Because Facebook is clearly concerned with user privacy, it’s partnered up with crowdsourced reputation management service Web Of Trust today in order give its population of almost 700 million users protection from links deemed “risky” by the Web Of Trust community.
As of today, if a user clicks on a link with a poor Web of Trust reputation rating, they will see the above warning telling them… → Read More
Let’s say you go to a store and check-in. Then what? Maybe there’s a deal. Maybe. But for many location-based services, the check-in is the end of the equation. Shopkick is pretty much the opposite.
From the beginning, they’ve shied away from the check-in. Why? Because most of them are pure BS. Either they mean nothing, or they’re fake. Retailers don’t yet get this — but then again, most of… → Read More
Kobo, creators of the Kobo eReader, today announced new upgrades to its iOS eReading app, most significantly the extension of Reading Life to Twitter, and the ability to share quotes, passages, notes, book covers, and awards on Twitter. For those of you who don’t know, Reading Life is the social component of Kobo’s eReading service, allowing readers to track personal reading history, check-in… → Read More
Well, TechCrunch readers, we thought we owed you an explanation as to why the hell we got onto the BBC TV show The Apprentice last night, and here it is.
Back in September last year I was contacted by TalkBack Thames TV, the independent production company that makes The Apprentice for the BBC. They said they were going to make the creation of a smartphone app a task on the show and would I be a… → Read More
There are two things we love to do on our Why Is This News? show on TCTV. The first is to break news about things that are happening outside Silicon Valley. The second is to find excuses to promote our respective books (about things that are happening outside Silicon Valley). Rare indeed though is the occasion when we’re able to combine both of those things and break news about one of our… → Read More
Talk about sinking to a new low. It seems that Comcast and perhaps other ISPs are blocking access to the notorious torrent site, ThePirateBay.org. The word comes from TorrentFreak who also reached out to the TPB team who indicated that they can’t confirm if an ISP is blocking the site but “there’s a significant drop in visitors from the U.S.” All I know is I, a Comcast subscriber, cannot access… → Read More
Both Google and Apple got an earful from Congress this week concerning a few different DUI checkpoint apps that were floating around in the App Store and Android Market. Senator Charles Schumer, who was one of four senators to spearhead resolving this issue through a letter to the companies in March, grilled both of the tech giants during the inaugural hearing of the Privacy and Technology… → Read More
Not only can we potentially maybe expect a Wii 2 at E3 this year but Nintendo 3DS owners might just have access to the wireless eShop, a system for downloading and buying games right from your console. June 7 will bring us an update that enables the eShop in the US. A Japanese update should be adding a 3D Movie player and Virtual Console updates to those devices. via Eng via andriasang → Read More
I find it really ironic that an hourglass is a novel concept in the watch industry. When Marc Newson designed Ikepod released the Hourglass last year, I remember thinking “Wait. Is this the only high-end hourglass that you can get?” Yea, I think it is. It is as if the classic timing tool was a forgotten piece of history. → Read More
We’ve always been fans of the Dodocase, the well-crafted case for iPad, Kindle, and likely some other stuff soon. Their new iPad 2 line looks to be as good as the original we reviewed, but it’s possible that for some, the design is a bit too understated. Solution? Get an artist like Rex Ray to make a splashy, original design for the thing. → Read More
Here she is.
Earlier today, Google unveiled the first notebooks running Chrome OS. Or as they’re calling them, “Chromebooks”. The first two partners producing them will be Samsung and Acer. And at an event tonight in San Francisco, we got some extensive hands-on time with the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook.
Initial reaction? That’s still to come. For now, enjoy a bunch of pictures. → Read More
Yesterday, Pioneer unveiled the WWS-DT101 Discussion Table [JP], which is essentially the company’s answer to Microsoft’s Surface – just bigger and better. The main component here is the 52-inch multi-touch “interactive” LCD display with full HD resolution that supports up to 10 points of contact simultaneously. → Read More
Networks and wireless sensors have been used for years — by companies like Lighting Science Group, Arch Rock (acquired by Cisco) and D-Link — in a variety of smart building, smart grid and security applications. Their systems can sense occupancy, control lighting and temperatures, and make energy-sucking devices a little more efficient, or make buildings a little easier to patrol and keep… → Read More
Former banker, current Benedictine nun, and iPhone fangal Sister Catherine Wybourne is looking for a little saving grace in application development and sales, as the monastery she founded with two other sisters faces continued financial turmoil. Using Phonegap, Sister Wybourne is creating two different iPhone apps: a free app focused on the rule of Saint Benedict, and a paid app that will help… → Read More
Sony has become the most recent in a rather long list of companies to join the Car Connectivity Consortium, a group of phone and car companies working together to connect phones to cars. Formed back in March, the CCC already boasts some pretty big-name companies, including Nokia, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Alpine, Daimler, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and Volkswagen. → Read More
Twitter for Mac, which launched earlier this year with the rollout of Apple’s Mac App Store, is getting its first major update today.
Besides a design update, you can now see multiple timelines at once and open more than one window in the client. You can click back to previous pages from the client and there is now a separate “New Tweet” button in the bottom left corner of the app. This… → Read More
Vente-Privee, the European flash sales giant, has announced a joint venture with American Express to bring the site to the U.S.
Vente-Privee, which was founded in France in 2001, is one of the pioneers of the flash sales model. Because of the site’e massive reach and scale, companies like Amazon and eBay have been rumored to be eying the company for an acquisition. → Read More
Here we have another Windows 7-powered tablet from Japan: NEC announced [JP] it yesterday, and it’s called the VersaPro Type VT. Details are scarce at this point, but NEC does say its tablet will sport a 10.1-inch LCD screen with 1,280×800 resolution. → Read More
Demandbase, a company that develops B2B marketing software, has raised $10 million in funding led by Sutter Hill Ventures with Sigma Partners, Altos Ventures, and Adobe Systems participating in the round. This brings the company’s total funding to $18 million.
Demanbase allows B2B marketers to improve marketing conversions and turn web traffic into sales. The company provides a B2B marketing… → Read More
Search engine Blekko, ever eager to differentiate itself and make headlines with its countless product development advances, is announcing today that it will reduce its data retention period to 48 hours, retaining far less user personal information (like IP addresses) than the the dominant players in the space.
For comparison, competitors Google and Yahoo are currently at 18 months of user data… → Read More
It kind of leaked yesterday, but now Panasonic made the Lumix DMC-G3 official. The micro four-thirds camera is the successor to the DMC-G2, and apart from improving just about every technical feature, the new model is more compact and now boasts a touch-based UI. → Read More
Score Media has acquired sports-focused mobile apps maker SportsTap, whose Android and iPhone apps compete with Score Media’s multi-sport app ScoreMobile.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but SportsTap will be maintained as a stand-alone smartphone and mobile browser app. → Read More
The RoboDynamics Luna Robot: We’re Getting There, Perverts Video: Robot Lightsaber Duel A Peek At Google TV’s New Interface The Google Chromebook Breaks Cover At I/O 2011, Hits Retailers June 15th 3M’s Uniformity Tape Reduces “Stage Light” Effect On Cheap LCDs → Read More
Facebook secretly hired a PR firm to plant negative stories about Google, says Dan Lyons in a jaw dropping story at the Daily Beast.
For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s… → Read More
Well, TechCrunch readers, we thought we owed you an explanation as to why the hell we got onto the BBC TV show The Apprentice last night, and here it is.
Back in September last year I was contacted by TalkBack Thames TV, the independent production company that makes The Apprentice for the BBC. They said they were going to make the creation of a smartphone app a task on the show and would I be a… → Read More
There are two things we love to do on Why Is This News. The first is to break news about things that are happening outside Silicon Valley. The second is to find excuses to promote our respective books (about things that are happening outside Silicon Valley).
Rare indeed though is the occasion when we’re able to combine both of those things and break news about one of our respective books, from… → Read More
You might remember the ContourHD rugged wearable camera we reviewed a while back — they updated later with GPS functionality and now (as we heard earlier) have a new camera live on their site that adds a wider angle lens and a few useful ports for recording and streaming your media. → Read More
When it comes to in-depth news about Facebook, there has been no better site than Inside Facebook. In fact, the flagship site of Inside Network became so successful alongside the meteoric rise of Facebook that they launched several other vertical sites to bet big on their brand of news and analysis. And that bet just paid off. Big time.
WebMediaBrands has acquired Inside Network for roughly $14… → Read More
Samsung Italia is alive with the sound of Gingerbread! It seems that the country is among the first to get the Android 2.3.3 update for the original 7″ Galaxy Tab. It’s rolling out via KIES, Samsung’s useful device management tool, but naturally there’s no word of it here in the states yet. Remain vigilant! You could load it yourself before now if you really wanted to, but… → Read More
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