Few people even have USB 3.0 ports on their PCs at the moment, but that shouldn’t stop peripheral-makers from preparing for the demand. Let’s be honest: as cool as Light Peak sounds, it’s really not going to sucker-punch USB 3.0, which is already well on its way to being a standard. So I’m perfectly happy to report that LaCie is upgrading its Rugged line of hard drives to support it, with a $20 premium for the privilege. That’s really all there is to say. → Read More
WorldMate has partnered with American Express Business Travel to power the new AmEx BlackBerry app. WorldMate’s mobile apps is similar in theory to TripIt, and is catered specifically for business travelers.
The app sends push alerts to your phone about flight cancellations, sudden meeting changes, and last second booking requirements. Services including in the American Express Business Travel app includes automatic itinerary synchronization, pop-up flight alerts accompanied by suggested alternative flights when necessary, calendar synchronization to add business meetings into the itinerary, and the ability to share itineraries with colleagues and business contacts. And you can search for and connect with LinkedIn contacts in the app. → Read More
Lost iPhone prototypes aside, most Apple leaks tend to come from partners companies tasked with helping to build something Apple needs for a particular product. After all, Apple can’t do it all, itself. Well, not yet anyway.
A report today in the New York Times confirms earlier rumors that Apple has purchased Austin, Texas-based chip company Intrinsity. And yes, it appears that company is the one largely behind the new A4 chip found inside the iPad. An analyst put the price at $121 million, but again, he’s an analyst, so who knows. → Read More
I truly have seen everything now. Apparently Chikara, the Philadelphia-based pro-wrestling promotion that mixes lucha libre, puroresu, and general tomfoolery will be releasing its very own video game, Rudo Resurrection. (“Rudo” means “bad guy” in lucha libre lingo.) Absolutely zero details have been announced other than that it will be available for “multiple platforms.” → Read More
Nvidia wants to help out you laptop gamers. How nice of them. From now on, the company will release both desktop and mobile drivers at the same time. This isn’t such a big deal for desktop users, what with their fancy GTX 480s, but laptop users won’t have to wait for the Dells and HPs of the world to release updated drivers. Nvidia’s got you covered. → Read More
Opera has always been a bit of a curiosity to me. Nearly everyone seems to tout its speed and adherence to web standards — and yet, no one seems to use it. Well, at least not in the United States anyway, and really not that many people worldwide either. Why is that?
Today, Opera announced a new version (10.52) available for OS X. The promise is that it’s ten times faster than the last version I used (10.10). In fact, they’re saying it’s the “world’s fastest browser for Mac.” So I decided to try it out as my primary browser the entire morning. → Read More
Last week, Facebook launched some major new products, including social plugins, its Like button for the web, and its Open Graph API. It also launched a product that has some serious privacy issues: “Instant Personalization”, which automatically hands over some of your data to certain third-party sites as soon as you visit them, without any action required on your part. I’ve previously discussed at length why I think this could lead to a major backlash. And now four Democratic US Senators — Charles Schumer, Michael Bennet, Mark Begich and Al Franken — are calling on Facebook to change its policies.
This morning the senators sent a letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg that details these issues (they’ve also separately reached out to the FTC, urging it to establish more rules around social networks). Here are the senators’ three main concerns, along with my own commentary: → Read More
10 months. That’s how long its been since Adobe first demonstrated Flash on Android — and that’s pretty much a lifetime in the mobile world. And yet, official Flash support for Android is still nowhere to be seen*. Do these people not understand that I have virtual fish to feed and e-crops to tend? While we still don’t have an exact date, we do know which version of Android it’ll be coming in: the next one. → Read More
There’s a small market for Bluetooth headsets that come with auto-pairing dongles. Some peeps need a quick and reliable way to use software like Microsoft Office Communicator and Skype and so I tested out the Jabra GO 6430 a few weeks back. While I found the audio superb, it didn’t fit right in my ear. Plantronics heard my cry and sent me the Voyager PRO UC. This boy is comfy. → Read More
For the low, low price of $50,000 you can have your very own Nintendo Virtual Boy TV. Originally used by developers to output their games on a TV (for testing purposes!), you can re-live all the fun you had playing Mario Tennis at Toys R Us, but at home, and on TV! → Read More
[Lithuania] GetJar, the largest independent mobile app store, has announced a ‘strategic partnership’ with Reliance Communications (RCOM), India’s second largest mobile operator.
Under the arrangement, the two companies will create India’s largest free mobile apps store, in which RCOM’s 100 million subscribers will get access to GetJar’s 65,000 free mobile applications, which target a range of handsets and platforms, not just high end smartphones. Popular apps available through the store include Facebook Mobile, Yahoo!, Opera Mini, and Nimbuzz.
Reliance Communications will offer the GetJar apps store across both its GSM and CDMA networks. → Read More
Mind-reading devices are nothing really new, but Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) apparently sees a huge potential for that market in the near future. The MIC will join forces with selected private tech companies to develop and commercialize robots and consumer electronics that can be controlled through thought. The project kicks off this fiscal year and is supposed to end by 2020. → Read More
The first time the world ever saw the original iPhone, they saw a pair of clownfish, emerging from a tangle of anemone, set as the lockscreen wallpaper. Pulled straight from OS X’s wallpaper collection, this image would go on to be used in countless first-gen iPhone marketing materials; wherever the iPhone 2G went, so did the clownfish. Now, take a closer look at that BlackBerry OS 6.0 sneak preview video from earlier. Skip to the 50 second mark. Notice anything funny? It’s.. the same.. clown fish. → Read More
It’s only taken about a billion years, but the Zeemote, your friendly neighborhood analog Bluetooth controller, has finally started supporting Android. Their new SDK for 1.6 and higher will allow developers to enable Zeemote input in “a matter of hours,” though the real question is whether there are enough games worth playing with the thing on Android? → Read More
So a funny thing happened to me the other day. I ran a little contest to give away the Time is Money calculator and clock. A guy named Tim won the TIM clock, which was pretty funny. I asked Tim for his mailing address, and he lives in lovely Lexington, KY. Funnily enough, I’m heading there this weekend to visit a friend! So I offered to personally deliver the TIM clock to Tim. And then I thought, hey, let’s make it a meetup! → Read More
We always keep the list of launching startups and products at our big events strictly confidential until the day of launch. But we’re finalizing the list of launching companies at TechCrunch Disrupt this week, and we usually give out a single teaser prior to the event. We’re excited that Comcast will be launching a new product called Tunerfish on May 24 in New York at Disrupt.
What’s Tunerfish? We’re not saying, but we think you will be suitably impressed. The Plaxo team (Comcast acquired Plaxo in 2008) is behind the new product, led by former Plaxo VP of Marketing John McCrea (John’s blog is here). Tunerfish may or may not have something to do with Comcast’s ambitious Fancast plans. → Read More
A company called Lecere is working on an iPad Point-of-Sale system (POS != what you think). The system is compatible with the iPad and the iPod Touch and allows restaurants to add portable POS systems for under $2,000. Me, I’d worry about gankage and breakage, but it’s definitely something you’ll soon see in popular restaurants all over the world very soon. → Read More
iPod speaker docks are still big business and Pioneer just announced three solid high-end contenders. Whether you’re looking for an audio-specific model or a feature-packed system, one of these models will likely fit the bill — as long as you can pony up the cash for the high admission cost. → Read More
Barcelona, Spain
New York City
San Francisco, CA
