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BlackBerry Cancels Its 2Q2013 Earnings Call
Sep 26, 5:53AM
BlackBerry has cancelled its second-quarter earnings call, which was scheduled to take place along with the release of its financial results on Friday. The company said the cancellation was because of the letter of intent to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings it signed earlier this week. Fairfax agreed to pay $4.7 billion for the beleaguered phone maker.Elop Conspiracy? Not So Much
Sep 26, 2:05AM
If you read the news yesterday, you might have run into a few articles discussing the exit of former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, the terms of his exit, the cost of said exit, and how he was a mole in the Finnish company determined to bring it down in flames.Mayday! Mayday! Amazon's On-Demand Support Could Be A Scaling Nightmare
Sep 26, 1:33AM
What happens when it's easier to call tech support than to Google your problem? Amazon might discover the costly answer to that question depending on how much the owners of its new Kindle Fire HDX tablet's use its Mayday on-demand video customer support feature. And whether they behave themselvesSecondMarket Launches A Bitcoin Investment Trust For Accredited Investors
Sep 26, 12:00AM
As Bitcoin, the math-based currency that enthusiasts say could revolutionize online transactions, becomes more mainstream, its supporters have been looking for ways to make it more accessible to investors. Today SecondMarket, a platform where privately-held or growth-stage companies can raise capital, says it is now offering a new Bitcoin Investment Trust. It’s an open-ended fund that lets institutional and accredited investors dabble in the crypto-currency without necessarily having to go through the headache of managing wallets or direct transactions. It invests exclusively in Bitcoin and investors who buy shares in the trust will be able to gain liquidity through regular auctions beginning next year on SecondMarket. Unlike the exchange-traded fund that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have been exploring, this one is only available to accredited investors, who are required to have higher annual incomes or net worth. Because this fund is only open to accredited investors, it doesn’t have to pass the same exploratory process that a wider ETF would need to go through with regulators. SecondMarket says that the new trust’s sponsor is Alternative Currency Asset Management, a subsidiary the company created. They also put a $2 million seed investment into the trust. It’s worth noting that Barry Silbert, SecondMarket’s CEO, has been a longtime enthusiast of the currency. He personally has made several angel investments in Bitcoin-related startups like BitPremier and Coinsetter. Bitcoin is a math-based currency that some say could substantially lower online transaction costs. Its value as measured in U.S. dollars reached an all-time high earlier this year, the currency settled back at a lower range around $125 to 135. The market capitalization of all Bitcoins in circulation currently sits at around $1.5 billion.Nest Labs To Open Up Its Learning Thermostat To Developers
Sep 25, 11:51PM
The Nest Learning Thermostat is about to get a little smarter (and perhaps the forthcoming Protect). Speaking at CEDIA Expo 2013, Tony Fadell, the company's co-founder and CEO, just detailed an API that's aimed at developers looking to integrate the Learning Thermostat within their ecosystem. Want one app to control your smart lighting, fan, security system and climate control? This API could be the missing link to a truly smart home.Apple Uses Bluetooth LE To Enable Apple TV 'Touch To Set Up' Via iOS 7 Devices
Sep 25, 9:43PM
Apple is leveraging the Bluetooth LE technology that it has been building into every iPhone since the iPhone 4S to enable automatic setup of an Apple TV 3G. Just touch a device running iOS 7 to a newer Apple set-top box to have it automatically set up Wi-Fi networks, region settings and Apple Store accounts. This essentially means — as far as we can tell — that Apple is using technology similar to the kind it describes as ‘iBeacon‘, a Bluetooth LE device that broadcasts a data payload to any compatible BT device in the area. This can enable complex interaction without having to be on the same Wi-Fi network or even paired with a target device. But it also may use the iPod Accessory Protocol, also supported by BLE. The ‘one touch’ setup was discovered by TUAW reader Aaron G and noted in an article earlier today. The Apple help document related to the new setup feature gives us some clues that point to BlueTooth LE being the technology driving the interaction. A technology that Apple uses in its iBeacon protocol. From what we understand, this is not turning the Apple TV into an iBeacon in Apple’s consumer sense of the word, but it uses similar technology. To make it work, you enable Bluetooth on your iPhone 4S, iPad 3G, iPad mini or iPod touch 5G and newer. Then, you tap it to an Apple TV 3G that’s sitting on the setup screen. Your devices will enter an out-of-band pairing and you’ll be prompted to enter your Apple ID on your iOS device. You can then choose to have it remember that data for purchases on your Apple TV if you wish. The Apple TV will then auto-configure itself, bypassing the super awkward process of entering your Apple ID and Wi-Fi information using Apple’s stick of gum remote. The Apple TV has to be on version 6.0 or later and iOS devices on 7.0 or later. The fact that the help doc tells you that you must turn on Bluetooth is a dead giveaway that this is based on the tech that Apple has been building into its devices for longer than it has needed it. Apple built support for Bluetooth LE into its devices for a while and iBeacon support into the latest iOS and Apple TV software. We tried out the new setup method and it worked as advertised. WeIn Search Of The Perfect Polo: Hands-On With Vastrm's Home Try-On Service
Sep 25, 9:36PM
Y Combinator alum Vastrm has been pretty busy lately. In addition to locking up another $1 million in seed funding from A16z, SV Angels, Ignition Partners, and Will Smith (to name a few), the startup redesigned its website slightly modified its sense of purpose. The team has always been about giving its customers the perfect fitting polo, but now they're working to make the process even more personal.This Week On The TechCrunch Droidcast: Amazon Outs New Kindle Fires While Samsung Goes For The Gold
Sep 25, 9:35PM
What would a Wednesday afternoon be without the TechCrunch Droidcast? Don't answer that. Sadly, I couldn't be around to take part in this glorious meeting of the minds (I was checking out startups here, in case you were curious) but our very own Matt Burns and Anthony Ha stepped up this time around and the results were... interesting. You should probably just listen for yourself.Target Launches Its First Subscription-Based E-Commerce Service, Focus For Now Is Baby-Care Items
Sep 25, 8:45PM
As Amazon's online business continues to cut into traditional retailers' revenues, Target today makes a move to fight back. The Minneapolis-headquartered retailer has just launched a pilot program for subscription-based commerce, called simply Target Subscriptions. Initially, the service is focused on new parents, with various products related to baby-care, including diapers, wipes, training pants, and other essentials.Both Apple And EA Deny Money Exchanged To Keep Plants Vs. Zombies 2 Off Android
Sep 25, 8:04PM
Apple and EA are both categorically denying a report that surfaced late yesterday that money exchanged hands to keep Popcap hit Plants Vs. Zombies 2 an exclusive to iOS. Reached for comment on the matter, both EA and Apple told us that “it’s simply not true.” The report, from gaming site Giant Bomb, had quoted EA Labels head Frank Gibeau as telling employees at a closed meeting that “Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2].” Since the meeting was a closed session, EA would not comment on what was said there, but our sources are telling us that Gibeau did indeed make a statement similar to that. But we’re also hearing that it was intended as an off-the-cuff joke of sorts, and was taken out of context by either the report or the source used for the quote. But both EA and Apple absolutely denied that any payments were made to EA by Apple in exchange for iOS exclusivity on PvZ 2. Since the game is not out for Android devices outside of China and launched on iOS several weeks ago, the reports were quick to garner attention and credibility. But whatever Gibeau said in the meeting, both companies are flat out saying that there was no agreement to pay EA. Here’s the major catch to most of these arguments about Apple and exclusivity: It really does not need to pay developers cash to launch on iOS first, they do it anyway. The marketing power of the App Store is tremendous, and on a per-customer basis, iOS users spend more money and buy more apps than Android users. That’s also true on the whole for now, but could change as the sheer volume of Android devices neutralizes the smaller ‘per-device’ spend on the platform. That’s not to say that there isn’t some effort by Apple to make sure that its platform is the most welcoming for marquee titles. Apple has a long history of working with publishers that it sees as doing good or high-profile work to promote their apps via large banners and editorial recommendations on the App Store. And I’m sure that the App Store division is doing its best to make sure that the top apps and games land on iOS first, if not only. If you want to call offers of promotion and praise in the App StoreGoogle Starts Supporting Google+ Hashtags In Search Queries
Sep 25, 7:11PM
Google+ started supporting hashtags in May, and today the company announced that Google Search will now allow you to search for Google+ posts by using these hashtags. Given that there's a little bit of Google+ in every Google product now, it's no surprise that these Google+ hashtags are now finding their way into other Google products.Gmail For Android Updated With Card-Style Layout
Sep 25, 7:02PM
Google's Gmail application for Android is being updated today with a new design which will bring Google's now preferred "card style" user interface to the Conversation View within the app. This layout, which Google popularized through its Google Now search application, has become the new go-to design paradigm at Google, arriving across other Google products and services, including Google Drive, the new Google Wallet apps, Maps, Google+ and elsewhere.Automattic Acquires File-Sharing Service Cloudup To Build A Faster Media Library And Enable Co-Editing
Sep 25, 7:00PM
Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, has acquired file-sharing service Cloudup, which launched in beta in June. The acquisition will help Automattic improve two features of WordPress.com in particular: the media library used for uploading visual content and post editing to give multiple users the ability to edit at one time. Cloudup is an offshoot of ed-tech company LearnBoost, which was founded in 2010, meaning it comprises the same team and existing investors. LearnBoost co-founder and CTO Guillermo Rauch said the classroom management service will continue to operate under Automattic, as well.Instacart, Growing Rapidly In Chicago, Adds Recipes To Its Grocery Delivery Service
Sep 25, 6:59PM
Today Instacart, a grocery delivery service, added an initial set of recipes to its service, helping customers purchase groups of items that combine into finished dishes. For the non-chef among us (hello, my name is Alex), this is a boon. The news is small for the day: Instacart has curated a list of recipes that its users can access. However, the company told TechCrunch that it intends to greatly expand that list, and eventually allow its users to upload their own recipes. Instacart is a physical grocery delivery service that is expanding its digital platform. Recipes are an interesting addition and an anti-pivot of sorts. Instacart customers want to quickly order food that can be used to feed themselves and others, and recipes make that a simpler process. If Instacart can grow its recipe list in an inexpensive way, and effectively bake it into its search process, I can see it being a popular option. Also, I am likely willing to buy more total items – thus increasing Instacart’s revenue – if I know where they are going. When I buy only what I need for the day, I spend less per order. Instacart doesn’t like that. This won’t be the last non-ordering function that Instacart adds to its platform. Recipes are a natural expansion of ordering foodstuffs, and this addition to the platform could improve its unit economics. That and its recent expansion into Chicago, which I spoke about with Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. When we first spoke about it, I was skeptical. Could the company’s model work in Chicago, with its aggressive weather and huge land area? But according to Mehta, in the first few days of Instacart’s arrival in the City Warm Forgot, it is already a larger market than Mountain View, Palo Alto, and the East Bay combined. That’s good news for Instacart, as Chicago is its first market outside of the larger San Francisco Bay Area. Top Image Credit: normanackApple Launches iOS 7 Tech Talks For Developers In SF, NYC, Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin And London
Sep 25, 6:19PM
Apple has just announced a series of Tech Talks for developers building apps for iOS 7. This is a relatively common occurrence as Apple likes to get evangelists out to talk to developers and help them on a more personal basis than just WWDC. The talks are important because Apple sold out its main developer conference extremely quickly this year, leaving many developers in the lurch. Now they’ll be able to get lab and talk time with Apple engineers in order to hopefully get the most out of iOS 7. The talks will be held in San Francisco, NYC, Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin and London and — for the first time — are split between ‘App Developer’ days and ‘Game Developer’ days. Typically the subject matter had been interleaved in one rolling session. Now, Apple is splitting it out. This actually makes a lot of sense because the technologies used in games and apps do differ quite a bit. A regular app developer might never have to tap into Game Center, Sprite Kit or OpenGL ES technologies, where a game developer is steeped in those frameworks. Note that you cannot choose to attend both the app day and game day programs, you must pick one or the other to attend in each city. There will be videos of the event presentations posted shortly after the last event on December 18th, so even if developers don’t get in, they’ll be able to see the program. These events typically hold around 400 attendees per session. You can apply if you’re over 13 today or earlier, and attendees are randomly selected from qualified applicants. So this isn’t a time-sensitive draft like the WWDC ticket fiasco, where they sold out in around 90 seconds. Apply and you have a chance to go. If you’re a developer looking to go, you can see the full schedule of talks for each day and apply here.Google+ May Finally Matter Thanks To YouTube Comments
Sep 25, 6:16PM
You didn't really need a Google+ account until now. You might have one whether you wanted it or not. But YouTube new commenting system requires a presence on Google+. And there's no real alternative to YouTube for video. Google+ may have mattered before in theory, but now it matters in practice.Instagram Gets A Mild iOS 7 Redesign With Edge-To-Edge Images
Sep 25, 6:01PM
Instagram has been updated for Apple’s iOS 7 today with a new design that puts photos front and center. The app has not been re-written or torn down for the logic of iOS 7 so much as trimmed and tucked to fit with the aesthetic. Instagram’s previous designs had already been winnowed a bit to make them feel more in line with the Android app, so the design didn’t have to pull a full 180. Instead, borders were removed to take the images full bleed, buttons were flattened and menu bars trimmed of borders. The new profile view shows off the app’s adherence to iOS 7′s new default white background as well. What you won’t find here, however, is a major change that takes into account iOS 7′s new layering features or its heavy use of dynamics and physics. There is certainly lip service paid to conventions like the circular profile pictures, but this isn’t a complete turnover of thinking with iOS 7 in mind. It must be said, however, that not every app needs to make design decisions that use every tool in the toolbox. Instagram is about the photos and the team says that the changes it made are designed to put your photos first, which makes sense. To that end, they’ve also increased the display resolution of images and tweaked the grid to make images bigger. “We led our redesign with a focus on clarity to keep the feel of Instagram clean, simple and grounded in the photos and videos you discover and share,” says a company blog post. Nonetheless, it should make Instagram feel more at home on your iOS 7 device. Notably, Instagram’s very three-dimensional icon remains the same, and still sticks out amongst all of the other re-thought apps on my springboard.Valve To Launch A Prototype Steam Box And Multiple Steam Machines In 2014
Sep 25, 5:22PM
Following the announcement of SteamOS, Valve just unveiled the long-anticipated Steam Box — sort of. Instead of releasing a Valve-branded Steam Box, the company will actually work with multiple manufacturers to release a series of Steam machines for your living room. Yet, Valve also presented a specific prototype, a Steam machine designed by Valve. This particular machine is closer to what everyone expected. For now, only 300 copies will be produced and sent to lucky beta testers. The company doesn’t say whether those prototypes will eventually become the Steam Box, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone. As for the Steam machines, Valve promises “an array of specifications, price, and performance.” It could be pretty similar to the Chromebook lineup. Customers will be presented with multiple performance tiers — it should make it easier to buy a traditional gaming computer. Hardware will be hackable and you will be able to install another operating system for example. As a reminder, SteamOS is a Linux-based operating system for your living room. It is optimized for gaming, movies and music. While many games are not available on Linux, SteamOS allows you to stream your games from your Windows or Mac machines using your local network Today’s announcement is very short and doesn’t say which OEM will actually build Steam machines. All we know is that they will ship in 2014. The Valve-branded prototype could come to beta testers earlier as the company will select beta testers on October 25th. On Steam's website, users can find a teaser page with three icons that represent three different announcements for the living room — SteamOS and the Steam machines were only the first two announcements. Valve hints at a new input method for the third one. On Friday, Valve should answer the last standing question — which game controller will ship with the Steam machines?Social Events Platform DoubleDutch Raises $10 Million Series C Led By Bessemer
Sep 25, 5:19PM
Rapidly growing mobile events application platform DoubleDutch raised $10 million in Series C funding TechCrunch learned, in an oversubscribed round led in large part by Byron Deeter of Bessemer Venture Partners, who will now join the company's board. Previous investors from DoubleDutch's A and B rounds, Floodgate Fund, Bullpen Capital and others also participated.Wealthfront Debuts Wealthfront.org To Give Web-Based Investment Tools To Non-Profits
Sep 25, 5:18PM
Automated investment services company Wealthfront has made its name as an alternative to traditional financial advisory services for individuals, especially "Generation Y" techies just starting to pull their nest eggs together. Today, the company is looking to expand its user base in a different direction with the launch of Wealthfront.org, a site that will provide investment advisory tools to non-profits. While Wealthfront's core product gives free services to accounts with less than $10,000 in assets, the non-profit product bumps that up to the first $1 million in assets.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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