Instagram Stories is widening its lead over Snapchat and rolling out new features to keep everyone shooting video. Instagram Stories now has 250 million daily active users, up from 200
Category: Latest Update
Spotify now lets you build playlists with friends inside Messenger
Earlier this year, Spotify introduced a new Messenger bot that let users share song clips with friends. Today, the company is expanding on that bot’s functionality to now allow a
Twist is Slack without the annoying distractions
When Slack implemented threaded conversations, it seemed like the holy grail for internal communications. Slack finally lets you talk about multiple things in separate conversations. But Slack remains a real-time
Pinterest’s camera search Lens gets a new look
Pinterest’s camera search tool, Lens, is getting a makeover today with some updated including the ability to zoom in and out and tap to focus, and making it easier to
Snake fungal disease identified in wild British snakes for first time
Caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, snake fungal disease (SFD) can lead to symptoms including skin lesions, scabs and crusty scales, which can contribute to the death of the infected
Record UK rainfall in winter 2013-14 caused by tropics, stratosphere and climate warming
Using carefully tailored atmosphere/ocean model experiments, the research team found that a combination of unusual tropical conditions, the stratospheric polar vortex, and climate warming were behind the extreme rainfall, which
Single electron’s tiny leap sets off ‘molecular sunscreen’ response
This infinitesimal leap sets off a response that stretches one of thymine’s chemical bonds and snaps it back into place, creating vibrations that harmlessly dissipate the energy of incoming ultraviolet
Intensive blood pressure lowering benefits patients with chronic kidney disease
The appropriate target for blood pressure in patients with CKD and hypertension has been unclear. To examine the issue, researchers analyzed information from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT),
Study debunks claim of greatly improved survival rate for gunshot victims
The purported increase in survival rate had been credited to improvements in emergency treatment and medical care of critically injured patients. But on close analysis, researchers found problems in the
Snapchat launches location-sharing feature Snap Map
Snapchat’s next big feature wants to get you to meet up with friends in real life rather than just watching each other’s lives on your phones. Snap Map lets you
Periscope lets you buy and send Super Hearts that broadcasters can cash in
Periscope has a new revenue stream and a new way to attract the best live video content to its Twitter-owned app. Today Periscope launches Super Hearts — in-app purchase virtual
Snapchat acquires social map app Zenly for $250M to $350M
Snapchat’s newest feature, Snap Map, is based on its latest acquisition, social mapping startup Zenly. TechCrunch has learned that Snapchat has bought Zenly for between $250 million and $350 million
Facebook changes mission statement to ‘bring the world closer together’
“Making the world more open and connected” had one fundamental flaw: it didn’t push for any specific positive outcome from more connection. Technically, it could encompass digital voyeurism via the
Australia wants Five Eyes to squeeze tech firms on encryption
The political rhetoric against strong encryption continues to crank up. Reuters reports today that Australia will be pushing for greater powers for countries to tackle the use of encrypted messaging
Heavy-drinking mothers linked to their child’s path toward the justice system
The study made use of linked administrative data from Western Australia. It used records of women who had a birth recorded on the Midwives Notification System between 1983 and 2007.