Biggs is the East Coast Editor of TechCrunch.
Biggs has written for the New York Times, InSync, USA Weekend, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Money and a number of other outlets on technology and wristwatches. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com and lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. You can Tweet him here and G+ him here. Email him directly at john@techcrunch.com.
Now that Defense Distributed is on the defensive, it’s time to think a bit harder about what 3D printing really means. To that end, Michigan Tech is sponsoring a Printers For Peace contest that is encouraging designers and engineers to make amazing stuff using a 3D printer that can change the world for the better. “Unfortunately, the only thing many people know about 3D printing is that it can be… → Read More
Vevo, popularny serwis muzycznych teledysków, ogłosił oficjalną dostępność w Polsce. Usługa, wcześniej niedostępna w tym regionie geograficznym, będzie zawierać video-clipy najpopularniejszych polskich gwiazd jak Brodka, Pezet, a może i nawet David Hasselhoff. → Read More
I remember waking up 6am, going downstairs, and firing up my Atari 800XL. The disk labeled Karateka inserted, the drive would grunt a few dozen times and the screen would flash. Suddenly, with barely any warning, the opening titles would appear and then the music would start – six notes to signal a game that was menacing in its simplicity. The story was simply told. Characters stood in darkened… → Read More
It’s rare to see a company that is so established yet so cutting edge as Shapeways. The company, founded in 2007 as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics, began as a one-off 3D printing service that offered basic plastic items for sale online. Over the years, however, the company has branched off into some amazing materials – steel, ceramic, and even sandstone – and they’ve already been able to… → Read More
When we first met the team from Zivix their wild MIDI guitar, the Jamstik, promised a unique music-making experience thanks to a tether that connected it to a computer or iOS device. In the few short months since CES, however, they’re now preparing to announce that Jamstik works nearly flawlessly over Wi-Fi with iPhones and iPads, thereby reducing the need for a physically tethered device. → Read More
Jackthreads is a Thrillist company that features clothes and accessories for men. The style is all over the place – goofy t-shirts sit next to nice blazers and jackets – but it’s decidedly urbo-hipster in the design and sizing. Full disclosure: I try my damnedest not to buy their stuff but I still find my self idly clicking through and buying age-inappropriate streetwear. → Read More
I’ve been enamored with the Das Keyboard since it launched in 2005. These supremely clicky, IBM-style keyboards are some of the most rugged mechanical input devices you can buy. Their Pro model — an all-black monolith with black keys and no key markings — is the gold standard for Gibson-esque console jockeys who believe that the best keyboard can be used as a weapon and shouldn’t be touched by… → Read More
TechCrunch favorite MC Frontalot and filmmaker Caly Monardo have created a video for “I’ll Form The Head,” a rap song about a Voltron-esque group of heroes fighting a worm monster in their rhino robotic vehicles. Each one wants to form the head, and they explain this in surprisingly eloquent terms. → Read More
Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer has been placed in “administrative segregation,” prison shorthand for solitary confinement for “investigative purposes.” Supporters believe he was locked down and given no Internet access because of his ability to send Tweets to a third party who relayed them on his private account. Auernheimer has not sent electronic messages since April 8. → Read More
Gun control is control of all guns. This tautology, in a developed society, is non-negotiable. If guns can exist in our country, then gun plans can exist, and, although I’m firmly on the side of draconian control over most weapons, I find the move to ban Defense Distributed’s plans for their Liberator pistol unconscionable. → Read More
The boy geniuses of Formlabs, David Cranor, Maxim Lobovsky, and Natan Linder have posted a video detailing their Form One 3D printer, one of the most well-put-together 3D printing devices we’ve seen in a while. The Form One uses a form of stereolithography that prints the objects “upside down” by activating polymers with laser light. The resulting objects come out of a bath of plastic looking like… → Read More
This week on the TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast we talk about Snapchat, DAS Keyboard, and the wild Amazon phone. This time we’re joined by Matt Burns, Darrell Etherington, Greg Kumparak, and Jordan Crook as Michelle Tanner. Enjoy! → Read More
As a parent of three technically savvy kids I find it disturbing that we haven’t even “scratched” the surface of Scratch, an amazing, object-oriented programming language from the MIT Media Lab’sLifelong Kindergarten Group. That may change, however, as it’s much easier to get started in Scratch thanks to a new release of the platform that lives entirely in the… → Read More
Bitcoins are nominally worth $113 as of this very moment. That means very little in the real world. As Forbes writer Kasmir Hill notes, it’s pretty difficult to go up to the McDonald’s cashier and offer an invisible cryptocurrency that resides entirely on the Internet in exchange for a Big Mac. She’s survived a week using nothing but Bitcoins and, although she’s still alive, her experience wasn’t… → Read More
When the AP Twitter stream was hacked a few weeks ago leading to a massive drop in the equities market, I went off. I found the fact that the AP – a news organization staffed by intelligent people and with a long history of adapting to new media – could be hacked through a phishing attack was unconscionable. It would be like Bank of America being hacked by a group of script kiddies. → Read More
While I wish not to throw any more fuel into the fiery fever dream that is Donald Trump, it is important to note the distinct similarities between his recent press release and the wording from an Indiegogo page describing his new platform, FundAnything. The Donald writes: → Read More
Jack Conte is an Internet musician who became an Internet sensation and now, thanks to Patreon, he’s an Internet entrepreneur. → Read More
Are you ready for Donald Trump to (not really) give you (not real) money for your (not really) amazing project? Well, (not really his) new site, FundAnything, is ready to take your money!
The new funding site is not really run by Trump – it’s really headed up by the Bill Zanker, founder of the Trump-infested Learning Annex – but darn it if it doesn’t look like the Donald won’t give you cash if… → Read More
Makerbot has released an inspiring video about how a group of hackers built 3D-printed hands for children and adults who are missing fingers or entire hands. The project aims to take the cost and complexity associated with hand prosthesis out of the process. It is working. → Read More
To paraphrase Cracker, I would wager what the world needs now is another content management system like I need a hole in the head. However, I’m pleased to note that I will allow Ghost a pass. Ghost is an open source publishing platform with Markdown compatibility and a real-time preview features as well as a very robust statistics-gathering system. It is on Kickstarter now and is fully… → Read More
Warby Parker, like so many other lifestyle/tech hybrid companies, faced the problem many small companies see while trying to launch a real brand: how do you make the story resonate? → Read More
In all the discussions I’ve had with hardware makers about their products, one thing is becoming clear: in the end, the cheap part is never cheap. Take a look at this post about a Kickstarter project for example. A maker, Michael Ciuffo, had recently funded a very cool QR code clock that used a simple array of LEDs to display the time in QR code. → Read More
After the amazing success of our New York Pitch-Off in February, we thought it would be fun to bring the energy and excitement of a mini-Disrupt to more cities across the country. We’re pleased to announced the 2013 Meetups + Pitch-Offs will begin in Austin on May 30 at Stage On Sixth in downtown Austin from 6pm to 10pm. You can buy tickets now! → Read More
Now that we have confirmation that the Liberator 3D-printed pistol can be fired without destroying the body, let’s address what this means for 3D printed weapons and, presumably, homemade weapons in general. → Read More
Beep boop boop bee squeee! Happy May 4th a k a Star Wars Day (say the date out loud and you’ll figure out why). In celebration, quite a few hardware vendors have released special gear for the day, thereby allowing you to celebrate the magic of George Lucas in proper Mandalorian fashion. → Read More
This week on the TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast we talk about Acer (WTF, Acer?), Disrupt, and Bitponics. This time we’re joined by Matt Burns, Darrell Etherington, Greg Kumparak, and Michael Seo as the Beaver. Enjoy! We invite you to enjoy our weekly podcasts every Friday at 3pm Eastern and noon Pacific. Click here to download an MP3 of this show. You can subscribe to the show via RSS. Subscribe… → Read More
While Defense Distributed, the Thingiverse for gun parts, has been working on a 3D-printed lower receiver for the AR-15 for some time now, they’ve finally announced that they’ve completed a real 3D-printed handgun called the Liberator. Made entirely out of 3D-printed ABS with the exclusion of a single nail used as the firing pin, it looks to be the fruition of DefDist’s mission… → Read More
While I kid a bit in the headline, this is actually pretty cool: Swatch, the largest manufacturer of mechanical watch movements in the world, has created a movement that is assembled entirely using automated systems. Why is this important? The watch industry was originally gutted by the rise of cheap quartz watches, making this piece quite ironic, and this means that more people will be able to… → Read More
Do you guys have any Green Day? Really? Yeah, like the early Knitting Factory stuff. Not this Dookie garbage. Yeah, I liked them before they sold out. What about Neutral Milk Hotel? Is the new album any good? Yeah, I know, dude. What’s the Avery Island junk? Serious bummer after Aeroplane. → Read More
Dogs, drones, and digital controllers, oh my! This year’s Disrupt conference in New York was full of amazing webs services and software, but Hardware Alley brought out the best in hardware startups and showed the world that hardware is finally serious business. → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
