Sarah Perez
Writer
The Latest from Sarah Perez
PopSockets launches a $60 wireless charger that works with its PopGrips
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PopSockets is launching a new must-have item to its lineup of smartphone accessories — and one that solves a significant problem for PopGrip users.
‘Alexa, pay for gas’ command to work at over 11,500 Exxon and Mobil stations this year
Pumping gas is not that difficult, but Amazon thinks the process could be even easier by way of a voice command, spoken aloud when you arrive at the pump: “Alexa, pay for gas.” Today, Amaz
Amazon’s Fire TV platform now reaches over 40 million monthly active users, topping Roku
Amazon’s Fire TV platform now has over 40 million users, the company announced today. That’s up from the 34 million it claimed in May 2019 and more than the 32.3 million active accounts Ro
Roku TV adds brand partners plus a new ‘Roku TV Ready’ program
Amazon’s Fire TV isn’t the only connected TV platform aiming to reach more screens by way of new partnerships. While Amazon today announced plans to bring Fire TV to more places — in
Fire TV Edition expands to more soundbars, plus cars, cable boxes and more
Amazon’s Fire TV Edition, the version of Fire TV that now powers more than 50 Fire TV Edition smart TVs and soundbars as a competitor to Roku TV, is expanding to more devices besides just the te
This Week in Apps: The year and decade in review, gaming acquisitions and a Facebook OS
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is as hot as ever,
Amazon’s Ring partners with National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to put missing posters in Neighbors app
Amazon’s Ring is partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the U.S. to publish missing child posters directly in the Neighbors app by Ring. The free app
TiVo merges with technology licensor Xperi in $3 billion deal
Earlier this year, TiVo said it was preparing to split itself into two — a product and IP business — in order to make itself more attractive to buyers. Today, the company announced those p
PayPal completes GoPay acquisition, allowing the payments platform to enter China
PayPal this morning announced it has completed its acquisition of a 70% equity stake in GoPay (Guofubao Information Technology Co. [GoPay], Ltd.), making PayPal the first foreign payment platform to p
Over 100 PBS local stations start streaming today on YouTube TV
Earlier this year, PBS announced it had secured for its member stations streaming agreements on YouTube’s live TV service, YouTube TV. Today, that deal goes live. PBS says more than 100 of its l
Whisk’s AI-powered recipe app lets you send the ingredients to your door
Despite the proliferation of recipe websites and apps, finding and organizing the recipes you want to cook has somehow become more difficult over the years. Recipe sites are overrun with ads and long-
YouTube Music adds three new personalized playlists, including its Spotify Discover Weekly rival
YouTube Music is taking on Spotify, Apple Music and others with the launch of three personalized playlists, including its own version of Spotify’s Discover Weekly, called Discover Mix, as well a
Luminary launches its subscription-based podcast network on Alexa devices
Luminary, a startup building a “Netflix for podcasts,” is now trying a new tack to gain subscribers for its premium service. The company is today launching an Alexa skill that will allow p
Instagram to now flag potentially offensive captions, in addition to comments
Earlier this year, Instagram launched a feature that would flag potentially offensive comments before they’re posted. Now, the social media platform is expanding this preemptive flagging system
The top apps and games of the 2010s
In addition to its new report on the top apps of 2019, app store intelligence firm App Annie also closed out the year with its Decade in Review analysis, which looks at the most popular apps over the
The top mobile apps and games of 2019
Mobile consumers worldwide will have downloaded a record 120 billion apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play by the end of 2019, according to App Annie’s year-end report on app trends.
Apple partners with ABC on 2020 presidential coverage in the Apple News app
Apple announced today it will collaborate with ABC News on coverage of the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election in its Apple News app. The efforts will kick off with the Democratic primary debate
Spotify debuts a new original podcast that looks back on the last decade in music
Spotify’s push into podcasts continues today with the launch of a new, 10-episode original series, “The Decade Wrapped,” that taps into insights and data from Spotify’s year-en
Apple and Spotify’s podcasts come to Echo devices in the US
Amazon Alexa can now play podcasts from Apple, making Amazon’s line of Echo devices the first third-party clients to support the Apple Podcasts service without using AirPlay. Before, this level
This Week in Apps: Apple Arcade’s new franchise, Fortnite takes on Google Play, the Disney+ app footprint
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is as hot as ever,