David Lidsky's Blog, page 2931
July 30, 2015
Hot On Hello Barbie's Plastic Heels, ToyTalk Now Lets Kids Chat With Thomas The Tank Engine
A new app, Thomas and Friends Talk to You, is for youngsters who are down with the very useful train and his pals.
If you've ever spent even a few minutes with a toddler, you are likely familiar with the global juggernaut that is Thomas and Friends.
July 29, 2015
Facebook Rakes In $4 Billion, Thanks To Our Smartphone Addiction
The social network's 39% increase in revenue last quarter was largely driven by mobile.
Facebook held its second-quarter earnings call Wednesday afternoon, and mobile continues to be a huge focus for the social networking giant. For the first time, Facebook broke $4 billion in quarterly revenue. Of that, $3.8 billion came from advertising revenue specifically, with an ever-growing number of those ad impressions and clicks happening on our smartphones.
Yelp Chairman Resigns, Stock Plummets 28%
The review site's earnings call revealed growing user numbers—along with its struggle to attract advertisers.
PayPal cofounder Max Levchin has resigned his post as chairman of Yelp's board after a disappointing second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
Amazon's Dash Buttons Are Here, And You Can Buy Them For $5
Order a Tide Dash Button, and you'll never run out of detergent again.
It's official: Amazon's new Dash Buttons, which attach to household appliances so Prime members can buy refills with a single click, are now available for purchase.
Google Translate Can Now Decipher Signs In 27 Languages
If you're traveling this summer, Google Translate may come in handy when you inevitably get lost.
Google Translate's real-time translation tool, first introduced in January, instantly transcribes a sign from a foreign language to your own when you point your phone camera at it—and now, the feature has expanded to cover 27 languages. Through the standalone Translate app, users can translate signs in tongues ranging from Catalan and Indonesian, to Slovak and Ukrainian.
Yahoo Wants to Make Video Chats More Like Texting
It's up to us to decide if Livetext is thrilling or terrible.
It's easy to imagine how all of those video calls ended up in classic works of science fiction: In a future where communicating via live video is an option, their authors must have wondered, who would choose to write or use the phone?
Healing Injuries Could Be Better Thanks To This 3-D Printed Cast
Fiberglass casts may soon be relics of the past.
When Scott Summit tore a ligament in his arm he knew there was a better way to heal than spending six months trapped in a fiberglass cast from his biceps to his knuckles. The senior director of functional design at 3D Systems—a 3-D printing behemoth—and founder of Bespoke, a company that developed prosthetics and braces, Summit naturally turned to technology to find a better way.
For Windows, The Party Is Over
A new version of Windows once meant a star-studded extravaganza. But it's harder to drum up excitement for smaller, gradual updates.
"Start Me Up!" blared the commercial for Windows 95, the breakout version of the operating system that debuted almost exactly 20 years ago. The Rolling Stones anthem marked the introduction of the Start menu that Windows 8 killed and Windows 10 revives. But the marketing push behind Windows 95 reached far beyond a 30-second spot. Microsoft held a huge tent party at its campus and paid to light up the Empire State Building in the colors of the Windows logo. Windows went on sale at the stroke of midnight at computer retailers such as CompUSA and Egghead—many of which have aged even less well than that software.
Why Netflix Is Spending $5 Billion To Win The Fight For Your Screens--And How It Plans To Do It
At the Television Critics Association's event this week, Netflix pimped A-list actors and a slew of new projects. Oh, and: Keith Richards.
A few years ago, journalists attending the Television Critics Association press tour might have slept in had a streaming service kicked off the event.
Today in Tabs: OMG Stop Lion
Seriously though is that poem, like, a hoax?
Brosé is nothing new, gang. We just called it Peen Au Noir back in the day.
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