Clearly, I’m interested in how companies interact with their surroundings, as I feel like it’s an important part of pushing our industry forward. Nobody likes to think about five developers locked in a room somewhere, coding until they pass out. Yes, I know that’s the reality for many young startups, but as they grow up into larger companies, things change.
For a company like Twitter, one of… → Read More
As you might be aware, Google Fiber has set out to make all the world, or at least Kansas City, have fast and accessible Internet access. Today, the company announced that it is now wiring homes in the area with its high-speed internet.
As we noted previously, 180 out of 202 areas that were eligible for the service hit their pre-registration goals. Now the service is being put in, and I’m… → Read More
Exec, which is a service focused on San Francisco professionals, does all types of tasks for you at pretty decent rates. I’ve used the service to have papers scanned and faxed in the past, and it was always quite super. Recently, the company launched a new cleaning service, for those of you that are busy and don’t have time to clean up after yourself. You know, because you’re busy drinking red… → Read More
Kyle at the great site iFixIt.com has just opened a new service dedicated to the collection and curation of user-generated content called Gear Teardown. The service, sort of like a how-to site for crazy people, allows folks to document each step in the process of tearing down, and hopefully putting back together, their gadgets.
For example, this teardown of the Moto Krave shows six steps, some… → Read More
I’ve worked plenty of thankless retail jobs so I can sympathize with the grind but please, customer service people, check the boxes of stuff that gets returned to your store. A Nintendo DS box filled with rocks and newspaper was apparently returned to a Wal Mart store in Florida, then put back on the floor TWICE, and sold to a mother who gave it to her son as a birthday present. → Read More
http://www.viddler.com/player/df48093d/ One of the most exciting things I’ve seen at Nokia World 2008 is the Point and Find service: aim a phone camera at an object and the camera detects what it is. Currently set to debut in London and San Francisco, the initial version of the application will be tied to movie posters. Point your camera at a movie poster and the software will identify the… → Read More
Anybody who completely relies on Microsoft for all of their entertainment needs is going to be bored straight out of their minds when Monday, September 29th rolls around. At 12:01 AM PST, both the Xbox Live and the entire Zune service will be taken down for maintenance. Live will be out for 24 hours, while Zune will go dark for closer to two days. According to Major Nelson, the Live outage is in… → Read More
Just a day late of the rumored date, Verizon has announced month-to-month, contract free service plans. If you’re willing to pay full price for a phone or can bring your own handset to the table, you’re free to bail out at the end of each monthly billing period without paying any sort of early termination fee. All of Verizon’s voice and data plans are available sans-contract… → Read More
Just about every time we’ve mentioned T-Mobile’s 3G rollout, someone has stopped by to ask their fellow commenters for insight on what the coverage might be like in their specific city. Unfortunately, their inquiries generally went unanswered. Now that T-Mobile has gotten around to adding 3G signal to their coverage map, curious commenters now have a way to help themselves. If… → Read More
Sure, Push-to-talk can be handy. But is it ten dollars handy? AT&T thinks not. Tucked into the Samsung Rugby press release was a mention that AT&T would be lopping 50% off the Push-to-talk monthly price tag, bringing it down to just 5 bucks starting today. With both AT&T and Verizon now offering PTT for a fiver, it probably won’t be too long before Sprint (currently at $10) joins… → Read More
If you can’t get enough of Twitter why not try Twitter-enabling your home? By connecting his cellphone with his Twitter account, Justin Wickett has created what amounts to a remote switch triggered by Twitter messages. By using a simple program he was able to connect SmartHome’s INSTEON switches to the Internet and control them with a ping from Twitter. → Read More
iPhone? Not iPhone? China Mobile was all like “No thanks, Apple” in talks about bringing the Apple iPhone to China. No reason was given for the break in negotiations but Bloomberg suspects it was the 20 to 30 percent of data fees Apple asks for each iPhone subscription. This does not rule out “further cooperation” but who really cares? China has plenty if iPhone knock-offs… → Read More
Being a former Comcast customer, I can understand how one could get angry at the company for providing mediocre service. But being angry doesn’t even compare to what 75-year-old Mona Shaw did. When Comcast didn’t show up to install the Triple Play package in her home (Cable, VoIP, Internet), she scheduled another appointment. The second time, the installation team didn’t finish… → Read More
We don’t talk too much about heroes, but Mona Shaw is right up there. Shaw got sick of the crappy customer service from Comcast and decided to do something about it. While we can’t recommend following her actions, and really can’t report if they did any good or not, it’s still good to hear about a senior citizen who decided to take her frustration out. With a hammer. Nice… → Read More
In the wake of the Great Skype Outage of 2007 everyone who is everyone in IT should be watching their servers and production code like a flock of hawks. Well, it looks like Google isn’t taking my advice because as of 10:43 EST it looks like Blogspot is completely down. I’m OK with that — my Commander Ackbar fan fiction network uses WordPress — but shouldn’t someone be… → Read More
Alright. I’m not even going to work my way into giving you the lowdown. You’re sick of the iPhone, I’m sick of it, and we have ourselves some plans to look over. So if you’re buying an iPhone, listen up. Three plans are available for the iPhone. All of them include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 TXT messages, rollover minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. → Read More
Sprint loves you very much I’m sure, but retaining new customers is how the wireless industry makes the big bucks. Now new customers at Sprint will be able to hold the carrier to its new Right Plan Promise. It works by allowing new customers to make changes to their plan within the first six months of activation. That means if you need more minutes, have to get a new phone, or don’t… → Read More
If draft-N wireless still isn’t good enough for ya, then keep your eye out later this year for a Motorola manufactured card for Clearwire’s WiMax service. Clearwire Mobile just got the OK from the FCC to sell their new WiMax laptop card. You’ll get high speeds with Peyton Manning-esque ranges (as in long, long long distances) all on the 801.16e spectrum. No word yet on pricing… → Read More
Looking for pay-as-you-go cellphone plan but none are all too appealing to you? Take a gander at Cricket wireless’ new weekly plan. Pay $18 a week and you’ll be given unlimited local and long distance calling privileges, which is not too shabby if you’re a big talker. In addition to the unlimited calling, you’ll also receive the ability to text and picture message as much… → Read More
Another day, and as always, another Apple rumor. This time it involves the iTunes Music Store and Apple opening up a subscription-based service. If Les Ottolenghi, CEO of Intent Media Works or something, has his way, he believes Apple is literally “on the verge” of announcing a subscription service for iTunes. This guy means business too. He’s serious! “I think Apple is… → Read More
Those of you who avoid texting (I know quite a few of you) because Verizon beats you on the charges can stop shivering in fear. According to initial reports, come April 15th, Verizon customers will be able to add on a $20 plan for single lines that will give the user unlimited texts, pix messages, flix messages, and free VCAST. Those with family plans will be able to shell out $100 for an… → Read More
File this one under “completely full of it,” but according to Mr. Deleon over at Gizmodo, those of you who make the iPhone plunge in June will be welcomed with 1.5 years of free AT&T wireless service. Sweet deal, but the only proof that exists of this phantom deal is Jim Cramer’s word. The Mad Money host (SELL! SELL! SELL!) claims that the plan is to persuade people to switch… → Read More
The race is on for telecom companies to catch up to the cable companies. With Comcast already offering Broadband Internet, Digital Cable, and Digital Voice service for only $33 a piece all on one bill, companies like Verizon need to start raising the stakes if they want to stay afloat. Now Comcast is offering a cellphone service to their customers in limited areas. If you live in Boston, MA or… → Read More
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Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
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