Moodelizer helps add epic soundtracks to your video efforts

 When it comes to video, the audio is pretty damn important. Hell, they even give out some sort of award for them on occasion. Moodelizer wants to put the power of suitable soundtracks in the hands of amateur filmmakers, by letting you add a delightfully over-the-top soundtrack to the most mundane of tasks at the touch of a button. Read More

How Stories Search makes Snapchat a real-time YouTube

 Snapchat is shifting from a social network limited to content shared by people you follow to an ephemeral, real-time database of what’s going on now everywhere. Today Snapchat launched Search for Stories submitted to its public Our Stories. It makes Snapchat as deep as whatever the world is sharing, creating near-infinite rabbit holes to go down. That aligns exactly with Snap IPO… Read More

Starbucks is going to try out a mobile order-only store

 Starbucks introduced its mobile ordering system in 2015, and it’s been a victim of its own success in some ways. Customers at popular spots are eager to use the mobile ordering system to choose their selection and pay in advance, in the hopes of avoiding a line – but they’re having to wait anyway, thanks to a virtual queue that’s as large or larger than the real one… Read More

Scheduled is a new app that lets you schedule your text messages

 Want to remember to tell a friend happy birthday, good luck or congratulations? Had a follow-up question for a client that just occurred to you at 1 AM? Want to write a heartfelt thank you to be texted at a later date? Unfortunately, neither SMS nor most messaging apps – including iMessage – allow you to draft a text in advance and schedule it to be sent out on a later date. But… Read More

Nuzzel launches a ‘Newswire’ for sponsored content

 For the first time, news aggregator Nuzzel will include advertising. That doesn’t mean you’re going to see banner ads popping up all over the startup’s app and website. Instead, the Nuzzel Newswire consists of sponsored links in Nuzzel’s email newsletter, pointing to a blog post, press release or news article of the advertiser’s choosing. So why call it a… Read More

Twitter stops counting @ Replies towards its 140 characters on web and mobile

 Nearly a year ago, Twitter announced it would begin distancing itself from the requirement that all tweets could only contain 140 characters by no longer counting some things – like media attachments or @ replies towards the character count. However, it didn’t begin testing the change with @ replies until last fall. Today, Twitter says this change to replies is rolling out to all… Read More

New tech can spot small faces in the crowd

 Spotting faces in a scene is easy when the punims are nice and close to the camera. But what about group shots where the faces are tiny? That, I fear, robots have a harder time with. A new research project by Deva Ramanan, associate professor of robotics, and Peiyun Hu, a Ph.D. student in robotics at Carnegie Mellon, fixes that problem by assessing the context of images. Instead of just… Read More

JoyRun, a food delivery app with a twist, raises $8.5 million

 A Santa Clara, Calif. startup called JoyRun has raised about $10 million in Series A and seed funding for its peer-to-peer food and drinks delivery app. Floodgate led the $8.5 million Series A round in JoyRun, and Norwest Venture Partners led the company’s earlier $1.3 million seed round. Other investors joining both rounds included: Visionnaire Ventures, Morado Ventures, CrunchFund… Read More

Facebook will launch group chatbots at F8

 Facebook will reveal at its F8 conference a new class of group bots that work inside Messenger group chats. These group bots can keep users informed about real-time news such as a sports game’s progress, ecommerce deliveries, and more, according to three sources familiar with the development of the feature. Facebook is already working with top chatbot makers to prepare for the launch. Read More

Android co-founder’s new smartphone confirmed to run Android

 The new smartphone from Andy Rubin, which will be the debut product of his new company Essential, will indeed run Android for its operating system. It looked that way from the tiny peek at the corner we got from Rubin’s tweet earlier this week, but now Google’s Eric Schmidt has confirmed it’ll be one of a few “phenomenal new choices for Android users coming very… Read More

Stance’s app lets you record a message for your Congressperson, then leaves it on their voicemail

 Want to call your senator or U.S. representative to let them know where you stand on an issue, but don’t have the time to hunt down their phone number, wait on hold, or continually redial to get past the busy signals? A new app called Stance aims to help. Instead of simply providing a way to call your reps, as many apps today do, Stance lets you pre-record your voice message to be left… Read More

500 Startups launches a short marketing ramp-up bootcamp for startups in Israel

 As competition to get the best startups into incubators gets increasingly challenging, many firms may find themselves looking earlier and earlier into the life of a company in order to get their attention — and part of the company through an investment. That also includes looking internationally, and 500 Startups is looking to tap into that by now getting Israeli startups into a short… Read More

App Annie: Android to top iOS in app store revenue this year

 Apple will lose its lead over Android in terms of revenue generated by mobile apps this year, according to a new report from App Annie, out today. However, the firm’s estimate is based on including third-party Android app stores in its forecast, not just Google Play. When the Apple App Store is pitted against Google Play alone, Apple is expected to maintain its lead through 2021, the… Read More