For the daily deal obsessed on the go, a Groupon mobile app is simply not enough.
Enter The Dealmap, a daily deal aggregator that is launching its iPhone app this evening. Bringing the functionality of its website to the app store, The Dealmap helps users find the best deals in their area, whether they’re from national retailers, local vendors, crowdsourced or daily deals. With roughly 350,000… → Read More
When Amazon first released the Kindle in 2007, it confused me. The popular notion was that it was a way to move more Amazon content. But at $399, who on Earth was going to buy it? Instead, it looked as if Amazon was interested in making money off of hardware sales. Time passed and the price dropped, but the biggest factor there was increased competition. Now, at $189 (for the 3G version), Amazon’s… → Read More
“We recognize the market has dramatically changed, and with the product delays we have experienced, it no longer make sense for us to move forward with our first generation electronic reading product. This was a hard decision, but is the best one for our company, our investors and our customers.” Aw. I held it these very hands and proclaimed it sexy. But it was not to be. Better luck… → Read More
Push notifications, which allow you to receive alerts without having to manually open an application, are a big deal on mobile devices. They’re important enough, in fact, that some startups have sprung up with the sole mission of making it easy for mobile developers to integrate them into their apps. One such startup is Urban Airship, and tonight the service is adding Android to its roster of… → Read More
In the market for a media center PC? You might want to take a look at the new kid, Modified Konstructs. Modified just announced their first product, the MK-X1 Media Center. Based on the Acer Revo chassis, and pre-loaded with XBMC, the MK-X1 sounds like an ideal media center set up for someone who wants more then the bare bones set top box, but doesn’t want to spend a bunch. → Read More
Just when you thoughtTripIt couldn’t get any easier to use, the startup has defied the impossible. The nifty site that creates customized travel itineraries from travel confirmation emails, is launching an auto-import feature for Gmail and Google Apps that will automatically read and import your travel emails to create and update itineraries on TripIt.
The feature essentially replaces needing to… → Read More
Softcore-porn-actress-turned-marketing-consultant Jodie Fisher wasn’t the only person who failed to be enamored by HP CEO Mark Hurd, who was forced to resign as a result of an investigation into his relationship with Ms. Fisher. According to Glassdoor, a site where employees can anonymously rate companies and CEOs, Hurd had the lowest employee approval rating of any major tech CEO. Only 34… → Read More
Adobe released the latest version of Flash for the Mac recently, bringing it up to speed with the Windows version, which has built in hardware accelerated video decoding. The version you want is 10.1.82.76, which you can dowload directly from Adobe. [Via LifeHacker & ByteArray] → Read More
The main reason you haven’t heard of PlaceBook up until now is because they’re still in stealth mode. But if you never hear about them in the future, it’s because Facebook is threatening them unless they change their name. For a location-based service, PlaceBook seems to be a killer name. It also happens to rhyme with that other social networking service — and they don’t like that too much. So… → Read More
Something strange has been happening. On more than one occasion I’ve received an irate email from a complete stranger demanding that I delete their Facebook account.
Of course, it’s not surprising that there are a few people that actually want to leave the uber social network – slippery privacy controls and the occasional security breach can have that effect – but to be mistaken for somebody who… → Read More
Some people complain about the direction of touch panels. Complaints about losing a physical keyboard are some of the biggest. Certainly typing anything larger than a page can begin to feel numb on a touch device.
So why not put the keys in the back? → Read More
Short Version: It’s a backpack with a window in it so the TSA people won’t hassle you at the security checkpoint. Given the high price and issues with the shoulder straps, I’d recommend caution if you are considering this bag. → Read More
Camera+ is one of the few essential iPhone applications, and I certainly hope you went and downloaded it back in July when we first told you about it. There was one problem though; as some sharper eyed commenter noticed – the programmers intended for you to be able to use the volume controls to control the shutter, but Apple killed that feature to “avoid confusion”. Well, programmers being who… → Read More
And why not? The iPod touch has always been positioned as a non-phone version of the current iPhone, though the hardware hasn’t always been completely in parallel. The original iPod touch got a hardware boost that put it past the original iPhone, but was leapfrogged by the 3GS and now, almost a year after the iPod touch 3rd generation announcement, it seems pretty natural that they should align… → Read More
Short version: The perfect backpack for gadgets? Possibly. → Read More
Want to win a free Samsung Dualview camera? Kind of, right? Well, get over to MySears.com and write a review of a piece of electronics they sell and you’ll be in their contest. No, I’m not shilling for Sears, I just thought you might want a free camera. US residents only; you have about a week to write your review, and it mustn’t be “profane, obscene, lewd, defamatory… → Read More
Y-Combinator-backed I Move You is launching today as a place where anyone can publicly pledge to partake in an action and challenge a friend to also commit to an activity. The site’s ambition is simple: “I will do ‘x’ if you will do ‘y.’ I Move You is a way to inspire not only yourself, but also to invite others in your social graph to live a healthier, more balanced life. As co-founder Jen… → Read More
Even when you’re one of the largest mobile companies in the world (and certainly the largest for the business elite), things change when you find yourself at odds with a sovereign nation. Or a few. That’s the situation RIM is in right now as they attempt to reconcile their longtime promise to users (uncompromising encryption and security) with the unforgiving world of global politics. → Read More
While TechCrunch has their own conclusions about OKCupid’s latest blast of internet dating metadata, we read the rest of the post and found a few interesting, but not entirely unexpected, tendencies. It seems that the camera-savvy among us are, shall we say, getting their sensors cleaned a bit more frequently. → Read More
Samsung is the latest company to get into the tablet business. This, despite the fact that the tablet business is going nowhere, fast. Well, unless your name is Apple and you consider the iPad a tablet. In any event, behold! It’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and it will makes its official debut at European trade show IFA in September. → Read More
Sometimes it feels like I am the only one in the world who is not into Foursquare. Or at least the only one in Silicon Valley. Or at least the only one who works for TechCrunch. I’m definitely the only one on staff who has never written a post about them, and that includes our guest poster Vivek Wadhwa who usually obsesses about issues like patents and immigration.
Don’t get me wrong, I think… → Read More
It’s been several days since Wikileaks went from being an obscure whistle-blower Web site to one that has attracted international attention, not to mention condemnation. The latest meme going around right now is that Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief and de facto “face” of Wikileaks, has lost his standing with people, organizations, and governments that otherwise would be on his side, all… → Read More
Shopping for a new desktop? You should know that iBuyPower now offers USB 3.0 on all their desktops. Awesome, right? Now, which manufacturer will follow suit first? Dell? HP? Apple? (probably not Apple) At least there’s one now, though. Hopefully it will start becoming standard by year’s end. → Read More
Scosche announced the latest revision to their home and car USB chargers, the reVIVE II. Based off off the same design as the original reVIVE product line, the reVIVE II still has two USB ports, but one has a 2.1 amp output (for charging an iPad) as well as the traditional 1 amp output (supports everything else). The car version has an MSRP of $24.99, and the home version sells for $29.95. → Read More
Back in June, I sat down with Ustream CEO John Ham, who talked about the site’s rapid growth and its plans to expand. At the time, Ham told me that one of Ustream’s key strategies was to foster its relationship with the entertainment industry. Today, the company is taking a big step in that direction: Ustream is opening a new Hollywood office, and it has hired Jason Kirk, formerly MySpace’s VP of… → Read More
If you are going to launch a new location app, creating an anti-Foursquare is probably not a bad idea. About a week ago, a Qualcomm owned-and-incubated business called Neer quietly launched on the Android market, and has been downloaded more than 10,000 times since then. Neer is a location-sharing app designed for private sharing between family members and people with close, real-world… → Read More
It’s often overlooked now, but the origin of Twitter’s 140-character limit was so that tweets could fit into SMS messages (which have a 160 character limit — room is needed for usernames). Today, Twitter has a new feature that returns them to their SMS roots: Fast Follow.
It’s a simple idea, really. By way of SMS on any phone in the United States, you can get alerts from anyone on Twitter. This… → Read More
A rumor just surfaced over at Engadget that basically states HP’s targeting a 2011 Q1 release date for the webOS tablet. You know, the one likely named Palmpad. Apparently the Personal Systems Group VP mentioned that yesterday at some mass HP meeting. Does that mean we’ll see a CES 2011 announcement? It feels just about right. → Read More
Google’s in an odd bind these days. It’s far and away the biggest Internet company out there, and with that size and position comes great responsibility, to echo the sentiment found in Spider-Man. It drew heat yesterday—and rightly so—for joining forces with Verizon to help draw up “rules” for the Internet, as if the Internet needs rules be successful. Now the Wall Street… → Read More
Well, it looks like Razer has finally departed from the “mostly black” style with their latest. The Razer Orca is, as you can see, as green as a radioactive Granny Smith apple. I suppose it’s to set it off from the rest of the lineup; unlike almost everything else Razer makes, this headset isn’t made for gaming at all. → Read More
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