This week saw headlines about the iPad Pro becoming available for pre-order, the New York strikedown of fantasy sports sites like FanDuel and DraftKings and a new Facebook app that could pose a threat to Twitter. Alex Wilhelm talked with The Next Web reporter Lauren Hockenson about why journalists are jumping ship on Bullish, and the Cribs crew visited the visually stunning HQ of Minted, an online marketplace of independent artists and designers. Stay in the know with these stories.
1. Matthew Panzarino reviewed the new iPad Pro, which became available to pre-order this week. He notes that the device is a powerful beast, pushing over 5.5M pixels at all times without lagging. In combination with the Pencil, its fluidity and precision are unmatched.
2. Another software company has filed to go public: Atlassian, the company behind enterprise-focused social products like Slack competitor HipChat, has filed an F-1 form with the SEC to go public on NASDAQ under the ticker “TEAM.”
3. YouTube launched its long-awaited music service YouTube Music. The enhanced, paid experience is free during a 14-day trail; after that, it’s $9.99 a month as part of the YouTube Red ad-free subscription. These are our first impressions of the new app.
4. T-Mobile announced a new feature called “Binge On,” which plays on the common consumer habit of binge watching on video streaming sites. The carrier will no longer count Netflix (and a few other video services like Hulu and HBO) against your data plan. But will others follow suit?
5. In-N-Out Burger is suing food delivery startup DoorDash, claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition. Basically, In-N-Out wants DoorDash to stop delivering their food because of concerns around quality, food handling and safety.
6. In the latest of the FanDuel/DraftKings scandal, the NY Attorney General dropped a bomb on daily fantasy sports sites – these two startups included. Sites like them have been categorized as “illegal gambling sites” and have been ordered to cease taking money from the residents of New York state. The official cease-and-desist notices have been delivered.
7. uBeam, the company that uses ultrasound to transmit power over the air to charge electronic devices wirelessly, released details about how far, how fast, and just plain how it can charge a phone without wires.
8. We went hands on with Facebook Notify, a new push notification news app that could replace Twitter.
9. Drew Olanoff introduced us to the LucidCam, a point and shoot VR camera that is ridiculously easy to use, looks great, requires no post-production by the user and will cost $299. Olanoff calls it “the future of consumer VR.”
10. Alex Wilhelm talked to Peggy Johnson, Microsoft’s new deal boss, on what it will take for the company to reach Silicon Valley. He wrote, “Cash-rich, profitable and sporting new leadership, the company wants to change its image in Silicon Valley.” Johnson will be the one pushing this change.
11. John Biggs talked to experts and broke down what exactly happens during a security breach in “So You’ve Been Breached.” The problem with breaches, ultimately, is that it is a snapshot of a business in flux.
12. Ron Miller wrote about how suddenly, every company is becoming a venture capitalist. At least this means there is no shortage of investment money available right now for a startup with a good idea.
13. Crunch Network contributor Justin Khoo wrote an open letter to Gmail, pointing out the quirks within the service that deter developers from working with email, and advising the service to fix whats broken before asking developers to innovate.
14. Guest contributor Tony Aube wrote about how no UI is the new UI, posing the question: “What if messaging could transform the way we interact with computers the same way it transformed the way we interact with each other?”
15. Pillow Talk, a wearable device that lets you stream the sound of your heartbeat to a loved one’s pillow, launched on Kickstarter. We spoke with the founder on her insane journey of bringing this device to market.
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