Every year, we're hit by yet another wave of new gadgets. Some of them are good, a lot of them are bad, but a very select few manage to be important. Here are the gadgets that had the biggest impact on the technological landscape in 2013.
While he’s not busy writing instructions on how to lead a tech company or guides for switching from iPhone to Android, Google chairman Eric Schmidt has taken some time out to provide Bloomberg TV with his predictions for 2014. Schmidt has a history of bold public statements, but his predictions for the year ahead are rather tame in comparison. "Everyone is going to have a smartphone," predicts Schmidt. "The trend has been mobile was winning, it has now won," he proclaims, before noting the trend towards more tablets and phones being sold than PCs.
The mobile trend has been clear throughout the past couple of years, but Schmidt also notes the "arrival of big data and machine intelligence everywhere" as significant bases for new...
Google has big plans to put Android in cars, and will start by announcing a tie-up with Audi at CES 2014 next week, according to the WSJ. Its sources said that Android will power an in-car entertainment system for that automaker, which will run on ...
A smartphone app called Marco Polo aims make it easier for users to find and meet up with their friends.
The basic mechanic of the app is pretty straightforward, and is indeed reminiscent of the children’s game Marco Polo. Instead of text messaging back-and-forth with your friends to find out where they are, you hit the “Marco” button to share a pin showing your location. Then the app shows you a list of your friends, and you choose who to share it with. (You can also add an image or a message to the pin.)
Once other users get notified about your location, they have the option to share their location back with you. And if someone hadn’t downloaded the app, you can still send them a link to your location.
There are, of course, many other location-sharing apps, and a broader category of similar apps under the horrendous buzzword “SoLoMo”. However, I haven’t seen anything with that works exactly the way Marco Polo does.
Co-founder Aneel Ranadive argued via email that the app “is more low key and less formal than texting, and less invasive than, say, turning on Apple’s Find My Friends or broadcasting to your entire network on Foursquare or Facebook.” Unlike Find My Friends, you’re not sharing your location on a persistent basis, and unlike Foursquare, you choose who you share with each time. (I’ve certainly had moments where I realized that I didn’t really want to share a given location with someone — but I didn’t have the guts to unfriend them on Foursquare, so I just didn’t bother sharing at all.) He also pitched the app as part of a trend of people wanting to share more privately, for example with Snapchat.
The app actually represents a shift for the startup, which was previously known as Pinchit, and which started out as a daily deals site with seed funding from investor (and “Six Californias” advocate) Tim Draper, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, and others.
Marco Polo has actually been available in for iOS and ANdroid for a little while now, but Ranadive said it’s only with the most recent update that the team trying to go beyond a small group of testers.
I tried the app out myself — none of my close friends are on it, so it didn’t have much utility in terms of actually meeting up, but it was still fun to see where Ranadive was at a given moment. And it’s as simple and “low friction” as he said, with only a couple of taps needed to share your location.
If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, you can download the app here.
A new pair of tablet companies are setting up in an unexpected place: Haiti. Surtab and Handxom SA both began production last month on a new brand of seven-inch android tablets which are being sold direct to various Haitian government ministries and made available for retail through Digicel. Both founded by europeans (from Belgium and Denmark respectively) with the help of development funds, the companies are hoping to bring new life to the stagnant Hatitian economy, still reeling from the 2010 earthquake that left more than a million and a half homeless.
You know what always comes after pigging out during the holidays: a New Year's resolution to get fit, this time (you swear!) for sure. Well, Nike's hoping to kickstart your quest to fitness by updating its Nike Training Club (N+TC) apps for Android ...
Well, one holiday week has drawn to a close, and another is nearly upon us. Frankly, that means a slow-ish week for apps. And yet! There were still some notable newbies to the app scene. Download these babies and let your phone feel as bloated as you do.
Jonathan Teo, a General Catalyst managing director whose most notable investments included Snapchat, has left the venture capital firm. The news is confirmed on Teo’s LinkedIn profile and his General Catalyst page, where Teo is now listed as a venture advisor instead of a managing director.
It might seem surprising that Teo would leave General Catalyst when it’s just closed a massive $675 million venture capital fund. During his two years there, Teo was a personal investor and led the Series A round in Snapchat, and his investments also included Chloe + Isabel, Couchsurfing and HeyDay.
When I contacted him, Teo said he isn’t ready to comment on his future plans, but I was told by a source close to him that he’s been planning to leave General Catalyst for a while and focus on Asia. I also learned he’s been approached by other Silicon Valley firms but hasn’t shown an interest.
Though Teo is still based in San Francisco, Asia makes sense for him because he has strong personal and professional ties to the continent. Teo was born and raised in Singapore and, while working at Google, he set up its research and development center in Shanghai. After leaving Google, Teo joined Benchmark Capital, where he originated its investments in Instagram and Twitter. His track record in consumer mobile means he’d be able to provide valuable guidance to startups in Asia’s emerging markets.
In many of the continent’s fledging startup hubs, including Seoul, Taipei and Hong Kong, there is plenty of talent but a lack of mentors who know how to help companies navigate the challenges of securing early funding and gaining traction. If Teo heads East he will probably be busy fielding calls from founders who hope to replicate the success of Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
If he does focus on Asian startups, Teo will likely work with his friend Robin Chan, an early Xiaomi investor who helped convince Hugo Barra, Google’s former head of Android, to join the fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker.
Chan told me that he’s excited about the potential of partnering up with Teo. “Jonathan is one of the most talented early stage investors that I know,” Chan said. “He has great intuition about consumer mobile.”
Google Play Music is celebrating the end of 2013 by giving away free copies of Kanye's latest album Yeezus and CHVRCHES' The Bones of What You Believe — along with a bunch of free singles and apps, books, movies and TV shows. Download away! [Google Play]
If you've had your Oppo N1 since launch but would rather use anything besides its Android one-off ColorOS, the hardware manufacturer doesn't take it personally. In fact, you'll find a version of CyanogenMod that's tailor-made for the device if you ...