The Quiet Mobile Giant: With 300M Active Users, WhatsApp Adds Voice Messaging
WhatsApp, a tiny startup with a very basic idea, boring design and lots of competition, has somehow managed to connect up most of the world. And that's actually pretty exciting.
Facebook Updates News Feed Algorithm With New “Story Bumping” & “Last Actor” Factors
Facebook is changing the way it ranks organic posts that are eligible to show up in its users' News Feeds. — The company announced two new factors — “Story Bumping” and “Last Actor” …
Twitter's Killer New Two-Factor Solution Kicks SMS to the Curb
When Twitter rolled out two-factor authentication back in May, it hinted that the SMS authentication would be merely a first step in a more robust security solution. Today, WIRED got a better look at...
Ex-Apple CEO Scully's startup gets Shine wearable activity tracker into Apple Stores
A startup company co-founded by former Apple CEO John Sculley has formed a partnership with his former company, as Apple's stores will now carry Misfit's Shine wearable activity measuring device.
SOPA died in 2012, but Obama administration wants to revive part of it
You probably remember the online outrage over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) copyright enforcement proposal. Last week, the Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force released a report on...
Chrome's insane password security strategy
Chrome does something interesting when you first run it. — I have a set of bookmarklets that I use to enhance my internet experience. Actually, that's not entirely true. I have one bookmarklet: Em...
Will Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley Finally Get It Right?
It's 2 a.m. and Dennis Crowley is wired. We've just left Foursquare's South by Southwest party at the Hype Hotel, a warehouse-size space in downtown Austin where nearly 1,000 revelers were drowning i...
Microsoft launches Windows Phone web tool to let anyone create apps
Microsoft wants Windows Phone developers and apps, and it's launching a developer tool on Tuesday in its latest effort to secure apps for its ecosystem. A beta version of Windows Phone App Studio is ...
Flickr Gets New Leader From Google — Longtime Mayer Favorite Bernardo Hernandez
Longtime Mayer Favorite Bernardo Hernandez — Yahoo has hired former Google exec Bernardo Hernández González, a longtime favorite of CEO Marissa Mayer when she was at the search company. Hernandez, w...
TextNow launches IP-based mobile phone service starting at $19 per month
Some people are afraid of commitment, and that includes vowing to stick with a carrier for two years. Thankfully, the list of choices keeps on growing for those who'd rather use contract-free devices...
Samsung's “3D Vertical” NAND crams a terabit on a single chip
SSD enthusiasts know all about SLC, MLC, and TLC, but there are some new acronyms in SSD town: V-NAND and CTF. Samsung announced in a press release last night that it has begun mass production of “3D...
Hortonworks CEO confirms co-founder and CTO's departure
Hadoop startup Hortonworks has confirmed that its co-founder and CTO Eric Baldeschwieler is no longer with the company. We reported on evidence suggesting the move on Monday, and CEO Rob Bearden conf...
Amazon launches Amazon Art marketplace with over 40,000 fine artworks
Amazon has just announced the Amazon Art marketplace, giving users access to 40,000 pieces of fine art from over 150 dealers and galleries. Over 4,500 artists will be represented at launch, making th...
FreedomPop offers 500MB of free LTE a month, upgrades to Sprint's faster 4G network
FreedomPop is a mobile network operator with a pretty crazy business model. You buy the wireless hotspot or USB dongle, and they provide the internet for free: 500MB of free data every month, with no...
Zillow revenues increase 69% in Q2 as visitors top 60M for July: Losses hit $10M on acquisition, marketing costs
The red-hot U.S. housing market is helping Zillow, which posted strong revenue and traffic gains during the second quarter. The Seattle online real estate company posted revenue …
TOR Project: Stop using Windows, disable JavaScript
The anonymizing network gives some advice following a startling Firefox zero-day vulnerability — The TOR Project is advising that people stop using Windows after the discovery of a startling vulnera...
OpenX ad servers “pre-compromised” - official distro contained remote code backdoor
You don't always have to break into someone's web server to get them to deliver your malware for you. — You may be able to implant malware onto a site from which your victim fetches third-party cont...
Google Search Starts Highlighting In-Depth Articles On Search Results Pages
Google today announced a new feature for Google Search that highlights in-depth articles related to your search queries. Google says while many users just want a quick answer, its own research indica...
Nielsen Blesses Twitter's Tale With a New Study: Tweets Really Can Boost Ratings
All that Twittering about TV? It really does boost TV ratings. — So says Nielsen, in new study that Twitter executives, among others, will be delighted to see. — It's the first research …
Samsung trademark filing for ‘Galaxy Gear’ hints at smartwatch
The evidence keeps piling up for a Samsung smartwatch that has yet to materialize. Most recently, Dutch site Galaxy Club uncovered a US trademark filing for “Samsung Galaxy Gear” that was published a...
IBM Gets Allies to Chip Away at Intel
Google, Others Join Effort to Break Big Blue's Power Designs Out of a Niche — International Business Machines Corp. has enlisted Google Inc. and some other high-tech allies for a collective effort t...
Will a fingerprint sensor be Apple's next hit?
Some months ago, the press reported that AuthenTec was acquired by Apple. In the last few weeks, rumors on a fingerprint sensor embedded in the next iPhone generation have been increasing in the medi...
YC-Backed One Month Rails Teaches You How To Build Your Startup While You Learn To Code
If you build it, they will come. But what if you don't know how to build it? — That was the problem facing Mattan Griffel, founder of a new YC-backed startup called One Month Rails that is launchin...
Canalys: Samsung and Apple lost smartphone share to Chinese vendors in Q2 2013, India now the third largest market
Samsung and Apple managed to grow their smartphone shipments in Q2 2013, by 55 percent and 20 percent respectively to maintain first and second place. Nevertheless, they both lost share to Chinese ve...
Square for iOS gets payment recording and tracking, cash management and Bluetooth printer support for iPad
Square today updated its iOS app with new features for all of Apple's mobile devices as well as added some iPad-specific improvements. You can download the new version now directly from Apple's App S...