No matter which side of the aisle you’re on it’s clear that in next four years technology will be taking center stage. Politics are now less about relationships between people and more about relationships between computers and no matter who you voted for we believe tech is truly leading the way. Many of us are looking for a sense of clarity and understanding that will help us… Read More
It’s Spectacle day. Snapchat surprised everyone this morning by deploying a vending machine that sells Spectacles right along the beach in Venice. The machine will only be there for 24 hours, and there are already crazy lines. We got some hands on video from Jameson Detweiler, who actually got to use the machine to buy a pair of spectacles. Some hands-on footage of actually… Read More
California’s reliably-blue votes gave Hillary Clinton a boost on election night, but they weren’t enough to carry her to the presidency. Now, Californians angered by Donald Trump’s win have proposed a ballot measure to begin the process of secession — and the referendum is receiving funding from investor and Hyperloop One co-founder Shervin Pishevar.
The movement for… Read More
Snapchat’s Spectacles are already causing huge lineups and mild millennial frenzy in LA now that they’re on sale via super-exclusive Snapbot vending machines. It’s almost inevitable that Facebook copies this, too, so gird your nose bridge for Facebook Frames. Here’s our exclusive (and very fake) early preview of their promo site copy, which unsurprisingly looks a lot… Read More
Google is hosting its Chrome Dev Summit today. There hasn’t been a lot of news out of the event, but one number that stood out in today’s keynote by Chrome Engineering VP Darin Fisher was that there are now 2 billion Chrome installs in active use across desktop and mobile. This is the first time Google has shared this number. Sadly, Google didn’t announce any new user… Read More
Google has now filed its official response to the EU’s antitrust charges against its Android mobile OS. The company had previously been granted a deadline extension by the European Commission, which kicked off a formal investigation into Android back in April. Read More
Pinterest has historically been more an idea board – a place to dream about ideas you want to try or products you want to buy. Today, however, the company is rolling out a new feature aimed at encouraging people to track and share the things they’ve actually done, too. With a new “tried it” checkmark on Pins, Pinterest users can share the ideas they’ve tried… Read More
Many of the polls forecasted an easy win for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election, but we now know their prediction models were flawed. While data scientists are scrambling to figure out what went wrong, a number of social media analytics firms are touting the fact that their measurements did a better job of tracking the situation out in the real world, and saw… Read More
Snap’s spectacles are starting to hit the streets, and eBay. I’ve been able to glean some details about the way they work from early users. The images above and below come from the auction listing, which has already hit $553 as I write this. Read More
Reliable Wi-Fi is what a lot of us have come to expect in today’s world of hyper-connectivity. I don’t know about you, but my roommates and I just went with whatever router Comcast gave us. That was a rookie move because it only reliably works in one room (the room with the router) out of five. Enter Portal, a gigabit Wi-Fi router that aims to solve the problem of congested… Read More
Maybe this is just how billionaires do business. One threatens “such problems” and the other offers to shoot him into space. But now that one of the greatest upsets in presidential history has run its course, Jeff Bezos is apparently looking to play nice.
Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump. I for one give him my most open mind and wish him great success in his service to the… Read More
The first thing you’ll notice about the Yale Real Living Assure Lock is that it has no keyhole. There is no backup key, no physical keypad, and it looks like something that you’d mount on the outside of the Enterprise so Chekov can get back in after attaching a “Shatner/Nimoy ’74” bumper sticker to the right rear engine. The $199 lock, which is Yale’s… Read More
Facebook has responded to widespread criticism of how its Newsfeed algorithm disseminates and amplifies misinformation in the wake of the Trump victory in the US presidential election yesterday. Read More
Among science fiction films, Luc Besson’s 1997 epic The Fifth Element enjoys special status as a classic that’s unique among others in the category, with an indulgent, artistic flair and beautiful set pieces that differ dramatically from the more drab and worn environs of movies like Star Wars and Blade Runner. Valerian and the city of a Thousand Planets, Besson’s upcoming… Read More
Yesterday, Nasty Gal, the retailer founded 10 years ago when Sophia Amoruso began by selling vintage fashion items on eBay, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Central District of California. The move is designed to enable the L.A.-based company to “address our immediate liquidity issues, restructure our balance sheet and correct structural issues including reducing our… Read More
The current generation of chatbots is, at best, disappointing. Kitt.ai, which is launching its private beta today, hopes to change that. The team of three AI PhDs that founded the company believes that its ChatFlow framework will make it easier for developers to build useful chatbots that can work on multiple platforms and easily hold multi-turn conversations. Seattle-based Kitt.ai started… Read More
A robot called the Sub1 Reloaded can unscramble a Rubik’s Cube in 637 milliseconds – considerably less than the fastest human time of 4.9 seconds. The robot, built by self-driving chipmaker Infineon, uses six motors to turn and twist the cube after another computer scans it, solves the puzzle virtually. The arms quickly begin to move the cube into a solved position. The robot is… Read More
Instagram is adding three new features to Stories in what they are calling the biggest update to Stories since its launch. Starting today the company will let creators add URL links to their stories that viewers can navigate to without leaving Instagram, add the ability for users to be “@ mentioned” in someone’s story, and add the ability to add a Boomerang to your story… Read More
Moscow-based Thngs is building something akin to a Wikipedia for physical objects. Although, given that the startup is already working on ways to monetize its offering, purists will likely take issue with that comparison.
Working with museums initially, Thngs wants to create a digital repository of physical objects, including high quality images and descriptions, so that they are not lost forever. Read More
Snapchat’s Spectacles are arriving starting today, and they’ll be available to buy via pop-up vending machines that look almost trademark infringingly like Minions. The so-called Snapbots will dispense Spectacles in either Black, Coral or Teal starting today, letting you first try them on virtually via an integrated AR display. Snapbot accepts debit or credit cards, and will… Read More
