Livestreaming doesn’t have to be a big performance or a one-on-one video call. Just ask the one million people who spend 20 million minutes hanging out each day on group video chat app Houseparty, the latest teen app phenomenon.
Built from the ashes of Meerkat, Houseparty is leading the charge for a new kind of synchronous social networking. It’s the closest thing to being with… Read More
The last time we checked in on Nougat market share numbers (a little over a week ago), the latest version of Google’s operating system was ranked below Gingerbread in terms of adoption. Slowly but surely the needle is starting to move. A handful of manufacturers have announced updates for their devices in the lead up to the holiday, including both variants of the OnePlus 3.
This week… Read More
Chinese electric car maker NextEV has debuted its NIO brand, along with the first car from that electric car line, called the EP9. The first vehicle it revealed is already a world-record holder: it has the fastest lap time for an EV at the Nürbhurgring Nordschliefe test track in Germany, one of the most famous proving grounds for supercars.
The EP9 also beat the EV record at France’s… Read More
With the current election season sparking yet another conversation about how government can better monitor our elections and deliver secure services, emerging blockchain technologies may provide a solution. By providing both security and transparency — reducing the risk of foul play and enabling everyone to audit the results, blockchain solutions could reshape the future of American… Read More
Your SaaS is just out of control! You’re spending thousands or millions on products – a CRM system, a field operations app, a system to keep your life-like humanoid androids from killing park guests in your Wild West-themed adventure park – and none of these systems talk to each other, especially the ones that keep your robots from falling in love with the guests. What do… Read More
With Popular Times, Google introduced a nifty feature for its search engine last year that lets you know how busy a restaurant or bar typically is at any given time of the week. Today, it’s taking this concept a step further by making this tool real-time. So now, you will know exactly how long the line is going to be before you even head out to your favorite brunch place on Sunday morning. Read More
Life’s two great certainties are death and taxes. UK startup Farewill is hoping to combine the two: this week’s it’s officially launching a subscription will-writing service. Read More
Excited about forthcoming Windows 10 VR support? You should be, since it’s going to open up who gets access to virtual reality considerably, thanks to third-party headsets from established OEM partners starting at just $299. Minimum PC specs are now available, too – and The Verge points out they aren’t too demanding, which is great news. The into comes via a… Read More
Google is opening up applications to businesses interested in testing its new file-sharing product called Team Drives. Announced earlier this fall, the focus of Team Drives is to offer companies an easier way to share files across their organization, along with more granular access controls over the content those shared folders contain.
Prior to Team Drives, the company’s Dropbox… Read More
You just know that file or email exists, but you can’t find it. This is a problem all of us have every day — especially those of us who work in tech. Ideally you’d like to ask your email search box or your Google Docs list “Please find the presentation i received from someone, I forgot his name, we met in NYC last year ago, it was about biotech.” That’s what… Read More
Chariot, the Ford-owned collaborative carpooling service currently operating in the Bay area, has launched advance reservations, letting riders book a seat on a Chariot up to seven days ahead of their actual trip. Previously, the only option was to grab a ride ad-hoc shortly before departure, an option which will continue to be offered alongside advance scheduling. The decision to add an… Read More
The fourth quarter is always the busiest for e-commerce businesses, with the biggest sales and more consumers than the year prior turning to the web and mobile devices to complete their holiday shopping. This year proves no different, according to the latest holiday sales forecast, which estimates that nearly half (47%) of consumers will shop online this season, 33 percent of them from… Read More
Snapchat surprised everyone this morning when instead of dropping its Spectacles vending machine in a remote location like the Grand Canyon or Oklahoma, it opened a legitimate storefront in New York City. The store is all white – and contains a sole Bot vending machine, as well as rotating TVs mounted on the wall that show off Spectacles’ 360-degree video capability. The store is… Read More
“Does it run Doom?” has long been the gold standard of getting stuff to play on other stuff that it probably shouldn’t be played on. The answer is almost invariably “yes.” The longer answer is usually more along the lines of “yes, but why would you want to?” That certainly applies here. Sure you could play the classic first-person-shooter on that… Read More
Every year, Apple releases a holiday ad just in time for Thanksgiving. These ads are a bit more interesting than your average product advertising as the company uses this opportunity to promote different values. This year, Apple wants to tell everyone that they should be nice to everyone around them, beyond their families and friends. Directed by the same director as the 2013 holiday spot… Read More
Amazon is expanding its investment in esports, with the announcement of its first-ever esports tournament focused on casual gaming to be hosted on its Amazon Appstore. Called the “Champions of Fire Invitational,” the event will bring together sixteen of the industry’s top video game streamers, who will compete for shares of a $100,000 cash prize on December 2nd, 2 to 9 PM PT. Read More
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Today, we announce the finalists in each category for the 10th Annual Crunchies Awards show. The Crunchies is a long-standing tradition in the tech world, where readers nominate products, people and organizations to win the tech world’s equivalent of an Oscar. Nominations are narrowed down into finalists by TechCrunch editors, and… Read More
Instagram is combining the best of Snapchat and Periscope to help you get comfortable on camera. Rather than overlap with Facebook Live and Messenger, Instagram is putting an ephemeral spin on video streaming and private messaging. Today, two big new features begin rolling out to Instagram Stories on iOS and Android over the next few weeks. Instagram Live lets you broadcast video to your… Read More
CES is a horrible, god-awful experience that will shave years off your life. The casinos, the food, the people, the germs. Horrible. All of it. But we love it! And we’re sending a huge contingent to the show again this year and want to see your gadgets, toys and products. TechCrunch cares much more for the hardware startups than the big CE players. We want to see the future FitBits and… Read More
Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity officially closed Monday morning, bringing together Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company with the solar energy company founded by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. The deal was approved by Tesla and SolarCity shareholders last week, after first being proposed earlier this year. Tesla provided the following brief statement on the news:… Read More
