets. Over the last few months, it has slowly expanded the tool's availability by making free for Google Apps for Business customers. Everybody else still had to pay for the apps. Today, however, it is changing this policy and is making Quickoffice available for free to anybody with a Google account.Why Zuckerberg Thinks Government Should Not "Move Fast And Break Things"
Sep 19, 6:48PM
Silicon Valley has dramatically altered many aspects of our lives, but Congress still operates in the same way its horse-riding forefathers did. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is not only optimistic about Congress, but thinks its general operating principles are A-OK. "The cynical view is that everything is broken and sucks," he told The Atlantic's James Bennet at the magazine's Newseum event yesterday in Washington, D.C. "My view is that the system is set up to avoid making catastrophic mistakes, and right now the country is really divided, and therefore few things should get done, except for the things that people really agree on."Fly Or Die: LEGO Mindstorms EV3
Sep 19, 6:00PM
LEGO Mindstorms EV3. Even the name is formidable, but just wait until you connect the dots and fire these dragon-esque robots up. The EV3 set of robotic, programmable LEGOs is the very best version of this 14-year-old product line we've ever seen. The most notable edition is that users can program directly from the smart brick, the computational component included in each robot that gives the simple "If/Then" commands.California Regulator Passes First Ridesharing Rules, A Big Win For Lyft, SideCar, And Uber
Sep 19, 5:57PM
The California Public Utilities Commission has unanimously approved new regulations around ridesharing services such as Lyft, SideCar and UberX (as initially noted in a number of reports on Twitter). The CPUC proposed the rules back in July, offering a legal framework for ridesharing services to operate throughout the state. As we reported then, most of the regulations revolved around public safety, as well as ensuring that drivers have had background checks and are covered by insurance in the case of an accident.Apple Adjusts 'App Resurrection' Policy, Will Allow Developers To Restrict Versions Offered
Sep 19, 5:49PM
Earlier this week, we noted that Apple's new policy of automatically serving up old versions of apps to users was good for the downloader, but not so great for the developer. Today, Apple has adjusted its policy and will allow developers to choose not to offer old versions.If at any time you'd like to stop receiving these messages, just send an email to feeds_feedburner_com_techcrunch+unsubscribe-hmdtechnology=gmail.com@mail.feed2email.net.
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