Category: Tech news

 Uber just completed a $1.6 billion, six-year convertible debt raise via Goldman’s private wealth group. “But Robbie,” you say, “how do you even put a value on a convertible bond if there isn’t any stock to convert the bond into?” A great question, and one that has a number of significant implications. Since we’re all friends here, let’s go ahead… Read More

 Uber today released the results of a review of its privacy policies, which it had commissioned from independent law firm Hogan Lovells. The firm found that Uber had appropriate policies and disclosures in place and that it had invested significantly to enforce those policies. However, it made some recommendations into how the company could improve the way it handles user data. Read More

 The scenarios depicted in the Newsweek story were disturbing, but frankly they remained somewhat abstract for me until I taught my class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business several hours later. Read More

 Sick of hassling with Google Hangouts? Now you can start broadcasting video live to the world with just one-touch through Upclose, the newest app from Betaworks. Upclose lets you follow people to get notified when they’re on the air, discover who’s livestreaming now, and then comment on their broadcasts in a chat room with other viewers on the web or mobile. That’s it.… Read More

 The small drone crash at the White House earlier this week is just the latest in a series of reminders that when it comes to regulating new technology the government is woefully slow. Read More

 Gillmor Gang – Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor. Live recording session today at 1pmPT/4pm ET.
Click here for LIVE FriendFeed chat during show broadcast
Gillmor Gang on Facebook
Our sister show, G3, on Facebook
Our sister show, G3, on ustream Read More

 It’s a very special episode of the TechCrunch AppleCast, as we’re joined by Jackdaw Research founder and Chief Analyst Jan Dawson, who offers some context around Apple’s huge earnings success reported earlier in the week. Dawson joins Darrell Etherington and Kyle Russell to explain just how Apple managed to sell 74.5 million iPhones in a single quarter, and to discuss some… Read More

 Google Now, Google’s service focused on bringing you real-time information to your mobile device – including things like traffic updates, scores, stock changes, travel times, your flight status, and much more – is getting a notable update today. The company says that, going forward, the Google app will show users updates from their favorite apps, too.
At launch, Google is… Read More

 It’s earnings season, which means we get a deeper look into the true popularity of the various gadgets on the market. This week, all eyes were on Apple as the company announced record-breaking quarterly results, including the sale of ~75 million smartphones. Turns out, Samsung showed similar sales figures by unit but at a lower margin per device, yielding lower overall sales.… Read More

 Welcome to 13 Questions, a series aimed at bringing a human face to notable figures in the world of startups, hardware, and tech. Ever wonder how your favorite designer learned to love tech? Curious what’s on your favorite VC’s bucket list? Want to see the person behind the media hype? 13 Questions is here.
This week Mark Cuban talks about his upbringing and road to becoming an… Read More

 There’s a lot of rhetoric about bitcoin and its impact on the $430 billion international remittance industry. One of the cryptocurrency’s most obvious uses is, after all, sending money across the planet with roughly the same effort as sending an email. The potential effect on emerging markets — savings in aggregate that are larger than most countries’ education… Read More

 Epson’s Home Cinema 3500 is a mid-range home projector that’s designed to provide bright, clear 1080p (and 3D) video without breaking the bank. It’s a big step up in size and embedded tech from the Epson PowerLite 2030, another projector I’ve recently tested, but does it justify the considerable extra expense? With the Super Bowl right around the corner, it’s… Read More

 With the app economy showing no sign of slowing, the iOS App Store, too, continues to grow, and has now reached over 1.42 million apps, according to a new report out this morning from app analytics firm adjust. One interesting metric the report uncovered is just how many of the apps are effectively invisible to consumers – something adjust lovingly refers to as “zombie… Read More

 Vine is today introducing a new layer of the app called Vine Kids. It’s meant to be a safe, kid-friendly space for a younger audience to play around with the app and watch vines. The feature pulls from the millions of Vines being created on the platform and chooses ones that are appropriate for children. The interface of the Kids section of the app has also been tailored to be more fun… Read More

 Airbnb has always been pretty design-oriented, but today it’s announcing that it has hired former Say Media exec Alex Schleifer to head its design organization. He’ll lead the user experience and content design teams, as well as working with the production design team Read More