Google today announced a fun update to Google Maps that’ll allow you to virtually visit a dozen additional planets and moons in our solar system. The company has added imagery of Pluto, Venus and several moons to its lineup and also made it easier to find them in Maps. In total, Google ...
Read More »User outcry prompts OnePlus to step down its excessive data collection
Earlier this week, it was revealed that independent phone maker OnePlus was collecting all manner of information from phones running its OxygenOS — without telling users, of course. Caught red-handed, the company is backing off from the opt-out data collection program, giving users a choice up front instead of buried ...
Read More »Smart cities are boring. Give us responsive cities.
Colin O’Donnell Contributor Colin O’Donnell is the chief innovation officer of Intersection. More posts by this contributor: As an urban technologist, I’m often asked to give an example of a compelling smart city application that real people are using. But to be honest, there really isn’t too much to point ...
Read More »Twitter users join 24hr boycott to protest online harassment
A number of Twitter users are joining in a 24 hour boycott of the platform today, organized around the hashtag #WomenBoycottTwitter, to draw attention to online harassment on social media, including how women’s voices are silenced by bullying and abuse. The boycott follows the temporary suspension of actress Rose McGowan’s ...
Read More »Bitcoin just passed $5,000
This morning Bitcoin shot past $5,000, and is now hovering around $5,300 – up nearly 10% from yesterday. It’s the first time the cryptocurrency has confidently shot past $5,000. Some exchanges saw the price hit $5,000 for a few minutes in September, but it only lasted for about 10 minutes, ...
Read More »Tim Cook is optimistic about social progress
Apple CEO Tim Cook is optimistic about the progress of human rights across the globe, despite the fact that things seem to be growing more bleak by the minute. In an interview with the Independent, Cook explained history gives him hope that humanity is moving in the right direction: I ...
Read More »Uber and Deliveroo get a gig economy rights grilling
Uber and Deliveroo execs faced questions from a UK parliamentary committee today as the government continues to deliberate on changes to employment law to account for the rise of gig economy work facilitated by tech platforms. Ride-hailing giant Uber was also grilled over what one committee member dubbed its “aggressive” ...
Read More »Laundryheap, a London-based laundry startup bootstrapped for three years, raises £2M
Laundryheap is a London-headquartered laundry on-demand startup that has taken a different path to competitors such as Laundrapp and Rocket Internet’s Zipjet. Rather than raise VC funding, the company, which claims to already be break even and is operational in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin and Dubai, has been entirely bootstrapped ...
Read More »Curing the incurable
Very rarely, an app comes along that changes your life. I want to tell you about such an app, and how it changed mine. I had nothing to do with its making; I have never installed or opened it on my phone; and yet, I expect that this will be ...
Read More »Q3 2017 US VC report: Exit options dwindle while late-stage dealmaking reaches new heights
U.S. startup investors were good at putting capital to work this past quarter. They weren’t as good at getting it back. Those are two standout trends for the venture investment landscape in the domestic third quarter of 2017, according to reported and projected data from Crunchbase. Data shows a rise ...
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