Much has been written about Quibi — the streaming video service launched a few weeks ago by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman. The central conceit of the platform was that it was premised upon shortform, mobile-first videos – “quick bites,” thus the name Quibi. Unfortunately for its creators, Quibi has largely been a flop. Which … Continue reading Disney+ and Quibi. It’s a Small Screen World, After All.
The other day, TechCrunch reported that Hopper, a travel app that tracks, predicts, and alerts users to the best airfares, had raised another $16 million. I’ve used Hopper on a number of occasions to track flights and book tickets at great prices (though on a few occasions I encountered an app glitch that prevented me from … Continue reading Hopper: The World’s Best Travel App
Bloomberg reports that GoPro bought two mobile video editing companies, Stupeflix and Vemory, for a combined $105 million. What I found most interesting is what CEO Nick Woodman wrote about how users edit video. Namely: We recognize that the future is not hunkering out at your desktop for four to five hours on a Sunday … Continue reading GoPro’s Mobile Investment
Facebook recently announced the rollout of a payments service which will be embedded within its popular Messenger app, leveraging its already-vast user base. This move was obviously a long time in coming, and it follows on the heels of Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and, most similarly, Snapchat’s Snapcash feature. I am certain that, down the line, Facebook … Continue reading Facebook Messenger, Now with Payments
In light of the screenshots of the new Chrome OS, I figured that it’d be worth publicly positing, that if given the opportunity again, Google would probably have chosen to make Chrome, and not Android, their mobile OS.
My official Android gripe of the day is autocorrect. I am not sure why, after five years of development and feedback from hundreds of millions of users, Android still does not automatically correct “Its” to “It’s.” I’d wager that 70% of “its” usage is in contraction, not object-possession, form. And yet, somehow, the error persists. … Continue reading Dear Android, Its About Time We Had This Talk
Silicon Spatula 