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According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the short-form video streaming service Quibi will shut down after less than a year. The report says that Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg has spent the day calling investors to inform them of the shutdown.
Notably, the shutdown comes just 24 hours after Quibi debuted its Apple TV application…
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Happy holidays from Sling TV! The value-focused live TV streaming service is adding more news channels to one of its plans starting today. Sling TV subscribers including existing customers will also see a $5/month increase on all plans as part of the change. Sling explains why:
Over a year and a half ago, Nintendo announced plans to bring Mario Kart Tour to the iPhone and Android. Now, the company has given the game an official release date, teasing that it will be available starting next month.
Over the past month, I’ve used the Sony’s poorly-named but pretty incredible WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds for gym workouts (recommended) and bike rides (at your own risk). These $228 earbuds fall between Apple’s $159 AirPods and $259 PowerBeats Pro but offer something both don’t: active noise cancellation.
In fact, I reviewed the PowerBeats Pro last month and thought I was done with my search for the perfect wireless earbuds. Turns out I was wrong…
Can smart home devices get viruses? There’s been a lot of talk about the idea of IoT (Internet of Things) devices being infected by viruses, not least because Samsung this month recommended scanning its QLED televisions for viruses every few weeks.
Security experts from Avast and Symantec have set out to separate fact from fiction. They say that while a virus isn’t impossible, it is extremely unlikely – but there are four other ways the security of your smart home can be compromised, and we outline some simple steps you can take to reduce the risks …
Apple’s decision to make Siri’s voice female by default in the US and many other countries reinforces gender bias, claims a new United Nations report. The same complaint is levelled at Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana.
The problem with this, says the report, is that it ‘reflects and reinforces’ the idea that assistants – acting in a support role – are female …
A decade ago, podcast listeners were almost three-quarters white. Today, says a new report, the audience for podcasts is almost as ethnically diverse as the US population …
Niantic has announced a new feature called Adventure Sync that’s coming soon to Pokemon Go on iOS and Android. Adventure Sync will use Apple Health and Google Fit activity data to credit players with distance traveled in the real world for hatching eggs and earning candy — even when Pokemon Go is not running.
Update 11/1: This post has been updated with information about the Adventure Sync feature rollout and how it works.
Snapchat messaging has always been ephemeral in nature with chat logs disappearing moments after being opened, but what about taking back messages that you regret sending before they’re opened? Now you can do that with Snapchat’s new clear chat feature! Snapchat is also making it easier to buy its photo and video capturing shades…
Plex is out with a major new app update today that includes two big changes. First up is a new personalization feature that lets you arrange your home screen within the app as well as top-level navigation. And second is podcast support with subscribing to shows and playing back episodes.
Snapchat is continuing to build features on top of its signature selfie filters, and its newest addition may have you making crazy faces in public. Snappables are augmented reality-based games that let you compete with your friends uses Lenses.
Snapchat is updating its Lens Studio tool with the ability to create custom Face Lenses for the first time. Lens Studio previously offered the ability to create World Lenses, or AR effects applied to your environment, and now users can create custom selfie effects as well.
Apple Music for Android continues to receive new updates that bring it in line with the iOS 11 version. The latest update released this week includes a ‘new music video experience’ following the same enhancements added in iOS 11.3 last week.
Apple Music for Android has received its second app update of the month — an uncommon occurrence for the rarely updated Apple Music client.
After being teased last summer, ecobee has officially announced pricing and availability for its new Switch+ smart home accessory. Switch+ is available for pre-order starting today and ships on March 26 for $99 in the US and $119 in Canada. Like other smart light switches, Switch+ includes Alexa integration as well as Google Assistant support for controlling lights — but Switch+ takes integration with Amazon’s voice assistant a step further by building it in to the light switch.
Gigantic dinosaurs may soon be roaming the planet once again — at least on Android and iOS. Universal Studios and Montreal-based video game company Ludia have teamed up to create Jurassic World Alive. The title is a new augmented reality game launching this spring, and the premise is similar to Niantic’s Pokémon GO.
Niantic is still cracking away at its AR-hit game Pokémon GO with a new series of events called Community Day. These events will be scheduled once a month around the world and aim to bring Trainers, or Pokémon GO players, together with special perks.
Snapchat teased out earlier this month that its app would soon see its first major redesign, and today we’re seeing the first look at the new Snapchat. The details come a bit earlier than expected, although the rollout will be gradual…
Instagram is continuing its assault on Snapchat (which is working) by opening up its Stories clone to any photos and videos in your photo library. Stories were originally limited to shots and footage captured in the app, then later updated to include photos and video captured within the last 24 hours.
Pokémon GO is kicking off its second in-game Halloween event with new ghost-type pocket monsters from the Hoenn Region, a special Pikachua with a witch hat, and more rewards and perks.
Snapchat is partnering with several services including OpenTable and Lyft to launch something new called Context Cards. These location-based cards bring relevant information like business hours, reviews, contact information, and travel options to Snapchat.
In addition to promising Google Assistant support next year, Sonos has unveiled its latest wireless speaker: the Sonos One. The new model replaces the Sonos Play:1 in the lineup at the $199 level with models available in both white and now black. Sonos One is the company’s first wireless speaker with built-in voice control.
It looks like Siri and Google are friends again and Bing is in the rear view mirror. In a major shift, Apple is changing its search results provider for Siri and Spotlight on iOS and macOS from Microsoft’s Bing to the vastly more popular Google.
TechCrunch says the change has started to roll out today (it’s also live for me) and should be in effect for all users by the end of the day. For users, this means Siri and Spotlight will now provide the same search results as Safari by default (and in a lot of cases show better search results).
It’s been a whole year since Instagram rolled out its Snapchat-cloned Stories feature that lets users share ephemeral photos and videos on the service, and today Instagram has shared new data on Stories changing user engagement.
Earlier this summer Instagram shared that its Stories feature has 250 million users. Now Instagram says Stories has also helped increase the amount of time users spend in the app.
Earlier this summer Plex announced its new Live TV feature that works with its DVR function to turn the app into a traditional TV replacement. After initially rolling out in beta on select devices, Plex has announced new updates to Live TV and DVR including the feature coming to Android…
The latest update to Snapchat coming today brings two new features: Multi-Snap and Tint Brush. Multi-Snap lets you create up to a minute of video now by separately recording up to 10 seconds at a time, and Tint Brush is a new color editing feature for selecting and editing a specific part of a photo.
Snapchat is rolling out a new feature it calls Snap Map which lets you view Snaps by location and view Stories from around the world.
With the Snap Map, you can view Snaps of sporting events, celebrations, breaking news, and more from all across the world 🗺️
Snap’s new location feature even lets you share where you are with friends and follow their location as well.
As the second year of Pokémon Go arrives, Niantic has detailed major changes to the gameplay centered around how gyms and gym battles work. Gyms will soon work like PokéStops and include exclusive items, badges, and more while battling is getting more advanced with new social features coming.
Microsoft is launching a new task management app for Android today called Planner. Previously available as a web app only, Planner works with eligible Office 365 accounts for organizing tasks visually and collaborating across teams.
Facebook introduced its Instant Article format for publishers two years ago as a way to make loading content in the News Feed much faster, but the format hasn’t been adopted as widely as the social network had hoped. Now Facebook is rolling out new tools for publishers to make Instant Articles compatible with Google AMP and Apple News formats.
Instagram’s Explore tab already features search and discovery for finding new photos and videos on the service, and now the social network is introducing new location and hashtag stories.
The new location stories will appear when you’re near that current location and other Instagram users are posting with the format and tagging location. Hashtag stories will appear from search results and include stories that use specific hashtag stickers.
Instagram is rolling out a new Snapchat-like AR feature today called face filters. These work with both the photo and video camera to apply real-time face-tracking filters over subjects.
New data from Strategy Analytics points to a surprise runner-up to Apple on the list of top selling smartphone makers during the first quarter of 2017. Thanks in part to Samsung’s Note 7 misfortune, Chinese company Oppo is ranked #3 globally with its R9s smartphone.
Instagram has become quite competitive lately with new features that take on Snapchat directly, and now the social network has shared that it has 700 million users which is a new milestone. Instagram made the announcement in a blog post this morning:
Apple’s recent tvOS 10.2 software update broke AirPlay streaming for third-party utilities like AirFoil and Doubletwist by requiring hardware verification. Now DoubleTwist is out with an update for its Android app that includes a workaround and restores audio streaming over AirPlay to Apple TV.
Microsoft bought the task management app Wunderlist back in 2015, and today the company has released the first public preview of its eventual replacement called To-Do. Microsoft’s new To-Do app is available to try on Android phones now, and preview versions for tablets will soon follow.
Strava has a new version of its Android app out that includes a major new feature just in time for warmer weather: access to Club Events for runners and cyclists without using the web.
Snapchat is rolling out an app update that includes new 3D World Lenses for the rear-facing camera. World Lenses are like the popular selfie Lenses introduced over a year ago, but with a dash of AR that makes sharing your environment with friends more fun.
Twitter shared today that it has finally flipped the switch on no longer counting usernames against character limits on tweets. Since tweets are limited to 140 characters, usernames for mentions and replies shortened the amount of characters you could include in a message.
Facebook has constantly added new features to Messenger since it became a standalone chat app, and Live Location is the latest to join the list. Live Location lets Messenger users temporarily share an up-to-date location with friends and family.
Google introduced Android Pay on the web last fall, and today integrated payments provider WePay announced support for the mobile payment service on Chrome. WePay clients include GoFundMe, FreshBooks, Meetup, and other major services.
WePay’s support for Android Pay on the web means the convenient checkout feature should appear in even more places online now. WePay also now supports Apple’s Apple Pay on the web for Safari users as well.
This week Pandora is launching its on-demand music service with features like what other subscription services including Google Play Music and Spotify offer. Before now Pandora has primarily served streaming radio stations based on artists and tracks. Pandora Premium opens the service’s catalog of music up to on-demand access for a monthly fee.
Pinterest introduced a new point-and-shoot discovery tool in February called Lens that lets you use your Android camera to find design inspiration and more. Now Pinterest is officially launching its new Lens feature to all users in the United States on Android and iOS.
Facebook has officially announced its new Messenger Day feature for Android and iOS after previously testing the Snapchat Stories clone with a limited number of users. Messenger Day is rolling out globally to Facebook’s Messenger app beginning today.
Pocket, the popular read-it-later bookmarking service, has been acquired by Firefox developer Mozilla, according to Recode. Pocket has client apps on Android and Chrome including a browser extension.
Instagram is rolling out a new post format that lets you publish multiple photos and videos in a single entry on the social network. Posts were previously limited to single photos or videos with the exception of Stories which are ephemeral.
WhatsApp is introducing a new feature in its app called Status that uses a similar format to Snapchat Stories, TechCrunch reports. Like messaging through WhatsApp, however, Status will bring encryption to the popular format.
Pinterest is introducing a new feature for its Android app called Lens. Rolling out now as a beta feature, Lens lets you point your camera at your surroundings to discover new design ideas based on what it captures.
Just point Lens at a pair of shoes, then tap to see related styles or even ideas for what else to wear them with. Or try it on a table to find similar designs, and even other furniture from the same era. You can also use Lens with food. Just point it at broccoli or a pomegranate to see what recipes come up. Patterns and colors can also lead you in fun, interesting or even just plain weird new directions.