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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KidPass raises $5.1 million for its children’s activity subscription service
KidPass, a monthly membership program that gives parents access to a variety of kid-friendly activities across their city, has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding, the startup reported this week. Currently live in New York, the new funds will allow the service to expand to new markets including L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Chicago. The round was… Read More
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Nielsen: over 92% of viewing among U.S. adults still happens on the TV screen
U.S. consumers may be cutting the cord with pay TV, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped watching the big screen, according to new data released by Nielsen this morning. In a report detailing the viewing habits of U.S. adults, the measurement firm found that 92 percent of all viewing among U.S. adults (those 18 and older) still takes place on the TV screen. The data was… Read More
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Facebook’s Instant Articles platform to support Google AMP, Apple News
One of the problems publishers face today in making their content more readable on mobile devices is that there are multiple, competing formats available for this purpose. Facebook has Instant Articles, Google is spearheading the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project, and the Apple News Format optimizes content for iOS devices. Facebook is today taking a crack at a solution to this problem… Read More
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Readdle adds a clever drag-and-drop feature for moving files between its iPad productivity apps
Productivity app maker Readdle is rolling out a new feature across its line of iOS applications that takes advantage of the iPad’s support for split screen viewing to make it easier to move files between apps. The move could encourage current Readdle customers to buy the software maker’s larger suite of apps in order to take advantage of the new functionality. Split view is a… Read More
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Microsoft’s game streaming service Beam rebrands as Mixer, adds co-streaming, a guide & mobile broadcasting
Microsoft’s live-streaming service Beam, which the company acquired last year shortly after it emerged as the winner of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, is today getting a new name: Mixer. The name is meant to express the way the service brings people together, the team explains, but it’s not the only change rolling out today, as it turns out. Mixer is also launching… Read More
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Twitter for Apple TV adds live, 360 degree video and Periscope’s global map
Twitter launched a version of its service on Apple TV and other media player platforms last fall in order to deliver its live video content to the big screen. Today, the company is updating its Apple TV app with a couple of new features, including support for Periscope’s Global Map and the ability to watch live 360 degree videos. The company notes that, with this launch, Twitter is… Read More
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Amazon adds shoppable stickers to its iOS app
Using stickers to decorate your photos is a common feature found in social apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and others. But today, stickers have started showing up in a more surprising place: Amazon’s mobile app. Following a recent update, Amazon has added support for stickers within its iOS app’s camera feed – the feature that allows you to search for… Read More
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Circle with Disney raises $10 million for its parental control device for families
Circle Media, the company behind Circle with Disney – a device that helps parents enforce their home’s internet rules and restrictions – has raised $10 million in Series A funding, the company announced this morning. The round was led by early stage venture fund Relay Ventures. There was another private equity investment in the round, but the parties didn’t want to… Read More
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Facebook’s personal fundraisers exit beta, now support raising money for sports teams & communities
Facebook announced today it’s expanding its online fundraising tools – basically, Facebook’s own take on a GoFundMe-type service – to include support for community fundraisers as well as those for sports teams. The company had first launched its personal fundraising tools in March of this year, allowing users to raise money for educational, medical or pet medical… Read More
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Verizon CEO confirms company’s plan to launch a streaming TV service
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed the company’s plans to launch an over-the-top streaming service later this year, according to a report from Variety, citing remarks the CEO made at a telecom conference in Boston this week. Verizon (which owns TechCrunch parent company AOL), will use the combined platform of AOL and Yahoo – and their 1.3 billion users – to test the… Read More
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James Corden is getting his own Snapchat show, the first from CBS
Thanks to James Corden, CBS will now join a number of other major media publishers in creating content for Snapchat’s Shows – the social service’s smattering of short-form original video series found in the app’s “Discover” section. The network announced this morning that James Corden will star in a new show on Snapchat called “James Corden’s… Read More
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Twitter is giving brands a new way to promote their chatbots
Twitter has found its own way to participate in the growing chatbot trend. The company announced today a new feature for advertisers, which allows businesses on Twitter to promote ads designed to pull consumers into personalized experiences within Direct Messaging – including interactions with chatbots. For example, one brand is running a bot that can help you with a cocktail… Read More
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Amazon takes on Etsy with a new shop featuring handcrafted items for weddings
Amazon this morning staked another claim in the billion-dollar wedding industry with the launch of a new Wedding Shop dedicated to sales of handcrafted items, including décor, invitations, gifts, jewelry, accessories and more. The shop is an offshoot from the retailer’s less than two-year old Etsy competitor, Handmade at Amazon, which aims to offer the same sort of original… Read More
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Amazon’s Echo Look companion app goes live
Amazon’s odd foray into the world of selfie cameras via the Echo Look is now complete with the launch of a companion application for iOS and Android devices that works with the new connected camera. The app allows Echo Look owners to view live previews from the Look’s camera, take a picture, survey their outfits, mark favorites, compare styles and more. The company had… Read More
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Sayspring raises $1.5M for software that lets designers prototype and test voice apps without coding
Sayspring, a startup that enables designers to create voice-enabled apps without code ahead of handing over projects to development, has just raised $1.5 million in funding for its efforts, the company is announcing today. The round was led by Compound (formerly Metamorphic Ventures), with participation from strategic angels including Scott Belsky, Alan Chung, and Peter Stern. The startup… Read More
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Dish integrates with Amazon Alexa for hands-free TV
TV provider Dish Network is today rolling out new technology that will make watching television a hands-free experience, via a new integration with Amazon Alexa. The company says that its pay TV customers using either its Hopper or Wally receivers will now be able to search for programs, change channels, as well as pause, rewind and fast forward television just by speaking. These options… Read More
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Uber debuts a “smarter” UberPool in Manhattan
Uber announced this morning a series of under-the-hood changes to its ride-sharing service UberPool in Manhattan, with the goal of improving its matching algorithms, as well as its pickup and dropoff processes in the city. The company says the updates are based on incorporating driver and rider feedback into its algorithms, and come following last year’s redesign of the service in… Read More
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Google’s new website explains Syrian refugee crisis with 360 degree photos, satellite imagery, video & more
The charitable arm of Google and the UN have teamed up on a new website aimed at helping people better understand the Syrian refugee crisis through the combination of data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) along with satellite imagery, 360 degree photos and stills, videos, stories from refugees, and more. The new site, called “Searching for Syria,”… Read More
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Twitter says Vine users’ emails and phone numbers were exposed for a day, but weren’t misused
Twitter is alerting Vine users of a bug that exposed their email addresses and, in some cases, phone numbers to third parties. It’s also advising affected users to be cautious about any emails from unknown senders as a result. The company says the bug was only active for 24 hours before being patched, and doesn’t believe that the data was misused in any way, at this… Read More
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Facebook rolls out a new “Order Food” option in its main navigation
Facebook is now making it easier for you to order food from your favorite restaurants directly within its app, without having to navigate away to a delivery service or restaurant’s own app or website. In the main Facebook navigation on both web and mobile, a new option called “Order Food” is rolling out to select users. Indicated by a colorful hamburger icon on desktop and… Read More
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