blogger better: 2016-12-18

Saturday, December 24, 2016

After having its infrastructure shuttered, CyanogenMod will live on as Lineage

{rss:content:encoded} After having its infrastructure shuttered, CyanogenMod will live on as Lineage http://ift.tt/2ipVaxK http://ift.tt/2ieh9UP December 25, 2016 at 12:41AM cyanogenmod-2

The days leading up to the holiday have been a real roller coaster ride for Cyanogen fans. Yesterday, Cyanogen Inc. unceremoniously pulled the plug on its support for CyanogenOS in a short post declaring that “all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued” by the year’s end. In a post today titled “A Fork in the Road,” the team behind… Read More

Dutch regulators order T-Mobile to stop offering free music streaming over net neutrality concerns

{rss:content:encoded} Dutch regulators order T-Mobile to stop offering free music streaming over net neutrality concerns http://ift.tt/2hTYxvH http://ift.tt/21wV8iP December 24, 2016 at 06:27PM IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR T-MOBILE - T-Mobile CEO John Legere introduces Binge On during the Un-carrier X press conference at the Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, in Los Angeles. Binge On allows T-Mobile customers to stream video for free without using their LTE data. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/AP Images for T-Mobile)

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR T-MOBILE - T-Mobile CEO John Legere introduces Binge On during the Un-carrier X press conference at the Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, in Los Angeles. Binge On allows T-Mobile customers to stream video for free without using their LTE data. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/AP Images for T-Mobile)

T-Mobile’s no-data-charge-music-streaming-thing has been going strong since 2014 here in the States, with the company adding services to the offering one by one. The Netherlands version of the promotion ran into significant headwinds this week, however, as regulators at the Dutch Consumer and Markets (AFM) officially ordered the carrier to stop offering the “zero rating&#8221… Read More

Cyanogen failed to kill Android, now it is shuttering its services and OS as part of a pivot

{rss:content:encoded} Cyanogen failed to kill Android, now it is shuttering its services and OS as part of a pivot http://ift.tt/2i2hk6b http://ift.tt/2cs149W December 24, 2016 at 12:30PM closing-downn

It’s been a rocky few months for Cyanogen, the ambitious startup that aimed to build a better version of Android than Google. It has laid off staff, let go of its CEO and parted ways with another co-founder — now it is shutting down its services and nightly software builds on December 31. Read More

Now Snapchat has “Filter Games”

Snapchat wants you to play with your face, not just take pictures of it. New Selfie Lens filter games are starting to appear to users, creating an addicting new Snapchat feature that also inspires competition between friends and could become a powerful ad revenue driver. Snapchat confirms this is the launch of a new, native games feature. Back in March, Snapchat tested a limited run of a… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2habT30 Now Snapchat has “Filter Games” Josh Constine http://ift.tt/2i2Xwly
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Now Snapchat has “Filter Games”

{rss:content:encoded} Now Snapchat has “Filter Games” http://ift.tt/2i2Xwly http://ift.tt/2habT30 December 23, 2016 at 08:35PM snapchat-games

Snapchat wants you to play with your face, not just take pictures of it. New Selfie Lens filter games are starting to appear to users, creating an addicting new Snapchat feature that also inspires competition between friends and could become a powerful ad revenue driver. Snapchat confirms this is the launch of a new, native games feature. Back in March, Snapchat tested a limited run of a… Read More

http://ift.tt/2habT30 Now Snapchat has “Filter Games” http://ift.tt/2i2Xwly

The developers of popular celeb-themed games including Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Nicki Minaj: The Empire, Glu Mobile, acquired Plain Vanilla Corp., and its mobile social trivia game QuizUp this week, according to an SEC filing. The deal was valued at $7.5 million, including forgiven debt, according to sources familiar with the deal. This is undoubtedly a disappointing fate for the… Read More

http://ift.tt/2ilqmy8 Glu Mobile acquires QuizUp in deal valued at $7.5 million http://ift.tt/2iaC77c

Automile, a fleet logistics and management startup, has closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by SaaStr with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Atomico Ventures, Dawn Capital and Point Nine Capital. Automile provides customers with a box to install in under the vehicle’s dashboard to track mileage, trips and provide route tracking. Automile ships its tracking device to… Read More

http://ift.tt/2iosHUY Automile raises $7.5 million for fleet vehicle management software http://ift.tt/2i0IMRF

Looks like people really do like animal videos. The team at The Dodo (an online publisher focused on those aforementioned animals) told me their videos were viewed 1 billion times in November. That’s an increase of more than a tenfold from January, when Dodo videos received a mere 80 million views. The Dodo follows a “distributed” media strategy, which means that the majority… Read More

http://ift.tt/2intd5q The Dodo is alive and well with 1 billion monthly video views http://ift.tt/2inrbSX

Twitter overcharged video advertisers, issues refunds

Now it’s Twitter copying Facebook… but in the worst way. Following several embarrassing disclosures of inaccurate metrics by Facebook, today Business Insider’s Alex Heath broke news that Twitter overcharged some advertisers. Between November 7th and December 12th, a source tells BI that video ad buyers were overcharged up to 35 percent. Twitter apparently informed these… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/28Pod6l Twitter overcharged video advertisers, issues refunds Josh Constine http://ift.tt/2hhXB5a
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Twitter overcharged video advertisers, issues refunds

{rss:content:encoded} Twitter overcharged video advertisers, issues refunds http://ift.tt/2hhXB5a http://ift.tt/28Pod6l December 23, 2016 at 01:42AM twitter-video-chase2

Now it’s Twitter copying Facebook…but in the worst way. Following several embarrassing disclosures of inaccurate metrics by Facebook, today Business Insider’s Alex Heath broke news that Twitter overcharged some advertisers. Between November 7th and December 12th, a source tells BI that video ad buyers were overcharged up to 35%. Twitter apparently informed these… Read More

Nearby Friends didn’t turn into the Foursquare-killer it could have been, but Facebook is still trying to help people meet up in person…with a few changes. Facebook has removed the precise location sharing feature from Nearby Friends, which now only lets you opt-in to broadcasting your approximate distance from friends and current neighborhood. Unmapped Previously, you could select… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2ihx2NS Facebook kills off exact location sharing in Nearby Friends, adds “Wave” Josh Constine http://ift.tt/2h7nWOI
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Uber explains why it looks like its app is still tracking your location, long after drop-off

{rss:content:encoded} Uber explains why it looks like its app is still tracking your location, long after drop-off http://ift.tt/2hwIP6D http://ift.tt/2fephEe December 23, 2016 at 01:33AM the_new_uber_app_04

Uber responded today to reports that its app continues to check users’ locations even when they hadn’t used the ride-hailing service for days or weeks. The company explained that the issue is being caused by the iOS operating system itself, not direct tracking by its app. Many users had realized that Uber’s app appeared to have recently checked their location, according… Read More

Facebook kills off exact location sharing in Nearby Friends, adds “Wave”

{rss:content:encoded} Facebook kills off exact location sharing in Nearby Friends, adds “Wave” http://ift.tt/2h7nWOI http://ift.tt/2ihx2NS December 23, 2016 at 12:57AM facebook-wave

Woman Looking Through Window While Traveling In Airplane

Airbnb can find you a well-appointed place to crash during your next big trip, but it’d really prefer to hang out every step of the way. To that end, in 2017, we can expect Airbnb to expand its horizons considerably, moving well beyond the vacation rentals that it’s remained synonymous with since launching in 2008. As the company confirmed last month, its plans to expand… Read More

http://ift.tt/2a9DnEK In 2017, Airbnb needs to grow into your full-fledged travel bookings hub http://ift.tt/2hNiVPf

Twitter didn’t fix itself in 2016 and Wall Street isn’t happy

{rss:content:encoded} Twitter didn’t fix itself in 2016 and Wall Street isn’t happy http://ift.tt/2igqcIf http://ift.tt/2eRLiKC December 22, 2016 at 08:02PM jack dorsey alt angle code conference

Layoffs, a borked acquisition and continued tepid user growth defined Twitter in 2016. And these are all things that make Twitter’s future uncertain, which we know Wall Street does not like. Jack Dorsey’s one-year tenure as CEO was more or less defined by a continue decline in its stock price and, amid all its attempts to try and re-make the service and make it more palatable,… Read More

Pokémon Go arrives on the Apple Watch

{rss:content:encoded} Pokémon Go arrives on the Apple Watch http://ift.tt/2hh84Ow http://ift.tt/2hXxjT3 December 22, 2016 at 08:00PM applewatch_pikachu_pr_v03-1

Following an erroneous report claiming that Niantic’s plans to bring Pokémon Go to the Apple Watch were canceled, the company today put those rumors to rest with more than a mere statement: it has now launched the Apple Watch version of its popular game. The new smartwatch app lets you more easily play Pokémon without having to always pull out your phone. Instead, you can tap to… Read More