That was a long sayonara: in November 2008, Nokia decided to pull the plug on their Japan operations, at the same time announcing they will re-enter the market with their luxury sub-brand Vertu. They started offering those phones (and the services that come with them) in September 2009, but now decided to give up on this business in Japan, too. → Read More
Erick is a cruel man. Known throughout TC HQ as the “Iron Stampede,” his rages against technology products are epic and legendary. You should have heard him go off on Google+ yesterday. He was livid.
That’s why it’s interesting to see him calmly dismantle the TouchPad in this episode of Fly or Die. Gone is the red faced anger, the spittle, the curses. Instead, he tries it out and comes away… → Read More
Google just announced that it is teaming up with Virgin America to allow passengers to “test-fly” the search giant’s new Chromebook computers for free. Virgin passengers will be able to use the computers onboard their flight and at select airport gates from July 1 through September 30, 2011.
As an incentive, flyers who check out a Chromebook will receive a free WiFi session onboard Virgin… → Read More
In this episode of Founder Stories, host Chris Dixon takes a look at a 3D printer while talking to the maker behind the MakerBot, Bre Pettis.
If printing 3D objects sounds impressive, think about this. Pettis thinks “it’s early days”—drawing comparisons to early PC’s like the Altair. About the size of a mini-fridge, the Makerbot ships for $1,299 and allows users to create their own objects via… → Read More
Thanks to an update of Skype’s Android application, you can now make one-to-one video calls over both WiFi and 3G connections. You can download the Skype app from the Android Market or point your browser to Skype.com/m from your phone.
Note that your smartphone needs to be running Android Version 2.3 (and above) and have a front-facing camera. Supported handsets include the HTC Desire S, Sony… → Read More
Despite being the resident Apple fanboy, I’m not going to try to defend the new Final Cut Pro X. I simply don’t use Final Cut enough to know how good or bad it is compared to the old version. But I will say this, the backlash is very predictable.
Apple completely changed a very popular piece of software — rewriting it from the ground up. People hate change. Revolt. Some changes are made. → Read More
The best part of these timepieces is easily the box. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but Romain Jerome showed me a sneak preview of the Space Invaders watches back in March. The idea is to recall some of the fun and playfulness, as well as the novelty of the late 1970s video game. The box is actually a light box and you place the watch inside of it. Actually the watch is already placed inside… → Read More
Hot on the heels of my scathing diatribe against the once-mighty Blackberry empire, Erick and I explore the current financial and development situation that has befallen our neighbors to the North. Plus, we have an extra special guest who, as Erick notes, will “build an app for any platform, even Windows Phone 7″ but bailed on BBOS.
As I wrote in my post, I wish it didn’t have to be this way. RIM… → Read More
One aspect of the Egyptian uprising (among the others, most ongoing) that was overpowered by the wild acclamation of social media is something that has been quietly but powerfully changing societal norms over the last decade. It is simply the inclusion, on almost every mobile phone sold, of a digital camera. When 90% of the active population can, at any time, record an event they are witness to… → Read More
Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari and Chuck E Cheese, wants to bring the video arcade into the classroom. His latest startup is called Speed To Learn, and very little is known about it. But he was just on a panel I moderated at the Venture Capital in Education Summit in New York City, where he revealed a little more of his game plan. I caught him on video after the panel (watch… → Read More
Nintendo and Sony just announced the much-anticipated Wii U and the Playstation Vita last week at E3 and, well, we were pretty impressed. The Wii U, Nintendo’s new console, is a real step up for the brand as it adds HD game play and a unique new controller that incorporates third-screen features with Nintendo’s own paradigm-shifting controller style. The Vita is a little less exciting to console… → Read More
On Monday, Steve Jobs introduced iCloud to the Apple developers at WWDC, and we’ve been absorbing what it means ever since. John Biggs and I devote this entire episode of Fly or Die to iCloud, explaining what it is, why it’s important, and where it falls short. Watch the video above.
At it’s heart, iCloud demotes your computer as your digital hub and moves that hub online. This is not just for… → Read More
After having a banner #WWDC start yesterday, Apple founder Steve Jobs humbly presented his idea for a new Apple campus at the Cupertino City Council today. I’m still watching this, but what I’ve seen so far is amazing.
Jobs wants to build one building that holds 12,000 people on a former Hewlett-Packard property.”It’s a little like a spaceship,” Jobs says. No kidding. → Read More
Scott Forstall, speaking at WWDC 2011, has just announced some major numbers relating to Apple’s iOS. 200 million iOS devices have been sold, which they claim makes it the #1 mobile operating system in the world. With Android nipping at their heels, that could be a transient title, at least in the mobile phone world. The iPad, however, is another story. → Read More
We’re live in not-so-sunny San Francisco, where Apple is hosting their annual Worldwide Developer Conference — and, more directly important to the masses of Apple fans around the world, the WWDC Keynote.
We already know some of what Apple’s announcing: OS X Lion, iOS 5, and a new, mostly-mysterious product called iCloud. From what we’re seeing, though, they’ve still got at least one secret up… → Read More
I knew this watch existed for a while but seeing in the flesh solidified the feeling that yes, this is of the most (if not the most) steampunk timepieces in existence – and here I get to put it on. I believe it came out in 2008. Plus, unlike stuff from Cabestan and Vianney Halter, this Chronoswiss is not going to cost in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for a cool timepiece. → Read More
The debate about Windows 8 rages on in this episode of Fly or Die. CrunchGear editor John Biggs, who joins me from Las Vegas where he is attending a watch conference (don’t ask) thinks nothing has really changed because users can always switch back from the touch interface to the old Windows.
I appreciate the shell argument, but counter that desktop operating systems are also moving towards more… → Read More
Electronic Arts is today debuting Origin, a direct-to-consumer gaming platform, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to the placeholder website, expect Origin to go live around 9 AM Pacific time.
The platform will enable gamers to discover, buy and download more than 150 games from EA at its debut, with exclusive limited edition copies of EA games like Battlefield 3 and FIFA… → Read More
Yesterday, Microsoft showed off Windows 8 for the first time, and it’s gorgeous (check it out in the video above). It’s also the biggest change to the look and feel of Windows since Windows 95.
Windows 8 is all designed around a touch interface, with tiles replacing icons and swiping replacing drag-’n-drop. Instead of a Start button that pops up at the lower lefthand corner of your screen, you… → Read More
Video conferencing company Polycom is acquiring the assets of HP’s Visual Collaboration business, including the Halo Products and Managed Services business according to a release issued by both companies this morning. The acquisition, which is valued at $89 million, is expected to close in Q3 2011.
Part of the deal, HP and Polycom have established a strategic relationship in which Polycom will… → Read More
Although we recently heard tell of a touchscreen-based test platform called Seaboard running Chrome OS, Google isn’t in a hurry to acknowledge that its browser OS is coming to tablets. I can’t blame them, either — with Android numbers increasing and Chrome OS unproven, it’d be foolish to dilute the market with a second tablet ecosystem. So they’re officially limiting it to Chromebooks for… → Read More
This is just a new color variation on an existing model from Suunto, but damn is it a looker. The all-black casing and negative display make for a stealthy look, and it retains all the sweet functions of the other, less handsome designs. The Terra has an altimeter, barometer, 3D compass, and a number of other features useful for mountaineering. Not that I’m going to be mountaineering any… → Read More
Although I can picture a battalion of shield-faced riot police wielding these against a terrified populace, the concept really is too “life imitates sci-fi” to pass up. The BodyGuard is an armored gauntlet with a 500,000-volt stunner protruding from the back of the hand, with room for any number of other weapons of self defense. → Read More
The transparent display wars are yet to begin, since everyone is still prepping their devices, but that doesn’t stop the big guys like TDK and Samsung from throwing a little PR party every once in a while to let you know they’re still on the task. Today TDK released info on a new display, the UEL476, that’s a bit different from the rest. → Read More
The popular virtual magazine marketplace Zinio has arrived on Android 3.0, bringing its stable of titles (including Rolling Stone, Popular Mechanics, and Us Weekly) to the likes of the Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1. The Android tablet market may not be anywhere near the size of the iPad’s, but they’re getting in there early and putting their foot in the door. As a tablet-warming gift, you… → Read More
Despite Samsung’s ongoing patent tiff with Apple, the South Korea-based manufacturer had good reason to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend, as its long-awaited 5.5-Gen OLED display factory is starting production. Many thought that factory production would be delayed after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March, but Samsung managed to get its new factory up and running… → Read More
Along with an aluminum roll pad laptop protector, a USB-ported alien doll IM notifier, and of course, Intel’s new Ultrabook notebooks, the Computex trade show in Taipei also gave us our first look at ViewSonic’s new ViewPad 7x tablet. As with any unannounced device, we’ve heard a few rumors surrounding the ViewPad specs earlier this month, but now we have a full run-down on ViewSonic’s… → Read More
The World Health Organization has just released the findings of a major literature review by leading scientists in the fields of cancer and radiation. Their conclusion? We need more data, but it’s looking as if wireless communications are, at the very least, not not carcinogenic.
The only positive data were too “limited” or “inadequate” to permit the group to say there’s a definite link, though… → Read More
Remember back last year when HP recalled overheating and exploding batteries? No? Here’s our coverage. Apparently a series somehow escaped the net and now HP is recalling another 162,000 notebook batteries. These batteries were included on laptops sold between July 2007 and May 2008, which according to the CPSC, “can overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards to… → Read More
As sad as it is to think about, cyberland gets more and more dangerous each year. Identity theft and random acts of hackery are now everyday concerns to most people, or at least a tiny fear that looms in the back of every head staring at a web page. Both the United States and United Kingdom armed forces are realizing the vulnerability within this particular patch of battlefield, and have finally… → Read More
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Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
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