Category: Tech news

 It’s Friday, which means that your friends at TCBTC, the TechCrunch bitcoin podcast, are back with another heaping helping of all things bitcoin. Let’s bit! This week, John Biggs and I almost managed to say nothing that will annoy the faithful, but by the end of the episode that was no longer the case. We’re going to bring back our friend Lopp next week to dig into the… Read More

 For the last seven weeks, the non-profit accelerator ‘How To Web MVP Academy‘ in Bucharest, Romania has been working with a class of super early stage startups to finesse their products into shape. Today those efforts culminated in a demo day in the Romanian capital. Startups come from anywhere these days, but it’s particular awesome that they can come from a country like… Read More

 This week’s tech news featured headlines about billion dollar acquisitions, a new launch from Facebook that could change the publishing landscape, and Microsoft’s move to a new software release model. These are our best stories of the week (5/9-5/14). 1. In a big media push, Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion. But not to worry, we talked to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and he… Read More

 Design startup Decorist has raised $4.5 million in seed funding from home improve giant Lowe’s Companies, the Women’s Venture Capital Fund and undisclosed angel investors. The big player in the market is probably Houzz, which allows users to find home design ideas and hire architects, designers and others who can actually make those ideas a reality. The Decorist approach is a… Read More

 Verto Analytics, a company building a comScore competitor designed to better measure digital audiences in a world where consumers now use multiple devices, is launching its measurement service to the public. Called Verto Content Watch, the new service is designed to offer a detailed look in apps, games, websites and advertising that runs across smartphones, tablets, PCs, e-readers and… Read More

 We’re still a little while off from the Oculus Rift’s official consumer launch – pre-orders are starting later this year, the company revealed recently, with shipping beginning early next year. But the company has now revealed the recommended specifications for PC rigs powering the Oculus Rift headset, which gives potential buyers a good idea of what kind of system they need… Read More

 Samsung is indeed making a special Iron Man-themed edition of its Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone, as The Korea Times reported in April. The mobile maker posted a teaser image to its official Twitter account today, depicting what looks like a special edition box wherein the phone is likely to be housed. What will said phone look like? If I have to guess, I’m thinking it’ll sport red and… Read More

 Tynker, a startup that teaches children the fundamentals of programming by having them build their own games, is now expanding its platform to allow kids to control connected devices, including drones, robots and other “smart home” products, like lighting systems. The company will introduce these capabilities this weekend at the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, and the… Read More

 Two of the most-used metrics these days that gauge how well an app is doing are downloads and registered users — numbers that can sometimes reach into the millions and point to a degree of popularity. But what downloads don’t indicate is how to improve retention, or getting users not just to download an app, but to open and use it once, twice and ever more regularly. Quettra, a… Read More

 It may not have the mega-valuation of rival Uber, but ridesharing startup Lyft’s new $150 million extension to its $530 million round from March certainly puts it in the upper stratosphere of startups in terms of perceived value. The new $150 million extension is led by Carl C. Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises, which put up $100 million of the total. It’s an unusual move by Icahn,… Read More

 As is evident from the increase in conferences, books, and software tools, there is a growing emphasis on improving DevOps within all sizes of software development organizations. The question that follows is typically, “What is DevOps?” This is an absolutely understandable question. Not only is it a relatively recent movement within the software community, but the commercial… Read More

The promise of this $180 device is that it turns your rice cooker or Crockpot into a precision cooking machine.

The post Review: Codlo Sous-Vide appeared first on WIRED.

Microsoft’s newest oversized Lumia phone has a great camera and a nice design, but it can’t escape the confines of being a budget smartphone.

The post Review: Microsoft Lumia 640 XL appeared first on WIRED.

 Thirty companies pitched their products and business to investors in the press today, and they all had impressive stats for revenue, addressable markets, and growth. Still, some startups just hit the right buttons with their pitches and got gears turning in our heads. Read More

 FreedomPop, the mobile carrier that gives away mobile, data and text services and upsells users on other services, is today announcing its first international launch outside of the U.S. The company is opening up for business in the UK as a SIM-only service — meaning no phones, initially, just the cards that you put into a phone that you bring to the network. The free service will… Read More