From egg freezing to Apple’s iPad and iMac debut event in Cupertino, here are the top stories from 10/11 to 10/17.
1. Edward Snowden conducted a remote interview as part of the New Yorker Festival, where he was asked a couple of variants on the question of what we can do to protect our privacy. He explained that in addition to seeking out encryption tools, people who care about their privacy should stay away from popular consumer Internet services like Dropbox, Facebook, and Google. Coincidently, several days after this speech Dropbox was again in the headlines for a security related issue. Although some Dropbox accounts were compromised, its servers were not hacked. Dropbox has pushed the blame to users for making weak passwords. Online security is a hot topic, and I’m sure we’ll continue to see more products and services emerge to address our day-to-day privacy concerns.
2. Facebook and Apple both have instated policies through which they will cover the costs for women to freeze their eggs. Some view this idea as a positive step toward closing the gender gap, while others believe this to be another way to urge employees to put the workplace before family.
3. The stock market has been going bonkers, and tech stocks are showing weakness amid an uncertain global economy. Last Friday was a massacre. Everything from Microsoft to GoPro got crushed. On the earnings front, Netflix missed expectations and Google reported less-than-awesome results. Google and Microsoft are currently locked in a dogfight to be the second-most valuable technology company in the world.
4. Jillian Kay Melchior wrote an article about how ISIS used social media and the web to control the narrative of the conflict in Iraq and Syria. She expands upon the idea that real journalism is dangerous, yet essential.
5. Apple held an event at the Cupertino HQ to introduce the new Yosemite OS X, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, and iMac with Retina display. We got a first look at these new products, and you can find our full coverage on the live blog. After the event, Apple announced a SIM card that lets you switch between carriers. Sarah Perez also wrote a piece explaining that the choices for buying an iPad just became dizzying.
6. Reddit acquired its most popular unofficial iOS reader Alien Blue. So far, we know that this acquisition means a new logo, and they’re simplifying the pricing.
7. Ron Miller spotlighted two successful startups based in Boston, Wayfair and HubSpot, reminding us that there are many cities that have their own startup scenes complete with incubators, funders, startup spaces and lots of companies vying for fame and fortune.
8. Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) unveiled the PULS, a new wearable that can call and text without a phone. Will.i.am’s new wearable technology company i.am+ will also carry a jacket that powers the PULS, a backpack with a sound system, glasses that will take pictures by tapping on the PULS, and shoes that tell you how much you weigh and how many steps you’ve made per day.
9. Gartner published figures that underscore the challenge in the market for tablet devices against the ineluctable rise of the cheaper, and ultimately more easily replaceable, smartphone. The winner in the consumer electronics race continues to be smartphones, and Android smartphones dominate. This should be good news for Google’s newly announced Nexus 6 phablet and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4.
10. HBO is launching a stand-alone streaming service next year. HBO is a little late to the game, and there are still a lot of questions about the details at this point.
11. Google Shopping Express has rebranded to Google Express, and it is expanding to more cities. There’s a battle brewing between Amazon Prime and Google Express.
TechCrunch Disrupt Europe: London kicks off today with the Hackathon. We’ll have the main event streaming on our site on Monday and Tuesday, or you can follow along on Twitter (#TCDisrupt).
It’s also Bag Week at TechCrunch. You can check out our reviews here.