SNAP, Spectacles, and the Social Media App Clone Wars
SNAP, the IPO from social media platform SnapChat, is set to arrive sometime in the next few weeks. SnapChat, for their part, has been pulling some odd moves around the launch, setting the valuation lower than most Bay Area app developers expected. The company also seems keen to prove to investors that they can and […]
What Does Betsy DeVos Mean For EdTech and STEM Education?
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s controversial pick for Secretary of Education recently appointed by the skin of her teeth, has a shaky relationship with tech — to put it lightly. After making comments during a committee hearing that suggested guns should be in schools to defend from grizzly bear attacks, the Internet lit up like a Christmas […]
Huawei will Launch a Google Now AI Assistant Competitor
Huawei isn’t the new kid on the block anymore — in fact, it’s the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. While not the go-to smartphone for San Fran app developers, it’s a household name worldwide thanks to their affordable, dependable hardware. The company is aggressively working towards claiming the second place in the next year, […]
Finally, A “Turk” That Works for Bootstrapped Startups
Algorithms and machine learning are pretty much a given for serious mobile startups these days. Unfortunately, machine learning takes data, and data isn’t always available — at a startup-friendly price point, anyway. A new startup out of India called Playment aims to solve that problem, and their clever solution deserves a spot in any mobile […]
Mobile App Developer Salaries Across the Globe: 2017 Edition
When you look at industry stats, you want them to come from a source that lives and breaths the industry. For tech salaries, Hired is a good choice, with a huge wealth of data driven by their go-to international career connection platform. Their 2017 study was released this week, and it shows some intriguing data […]
Are Users Ready to See Ads in their Personal Chats?
Are users ready for ads to enter the personal chat space? Facebook seems to think so, as they recently announced they’ll be integrating ads with their messaging platform in small tests in Australia and Thailand. The move has sparked both approval and outrage from different corners of the app development industry. Predictably, many iOS app […]
Brands Are Creating Their Own Branded Voice Assistants
Move over, Siri — there’s a new cheery-voiced assistant vying for user attention. Starbucks is the latest national brand to launch into the voice app space, and they’re doing it in a novel way with the creation of a Starbucks-specific voice assistant. Similar to ordering from a business via Google or Siri, the Starbucks voice […]
Emoji Library Getting a Lunar Update in 2017
If there’s one thing iPhone app developers can all agree on, it’s that emojis are the best thing to happen to phone keyboards since touch screens. So the tech community is looking forward to some much-needed updates in 2017. Proposals for dinosaurs, holiday themes, and of course more cats have fingers crossed in Silicon Valley. […]
Lyft vs Uber Debate is More Than Business Politics
Personal politics and business deals aren’t the only issues on the line anymore when it comes to the fabled fight between Uber and Lyft, the two biggest ride-sharing apps in the US (among other countries worldwide). Bay Area app developers have been following the conflict for years, but the issue just took a sharp turn […]
Paris Takes on London as FinTech Capital in Wake of Brexit
This time last year, few developers would think of the Parisian tech scene when they thought of FinTech and mobile banking app development. In the wake of Brexit, the tech community is starting to see that change. Just this week, Paris held it’s first FinTech Forum event, highlighting exciting work going on in the French […]