Sarah Perez
Sarah currently works as a writer for TechCrunch, after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to becoming a professional blogger, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.
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Latest from Sarah Perez
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Bellabeat Leaf, A Health Tracker For Women, Will Now Track Your Reproductive Cycle Too
Bellabeat, the maker of a trio of health trackers for moms and moms-to-be, is now broadening its focus to include a feature set designed to appeal to all women after selling out of its initial pre-orders, netting the company $1.2 million in revenue. With the Bellabeat Leaf, a piece of “smart jewelry” that can be worn as a necklace, pendant, bracelet or brooch to track activity… Read More
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Hoping To Engage More Readers, Wikipedia Rolls Out A Redesigned Mobile App
The Wikimedia Foundation is rolling out a new version of its Wikipedia mobile application beginning this afternoon, which offers an improved reading experience, better search and an image-centric design, the company says. The updated app will be released on Android first, with an iOS release scheduled to follow. Read More
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Dating Service Zoosk Lays Off 15% Of Staff, Company Confirms
Dating service Zoosk has laid off 15 percent of its employees this week, sources told TechCrunch, and the company now confirms. According to a spokesperson, the move was made as part of a larger effort to lower expenses in many areas. News of the layoffs follows the exit of Zoosk’s founders from their leadership roles last month, and confirmation that the company was indefinitely… Read More
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Fiksu Finds More Evidence Of iOS 9 Testing Underway
This afternoon, mobile app marketing platform Fiksu unveiled new data indicating that iOS 9, the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, is now being publicly tested. According to the company’s research, Fiksu says it has now seen 145 distinct IDFAs (Identifier for Advertisers) in 2015 which hail from iOS 9 devices. The IDFA, a marker used by mobile advertisers, is a… Read More
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Camu Brings Its All-In-One Camera App, Photo Editor And Mobile Messenger To Android
Camu, a mobile app for editing photos and video that was earlier named one of the App Store Best of 2014 applications following its launch this past August, is now available to Android users after receiving 3 million downloads via iTunes. The app is designed to simplify the process of shooting, editing then sharing photos and videos by offering the ability to do many of the more common… Read More
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Kiko Labs Debuts A Series Of “Brain-Training” Games For Kids
A new company called Kiko Labs is today releasing a series of “brain-training” games for children. Think, perhaps: a Lumosity for the preschool-plus set. Like others claiming to promote cognitive skill development through gameplay, Kiko Labs’ games were developed in partnership with a scientific advisory board, who advised the company on how to best translate dozens of… Read More
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Underground Cellar Is A Wine-Buying Site That Rewards You With “Better” Bottles For Free
While the Internet is not lacking in places to buy wines online, a new Y Combinator-backed startup called Underground Cellar has come up with an interesting new concept for wine sales, where its customers are able purchase package deals that include random, free upgrades to premium, rare, and private-stash bottles from a number of wineries. These wines can then be shipped immediately to… Read More
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Xpire, Now On Android, Brings “Disappearing” Posts To Twitter
Disappearing messages, like those on popular apps like Snapchat, give users a sense of greater privacy when compared to larger, more public social networks like Facebook or Twitter. While not infallible (see 2014’s Snapchat hack, for example), the idea is that your content doesn’t live forever etched in stone online, but exists to be consumed in the moment, then discarded. Read More
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Microsoft Announces A Skype For iOS Testing Program
In addition to rolling out an updated version of the Skype for iPhone mobile application this morning, Microsoft also announced the launch of a new testing program for Skype iOS users who are willing to download, use and give feedback on pre-release versions of the mobile calling and chatting software. Participants in the program need to be 18 years old or older, plus have a valid email… Read More
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ClosetSpace Brings Fashion Inspiration And Recommendations To Your Smartphone
A new application called ClosetSpace from fashion analytics company Stylitics wants to put a digital closet in your pocket, while also feeding you daily inspirations, outfit suggestions, and more, as well as offering access to a personal stylist for just $25.00. The app, targeting mainly at women, is meant to serve as your centralized fashion hub that helps you with everything related to… Read More
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PayPal Here Adds Windows Support, Will Launch An EMV Card Reader Later This Year
The PayPal Here card reader, PayPal’s hardware device that lets merchants accept credit and debit card payments through a dongle attached to their iOS or Android device, is being updated with support for EMV and contactless transactions, the payments company announced today at the National Retail Federation conference taking place this week in New York. An alternative to competitors… Read More
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Google Domains Launches To All In U.S. With Support For Blogger Integration, Templates And More Domain Endings
Google Domains, Google’s own domain name registration service, has now exited private testing. This summer, the company unveiled the new service to fill a long-time void in the company’s product lineup, with a competitor to sites like NameCheap and GoDaddy (the latter which filed for a $100 million IPO just days before Google’s entry into the domain-selling space). Read More
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Report: Google Play’s App Store And Developer Community Grew Faster Than Apple’s In 2014
According to a new report out this morning from appFigures, the Google Play mobile application market surpassed Apple for the number of new apps for the first time in 2014, and its developer community growth also exceeded Apple’s for the third year in a row, now distributing apps from 388,000 different developers. Much of that growth took place in the latter half of the year, the… Read More
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App Annie Raises $55 Million Series D, Launches New Product For Tracking App Usage
App Annie, a company whose data on app downloads, rankings, app store trends and more has made it a go-to resource for anyone invested in today’s app economy, today announced a new $55 million round of Series D funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), and included existing investors Sequoia Capital, Greycroft Partners and IDG Capital… Read More
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Last Night’s Golden Globes Featured A Red-Carpet Drone – But Not From An FAA-Authorized Firm
Technology continues to invade Hollywood, and last night’s Golden Globes was no exception. The event not only saw Amazon and Netflix winning big, but also featured the first-ever Red Carpet drone. On Sunday, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, a drone provided by DJI Global was used to capture footage of the celebs and their guests and other Red Carpet moments. What’s interesting… Read More
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Capital One Acquires Budgeting App Level Money
Capital One has acquired San Francisco-based money management app, Level Money, the companies are announcing this morning. The app, which is focused on allowing consumers to keep track of their spendable cash and savings, had 700,000 users at the time of the acquisition, and has helped its customers manage over $12 billion in transactions. The startup will now continue on as a part of… Read More
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PayPal Credit Expansion Now Lets Merchants Set Terms, Including Option For Interest-Free Payments
Last July, PayPal rebranded its Bill Me Later service as “PayPal Credit,” as a part of the company’s efforts to bring its credit products “more to the center of PayPal.” Today, as promised earlier, PayPal Credit is expanding its support for monthly payments with an option for retailers that allows them to decide on the number of months and interest rates that… Read More
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ModCloth Co-Founder Eric Koger Exits Role As CEO; Urban Outfitters’ Matthew Kaness Joins
E-commerce fashion site ModCloth’s co-founder Eric Koger is exiting his role as CEO, the company announced this morning. On January 19th, Mr. Koger, who has served as CEO since the startup’s founding in 2002, will give the position over to Matthew A. Kaness, previously the Chief Strategy Officer of Urban Outfitters. Koger will remain with the company as co-founder and help with… Read More
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Smartphone Makers Need To Put An End To Distracted Driving
I’m cruising down the road at 45 mph when – ka-ching! – the sound of a cash register blares out from my iPhone. It’s one of now several deal-finding apps I have installed that alert me to nearby sales at local stores. I love the functionality they provide, but I’m not thrilled with the timing. The phone buzzes some more as the alerts roll in as I coast past the… Read More
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Pew: Facebook User Growth Slowed As Others Gained, But Still Has Most Engaged Users
Facebook is still the most popular social network, but its growth has slowed in the U.S., according to a new report out this morning from the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, more Americans are now using multiple social media sites, allowing platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn to all achieve significant increases in user numbers over the past year, the… Read More
