Andy Rubin is looking for another big round of funding for his hardware incubator, Playground Ventures. According to an SEC filing that popped up yesterday (via Dan Primack), the Android founder is looking to raise up to $500 million — Rubin’s name is listed alongside fellow Playground founders Peter Barrett, Matt Hershenson and Bruce Leak. This follows a $300 million funding… Read More
When an app claims to be powered by “artificial intelligence” it feels like you’re in the future. What does that really mean, though? We’re taking a look at what buzzwords like AI, machine learning, and neural networks really mean and whether they actually help improve your apps.
The last time we checked in on Nougat market share numbers (a little over a week ago), the latest version of Google’s operating system was ranked below Gingerbread in terms of adoption. Slowly but surely the needle is starting to move. A handful of manufacturers have announced updates for their devices in the lead up to the holiday, including both variants of the OnePlus 3. This week… Read More
Your SaaS is just out of control! You’re spending thousands or millions on products – a CRM system, a field operations app, a system to keep your life-like humanoid androids from killing park guests in your Wild West-themed adventure park – and none of these systems talk to each other, especially the ones that keep your robots from falling in love with the guests. What do… Read More
Instagram is combining the best of Snapchat and Periscope to help you get comfortable on camera. Rather than overlap with Facebook Live and Messenger, Instagram is putting an ephemeral spin on video streaming and private messaging. Today, two big new features begin rolling out to Instagram Stories on iOS and Android over the next few weeks. Instagram Live lets you broadcast video to your… Read More
Facebook has had an ongoing problem developing on Android for a while now. Facebook’s central item officer, Chris Cox, even encouraged his staff to switch to Android in order to live with the issues and figure them out. A recent independent test by Tech World Zone found that the problems have persisted and that life…
The Mi Box is Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi’s play to take on devices like Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV. Priced at only $69, and sporting features like integrated Google Cast and voice search, the 4K- and HDR-supporting device seems worth a look. But at the end of the day, Mi Box is still an Android TV player, and subject to limitations of that platform, which are… Read More
Leaving the house only to realize you’ve got next to zero charge on your phone is an awful feeling. Which is why phone companies have been jamming bigger and better batteries into their phones. They’ve also been using quick charging technology, which can shove hours of battery life into a phone in a matter of minutes…
Out of the box, Android doesn’t give you much flexibility when it comes to setting the default search in the toolbar at the top of the screen. A clever app called Custom Search Bar Widget lets you set up alternative searches for sites like YouTube, Wikipedia, IMDB, Google Maps, and more. It also completely transforms…
Commercial firmware pre-installed on some Android smartphone models sold in the US has been found to be secretly sending highly sensitive user data to a third party company based in China, according to an analysis by security firm Kryptowire. Read More
