In its most recent financial quarter B&N’s Nook business saw a 50.4% decrease in revenue and 58.2% decrease in device sales over the previous year. But the Nook is not dead. In fact in today’s statement announcing the company’s 2014 third fiscal quarter results, the CEO states a new Nook Color is still in the works. “The Company is actively engaged in discussions with… Read More
Anti-Gay Bill Could Cost Arizona The Super Bowl
A bill passed by both the Arizona House and Senate that would allow businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbian customers will either become law, or be vetoed by the governor, by Friday. The NFL, which plans to hold the 2015 Super Bowl at Universit…
Samsung Is Looking For Some Good Wearable Developers
Today, at Samsung’s MWC Developer Day, the company introduced several software development kits with the hope of luring developers to its platforms. Among the kits were several aimed at the company’s just-announced wearables including the Gear 2 and Gear Fit. Samsung needs 3rd party developers to make these products successful. Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, president and head of the Media Solution… Read More
Kansas State Player High-Fives Invisible Teammates Between Free Throws
Kansas State’s Wesley Iwundu took technical free throws against Texas Tech tonight, meaning that there were no teammates on the lines to high-five between shots. Iwundu still went through the motions, though.Read more…
Watch Miami Heat Players Struggle Through Karaoke Songs
Welp, it sounds like Victor Oladipo is the outlier. In a commercial for an upcoming charity karaoke event, Shane Battier enlisted a few of his teammates to flex their vocal chords, equipped with ridiculous wigs and other props. The results were not pre…
Medium Considering Raising $20 Million
Medium, Evan Williams’ clean and beautiful attempt at revamping the way people write and read online, is considering raising a venture round according to the rumor mill. We’re hearing that the company, which has been subsisting on angel money apparently, is thinking about finally taking money from VCs.
Yahoo News Digest Reviews Get A Boost From Yahoo Employees, Cheerleaders
Some folks out there really, really, really like any app that Yahoo puts out. At least, that’s the picture we get from looking at the recent reviews of its Yahoo News Digest app, introduced yesterday. The app is currently flying high in the charts, and features a 4.5 star rating with 282 massively positive reviews. Taking a closer look at the review listings, many of the people leaving positive notes about the app appear to make a very strong habit of reviewing Yahoo apps, and only Yahoo apps. Some of them have only ever reviewed Yahoo News Digest, and others have only reviewed the catalog of internal products and recent acquisitions like Tumblr. Some of the Yahoo employees leaving reviews on the app appear to (from simple user name identification) include Jonathan Raspaud, a Mobility Architect at Yahoo and Yahoo India employee Rahul Aneja. There are most likely others. John Hermann and Charlie Warzel at Buzzfeed also note that new Yahoo Tech runner David Pogue and Summly acquisition Nick D’Alosio were certainly aware of the very positive reviews. And that awareness raises questions about how easy it was for them to skip over mentioning the origins of many of those reviews in their ‘interview’ today. Is this a crime? No, not really. If I was part of a two-man company I’m sure that both my co-founder and I would be calling everyone we know to rate our app. But Yahoo is a big firm, with over 12,000 employees. And, as Hermann notes, a flood of positive ratings from a large company like this could certainly tip the scales in favor of one product over another. And, in fact, this is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of behavior from Yahoo employees on apps. In May of 2012 it released its Axis browsing tool, which met with a fairly poor reception in the press. But the reviews were surprisingly positive. When a deeper look was taken, sure enough, Yahoo employees were weighing in enthusiastically. We’ve reached out to Yahoo for comment, but it has already issued a statement to Buzzfeed saying that its employees ‘were not instructed to write reviews’. Yahoo-er Raspaud’s review of the Yahoo News Digest app? “Perfect.” Update: A Yahoo spokesperson has also told TechCrunch that it does not ask its employees to write reviews, and chalked it up to ‘a case of enthusiasm’. Image Credit: Eric
Why Does Obama Want to Extend a War He Doesn’t Believe In?
A local boy looks at US Army soldiers as they conduct a morning patrol through the village of Kowall in Arghandab District, July 11, 2010. (Reuters/Bob Str…
Britney Spears Opens Up About Anxiety and Shyness In E! Documentary
The name Britney Spears may be synonymous with American pop music, but the star’s new E! documentary looks to show her human side. In the TV special that showcases the preparation for her Las Vegas show, Spears opens up about her personal anxieties and how she’s grown up in the industry.
“This is all I’ve known all my life — cameras, being followed, being part of the industry,” Spears reflects in the documentary. The singer sees herself as a shy and private person who has struggled to cope with all of the attention. She explains, “I’m not really made for this industry.”
Augmented Reality Is Almost Everywhere
ResolutionTube, a TechStars Seattle startup, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding for an augmented reality app that helps the technician fix everything from a heating vent to sophisticated medical equipment. Madrona Ventures led the investment with participation from TechStars CEO David Cohen and other angel investors.
The company is targeting the field services market with a knowledge base and a smartphone app that a technician can use to fix things without needing to call a toll-free number for help. Instead, the technician can use the app to scan the serial number that connects to the ResolutionTube knowledge base. If the technician gets stuck, the app can be used to contact an expert who connects with the the technician over video. The technician uses the smartphone camera to show the expert the machinery in question. That is followed with some advice and use of a whiteboard to draw and show what the technician needs to do for the issue to get resolved.