In the music streaming era, access to data is king. Artists want to know how their music is being discovered, who’s listening, where, how many have streamed their release, and what else their fans are into, among other things. Today, Spotify is releasing an app for artists that aims to …
Read More »Twitter launches ‘Happening Now’ to showcase tweets about events, starting with sports
Twitter is today releasing a new feature called “Happening Now” aimed to make its service more accessible to newcomers by highlighting groups of tweets about a topic, beginning with sports, before expanding to other areas like entertainment and breaking news. If this sounds similar to Twitter’s existing Moments feature….well, it …
Read More »Over 5,000 Wells Fargo ATMs now support card-free access via Apple Pay and other mobile wallets
Wells Fargo’s ATMs are getting an upgrade. The bank announced today that more than 40 percent – or over 5,000 of its ATMs – will now allow customers to perform transactions without having to pull out their bank card. Instead, users can take advantage of NFC – aka the “tap …
Read More »Project Loon Gets Green Light to Deploy Over Puerto Rico
A little over four years ago, Google started talking about what it called Project Loon–an ambitious plan to deploy balloons roughly 11 miles up to create an aerial wireless network. The balloons are positioned in wind layers based on NOAA data and float above target areas. Signals travel via LTE …
Read More »Microsoft Admits Windows 10 Mobile Is Finally, Mercifully Dead
Microsoft has finally acknowledged for good what the rest of us have known for some time. Windows 10 Mobile has bought the farm, kicked the bucket, left the building, and passed on. Said in that particular order, it makes it sound as if the OS is perhaps enjoying a well-deserved …
Read More »Google Removes Android Wear From Its Official Store
Google’s much-anticipated hardware unveiling yesterday included the Pixel 2, some new Google Homes, and more. One thing notably absent was any mention of Android Wear. The Google Store got a visual refresh as all the new product pages went up, and that refresh apparently included the complete removal of the …
Read More »Download the new, completely redesigned TechCrunch mobile app
The TechCrunch mobile app was in dire need of a refresh, so we rebuilt it from the ground up. Starting today, you can download the new app in the iOS App Store or Google Play store. If you already have the old version of the app installed on your phone, …
Read More »Google’s Pixel Buds Bring Star Trek’s Universal Translator to Your Ears
For decades, various sci-fi shows have used various translation “devices,” which can automagically convert between the language of the speaker and the native language of the listener. From Star Trek‘s Universal Translator to the TARDIS translation matrix, it’s a handy way to handwave the fact that TV casts can’t be …
Read More »FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Wants Apple to Unlock the iPhone’s FM Radio
It’s not common knowledge in the United States, but the majority of Android devices in-market technically sport FM radio tuners built into their SoCs. It used to be next to impossible to find a smartphone from any vendor in the US that offered an unlocked radio, but that’s improved somewhat …
Read More »Disney releases DisneyNow, a new app that combines live TV, on-demand, games and music
Disney’s streaming service may still be years away, but the company this week has launched a new app for streaming Disney’s series, Disney Channel movies, live TV and music all under one roof, with the release of DisneyNow. The app is designed to consolidate Disney’s existing “Watch” streaming apps into …
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