Category: Tech news

 From Xbox Live being down on Christmas to the worst tech stocks of the year, here are the top stories from 12/20-12/26.

1. Gamers who received new consoles for Christmas found themselves unable to connect and play with friends. On what might be the biggest gaming day of the year, a hacker group called Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for taking down both Xbox Live and PlayStation… Read More

 The technology sector had a rough year in Washington. In the face of growing political spending, increasing economic might and stumbling government agencies, tech got nearly nothing it wanted in 2014.
NSA reform died, as did copyright reform, and patent reform. Immigration reform? Kaput. And the recent election axed important politicians who were allied with the tech industry on certain issues. Read More

 North Korea blamed the U.S. and called President Obama a “monkey” today when the country’s Internet and mobile network went down for the third time this week. However, it’s still not clear who’s behind the Internet outages.
“Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest,” said the National Defence Commission, North… Read More

 In an essay posted on his website, Paul Graham, the co-founder and former head of YCombinator, loudly called for an increase in skilled immigration. Writing with an intensity that is unusual in his writing, Graham argued that “The US has less than 5% of the world’s population. Which means if the qualities that make someone a great programmer are evenly distributed, 95% of great… Read More

 Following through on threats of a Christmas hack, a Twitter account claiming affiliation with Anonymous released a list of what it says are usernames and passwords for 13,000 accounts on Amazon, PlayStation, XBox Live, Hulu Plus, Walmart and other retail and entertainment services. Read More

 Following an incident in which one of its drivers allegedly raped a female passenger in New Delhi, ride-hailing company Uber has announced additional safety measures it is taking in India. Those precautions were announced ahead of a hearing that the local Transport Department will be having on Monday to determine whether Uber and other mobile transportation services should be allowed to… Read More

 Walmart has teamed up with the gift card exchange website CardCash to launch a new Walmart-branded site where consumers can exchange their unwanted gift cards – many of which were likely received over the holidays – for a Walmart card instead. The site went live on Christmas day and is offering up to 97 percent of the value of the original gift card from over 200 different retailers. Read More

 Next year will be big for healthcare. We felt small tremors in 2014 of the seismic changes underway. In 2015, I predict five changes to the core of the US healthcare system: insurance, pharmaceuticals, supplies, medical services and payments. Let’s take a look at each of these trends, what they mean for the healthcare sector, and what they mean for you. Read More

 The first iteration of Google Glass was a flop with consumers (almost from the beginning), most wearables ultimately go unworn, and even boosters bemoan the state of the current wearable market for consumers.
Amid all the gloom there’s one trillion dollar bright-spot for the wearable marketplace. From the voice activated communication and logistics devices made by Theatro, to the… Read More

 A popular post on Quora by an early-stage startup founder triggered over 100 responses and more than 150,000 views — myself included. In the post, the founder (who remained anonymous) asked the community for some advice …. Read More

 Gamers who received new consoles for Christmas might find themselves unable to connect and play with friends, thanks to a coordinated attack by hackers who claim to have taken down the two largest gaming networks. On what might be the biggest gaming day of the year, a hacker group called Lizard Squad is claiming responsibility for taking down both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Read More

 Bitcoin was a terrible investment this year, but that hasn’t stopped non-profits from asking for them anyway. Wikipedia, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Khan Academy and now even Burning Man will take those bitcoins off your hands in the form of a tax-deductible donation. While this won’t get you a golden ticket into the actual festival, gifting something without expecting anything… Read More

 So you got a drone for Christmas (or an unmanned flying vehicle, as the FAA likes to call it, or a quadcopter, if you prefer). That’s awesome. But don’t just head into your backyard and try to fly it without any preparation (unless it’s one of those Parrot MiniDrones, of course). As we reported earlier this week, the FAA would like you to follow a couple of common sense… Read More

 Facebook has again unleashed its Year In Review app, automatically compiling some of the most-liked photos from your feeds over 2014 and puts them into a neat little timeline.
When you sign into Facebook, you’ll see an advertisement to check out your Year In Review, customize it, and share it with your friends. If you’re still having trouble finding it, you can simply sign into… Read More

 At Emergence Capital, we have had the opportunity to invest in visionaries such as Marc Benioff, Aaron Levie and David Sacks who have built major enterprise cloud applications that have formed the basis of the next generation of business software around the world. As we look out to 2015, we are excited to invest in what’s next for the enterprise. Read More