Instagram Stories Beats Snapchat at Its Own Game
So many apps have ripped off Snapchat’s popular Stories feature that it’s become something of a joke among mobile app developers. Even Snapchat itself is in on it, as the company proved with its April Fool’s Day-exclusive Instagram filter. But the laughter may be catching in Snap’s throat. The company’s most direct competitor Instagram Stories […]
Drone Sales Soar Dramatically Since Last Year
Just a few short years ago, drones only seemed to come up in conversations about the ethics of modern warfare. That era must seem far away to internet of things app developers witnessing the current drone boom. At this point, drones are popping up everywhere and doing a little bit of everything. Amazon’s much-hyped PrimeAir […]
Google Spotlights Fact-Checkers to Manage Misinformation
Last week, Facebook announced its News Integrity Initiative, another gesture toward fixing the internet’s misinformation epidemic. While the social media giant has received most of the flak for the explosion of fake news, NYC app developers are well aware that it’s not the only platform guilty of disseminating false information. As the search engine, Google […]
It’s Twitter vs the Government in a Battle Over Free Speech
As if President Trump’s relationship to tech wasn’t already fraught enough, Twitter announced yesterday that it is filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for attempting to unmask the anonymous user (or users) behind the @ALT_USCIS account. One of the several rogue government agency accounts that have popped up since the election to […]
Dogtown’s Rob Pope Will Speak at Internet of Things World
The market for internet of things devices is booming right now. In 2015, there were 15.4 billion IoT devices installed around the world; that number is expected to more than triple by 2021. People love the idea of a life made more efficient by a network of interconnected devices, but there are mounting concerns over […]
New Universal Music Group Deal Moves Spotify Closer to IPO
All the hype about the resurgence of vinyl and cassettes aside, the majority of revenues in the music industry now come from streaming. Since the early days of Napster, iOS app developers have heard the American music industry discussed as if it were on death’s doorstep, but streaming revenues have given it something of a […]
Lyft Leans Into “Woke” Image In an Attempt to Unseat Uber
As Uber struggles to shake the bad press that has come to define its year so far, its primary competitor Lyft is seizing its moment and trying to move out of a distant second place in the rideshare market. Ever since the #DeleteUber commotion in January, Lyft’s strategy seems to be to present itself as […]
Facebook Raids Snapchat’s Stories Feature for Its Main App
Facebook has not been subtle in its desire to cut into whatever edge Snapchat has in the startup world, blatantly copying the ephemeral messaging app’s Stories feature for Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Now the company’s mobile app development team is rolling out its take on Snapchat’s innovations on the latest update of the main Facebook […]
Self-Driving Car Crash Adds to the Pile-Up of Bad Uber News
Uber has spent the early months of 2017 in crisis, and from the look of things, that’s not changing anytime soon. App developers who once found inspiration in the unicorn’s impressive ascent now look on with a blend of horror and fascination as the controversies multiply. From the #DeleteUber controversy to the shocking revelations about […]
Senate Dismantles Obama-Era Internet Privacy Protections
For app developers concerned with privacy, yesterday was a dark day. Senate Republicans passed a bill eliminating privacy regulations imposed on broadband providers by the FCC during the final months of the Obama presidency. Those protections would have required ISPs to get consent from the consumer before selling off personal information to a third party. […]