Google Snags Former Tesla Autopilot Engineering Manager Robert Rose

 The battle to make elite autonomous vehicles is on, and a major part of that is assembling teams that will carry out your plans. Today, it was reported that Google snagged Tesla’s former Autopilot software engineering manager, Robert Rose. Rose also spent five years at SpaceX according to his LinkedIn profile. Rose’s gig for “Google Robots” is listed as… Read More

Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey To Make “Special Announcement” This Week

 At this week’s “Game Awards” in Los Angeles, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is scheduled to attend and make an announcement of some sort its host announced today on Twitter: Don't miss @thegameawards for a special announcement from @oculus founder @PalmerLuckey https://t.co/Ui4UR1nhVR — Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 30, 2015 It’ll be interesting… Read More

YouTube Enters The App Store’s Top Grossing Charts, Thanks To YouTube Red Subscriptions

 YouTube’s plans to convert a portion of its user base to a subscription-based, ad-free service known as YouTube Red appears to be gaining traction. The company’s iOS application is now ranked as one of the App Store’s Top 10 Grossing apps on iPhone, following the launch of YouTube Red in late October. This indicates that a number of users who initially signed up for the… Read More

Google Granted Patent That Enables Self-Driving Cars To Interact With Pedestrians

 A lot of people are excited to hop into a car one day and read emails and tweets as the car drives itself, and you, to work. It would cut down on the anxiety we all feel during our daily commutes, as well as keep the roads safer. Google’s self-driving project is leading the pack, and a recently granted patent (Patent #: US009196164, granted 11/24/15) signals that the company is trying… Read More

LucidCam Hits Its $100K Campaign Goal, Team Partners With Sephora On VR Content

 When we first met the team building the LucidCam, they aimed to raise $100,000 on Indiegogo. They found their 264 backers to get them there. Their goal remains to bring the ability to shoot immersive virtual reality content with a camera that fits in your pocket. And at a reasonable price ($299). I caught up with Lucid’s CEO, Han Jin, to see what’s next. TC: You hit your goal.… Read More

Perk.com Buys Corona Labs For $2.3 Million, Will Combine Cross-Platform App Development With A Rewards Platform

 Mobile rewards platform maker Perk.com, which makes apps that reward you for watching TV, unlocking your phone, online shopping, surfing the web and more, announced this morning its plans to acquire the mobile app development platform Corona Labs for a total of $2.3 million. This is the second time Corona Labs has been acquired – in 2014, Fuse Powered bought the Palo Alto-based… Read More

The New Wave Of Selling On Mobile And Social

 The holiday season is here, and shoppers and merchants alike are gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year. How will technology impact retail this season, and what’s new in 2015 about the ancient “art of the sale”? eMarketer predicts a happy holiday season for retailers this year, with US retail sales in the months of November and December increasing 5.7 percent… Read More

Li-Fi Probably Won’t Be The New Wi-Fi For Most People

 Long restricted to the academic domain, Li-Fi, a light-based data delivery method is suddenly getting all sorts of attention. An Estonian startup Velmenni recently tested an commercial implementation and found it to be superior to Wi-Fi in almost every way – except as something you and I will probably ever use. Velmenni’s technology, called Jungru, uses an LED bulb and transmits… Read More

How Mobile Apps Are Transforming The Job Search

 Searching for a job is just like dating, banking or procrastinating on chores until someone else does them: It’s something we all have to do. So why shouldn’t the job search be the basis for mobile apps, like those other adult obligations? Over the past couple of years, it has. As 2015 turns to 2016, the job search is now squarely the business of mobile technology, with the tedium… Read More

Cortana For iOS Begins Rolling Out To Testers

 Microsoft has now made good on its earlier promise that it would soon roll out a beta version of its Cortana personal assistant – a rival to Apple’s Siri and Google Now – to users of iOS devices. This week, a handful of testers who signed up to trial the new app were notified by way of email that the iOS version of Cortana was available for download. The beta version of… Read More

Instagram Now Testing Support For Account Switching, No Log Out Required

 A feature Instagram users have wanted for some time – support for switching between multiple accounts directly in the app – is now being tested, according to a new report out this morning. Select members in Instagram’s official beta testing group for Android have spotted the option in Instagram’s settings in their beta build of the mobile application. The feature… Read More

Thanksgiving E-Commerce Sales Rise 26% But Average Basket Declines To $123.45

 The number of people buying goods online and by mobile during the holiday season continues to grow, but the average value of what they are buying appears to be falling. IBM has now published some of its stats for Thanksgiving online sales — amassed by way of its Benchmark survey tracking thousands of sites — and it reports that sales overall were up 26% yesterday compared to… Read More

The Accessibility Of The iPhone 6s

 With each passing year, Apple releases a new iPhone. And with each passing year, I’m faced with the question of upgrading. On one hand, I want to be practical and save money. My phone still works great and runs the latest version of iOS without limitation, so it’s not imperative that I upgrade. On the other hand, the nerd in me wants the new phone for all the new functionality… Read More