Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship Two has crashed during a test flight

Spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has lost its Spaceship Two in a crash during a test flight. Here’s the statement from the company: Virgin Galactic’s partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today. During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time. We will work closely with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so. Photo of #SpaceShipTwo debris from @ABC23News’...



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10 of the best Android apps from October

From maps to micro-investments, we covered a lot of ground with new Android apps in October. Here we present you with our selection of some of the best newcomers from the past month. HERE Maps Nokia’s HERE maps is one of the four major global online mapping services, alongside Google, TomTom and OpenStreetMap. And it finally launched for Android this month, having previously only been available on Windows Phone (though it was on iPhone for a while too). It’s a really great app, and genuine contender for Google Maps’ crown. Especially given that it sports full offline access for entire...



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Microsoft announces an all-new Outlook for Mac, available for Office 365 users

Microsoft has announced an all-new Outlook for Mac, available for Office 365 users. The launch brings the product into line with its versions on other platforms, including mobile and PC. Alongside its refreshed interface, Microsoft says the new Outlook for Mac app brings better performance and reliability, as well as a handful of other new features. Microsoft also revealed it’s introducing a new beta version of Office for Mac in the first half of 2015, with the final version due to hit later in the year. ➤ New Outlook for Mac available to Office 365 customers



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Spain orders Google to pay news publishers a tax for search results

The Spanish parliament passed a ruling yesterday to allow news publishers to charge aggregators and search engines like Google each time they display news content in search results. The law, lobbied for by Spain’s AEDE group of news outlets, goes into effect on January 1, 2015, but it doesn’t yet specify how much aggregators and search engines could be charged. Google’s Spanish division responded saying it was disappointed with the decision, and will work to help news publishers in the country increase income. This is similar to a row in Germany earlier this October, between Google and a group of...



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October in Africa: All the tech news you shouldn’t miss from the past month

October saw serious developments in the e-commerce, digital music and video on demand (VoD) sectors in Africa, as well as the usual startup activity and new product offerings. Consolidation and funding in the e-commerce world Two of South Africa’s largest e-commerce sites, Naspers-owned Kalahari.com and Takealot.com, have agreed a merger, with the two companies to have an equal shareholding in the new united entity. The Competition Commission is still to approve the deal, which the companies said was driven by the fact the two businesses remained loss-making and needed to scale more greatly to compete against brick-and-mortar retailers. Meanwhile, in...



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Hungary shelves internet tax plans following protests

The Hungarian government is shelving its plan to tax internet data transfer by the gigabyte, following protest rallies attended by thousands of concerned citizens in Budapest since last week, reports Reuters. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose ruling Fidesz party proposed the tax be levied to shore up Hungary’s budget in 2015, issued a statement on public radio saying, “This tax in its current form cannot be introduced because the government wanted to extend a telecommunications tax, but the people see an internet tax. If the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable then it should not be...



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Companies can now highlight important email information in Google’s Inbox app

Google just announced a new feature called Highlights in its email management app Inbox, to allow companies to make actionable items and important info in their email messages more noticeable to recipients. With a few lines of prescribed code, developers can mark up parts of their emails that they want users to be able to spot quickly, and these details appear as easy-to-view ‘chips’ right in the inbox. This works great for departure and arrival times in flight confirmation emails, location info in restaurant and hotel bookings, and any other message types that contain concise pertinent details that users need...



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Former Android boss Andy Rubin is leaving Google

Today, Google executive Andy Rubin told his team that he was leaving the company according to the Wall Street Journal. Rubin joined Google when the company bought Android in 2005. In 2013 he left the Android division and went to head the company’s robotic division. Developing



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Instagram video ads are rolling out today, watch 4 of them here

Instagram has been serving up ads for a while already in some markets, but now it’s officially rolling out video ads too as expected. As AdWeek reports, the Facebook-owned platform has inked deals to display 15-second skits from a number of big brands, including Disney and Banana Republic. The ads will be appearing from today, and will be rolling out to everyone in the next few weeks. Here’s a peek at what four of the ads look like. Banana Republic Disney CW Call of Duty



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58% off 1 year of SpiderOak Pro: 200 GB of cloud storage for the security-obsessed

When it comes to storing data, it’s important to choose a solution that’s easy to use, secure and private. You need to be able to back up your files, access them when you want to, share them with friends, family and colleagues, and rest assured that no one will be able to snoop around to steal or copy them. SpiderOak’s premium backup service checks all those boxes, and more. Even Edward Snowden endorsed SpiderOak, encouraging people to switch over from Dropbox. Built with privacy in mind, SpiderOak lets you securely back up all your files — including your photo library,...



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Netflix will be offered as part of a subscription bundle with UK telecoms and TV giant BT

In a move partly designed to cure subscription fatigue, UK telecoms giant BT has revealed it will offer Netflix bundled in alongside its other products. This move was rumored already, but the official reveal was quietly slipped in alongside its Q2 results earlier today. The company says: “We added 38,000 TV customers in the quarter. We continue to focus on strengthening our TV proposition and are excited to announce we have entered into a partnership with Netflix that will allow our customers to sign up for Netflix alongside our other products and services, with the added convenience of paying on...



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Any.do goes freemium with a slew of new features, costing $5/month or $45/year

We’ve covered Israel-based startup Any.do for a number of years, and today the popular productivity-focused task-management app has received a huge cross-platform update. With 11 million users in the bag, Any.do has done a good job of building a solid user base in what is a competitive space. But there comes a day when a company must translate user numbers into paying customers, especially with investors to appease. With that in mind, Any.do is unveiling a new premium subscription model, which brings a host of new features into the mix for a monthly or annual fee. In ‘Settings,’ you’ll see...



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Spotify brings its new dark look to iPad

Spotify unveiled a new darker look earlier this year, alongside a handful of refreshes, such as a revamped ‘Your Music’ feature which gives you a “frictionless way” to save, organize and browse music. Today, this update has arrived for iPad users too. This basically brings Spotify’s iPad app into line with its other platforms for a more consistent look, and you’ll note there is refreshed typography and rounded iconography too. You can read all about the redesign from our original post back in April. ➤ Spotify [iOS]



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How to make your own wallpaper for any screen size

Odes Roberts is an in-house designer for Shutterstock. This post was originally published on the Shutterstock blog and has been reprinted with permission. Making wallpapers for desktops and other screens is easily one of my favorite things to do. I change my wallpapers frequently with found images and experiments with new visual techniques. Here are some fun ways that you can merge images together to make a quick and easy wallpaper that will fit any screen size. Abstract background by ilolab I enjoy bright, rich colors with a bit of texture, so I chose my images with that in mind....



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Flipboard launches a fresh new design and gives you 30,000 topics to follow

Flipboard just launched v3 of its popular news aggregation app for iOS and Android devices, with a new UI and a host of smart new features to make it ‘more personal and more magazine-like’ than ever. The redesigned app now includes over 34,000 broad and specifc topics (like jazz, product design, and HDR photograpy) powered by Zite, for readers to add to their personal feeds, and content is pulled in from a range of publications, RSS feeds and social networks, and also ‘magazines’ curated by Flipboard users. There’s also a new Daily Edition: a specially curated roundup of the day’s...



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Microsoft Band is a new cloud-powered wearable fitness tracker

Microsoft launched its new fitness-focused wearable that plugs into the new cloud-based Microsoft Health tracking service today. Dubbed Microsoft Band, the $199 device tracks users’ heart rate, steps taken, sun exposure, stress levels, calories burned and sleep quality. It relays this data to Microsoft Health to offer insights on companion smartphone apps (for Windows Phone, Android and iOS) on which exercises are most effective, and how well users sleep through the night. In addition to tracking fitness stats, Microsoft Band also offers guided workouts based on users’ wellness goals, maps running routes via GPS, displays email and calendar event previews...



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IDC: Global smartphone shipments at 327m in Q3 2014, Xiaomi now the 3rd largest phone manufacturer

Today, IDC reports that smartphone vendors shipped 327.6m devices in Q3 2014, indicating in 25.2% growth when compared to the 261.7m units shipped in Q3 2013, and 8.7% sequential growth above the 301.3m units last quarter. That’s good news for the smartphone market, especially when rumors of a slowdown have been rife over the past few months. In fact, this quarter also saw Xiaomi enter the list of the top five smartphone vendors in the world, placing 3rd with a Q3 shipment volume of 17.3m units. The Beijing, China-based manufacturer’s sales in China, India and nearby markets made for 211.3...



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UK operator EE switches on ‘4G+’ in London with speeds of up to 150Mbps – but not for your iPhone 6

EE has announced that its 4G users in London are set to get a speed boost from today, following the switching on of its ‘4G+’ network in the capital. Also known as LTE-Advanced (or LTE-A), the faster network will offer downloads speeds of up to 150Mbps, the company said. Initially, the 4G+ service will only be available to users in central London, but it’ll be expanded to cover Greater London and “the UK’s busiest cities” in 2015. Details, details… Average speeds should be around the 90Mbps mark for users with a compatible (Cat 6) device and plan (4GEE Extra or...



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3 Great Recipe Collections for October

Our favorite Recipe Collections for the month of October. Enjoy! 3 of our Favorite Collections this Month Have ideas for future Recipe Collections? Tweet us @IFTTT! :) —The IFTTT Team   Share on Facebook  |   Share on Twitter  |   Share on Pinterest This newsletter was automatically sent to bloggggg1111.aaaa@blogger.com because you signed up for IFTTT with that address. To disable this communication, you can manage your email settings or unsubscribe from the IFTTT Newsletter.   IFTTT · 923 Market Street #400 · San Francisco, CA 94103

Difficult conversations will grow your product

Nate Munger is a Customer Success Advocate at Intercom. This post originally appeared on the Intercom blog. An inherent challenge for all early stage startups is deciding whether to focus on growth or product/market fit. It’s a false choice, as Rob Go says in his post about this conflict. They both matter. Recently I had two very positive but very different customer interactions that demonstrated the types of conversation that can help you focus on both. Plenty has been written about “getting out of the building” to talk to users and potential customers. It’s a great way to focus on...



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Google Maps now lets you sign in to maps embedded on third-party sites

While Google Maps is a massively useful service in its own right, the fact that Google makes the platform available for third-party developers to integrate in their own applications is what gives it true scale. However, thus far, developers haven’t been able to connect their users into the broader Maps ecosystem via their Google account – something that’s about to change. Much in the same way as you can sign in to Google Maps on the Web and through its own mobile apps, Google has revealed that it’s making moves to ensure that “no map is an island” elsewhere on...



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Facebook ups its Internet Defense Prize award to $300,000

Facebook announced today that it is upping its commitment towards internet security with larger awards in 2015 for winners of the Internet Defense Prize. DDoS attacks and user data theft are becoming increasingly common on the Web, with black-hat hackers around the world taking a stab at penetrating servers from top companies and popular online service providers that have large user bases. This puts both users and companies at risk of identity theft, harassment and financial loss. A statement issued by Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan outlines the social network’s increased commitment towards the cause: Facebook will offer up...



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4 brands that built empires without traditional advertising

Franklin Morris is a Senior Writer for Rackspace Digital—the digital marketing infrastructure specialists. The mom-and-pop shop on the corner probably doesn’t rely on traditional advertising (television, print, billboards, etc.) to bring in customers. Neither does your favorite local burger joint. But most iconic brands have hired an ad agency at some point on their upward journey. In 2014, businesses will spend nearly $545 billion on advertising, and that number is expected to increase by another $100 billion by 2018, according to eMarketer. But there are major brands, with huge market share, who have opted out of the traditional advertising game....



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Yummly now serves up recipe suggestions based on time, location, weather and more

Recipe search platform Yummly has introduced interesting new personalization features to its iPhone and iPad app. Launched back in 2010, Yummly has been serving foodies with recipes based on their precise preferences for a while already. Don’t like beetroot? Yummly lets you exclude beetroot from your searches. Now, it’s tapping contextual information to serve up suggestions in your home feed. Depending on the time of day, weather, season, location and other factors, you’ll see different recommendations. For example, if you open the app at 9am on a winter Saturday, you may see recipes for a warm, hearty breakfast. It’s all...



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BlackBerry CEO talks up incoming ‘Classic’ handset

BlackBerry CEO John Chen revealed details of BlackBerry’s next smartphone: the Classic. It’s a pretty appropriate name too from the looks of it; the device will feature BlackBerry’s much-loved full hardware Qwerty keyboard and is clearly being angled at the brand’s most loyal fans. “It’s tempting in a rapidly changing, rapidly growing mobile market to change for the sake of change – to mimic what’s trendy and match the industry-standard, kitchen-sink approach of trying to be all things to all people,” Chen wrote. “But there’s also something to be said for the classic adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix...



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Poynt is an Android-based payment terminal for the future

Designed to bring consumer-facing businesses up-to-date with today’s technology and help them stay future-proof, Poynt is a smart payment terminal that supports multiple payment methods, encrypted transactions and allows for extended functionality to be added over time. The Poynt terminal features a 7-inch merchant-facing screen, a second 4.3-inch customer-facing screen, a barcode scanner and a built-in printer in a compact device. It connects to the internet via Wi-Fi or 3G, can accept payments via cards, Apple Pay and other NFC/Bluetooth mobile apps, and can be moved around — away from the cash register to customers’ tables, to delivery destinations and...



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Google Hangouts now lets you make free one-minute international calls

Google announced yesterday that users in 25 countries will now get the first minute free on any international call they make via its Hangouts app. Google’s Hangouts app for desktops and mobile has long allowed for instant messaging, video chat and calls to phone numbers (including free calls to US and Canada) using an internet connection. The free minute now lets you say a quick hello or deliver an important message at no charge. However, you’ll need to have some calling credit in your Google account (that you can add with your credit card) to get your first minute free,...



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The YouTube app for PlayStation 4 supports sharing videos with a push of a button

The audience you can share your PlayStation 4 gaming videos with just got a whole lot larger. Starting today, PlayStation 4 owners can download the YouTube app from the PlayStation store and share videos directly to the video site with a push of the Share button on the controller. In addition to sending videos to YouTube, you can also watch 1080p videos directly from the app on the console. ➤YouTube Comes to PS4 Today [PlayStation Blog] Thumbnail image credit: Shutterstock



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Google now lets any Android developer integrate live YouTube streaming in their apps

With the YouTube WatchMe for Android project, Google is looking to help third-party developers integrate live streaming directly into their apps. It’s an open source project available on GitHub, harnessing the YouTube Data API v3, YouTube Live Streaming API, Google Play Services and Plus API. It basically offers a template app that you can adjust for your own needs, and you can read more about how to go about setting things up here. Though Google still classes the app as experimental, the same live broadcasting capabilities are evident in existing third-party apps such as Live on YouTube by Sony Xperia....



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Twitter and Wikipedia are co-hosting a language hackathon on November 1

Twitter and Wikipedia are well known global entities on the Web, and as such the two brands have announced a co-organized hackathon with a strict focus on localization and internationalization. The event is taking place at Twitter’s San Francisco HQ on November 1, and will delve into: Localization infrastructure Community driven translation UI/UX Complex language and scripts Input methods Web fonts Twitter also says that a series of quick-fire talks and hands-on sessions are taking place, while the best hacks will receive prizes. Both Wikipedia and Twitter are avid users of crowdsourced translations, so it’s not surprising to see both...



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Google launches Google Fit app for Android, capturing all your fitness data in one place

Back in June, Google Fit was unveiled to the world, promising a platform to help people track their fitness goals. It’s essentially a set of APIs that lets developers dig in to rival apps and combine data for deeper insights. Today, Google has launched a dedicated Google Fit app for Android, serving to capture all your movements throughout the day, including walking, running and cycling. It’s a little bit like Moves, which was acquired by Facebook earlier this year, and a myriad of other fitness-tracking services. All you do is install the app on your phone, hook it up with...



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How to access ‘Inbox by Gmail’ without an invite

It’s been almost a week since Google launched its new standalone email app called Inbox, and still not everyone is able to access it. The invite-only affair remains, well, invite-only. But the good folks at WonderHowTo have a slight workaround that may expedite your access – but you still need somebody with access to Inbox for this to work, even if they don’t have an invite to spare. First up, install the Android or iOS app on your device. You’ll then have to get a friend that has been granted access to log in to their Google Account on your...



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Reserve is a concierge-like service for booking restaurants and paying the check

Hotel concierge services have long been one of the best ways to snag a table at a sold-out restaurant. Reserve, a new startup launching in beta today, is trying to recreate the concierge experience through an app. Launching first in New York, Boston and LA, Reserve shows you a list of partner restaurants in your city. You specify what time you’re interested in dining and then send a request to the restaurant. If you get the table, the restaurant will receive a photo of you so the host can recognize you when you arrive. The app has you designate your...



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6 essential courses for designers: Get 95% off the UI/UX designer bundle

So you’ve got a great idea for an app — but do you know what it will look like, or how it feel to use? A solid foundation in user interface and user experience design will help you give shape to your idea, so that users enjoy your product, find it easy to use and keep coming back for more. And that’s exactly what our latest deal offers, at an incredible low price. The UI/UX Designer Bundle from Udemy includes six great courses for you to learn everything you need to know to build beautiful, usable interfaces for web and...



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Algoriddim finally brings its popular Djay app to Android, create mixes from Spotify or your own music

Algoriddim has catered for the iOS and Mac fraternity for years, serving up slick DJ-ing apps that not only let you mix your own digital arsenal of tunes but, as of a recent update, lets you access your Spotify library too. It even has an app to mix and mashup music videos. Though the Munich, Germany-based company claims more than 15 million app downloads to date, it is as much about the hardware as it is the software. Algoriddim has previously partnered with a myriad of hardware manufacturers, including Numark, Casio and Philips, to develop co-branded controllers that work with...



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McDonald’s extends Android NFC payments in all 14,000 US outlets with Softcard tie-up

Good news for McDonald’s Android-using customers in the US – there is now more options for paying with NFC thanks to a tie-up between the fast food giant and Softcard. To recap, Softcard is a mobile payments joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. The system is built upon contactless ‘near-field communication,’ meaning all you need to do is tap your mobile device on a payment terminal and be on your way. Softcard had to change its name from Isis back in September, given its similarity to the Sunni militant group. Following a pilot program that kicked off last year,...



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BillGuard now uses your location to help combat credit card fraud

BillGuard touts itself as the world’s first people-powered antivirus system for bills, with predictive algorithms that alert you when there’s unexpected charges made on your bank cards such as hidden fees, billing errors, scams and fraud. Four months after it finally launched out of North America, landing in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, BillGuard has announced an interesting new feature is coming to its Android and iOS apps. BillGuard will now tap your phone’s location to help protect against fraud, sending alerts when your card is swiped in a location it doesn’t recognize. When you opt-in to share your...



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Microsoft extends Office 365 for developers with new APIs for mail, files, calendar and contacts

Microsoft has announced new APIs at its TechEd Europe conference today in Barcelona, Spain, as it looks to encourage developers to build features around Office 365. The new REST-based APIs allow developers to tap into mail, files, calendar and contacts to create services with extended functionality for users of Microsoft’s cloud-connected suite of productivity tools, such as travel reservation and sales automation apps. Microsoft said it will also open up APIs for tasks, Yammer and Office Graph in the future too. The beloved app connection service IFTTT is already playing with the new APIs, and will soon offer Office 365...



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Tidal launches as a hi-fi music streaming service with editorial curation and videos

Aspiro Group, the company behind the WiMP Music streaming service in Europe, has launched a new service, Tidal, in the US and UK with a focus on high-fidelity audio, editorial curation and video content. Tidal costs $19.99 a month and uses the ALAC and FLAC lossless format at 1,411 kbps, 44.1kHz/16-bit. That amounts to roughly four times the 320 kbps bitrate of most music streaming services, although Deezer launched its own high-quality service in the US last month. You can listen to Tidal on the Web via Chrome and through its iOS and Android apps. The company boasts that this...



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Smile Clock for Android forces you to grin to stop your alarm in the morning

There are alarm clock apps that wake you with phone calls from strangers, ones that force you to spin around, and others that require you to move closer to your router. But what about ones that won’t shut up unless you smile? Yup. While smiling may be the last thing on your mind first-thing in the morning, Smile Clock for Android requires that you do just that if you want some peace. The camera detects your facial expression and will turn off when it catches a glimpse of your upturned-mouth and pearly whites – though you can still snooze this...



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How the growth of free Wi-Fi is transforming life in Africa

Ruckus Wireless is calling 2014 the “watershed year” for Wi-Fi, with the company predicting the number of hotspots across the world will increase to 5.8 million by next year, an increase of 350 per cent from the number in 2011. In Africa, the trend is towards providing citizens with free Wi-Fi in order to boost economic activity and education, in line with McKinsey’s projection that if internet penetration grows in the same way as that of mobile phones on the continent, it could contribute as much as 10 per cent – $300 billion – of the continent’s total GDP by...



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SnapDonate lets you give to charities just by taking photos of their logos

Slowly but surely, many parts of the world are going cashless, and the effects go beyond quicker checkouts at supermarkets. A new app developed in the UK lets users donate to charities whenever they feel inspired to do so, by simply pointing their phones at a charity’s logo — on a poster, flyer, billboard or anywhere else. Powered by global donation platform JustGiving, SnapDonate enables payments via PayPal or credit card, and allows users to donate as much as they like, with a minimum of £2 ($3.2) per transaction. The app currently recognizes the logos of over 130 charities involved...



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iPod Classic was killed because because Apple couldn’t get the parts ‘anywhere on Earth’

Speaking at the WSJ.D conference today in Laguna Beach, California, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to an audience member’s complaint about the discontinuation of the iPod Classic by saying, “We couldn’t get the parts any more, not anywhere on Earth.” Mashable reports that Cook explained, “It wasn’t a matter of me swinging the ax, saying ‘what can I kill today’. The engineering work was massive, and the number of people who wanted it very small. I felt there were reasonable alternatives.” It’s always sad to hear about the death and burial of a beloved product. The iPod Classic was removed...



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TripAdvisor introduces ‘Just for You,’ hotel recommendations based on search history and feedback

TripAdvisor has been offering personalized recommendations for a while already thanks to a tie-up with Facebook. Today, the online travel search giant is introducing a new feature with customization very much at its heart. With ‘Just for You’, TripAdvisor promises to serve up tailored hotel recommendations based on your preferences and search history on the site. For example, when you search for hotels for a specific location, you’ll see a range of tags to set your general preferences, including location, style, hotel class, price range, amenities and more. TripAdvisor Tags TripAdvisor collects this feedback, along with your prior research and...



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YouTube Space arrives in Brazil’s São Paulo, its fifth video-production hub globally

Adding to its existing studios in LA, Tokyo, New York and London, Google is launching a new YouTube Space in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. YouTube Spaces are all about encouraging and working with video-makers, and they feature courses, workshops and a host of equipment that’s free to use, including cameras, lights and microphones. Google says that more than 30,000 people have attended in excess of 450 workshops at YouTube Spaces globally since its inception back in 2012, with 6,000 videos emanating from the hubs. YouTube partnered with Instituto Criar for the initiative, and today’s news comes just two...



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ZenHub’s project management platform aims to make it easier for non-techies to use GitHub

GitHub is a wonderful repository of tools and knowledgeable users, but it can be pretty intimidating if you don’t really know anything about coding or development. Step-up ZenHub, a new project management platform integrated with GitHub that promises to streamline workflows for developers and non-coding business users alike. ZenHub claims it’s the only platform to offer advanced GitHub integrations like real-time drag-and-drop Issue Task Boards, support for uploading any file type into GitHub’s interface and peer feedback via a simple +1 button. The idea behind the all-encompassing platform is that by adding native support, ZenHub cuts down on the need...



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‘Windows 93′ on the Web is weird

Skipping from Windows 3.X to Windows 95, Microsoft never had an operating system called Windows 93. But someone has developed a browser-based version of an OS going by that name that’s, well, just plain weird. Some of the little apps on it actually work fine, including Paint. Others, such as ‘Zkype’ – featuring a backwards Skype logo – don’t. It’s all a bit bizarre, but it’s an interesting ‘design’ project if nothing else. ➤ Windows93 [via The Verge]



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Be better at email: Get 58% off the ActiveInbox Lifetime Plan

It’s never easy for busy professionals to tame their growing email inboxes. Incoming messages demand attention through the day and wreak havoc on recipients’ schedules. Thankfully, there is a way to deal with email while maintaining your sanity, and improving your productivity too — and it’s called ActiveInbox. Built for use with Gmail and based on GTD principles, ActiveInbox lets you add actions to email messages, as well as organize them into a handy to-do list that follows a schedule you set, based on due dates and your own availability. You can even group messages into folders for easy reference,...



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Things you shouldn’t do as a startup founder: Hack potential investors’ voicemail

To most, it would seem like common sense: if you want someone to back your business, you probably shouldn’t start by annoying them. However, Avi Zolty, Y Combinator alumni and founder of Skurt car rentals, seemed to bypass this usual thought process when trying to get the attention of angel investor Jason Calacanis. Instead, he decided to hack his voicemail and change the message to promote Skurt. Zolty also posted on Medium about the stunt (since deleted) and the audio file is available for all to hear on Soundcloud. He also posted his article to Hacker News, but it was...



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Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi reveals plans for an Indian data center in 2015

Xiaomi, the Beijing, China-based electronics company said today that it plans to open a data center in India soon. Just days after a circular was sent out by the Indian Air Force to its personnel and their families warning them not to use Xiaomi smartphones owing to privacy concerns, the Chinese smartphone maker has announced that it will set up a data center in India in 2015 to handle local user data, according to Reuters. The circular itself appears to be based on a report from security solutions company F-Secure from August this year, which indicated that Xiaomi phones were...



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Amazon’s crowdsourced publishing program, Kindle Scout, is now open for voting

With Kindle Scout, Amazon’s taking a 21st century approach to publishing, letting readers nominate which books progress to funding. It’s like your favorite reality TV show, except for books. Amazon launched Kindle Scout in the US a couple of weeks back, but today sees the program officially open for voting. It means you can now read excerpts from hitherto unpublished books and, if you like them, give your thumbs-up. Each book, across romance, science fiction and mystery & thriller for the time being, has 30 days to get as many votes as possible. After this period, Amazon checks which titles...



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Thousands protest in Hungary over proposed internet tax

Trouble is brewing in Hungary, as thousands of concerned citizens took to the streets in Budapest to protest a new proposed tax on internet use. Over 10,000 protesters marched through the capital city yesterday to demand the proposal be scrapped, as they believe it would at once increase their tax burden, and curtail their freedom of expression and access to information, according to a Reuters report. The proposal was part of the draft 2015 tax bill, drawn up by current Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government and submitted to parliament last week. Currently in his second term, Orban has been accused...



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Twitter acquires Twitpic’s photo archive to keep it alive

TwitPic announced today that it will be acquired by Twitter after “quite the roller coaster ride over the last few months.” The company will be handing over the TwitPic domain and archive to Twitter so users are able to continue accessing their old pictures, however it won’t be possible for users to upload any new photos and the mobile apps will be discontinued. Noah Everett, Twitpic creator said: This will be my (@noaheverett) final chapter with Twitpic, and again I want to say thank you for allowing me to be a part of your photo sharing memories for nearly seven...



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US retailers disabling NFC readers to block Apple Pay in favor of QR codes

Retail heavyweights in the US are moving to block Apple Pay by simply disabling NFC readers in their Point of Sale terminals while working to release their own solution. A report by The Verge today showed that Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Rite Aid and CVS have moved to block Apple Pay by modifying their terminals to block NFC payments ahead of an alternative solution a group of retailers is working on called ‘CurrentC.’ The CurrentC mobile payment wallet is built by a group of retailers that formed in 2012 to cut credit card fees out of mobile payments and requires the...



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Chrome and Firefox flag Bit.ly links as malware

Having issues accessing Bit.ly links? You’re not alone. It seems many internet users are being greeted with this following message when accessing links that emanate from the popular link-shortening service. While Bit.ly links are working fine on Safari and Internet Explorer, the problem was initially limited to Mozilla’s Firefox and Google Chrome, though Firefox now seems to be working fine for us. Google itself states: “Site [Bit.ly] is listed as suspicious – visiting this web site may harm your computer. Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 31 time(s) over the past 90 days.” Google adds that from...



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Hailo Chairman: ‘Uber can spend money like drunken sailors’

Hailo unfurled the white flag on its American adventure earlier this month, leaving Uber and Lyft to slug it out between themselves. Now, Hailo chairman Ron Zeghibe has said that Uber blocked potential investors by putting a caveat in their own investement terms: ‘You can invest in us, but only if you don’t invest in our rivals’, is the general gist of the claims. While Uber hasn’t commented on the claims, it’s not the most outrageous expectation – you would want your investors fully on board with you and not dividing their time and resources with your direct competitors, right?...



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The PS4 will soon let you share games with friends online, here’s how it works [video]

The PS4 is getting a system software update (v2.00) next Tuesday (October 28), and Sony has given gamers a glimpse of one of the key new features. First revealed back in August, Share Play is what Sony refers to as a “virtual couch,” insofar as it lets you invite friends to play games with you through the internet, even if they don’t own a copy of the game. You can share your screen so they can watch, hand over your controller so they can help, or give them access to a secondary controller to join in a multiplayer. But it’s...



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Hands-on with Basepro, a laptop stand with a built-in hard drive

Using laptops for our daily work keeps us highly mobile, but it does so at the sacrifice of hard drive storage and ergonomics. Crowdfunding project Basepro is trying to tackle both issues at once with its laptop stand, but after spending some time with a prototype, I found that it only solved the storage issue. Basepro is an anodized aluminum wedge with space for a hard drive inside and a four-port USB 3.0 hub along the edge. The hard drive is powered via USB, so you won’t need an extra power cable for the stand. Currently on Indiegogo, Basepro’s drive-less...



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