Daydream update starts arriving on Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones

 Google’s brand of VR is, at last, beginning to arrive on Samsung devices. Reports emerged last week that certain Verizon Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices were getting the Daydream update, but today Google confirmed the rollout. The Daydream-ready update is rolling out now to @SamsungMobile Galaxy S8 and S8+. Explore new worlds with #Daydream. http://ift.tt/2tSKgCO; Read More

Snap joins rivals Facebook and YouTube to fight terrorism

 Snap Inc has joined the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, which sees consumer internet companies cooperating to stop the spread of terrorism and extremism online. Facebook, Google and YouTube, Microsoft, and Twitter formed the GIFCT last month, and tomorrow it will host its first workshop with fellow tech companies plus government and non-governmental organizations. The GIFCT started… Read More

Google opens its Nearby Connections tech to Android developers to enable smarter offline apps

 Google announced today the public availability of a developer tool that will allow Android apps to better communicate with nearby devices, even while offline. The company touts a number of potential use cases for this technology – like hotel rooms that sense your entry then set the temperature accordingly and turn on your favorite music, or phones that can merge their address books while… Read More

Sick of SoundCloud? Anchor offers podcast transfer with free hosting

 SoundCloud is on shaky financial footing, saying it only has enough money to last a few more months unless someone buys or invests in it. That’s sure to cause anxiety in content creators with their life’s work stored on SoundCloud. Now some new startups are nipping at SoundCloud’s heels by focusing on podcasting in ways the music streaming service never did. Anchor is a… Read More

Charter says it doesn’t want to merge with Sprint

 Charter Communications says it has “no interest” in merging with Sprint, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint had proposed a deal. The proposed merger would have combined Sprint and Charter into a new publicly traded entity controlled by SoftBank, which currently controls a majority stake in Sprint. Read More

Facebook Stories unlocks public sharing

 Facebook could jumpstart its Snapchat clone by letting social media stars and public figures post Stories publicly. When Facebook Stories launched globally in March, you could only share to all their friends or a subset of them. Now if you allow public followers, you can post your Story publicly so anyone can watch. Social media researcher Carlos Gil first pointed out the privacy feature, and… Read More

Apple’s capitulation to China’s VPN crack-down will return to haunt it at home

 Yesterday Apple removed all major VPN apps from its App Store in the country. These VPNs aided internet users there to get around the government’s vast system of censorship and access uncensored sources of media. But by doing so, Apple has clearly decided to put its business before the interests of the population, opposition leaders and activists. For example, Golden Frog, which makes… Read More

Sprint could sell pieces to Comcast and Charter before attempting T-Mobile merger

 T-Mobile and Sprint have been in merger talks for a long while now, but the latter may be attempting to jockey for position by allying itself with Charter and Comcast. Sprint would likely be selling a minority stake to the ISPs in exchange for providing access to its network infrastructure. Read More

Anonymous app Whisper lays off 20% of staff to survive

 Startups are dying all over the place as last year’s investment cool-off leads many to run out of cash. But Whisper refuses to race into the graveyard like fellow anonymous social apps Secret and Yik Yak. A source told TechCrunch that Whisper experienced layoffs this week, and after requesting comment, the startup now confirms to us it’s let go of 20% of staff so it can become… Read More

Placecast launches new product to verify the location data in mobile ad campaigns

 Alistair Goodman, CEO of mobile marketing company Placecast, said location data is the “next frontier” when it comes to ad measurement and verification. For example, Goodman pointed to a study by Factual and the Mobile Marketing Association that found that 40 percent of marketers are concerned about the quality of location data. He said there are a number of different… Read More

Microsoft’s slow creep back into mobile

 Despite an early lead with Windows Mobile and Windows CE — and spending billions on Nokia’s mobile business — Microsoft has been on its heels in the mobile device market since the one-two punch of iPhone and Android launching in 2007. The introduction of x86-compatible ARM chips and the rise of progressive web apps could drive a return to the mobile market for Microsoft. Read More

Apple paid Nokia $2 billion as part of a patent lawsuit settlement

 After a quick fight, Apple and Nokia settled a patent lawsuit back in May. But the two companies didn’t comment on the value of this settlement. While terms of the deal are still undisclosed, Nokiamob first spotted that Nokia announced that it has received a $2 billion upfront cash payment from Apple (€1.7 billion). This seems like quite a lot of money, but Nokia won’t get $2… Read More

Wattpad takes ‘chat fiction’ beyond text with launch of Tap Originals

 Chat fiction apps are among some of the most popular in the App Store, thanks to their highly engaged, largely teenage to young adult fan base who enjoy reading thrilling stories told in the form of text messages. Today, one competitor in this space, Wattpad, is rolling out an upgrade to its chat stories to differentiate its app from others, and further addict its readers. The company is… Read More