LG and CES are made for each other. The company may not make the best smartphones (with the exception of Google’s Nexus 4), or get the most attention all year round, but when they whip out the big screen TVs at their massive CES booth, it’s easy to get on the “Life’s Good” bandwagon. Unfortunately, TechCrunch is one of the few attendees at the show that isn’t all that interested in television, which is why we were so pleased to stumble upon this cute little NFC printer, the LG Pocket Photo. It’s incredibly small — you can probably fit the little guy in your back pocket — and it uses a new Z-ink (or Zero ink) technology to print 2×3-inch photos. Through the magical power of NFC, users can simply tap their LG phone against the printer and in 30 seconds the picture goes from a file on a smartphone to a photo in your wallet. Users can also transfer photos through Bluetooth and USB. Simply download the app, and from there you can add skins, text, etc Read more »
Samsung To Build A Massive R&D Complex In Silicon Valley
You might finally start seeing some Android phones out in the wild around Silicon Valley. Samsung Electronics Co. just announced a major expansion of its Silicon Valley operations, which includes a gigantic 1.1M square-foot headquarters for Samsung Semiconductor and a 385k square-foot facility for Samsung Information Systems America. The 10-story SSI HQ will be located just north of downtown San Jose and house the R&D and sales staff for the semiconductor and display businesses. Designed by NBBJ, the complex will include a parking garage and amenity pavilion, which isn’t detailed in the press release, but I only assume will include free food, trendy but uncomfortable seating and free QR tattoos. SISA is signing a 15-year lease for two 6-story buildings on a 8.5-acre site. Located in Cypress Business Park in Mountain View, the press release indicates that the facility will be constructed to LEED Gold standards. It also overlooks the US 101, so that’s nice Read more »
TechCrunch Crunched: Exposing The Latest Tech Trends
Editor’s note: Yvo Schaap is a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Amsterdam who loves data and code. He’s founder of Directlyrics.com and Fanity.com and has been featured on TechCrunch regarding major security holes or new Google and Facebook products. Follow him on Twitter @yvoschaap . TechCrunch has always been the most authoritative news outlet on what’s hot in Silicon Valley regarding startup trends, early and late investments, product launches, celeb founders and, of course, geeky drama. Although some frequently praised startups were eventually exposed as fads (Badgeville, Groupon), others were expertly picked early on (Twitter, Airbnb). It’s again time for end-of-year recaps, and I’ve developed research focused on analyzing TechCrunch’s editorial posts, with an aim to expose this year’s trends in tech. And while I was at it, I even went all the way back into the archives from when TechCrunch was launched Read more »
Singaporean Maritime Tech Firm Ascenz Gets $482K In Funding From Red Dot Ventures As It Sails Toward The Chinese Market
Singapore-based maritime technology company Ascenz has received $482,000 in funding from technology incubator Red Dot Ventures as it sets its compass towards China. Established in 2008 by founders Sia Teck Chong and Chia Yoong Hui, Ascenz supplies remote monitoring systems for shipping companies to track fuel consumption and bunkering. The company’s patented software monitoring system allows data to be delivered from moving ships to an onshore control office, which in turn gives Ascenz’s customers a way to monitor fuel usage in real-time. The system also serves as a locating device by sending back information about the ship’s engines and current location. Red Dot Ventures managing director Leslie Loh said that about 70% of Ascenz’s current clients are Singaporean firms, but the company hopes to extend its customer base in China, since most ships in the region are built there, as well as markets in Europe and the Middle East. Read more »
Gift Guide: 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro
Short Version You waited this long, you might as well go big: Apple’s smaller 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is a very worthy sequel to the 15-inch variety released this past summer, and while it will still strain the average buyer’s budget, it definitely won’t inspire any buyer’s remorse. Long Version Features: 1,280 x 800 (best for Retina), 232 ppi display Dual Thunderbolt ports Just 3.57 lbs and 0.75 inches thick Info: Available: Now MSRP: Starts at $1,699 Product page The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is… … Apple’s second notebook with a HiDPI display that qualifies for its ‘Retina’ moniker, and the one that is the most portable with a smaller physical footprint than the 13-inch MacBook Air, and significant weight savings over the 15-inch Retina MBP. All of which it accomplishes while still boasting the same 7-hour battery life as the 13-inch non-Retina variant. Buy the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro for… … yourself. This is a pricy machine at $1,699 (or $1,999 for the configuration with 256GB of flash storage, plus configurable options), so it’s unlikely that anyone else will be buying this for you, unless you’ve been very good this year. Also, since you’re reading this on or after Christmas Eve day, you could spring for this if you completely forgot or couldn’t get to someone on your list who’s incredibly important. They’ll forget how inconsiderate you were the first time the desktop swims into view on the Mac’s amazing display. Because… … you could go for the 15-inch model for only $600 more, which also introduces a dedicated graphics card into the mix, but you likely don’t need to. In practice, I’ve used both interchangeably and only very occasionally noticed the difference: when editing video and outputting to dual high-resolution displays, for instance. Read more »
Security Loophole In Facebook’s Camera App Allowed Hackers To Hijack Accounts Over WiFi [Confirmed]
PSA to all Facebook Camera users on iOS: If you haven’t update you app in the past few days, update it now . The older version of the app, pre-1.1.2 and released before December 21, has a security loophole. When used over WiFi networks, malicious hackers can tap the network and hijack Camera users’ accounts, picking up information like email addresses and passwords in the process. The white-hat hacker who ID’d the problem is Mohamed Ramadan , an Egypt-based security researcher and trainer with Attack-Secure who has also found and reported vulnerabilities for Apple, Google, and Etsy — which apparently also had the same loophole in its iOS app. Ramadan tells us that the issue lied in the Camera app’s Secure Sockets Layer certification, which was too open. As he puts it, “The problem is the app accepts any SSL certification from any source, even evil SSL certifications and this enables any attacker to perform Man in The Middle Attack against anyone uses Facebook Camera App for IPhone. This means that the application doesn’t warn the user if someone in the same [WiFi network] trying to hijack his Facebook account.” Testing his theory by using a proxy to listen in on a WiFi network, he was able to type in his username and password into the Camera app, and then see that information appear via the proxy. Ramadan notes that he’s tested all Facebook apps and the rest appear to protect from this similar vulnerability Read more »
Facebook Expands Photo Functionality In Its Desktop App; Quietly Rolls Out Drag To Upload Feature
Facebook last week opened a new front in the so-called photo app wars with the launch of its ephemeral photo app Poke . But Facebook’s focus on apps like Poke, Camera and Instagram doesn’t mean that it is has stopped enhancing the photo experience on its main social networking platform. Facebook has now implemented a new “drag to upload” feature to allow users to add photos to their status updates more easily. A few people noticed the feature last week, and today Facebook confirmed to us that it has rolled it out globally. “We are continuing to improve the photo-sharing experience,” it noted to TechCrunch in an emailed statement. “The feature began rolling out globally last week and is now available to all.” What this means is that users can now drag images from their PC/Mac desktops directly into the status update box, and even upload several pictures at once without needing to create an album. That speeds up and simplifies the process of uploading images, saving users a few moments of clicking around windows to upload a file. As Inside Facebook pointed out last week when it noticed the feature, it could take up to six steps to upload pictures before. Zzzzzzz. It also means one less thing to think about in the chaos of engaging with family and friends in the same room as you over the holiday period while still wanting to reach out to those further away. Read more »
PSA: Update The Wii U (And Other Electronics) Before Christmas Morning
Dear Santa, I was a good boy this year. I ate all my vegetables, cleaned my room, and didn’t freak out over Instagram’s new TOS. My Christmas list is short this year. I want a lathe turning chuck, a new mother-in-law and for the purpose of this post, a Nintendo Wii U. Easy. I am trusting in you. Don’t let me down. None of those items should be hard for you to find. The Wii U is popular but not that popular. But I swear, Santa, I better not have to sit through a Wii U update tomorrow morning. Read more »
A Hackathon Ushers In A Holiday Version Of Changemakrs, The Platform For Inspirational Quotes
Changemakrs , a platform for sharing inspiration built by an ex-Facebooker, is tapping into the Christmas spirit with a version of the site that lets anyone share holiday quotes. If you sign into the site, Changemakrs will automatically add holiday quotes to the homepage, using some natural-language processing algorithms that categorize the quotes. They also do quality filtering through internal user rankings. This holiday version of the site was hacked together in a few hours. The site has picked up holiday quotes from Bon Jovi, the movies “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “Elf,” and Charles Dickens. Changemakrs is a platform where anyone can post and share inspirational quotes . Read more »
Social Media Is Making Today’s Girls Actually Say What They Mean
The stereotype is that women generally enjoy talking and communicating more than men. Read more »