Chris Velazco is a mobile enthusiast and writer who studied English and Marketing at Rutgers University. Once upon a time, he was the news intern for MobileCrunch, and in between posts, he worked in wireless sales at Best Buy.
After graduating, he returned to the new TechCrunch to as a full-time mobile writer. He counts advertising, running, musical theater, and soup among his myriad interests.
Online banking startup Simple has made some serious strides since it opened up to the public last year, but there’s one thing the service has just never been that great at: transferring money from one bank account to another. According to a post on the official Simple blog, those days are finally over — users can link their Simple accounts to existing bank accounts to move their money… → Read More
Brooklyn-based MakerBot is a darling of the 3D printing community, and it recently moved into its new digs in Sunset Park, so the crew can more efficiently build and ship their shiny new Replicator 2 and 2X printers. Call it a classic case of growing pains — once demand for 3D printers started picking up, the MakerBot team soon found themselves aching for even more space to work in, and we got… → Read More
Apple’s top brass has been busy these past two hours or so showing off OS X 10.9 Mavericks, a dramatically revamped iOS 7, and the gorgeous new Mac Pro, and the company has your back in case you missed watching the events unfold for yourself. As is now customary for Apple, the full 2 hour WWDC keynote address is now available on Apple’s events page for your perusal. → Read More
“What if you could get iOS on the screen that is built into your car,” Apple SVP Eddy Cue asked on-stage at WWDC. Turns out he wasn’t just being rhetorical — Apple has confirmed that it is working with a slew of car manufacturers to bring the iOS experience into cars (the initiative is called, unimaginatively enough, “iOS In The Car” )starting with the 2014 model year. → Read More
While that other big tech press event soldiers on, Microsoft just recently wound down its E3 media briefing with a long-awaited bit of news: the Xbox One will launch sometime this November, and gamers in the U.S. will have to shell out $499 to get their hands on one.
Don’t live in the U.S.? No problem. Microsoft has said that the console will be available in 21 (currently unspecified) markets… → Read More
It’s no secret that iRobot’s domestic cleaning machines can carry some interesting things while they putter around and wipe up your floors, and iRobot and Cisco have taken that notion to its next logical step. The two companies have just announced that they’ve taken this smart roving robotics platform and stuck this pricey enterprise video conferencing monitor on top, all to facilitate West… → Read More
Heads up Android keyboard aficionados — if your handset runs Android 4.0 or later and you’re just not thrilled with the keyboard you already have, you can now download Google’s stock keyboard app from the Google Play store.
According to a post on the official Android Google+ page, the app has launched in certain English-speaking markets with a wider rollout to follow shortly. That’s not to say… → Read More
The cellphones were stacked up high in the Gumi factory yard and more were coming out every minute. Phones, TVs, fax machines, and other gear shattered as it hit the concrete and Samsung CEO Kun-hee Lee and his board cracked the screens and cases with heavy hammers. Then they lit a bonfire and threw everything in. → Read More
HTC is currently sailing through a patch of rough seas, and it seems as though the company is starting to rethink its tablet strategy. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, HTC was planning to put together a 12-inch Windows RT tablet for release later this year before scrapping it due to cost and anemic overall demand for Windows RT. → Read More
Toshiba isn’t exactly known for churning out attractive, high-end notebooks, which is why the company’s new Kirabook is such an oddity. It’s a handsome little thing if you’re into very (and I mean very) understated designs, though I imagine at least a few people will think the Kirabook looks downright dull.
The Kirabook is wedge-shaped like many of its other ultrabook brethren but it’s… → Read More
The Xbox One was just unveiled at Microsoft’s Redmond campus and, true to multiple reports that circulated before the official reveal, the new console will indeed come with a Kinect.
And what a Kinect it is! The rumors of a vastly improved Kinect sensor array were right on the money — this next-generation model is capable of tracking motions as minute as wrist rotations, and Microsoft’s Marc… → Read More
Microsoft’s Don Mattrick pulled back the curtain on the Xbox One at a live event at the company’s Redmond campus, and it wasn’t long at all before the talk turned to software. One application in particular has been the subject of speculation for months, and SVP Yusuf Mehdi confirmed that Skype (which, if you recall, Microsoft acquired for $8.5 billion nearly two years ago) is… → Read More
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