Yelp is releasing a new feature with the simple, self-explanatory name Questions and Answers.
Well, mostly self-explanatory. This is distinct from Talk, a feature where Yelp users can ask an incredibly broad range of questions (as I write this, the New York page currently includes conversations about the travel time to the airport, when it’s legal to kick out a roommate and The… Read More
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Open Whisper Systems, creator of encrypted communication platform Signal, released an update today as an open beta to enable encrypted video calling. The app previously offered fully end-to-end encrypted chat and voice calling, but the addition of video will make it even easier to convey information without compromising security. The update also promises to improve the existing, somewhat… Read More
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The adorable little Smart cars you see on North American roads from here on out will likely be primarily electric, as the company has decided to cease sales of its gas-powered Fortwo and Fortwo Cabrio in the U.S. and Canada from 2017 on.
It sounds like the decision has less to do with overwhelming demand for electric Smart cars, however, and more to do with the North American market’s… Read More
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Samanage, makers of customer service software in the cloud, had a couple of major announcements today. For starters, they got a $20 million investment, and they also announced a major step: the launch of their enterprise product on the Salesforce platform. Let’s start with the funding. The round included money from Carmel Ventures, Gemini Israel Ventures, Marker LLC, Salesforce Ventures… Read More
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Just in time for Valentine’s Day (ugh, sorry), dating app OK Cupid is getting a makeover. Psych! Just kidding, the company is introducing a new version of its mobile app today, but OK Cupid’s full redesign won’t actually roll out until March. Though the timing of the announcement is clearly manufactured, the overhaul itself is fairly significant. In addition to getting… Read More
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Amazon has taken the wraps off of its own Skype competitor. Chime is a new video conferencing and communications from AWS that’s focused on business users. Beyond VoIP calling and video messaging, Chime includes virtual meetings, allowing users to host or join a remote meeting through the service. Pricing starts at $2.50 per user per month on the lowest end, with a higher tier plan… Read More
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An early stage fund that’s becoming a major player in India’s burgeoning tech scene, Blume Ventures, has joined the Draper Venture Network, the investors announced on Monday. Members of the DVN collaborate on investments, share business intelligence and syndicate their deals to firms in Silicon Valley, with portfolio services provided by a local team there.
DVN claims that… Read More
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It’s a tiny-but-still-annoying part of almost every meeting and phone calls — once you agree to meet someone or call them, there’s still another flurry of emails as you try to decide on a time. Tech companies large and small have tried to improve the meeting process. (I’m a fan of Doodle, myself.) Now Y combinator-backed startup Meetingbird has taken a stab at it… Read More
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Yik Yak crashed and burned after raising $73.5 million… then laying off most of its employees as users ditched its anonymous message board app. But now Yik Yak appears to be taking another shot at the college demographic with an app for chatting up people with the same classes, major or interest. Last week, an app called Hive appeared in the app stores. It was built by Richard Guy,… Read More
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HTC’s latest financials make for another fairly dismal read for the mobile device and VR headset maker, though — crumbs of comfort — it’s making a slightly smaller year-over-year loss.