When did the robot-vacuum world become such a crowded space? It’s starting to sound like a monster movie. RoboKing versus Smarbo versus Roomba II: Electric Vuumaloo. But it makes sense, when you think about it. We already have “robots” that wash the dishes and make our coffee. Cleaning the floor is just a different set of problems for a machine to solve. And after the smash success of the Roomba… → Read More
When photos started circulating yesterday of the new interface for Windows Explorer in Windows 8, I was sure they were a joke. Surely, this was an Onion mock-up. Or maybe they were from some Apple fan making fun of Microsoft’s design aesthetic in which more is quite often… more. I mean, there’s no way that this is something Microsoft could actually release — let alone in 2012… → Read More
While gaming company higher-ups aren’t always the best bellwether for the direction the industry is taking, they do tend to view the sector as an RTS commander views his troops and resources. What they tend to lack in taste and on-the-ground wisdom, they make up in sobriety and larger trends. So it’s no surprise that Frank Gibeau, head of EA Labels, has a relaxed view of the console race.
Check… → Read More
Since February, we’ve been waiting for our turn with the Galaxy S II. With the handset floating around Europe and Asia, it’s been hard to remain patient. But today is the day: the U.S. versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II are here and we’re ready to get up close and personal at Samsung’s media event in NYC.
Just how different are the U.S. versions from the international? Has resolution been… → Read More
San Franciscans, start your thrusters. On September 15 at 6:30pm TechCrunch Mobile and Gadgets will host our first meet-up at Roe @ 651 Howard St. in sunny SF. Sponsored by Samsung, this meet-up will be the first chance for our readers to get ahold of some of Samsung’s latest products including the just-announced Galaxy S II. It is an event not to be missed.
We’ll have some finger food, a… → Read More
One of the marquee features of Sony’s new Alpha and NEX cameras, which by the way look excellent, is the new electronic viewfinder. I’ve never been particularly attracted to these things, preferring the mirror-based optical viewfinder on DSLRs or simply the large, bright LCDs on the back of most cameras. But Fujifilm’s X100 (despite its flaws) changed my mind about the usefulness of the EVF, and… → Read More
It’s coming! It’s finally coming!
After months of gallivanting around the world with launches everywhere from South Korea to Canada since May (plus a one day delay thanks to Hurricane Irene) Samsung’s Galaxy S II Android superphone is finally heading to the US.
As expected, Samsung used their press gathering in New York today to announce aesthetically unique Galaxy S II variants for three… → Read More
Asteroid. The iPad is an awesome device, but it costs money. Even second-hand models often command more than a new Android tablet. They’re just that much in demand. But look, if a guy, moreover a guy with as the police report states has a visible gold tooth, says he’s selling iPads he purchased in bulk for $300, takes $180 instead, you better check that product out before you drive home. This is… → Read More
As students start going back to college, they are downloading Kno’s new Textbooks app for the iPad in droves. It is currently the No. 1 iPad education app, No. 2 grossing iPad app overall, and a top-25 free app (more popular than even the Kindle iPad app). The app is being downloaded once every 8 seconds. The map above depicts downloads over the past 24 hours.
The app itself is free, but… → Read More
We’re back for a new episode of TC Cribs, and this time we’re scoping out our first enterprise company: Box.net.
Don’t worry, despite what you may have heard about enterprise software, this office isn’t dull in the slightest. In fact, it’s loaded with lush greenery, oddly placed stuffed animals, and unicorns abound. Even better: one of the cofounders is a magician.
Stay tuned til the end… → Read More
Game reviews are always inadequate, in that while they can describe how it feels to control your guy, or how the level design is frustrating, you can only kind of get it. Video reviews help, but you can never be sure you and the reviewer are on the same page — more so than with books and movies, I’d say. OnLive and GameSpot are hoping to change that up a bit by adding instant game demos to… → Read More
The long-awaited Chromebooks finally hit retails in June but they’re already seeing significant price reductions. Both Acer and Samsung entered the market with modestly priced options with the Samsung models commanding a slight premium. But not anymore. Amazon just dropped the price on the Samsung Chromebooks by 7% to 10% with the WiFi-only model now costing $399 and the 3G model running $449. → Read More
Think back to the last time you put together a PowerPoint presentation. Try not to shudder.
If you’re like me, you probably had a few moments when you wondered if the slide you were working on made sense — or if it was even worth including at all. You may have turned to a coworker to get their opinion, but they didn’t have any context about the rest of the presentation and were eager to get… → Read More
Whoops! With just 2 hours to go before Samsung finally announces the details surrounding the U.S. launch of the Galaxy S II , things are starting to get leaky.
At least three variants are expected to be debuted tonight: one each for T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. Thanks to the last-minute leak of a Sprint training manual, though, the details for that last variant — now known to be the… → Read More
This is a guest post by Shane Hayes, founder of Daily Deal Aggregator Siftie.co.uk. He reports on the UK Daily Deal market size and speculates as to whether a major acquisition is imminent. Siftie.co.uk is a graduate of the Launchpad accelerator programme at the NDRC.
In a Techcrunch article in April of 2010, Tim O’Shea, founder of Blurtit, wrote about his experience of trying to launch a… → Read More
Zynga just debuted a trailer for its newest social game on Facebook—Adventure World. According to the game’s Facebook page, the game’s tag line is ‘team up, explore lost worlds, unearth adventures in Zynga’s newest game, Adventure World.”
From the video, it looks like the game is developed around a number of different puzzles, maps, and lands. And similar to Zynga’s other Facebook games… → Read More
Ten days ago, HP announced that it was going to be liquidating its abruptly-discontinued TouchPad, the WebOS-powered iPad competitor that launched early this summer. When it first launched the device was going for $500; a later price drop to $400 didn’t do much to help sales. But the liquidation sale sure did. The new pricetag: $99.
All TouchPads available from both HP and retailers alike were… → Read More
More often than we’d like, phones are announced with absolutely horrifying names. Acer’s beTouch, the Casio G’zOne Commando, and the HTC ChaCha all fall hard into that category.
They leave you wondering what went down in the conference room where that name was born, and what could have possibly been going on in the minds of the people who approved them. But honestly, it’s much harder than you… → Read More
Dropbox is finally moving to close that massive valuation venture round we’ve been talking about all summer. According to multiple sources, Index Ventures will lead the round, which values Dropbox at around $4 billion.
At some point I hope that the entire story comes out about this round. Nearly everyone in Silicon Valley has taken a look. There was early interest at valuations of $8 billion or… → Read More
Today, EnergyHub launched its new, comprehensive, in-home energy management system for U.S. consumers. The system includes the EnergyHub Home Base, for centralized management of the electricity usage in the home, as well as The EnergyHub Thermostat, Sockets and Strips.
The Home Base also connects to the Web via Wi-Fi, allowing users to remotely manage individual components via Web-based or… → Read More
Android and Apple together now account for nearly 70 percent of smartphone subscribers in the U.S., according to new estimates for July put out today by comScore. Android phones command nearly 42 percent market share, while Apple’s iPhone grew slightly to capture 27 percent. Android is growing faster, up 5.4 percent from April and up 1.7 percent from June, whereas Apple’s share is up 1 percent… → Read More
Back in May, we heard that Cliqset founder Darren Bounds was working on a stealthy new social project called Glow. Cliqset, a FriendFeed like social aggregation platform, shut its doors last Fall. Today, Bounds is revealing his newest startup (not called Glow)—Path.To.
Path.To basically aims to simplify the way professionals connect and promote themselves online. It’s sort of like About.me… → Read More
If you’re looking for a solid Android handset with a physical QWERTY keyboard, Motorola has a few nice offerings on the table. The Fire, the Droid Pro, and the XPRT all have their strengths, and another QWERTY keyboard-equipped smartphone will soon join the ranks.
Today, Motorola announced the Motorola Pro+, an Android device catered toward the enterprise. → Read More
The concept of a NASA-backed MMO about space is one that’s been floating around for years, and thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, the project is making its first steps to becoming a reality. → Read More
Intel is forming a brand new business unit today, called Intel Federal, to ‘better address new opportunities in working with the U.S. government.’ The new subsidiary will focus exclusively on selling and advising on computing services in the government.
Initially, Intel says Intel Federal will focus on the High Performance Computing segment, including work on exascale computing with the U.S. → Read More
A new daily deals site catering to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LBGT) and allied communities has just launched, and it’s called Gaypon. The site provides its subscribers with daily offers from local and regional businesses - but only those businesses known to be gay-friendly.
In addition, Gaypon says a portion of its proceeds will be donated to local and national LGBT… → Read More
Though the digital world seems to be swallowing print alive, there are still some documents that you just want to hold in your hand. But with the speed and ease at which we share information these days, it’s hard for printing to keep up as far as convenience goes.
Epson’s tried to find a way to make printing as quick and painless as possible with its iPrint app, which has today extended to the… → Read More
There’s more good news for the growth of the social enterprise. Gartner is reporting today that the social customer relationship management (CRM) market is forecast to reach over $1 billion in revenue by year-end 2012, up from approximately $625 million in 2010. Worldwide social CRM is projected to total $820 million in 2011.
Gartner says that spending by buyers on social software for… → Read More
It’s one thing to hear praise for an app from geeks, it’s another when you hear it from ‘normal folks’. Onavo falls in this category.
The free data-shrinking app which we’ve praised in the past runs quietly in the background and dramatically reduces data consumption. I myself keep it running all the time, and on a recent trip abroad to San Francisco it helped me save in the neighborhood of 75%… → Read More
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