iPhone X pre-orders are being scalped on eBay for $1,500, on average
Demand for the iPhone X has been “off the charts,” according to Apple, which led to the new device selling out in a matter of minutes. Well, that and the limited quantities available at launch. Because of the scarcity of the hotly anticipated device, sellers have been scalping their pre-order confirmations on eBay, hoping to cash in on consumer demand. Read More
Here’s a chart that shows why financial earnings are a big deal
So, we’re midway through earnings season, and as you’ve probably seen, we’ve covered a majority of the big companies that have reported thus far. There are plenty more that have reported, and there are still more to come, but these are the periods that generally have the most impact on the best public barometer of a company’s success: its stock price. Read More
Former Apple intern Christian Selig says he wasn’t happy with the selection of iOS apps for browsing Reddit, so he decided to build his own. The developer this week launched his own Reddit client called Apollo, which offers a beautifully designed browsing experience for either iPhone or iPad, as well as customizable gestures, a media viewer and more. Read More
U.S. iPhone users will spend an average of $88 per year on apps by 2020
U.S. iPhone users will spend an average of $88 per year on paid apps and in-app purchases by 2020, according to a new forecast out this week from Sensor Tower. The firm found that the dollar amount spent on apps and in-app purchases is continuing to increase, year-over-year. iPhone users spent an average of $63 this year, up 33 percent over 2016. Read More
India overtakes the US to become the world’s second largest smartphone market
Move over America, India is now the world’s second largest smartphone market. That’s according to a new report from Canalys which claims smartphone shipments in India crossed the 40 million mark for the first time in Q3 2017 courtesy of 23 percent annual growth. That means that India has overtaken the U.S. on sales with only China ahead of it. Given the huge gulf in populations… Read More
A critical metric for Alphabet’s success is suddenly showing signs of life
Alphabet delivered a knockout quarter today, handily beating the estimates from Wall Street — but, perhaps more importantly, showing actual growth in a critical metric that has seen a consistent decline for quite some time.
Google’s cost-per-click — a metric that helps define how valuable its ads are — grew 1% quarter-over-quarter this year. While still down 18%… Read More
Blue Canoe takes on language learning with a focus on pronunciation
If you want to pick up a new language, there’s no shortage of options. But one aspect of the process that has been neglected is pronunciation, which is especially important for professionals. Online, learning pronunciation is generally “hear a recording, then repeat it.” Blue Canoe uses an established curriculum and machine learning to make things easier and more effective. Read More
SoundShare’s new app lets you create playlists with friends, stream them to Apple TV
SoundShare, an app that lets you text your friends entire songs, was already one of the more clever iOS applications available. Recently, the app rolled out an update that introduces a redesign and whole new experience called “Party Mode” that lets friends play songs through your device — like at get-togethers, where everyone wants to hear their favorite music. Read More
Instagram Superzoom records dramatic close-up videos
Instagram’s newest feature lets you make your own “Dramatic Chipmunk”-style video by shooting a stuttered zoom-in, including cinematic sound effects, with a single tap. Superzoom is coming to Instagram Stories on iOS and Android today, alongside an array of spooky Halloween stickers and augmented reality masks. Read More
Facebook launches Marketplace for cars with dealers and Blue Book pricing
Buy a car through Facebook, and the social network could earn a special place in your heart. So Facebook is creating a dedicated section of Marketplace for vehicles.
You’ll now be able to use new search filters to find a ride with a specific type, make, model, mileage, transmission, and more from both people and car dealerships like Edmunds, Cars.com, Auction123, CDK Global, and… Read More
Here are some standouts from 500 Startups’ 22nd demo day
500 Startups is in somewhat of a weird spot, given that Dave McClure resigned as a GP from 500 Startups in July this year after admitting to “multiple” advances toward women and being a “creep.” Since then, there’s been a specter over the firm’s program, especially as it begins its demo day and starts to roll into the following class. That seemed truer… Read More
Tonight is a new dating app optimized for real dates
What if a dating app was focused on enabling real dates, rather than chatting? Whim founder Eve Peters said the idea appealed to users, but Whim also asked you to identify the days you’d be available. So Peters and her team have launched a new iOS app called Tonight. As soon as two people show interest in each other, the app tries to set them up on a date, no messaging required. Read More
Slack looks to make screen sharing at work more interactive
As Slack moves more and more into trying to become a go-to tool for workplace collaboration — especially in the face of competition from Atlassian and other incumbents — it has to first make sure it has the table stakes down. Today, the company is looking to take another step in that direction as it starts rolling out an updated screen sharing feature that allows users to mark… Read More
This video shows the iPhone X’s crazy app switching swipe
The iPhone X is about to be released, and somehow, either officially sanctioned or otherwise, a handful of videos have appeared showing different functions of the device. What follows is a short video showing the novel way users will switch apps on the iPhone X. App switching on iPhone X looks pretty smooth. (via https://t.co/mXpNJhOwzw) pic.twitter.com/Lf9X3twx58 — Webastiaan the… Read More
Nintendo’s Animal Crossing mobile game actually looks like a blast
As Nintendo continues to mount an impressive comeback, today the company has announced its next title coming to smartphones, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. The cult classic title where players live amongst the animals and live a generally chill existence (while feeding Tom Nook’s capitalist machine) is coming in November to iOS and Android. More than a few fans of the franchise were… Read More
Amazon debuts a new Appstore app with better discovery, focus on Amazon Coins
Amazon’s Kindle app isn’t the only mobile app from the company getting a makeover today. Amazon has also now quietly introduced a new version of its Appstore app for Fire TV, Fire tablets and Android devices. The new store features a visual redesign and an increased focus on Amazon’s own virtual currency, Amazon Coins. Read More
Samsung’s competition with Apple is on premium phone ($400+) market share, and Apple is crushing Samsung in this market. Why do consumers with discretionary spending still prefer Apple in such large numbers? The reason is not the product. Read More
If you’re sick of your beautiful videos looking crummy on Facebook, there’s good news for you. After some super HD videos started popping up on the social network, Facebook now confirms to TechCrunch it’s testing 4K video uploads and viewing using the 2160p UHD-1 Ultra-High-Definition Television standard. Read More
Apple’s ‘App of the Day’ featuring boosts downloads by 1747%, games by 792%
New research from Apptopia, out today, takes a look at the impact getting featured as the App or Game of the Day on the new iOS App Store has on app downloads. This data is still fairly early, as the revamped App Store only arrived publicly with iOS 11’s release in September. Not surprisingly, the report finds that snagging one of these featured spots can lead to a big boost in app… Read More
Gfycat hits 130M monthly active users as short form video heats up
GIFs — or, let’s call it for what it is: short-form video — were always pretty popular, but it still seems surprising that we would embed them into our phone’s keyboards. But here we are in 2017, and there is a group of startups that are looking to bring the usage, or in the case of Gfycat the creation, of GIFs closer and closer to an everyday thing. So it’s… Read More
