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Crunch Network
Mobile and enterprise are the keys to VR/AR scale
Though PC and console VR are the sexier formats we’re all excited about, is mobile where VR will really scale in the near term? This is a question I’ve been posing to investors and innovators. Read More
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Xiaomi admits it doesn’t make money on smartphone hardware sales
Xiaomi’s business model isn’t about selling handsets, except insofar as those handset sales lead to recurring service revenue later on. So said Xiaomi global VP and former Android VP Hugo Barra in an interview with Reuters. The executive for the device maker was commenting on a drop in its smartphone sales in China, explaining that they wouldn’t impact the company’s… Read More
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Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures back Apptopia’s next-gen app intelligence platform
Apptopia, a startup that began its life as a marketplace for reselling apps before morphing into the app intelligence provider that’s now used by Google, Facebook, Pinterest, NBCU, and others, has closed on a second seed round of $2.7 million. The round, which was led by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, brings Apptopia’s total raise to date to $5… Read More
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Albert raises $2.5 million for its finance app that helps you save money
Everyone knows the basics of how to improve their financial health: put money into savings, track your spending, reduce your debt, look for ways to save on your monthly bills, and make smart investments. Where people struggle is translating that knowledge into specific actions you can take today. That’s where an application called Albert steps into help. The startup, which has now closed… Read More
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You rarely livestream, but 1M people livechill on Houseparty
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… Read More
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Google can now tell you how busy a place is before you arrive
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
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Instagram launches disappearing Live video and messages
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
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Pokémon Go’s Thanksgiving event gives players double XP and Stardust
Pokémon Go’s second big in-game event is timed for U.S. Thanksgiving, running between November 23 and November 30, during which time players can get double the standard XP and Stardust for in-game actions. The double up is a little more limited than the first event, which offered up candy bonuses and higher encounter rates for specific Pokémon, but it’s still a nice bump for… Read More
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FilmStruck is a streaming service for lovers of art-house films and foreign classics
It might be time for movie lovers to add another streaming service to their monthly subscriptions — FilmStruck, a new service created by Turner Classic Movies. Services like Amazon and Netflix are building up libraries of originals (starting with TV, but also including films), and they’re striking deals to get high-profile new releases. But if you’re a particular kind of… Read More
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Facebook authorizes a $6B stock buyback
Facebook today said it is authorizing a $6 billion stock buyback that will go into effect in the first quarter next year. Facebook in its last earnings call also said that its growth would likely slow as a result of the company reaching its maximum advertising load. While Facebook has historically grown at a very fast clip, the company is now in a position that it needs to find additional… Read More
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Hands-on with Play-Doh Touch, the app that brings kids’ creations to life
Play-Doh has come to the iPad. With the newly launched toy set for kids, Play-Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio, Hasbro has made a solid attempt at bringing the joy of Play-Doh to digital through an iOS app that brings kids’ creations to life. But the combination of physical play and digital is not a skill set that’s easily mastered even by top kids’ brands — just ask… Read More
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App abandoment is on the rise as consumers stick to the apps they know
It’s getting harder to get people to try new mobile applications, according to a new state of the industry report out now from Adobe, as consumers are sticking to what they know when it comes to the apps on their smartphones. App abandonment is also climbing, and app installs are only up 6 percent year-over-year, the report states. Meanwhile, launches of existing apps are much higher… Read More
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Listen makes phone numbers smarter with auto-responders, muting, reminders and more
A new mobile application called Listen wants to make phone numbers smarter by giving you more control over who’s texting and calling, thanks to a variety of features like whitelists, reminders, auto-responders, mute buttons and more. The idea, explains the company, is to offer one “inbox” for everything that comes in via your phone number. The end result is a number you can… Read More
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Here’s the 19th batch of 500 Startups companies
500 Startups just wrapped up its 18th batch of company launches last month — which means it’s already looking forward to the next one. This time around, in its 19th batch, the program (no longer called an accelerator, ironically) has 44 companies, ranging from business-to-business software to beauty products. You’ll find everything from software for managing fitness businesses… Read More
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Sesame Street’s VC fund makes its first investment in tutoring app Yup
A venture fund formed by Sesame Workshop and New York-based Collaborative Fund early this year has made its first investment in a tutoring platform called Yup. Specifically, Yup (formerly known as MathCrunch) has raised $4 million in a seed extension round led by Collab+Sesame, in which Sesame Ventures is a limited partner, bringing the company’s total capital raised to date to… Read More
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Apple addresses ‘Touch Disease’ with reduced cost repair for iPhone 6 Plus
Many an iPhone 6 Plus has been struck down by the scourge known as “Touch Disease,” but Apple has not acknowledged the problem was systematic or widespread — until now. In what we have to imagine is as close to a mea culpa as Apple is likely to offer, iPhone 6 Plus devices exhibiting flickering displays and touchscreen issues are eligible for a reduced-price repair. Read More
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