Now that Tumblr’s blackouts are behind it, the company is back to focusing on its product, particularly its mobile one. Days after adding support for Android tablets, the company has announced that it updated its iOS app, adding compatibility for both the iPad and iPad mini.
Tumblr’s mobile channel is growing and, by the way, has recently helped to propel the blogging platform to more than 20… → Read More
The Canon 6D is a full-frame camera retailing for $2,099, the lowest launch price for such a device in Canon history. Canon’s entry in this field comes a few months after Nikon made a similar move into this market with the D600, but still managed to arrive in stores ahead of the holidays. The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Canon’s new entry-level full frame offers enough to make it… → Read More
Julian Miller taught high school for four years, and like many teachers, he cared about his students’ learning outcomes — about getting them across the finish line. Unfortunately, current educational software and systems don’t make that easy. Teachers that want to follow student progress and understand which tools or methods are working and why are routinely forced to log into six to eight… → Read More
Hot-or-not is a site that most of us who have used the web are familiar with. Sit down at your desk, look at pictures and profiles of a bunch of people, and respond to them with an easy voting interaction. That type of service has been popular over the years, but with the surge of mobile coming fast and furious the past few years, there are opportunities to take it to the next level.
Today, I… → Read More
Apple’s new redesigned iMac marks a significant departure from a physical design for the company’s all-in-one desktop that’s been relatively the same, with a few tweaks, since 2007. The new iMac represents a significant visual change, and packs a lot of new stuff inside the entry-level $1,299 version as well, which is the one I received for testing. Here’s how it performed over the course of a few… → Read More
There are hundreds of devices to choose from when you’re considering a new desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. We’re overwhelmed by all of the choices we have, but choice is good. When it comes to computing, as far as operating systems, there are three huge players: Microsoft, Apple and Google. Yes, Google.
A curious thing happened during Chrome browser’s rise to being the most-used… → Read More
Yes, that headline. Obvious. But appropriate.
Yes, after much delay (about a month), iTunes 11 is here today. And yes, it is one of the biggest overhauls of the media management service yet. Perhaps the biggest. And yes, it is now better positioned to compete in the era of the cloud. And yes, they even made the icon a bit better.
It was back at the iPhone 5 event in September, when Apple… → Read More
Last week, Priceline.com acquired Kayak for $1.8 billion. That’s more than twice what Google paid for ITA back in 2010. Why did Priceline make this move? And why now?
Priceline acquired Kayak for $40 a share, about $500 million in cash, $1 billion in Priceline equity, and about $300 million in stock options. Kayak got a premium price — a 29 percent premium, to be exact — from Priceline… → Read More
Today, the Startup Genome released the first half of its massive 160-page report on the world’s top startup ecosystems. Of the many moving parts of the report, the most noteworthy (and potentially controversial) is it’s so-called Startup Ecosystem Index, which ranks the world’s top 20 startup ecosystems, a la college football. → Read More
When I saw the initial wave of Surface reviews hit, I started pinging some folks to see if I could get my hands on one to review as well. I wanted to try out Microsoft’s new device because I like testing all new devices, ensuring that I maintain a good sense of the overall landscape. Plus, I find it fascinating that Microsoft is now doing their own Windows-based hardware. It’s nothing if not… → Read More
As a wristwatch brand, San Francisco-based Xetum has been making a bit of a name for itself by delivering high-quality Swiss movements in contemporary cases designed in California. Recently, the company added a PVD version of its Tyndall model to the lineup, adding even more modern flair to the watch’s striking design. → Read More
For the past six months, I’ve heard the same thing over and over again: “The MacBook Pro with the retina screen looks amazing. I want that screen on a MacBook Air. That would be the perfect computer.” Well, we’re almost there. Not quite. But for some of you, we’re now close enough.
What I’m describing, of course, is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the retina display.
Two years ago, I… → Read More
It’s speedy, and for a streaming music service like Spotify making the jump from desktop software to the browser, that’s of the utmost importance. This is just an early beta of what will rollout next year, so I’ll forgive the missing features and say I was impressed with the feel. But discovery still has a long way to go to unlock the potential of near infinite music. → Read More
This week, Google announced a new lineup of devices that would be running its Android OS, Jelly Bean version 4.2. Those new devices are a phone and a new 10-inch tablet, called the Nexus 10. I’ve had a chance to play with both devices, specifically the Nexus 10, and I actually surprised myself with how the device has fit into my daily routine. → Read More
Instructure launched Canvas in 2011 to give educational institutions an alternative to the ubiquitous (but much criticized) software of educational giants like Blackboard. Today, the company is adding another piece to its learning management system with the launch of its own MOOC hybrid, which allows schools to define the structure of their online courses and customize the learning experience. → Read More
Samsung and Google recently introduced the simply named Chromebook, a $249 computer with an 11.6-inch screen and around 6.5 hours of battery life in a slim and svelte 2.5 lb, 0.8-inch thick shell. It’s a barebones approach to the concept of a Chrome OS notebook, and it’s probably what Google should have done with this type of hardware from the very beginning. But does that mean it’s good? → Read More
“So why is iPad so phenomenally successful? Well it turns out that there’s a simple reason for this,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told an audience at the Apple event last week in San Jose. “People love their iPads.”
The response drew some awkward laughs as it seemed almost like the punchline of a misfired joke. But it wasn’t a joke — Cook was absolutely serious. → Read More
Meet the Hex3 JaJa stylus, a pressure-sensitive drawing tool for the iPad (and other tablets, too) that transmits information to the device via sound waves, eschewing the need for a Bluetooth connection. It’s only one of a recent crop of pressure-sensitive styli for the iPad, but its unique, quirky design provides both its big advantages and its most significant flaws. → Read More
With the November elections right around the corner, education reform is a hot topic these days, thanks to a flood of reports indicating that the U.S. has fallen behind its peers on a number of educational fronts — from enrollment and high school graduation rates to achievement and teacher salaries. Diminishing interest (and performance) in STEM education, in particular, has prompted a… → Read More
I remember my favorite Sony Walkman. It was yellow. And bulky. And slow. And ugly. I loved it. It played cassettes. Cassettes! I took it to Australia one summer. It’s still something I think about from time to time. Just me and my music in this yellow player thousands of miles from home.
So when Apple asked if there was a particular color of the new iPod nano that I wanted to test out… → Read More
Robin Sloan is the kind of guy who could write a book like this one. He’s a writer and “media inventor” which seems to be a lofty term for “cool guy who gets the Internet and understands that discourse needs to be both intelligent and entertaining to effect any sort of meaningful social change.” He also writes a damn good intellectual thriller, if you’re into that sort of thing. → Read More
If you don’t know about Startup Health and you’re a healthtech investor or entrepreneur (or at all interested in the space,) you need to rectify that. After all, as evidenced by the launch of another solid, differentiated health-focused startup accelerator last week, there is a lot of public, private and entrepreneurial attention shifting to the industry. → Read More
Today, AirPR is officially launching its Match.com for startups and PR, peeling back the curtain on its PR marketplace for the first time. Essentially, AirPR has created a tech platform that aims to increase PR performance and remove the barriers that stand in the way of startups discovering and recruiting top PR talent to help them carry out specific projects.
It does this through a… → Read More
Many of my Kickstarter dreams have come tumbling down in disappointing or non-shipping products, which isn’t a knock against the site; that’s a risk I fully accept and take with every project. But without a doubt, the Hidden Radio Bluetooth speaker was one I was really looking forward to. Now, I’ve spent some time with it, and I find myself with mixed feelings about this portable audio accessory. → Read More
It’s easy to forget that the iPod touch didn’t even include a camera until 2010. While such a key feature has been standard on the iPhone since its initial unveiling in 2007, Apple apparently didn’t think it was one of the must-have features of the touch. That changes this year.
With the new iPod touch (the fifth generation, for those keeping score at home), which was unveiled a few weeks ago… → Read More
At TechCrunch Disrupt NYC in May 2010, a young startup named Art.sy took home the “Rookie Disruptor Award” for its art-focused search engine, which allowed users to find art by style, category, size, color, and more. Art.sy also tapped into users’ social graphs to offer personalized recommendations to make art discovery a little less overwhelming.
The idea caught the attention of investors, and… → Read More
DEMO Fall 2012 wrapped up in Santa Clara today, where 77 startups took the stage to show off their apps, services and products. The young companies were given six minutes to pitch their ideas and impress the audience, collectively competing for the $1 million advertising prize that went to the idea with the most promise. → Read More
If there’s one person who’s nailed the art of Kickstarter-driven hardware production, it’s Scott Wilson. The designer’s MNML studio had considerable success with the crowdfunding site, which helped launch his Lunatik iPod nano watch bands, a stylus called the Touch Pen, and now the Taktik heavy-duty protective iPhone case. The last is just making its way out to market (for iPhone 4/4S – iPhone… → Read More
Thanks to the rise of in-classroom technology, the focus in education tends to be on student engagement and how to improve learning. It becomes easy to forget the importance of great teachers. Startups, entrepreneurs, businesses (and the rest) need to remember that technology doesn’t have to put teachers in jeopardy; it can help them lead the education evolution, even if their traditional role in… → Read More
The popular screenshot tool Skitch is launching on the iPhone today and Evernote, which bought the tool about a year ago, also just released version 2.0 for Mac and iPad. With this update, Skitch is also paring down Skitch’s smart but idiosyncratic user interface down to its bare minimum, leaving a lot of functionality that the application’s users always loved behind in the process. Skitch used to… → Read More
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