blogger better: 2016-09-25

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Inventor Ken Mages sees the Internet as democracy in action

This week on the Technotopia podcast I talked to Ken Mages, a Chicago-based inventor and co-founder of Secure One. Mages has been working in computers since his college days at the University of Illinois where he started a business doing what would later be called desktop publishing. His experience in the tech industry is boundless and he’s a really easy guy to talk to. He and I chat… Read More

http://ift.tt/2dlGriD Inventor Ken Mages sees the Internet as democracy in action http://ift.tt/2dgoeGU

Remitly raises another $38M, adds World Bank’s IFC as it pushes into emerging markets

{rss:content:encoded} Remitly raises another $38M, adds World Bank’s IFC as it pushes into emerging markets http://ift.tt/2cQxuP2 http://ift.tt/2dgECTH September 30, 2016 at 03:05PM Image (1) dollars.jpg for post 224218

Remitly, a startup co-founded and led by a former executive of Barclays who saw a gap in the market to build money transfer and other financial services for emerging markets and the “unbanked”, is today announcing that it has raised $38.5 million, as well as expansion to seven more countries in Latin America. The funding, which brings the total raised by Remitly to just under… Read More

Honest Co. is reformulating its soaps after ingredients controversy

The consumer products startup founded by Jessica Alba, The Honest Co., on Friday told the Wall Street Journal that it plans to reformulate its dish soap, laundry detergent and other cleaners after an earlier controversy over their ingredients. The Honest Co. markets its products as gentler, healthier and more environmentally sustainable than those of mainstream brands in the U.S. However… Read More

http://ift.tt/1X0XMy1 Honest Co. is reformulating its soaps after ingredients controversy http://ift.tt/2d2n9Nr

Here’s how you can stop jumping back and forth between Google’s calendar and map apps

{rss:content:encoded} Here’s how you can stop jumping back and forth between Google’s calendar and map apps http://ift.tt/2de30JI http://ift.tt/2cRHKX6 October 01, 2016 at 12:10AM Google Brings Quirk And Clout To New DC Digs

Google Brings Quirk And Clout To New DC Digs

Logistics are difficult, especially when every day you’re trying to keep track of 9 meetings, 13 phone calls, a dinner, a post dinner, and a post post dinner. In a new update, Google has decided to do its part to make daily logistics easier by more fully integrating its Maps and Calendar offerings for Android users worldwide. Now, when you open up Google Maps, you’ll be able to… Read More

Meet Atomic, a prototyping service for your next mobile app or website. It works in your browser, but it’s a lot more powerful than you’d expect. Atomic handles animations and lets you make interactive designs. And you can collaborate on your designs with your team in real time. The startup launched the version 2 this week adding a bunch of new features that make your design… Read More

http://ift.tt/2dqJgk6 Atomic is like Google Docs for interface prototyping http://ift.tt/2d1JDOW

Facebook is stealing the Stories format and invading countries where Snapchat isn’t popular yet. Today in Poland it launched “Messenger Day”, which lets people share illustrated filter-enhanced photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours, just like on Snapchat. By using the international popularity of Messenger to spread the Stories format, Facebook could boost retention… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2ddeIEE Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone Josh Constine http://ift.tt/2dx3juy
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Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone

{rss:content:encoded} Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone http://ift.tt/2dx3juy http://ift.tt/2ddeIEE September 30, 2016 at 06:10PM messenger-snapchat

We’re taking more digital photos than ever, but we’re not very good about printing them out to enjoy them in our homes. Meanwhile, the digital picture frame market has filled with cheap products that haven’t kept up with technology developments, like ubiquitous Wi-Fi, better photo quality, and higher resolutions, in order to instead chase ever-lower price points. Aura aims… Read More

http://ift.tt/2dx1Ngp Aura rethinks the digital picture frame with smarter software, sensors & gesture control http://ift.tt/2dsVCVr

It’s good news and bad news for the publishing industry. The good news is that print revenue was up 3.4 percent in April, primarily in trade paperbacks, with some solid grown in young adult print and religious titles. The bad news is that revenue is down 4.3 percent year-to-date with a 7 percent loss in April compared to 2015. Further, ebook sales were down 22.7% compared to last year.… Read More

http://ift.tt/1JD3X3E Print and ebook revenue down as Amazon slashes prices http://ift.tt/2dKsKfJ

A dramatic privacy about-face by messaging app WhatsApp this summer, in which it revealed an update to its T&Cs would for the first time allow the sharing of its user data with parent company Facebook, is getting the pair into hot water in Europe. Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2bQ9LMJ WhatsApp’s privacy U-turn on sharing data with Facebook draws more heat in Europe Natasha Lomas http://ift.tt/2dctr2G
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Avast CEO on why it’s just spent $1.4BN to absorb security rival AVG

{rss:content:encoded} Avast CEO on why it’s just spent $1.4BN to absorb security rival AVG http://ift.tt/2dc41ir http://ift.tt/2dABmGs September 30, 2016 at 01:00PM Avast CEO vince steckler with staff from its threat lab

Avast CEO vince steckler with staff from its threat lab

Security firm Avast has today confirmed the completion of a $1.4 billion acquisition of fellow Czech-based antivirus company AVG. The deal will see Avast’s customer base nearly double — swelling from 230 million to more than 400 million in total, 160M of whom are mobile users. Read More

Art photo filter app sensation Prisma, which only launched this summer but racked up more than 55 million downloads in a matter of weeks, has sparked a rush of other photo-processing apps all promising to transform your selfies into art fit to hang on the wall. Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2div0Zg Now CanvasPop wants to turn your Prisma photos into wall art Natasha Lomas http://ift.tt/2dcfamo
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Shazam is finally profitable after a billion downloads

{rss:content:encoded} Shazam is finally profitable after a billion downloads http://ift.tt/2da6utt http://ift.tt/2cFoPvo September 30, 2016 at 02:13AM 06_Shazam_iPhone_insitu_final

Shazam, the mobile and desktop app that acts as a digital ear and song identifier, crossed the 1 billion download mark recently, according to a report from Billboard on Thursday. The London-based company, Shazam Entertainment Ltd., also announced that it has achieved profitability, at long last, thanks to a new focus on advertising sales, alongside revenue from commissions on digital… Read More

Spotify could out-dance Apple if it does acquire SoundCloud

{rss:content:encoded} Spotify could out-dance Apple if it does acquire SoundCloud http://ift.tt/2doHsIp http://ift.tt/2da0bpZ September 30, 2016 at 01:40AM spoticloud

SoundCloud as a company is a disaster, but its the only streaming service with the DJ sets and remixes kids love. So it makes perfect sense that Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud, the Financial Times reports. Spotify already declined to buy it twice over the past year and a half, but talks broke down over pricing. But since then, SoundCloud has hammered out deals with the… Read More

As we inch closer to a time when we may rely on truly autonomous devices to move us or do things on our behalf, the need for software that’s able to think on its feet (or mid-air) will be essential. Now, an artificial intelligence startup working on this emerging area of machine learning has raised a seed round of funding to try to do just that. Cambridge, UK-based Prowler.io, which… Read More

http://ift.tt/2da2Y2x Prowler.io raises $2M to help AI systems make smarter choices http://ift.tt/2dyGta5

I live a pretty cosmopolitan futuristic life atop a glass skyscraper in New York City, but I’ve yet to get a pizza delivered by drone, order a taxi from Alexa or open a hotel door with my smartwatch. We’ve got the questions wrong: It shouldn’t be how are you innovating or which project is doing new things, but why are you doing it and on what level. Read More

http://ift.tt/2d9Aq98 Innovation is in all the wrong places http://ift.tt/2cFboLU

MightyTV’s Tinder-style TV recommendation app comes to Android

{rss:content:encoded} MightyTV’s Tinder-style TV recommendation app comes to Android http://ift.tt/2dv95wQ http://ift.tt/2dhD3Fy September 29, 2016 at 11:04PM MightyTV Android

MightyTV, an app that helps you figure out what to watch next, is now available on Android. The startup is led by AdMeld co-founder Brian Adams, and it presents users with a stack of movie and TV recommendations which you swipe through, Tinder-style. If you’ve seen something already, you can say whether or not you liked it, which will influence the recommendations you see next. If you… Read More