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Amazon confirms that it has acquired GameSparks
Ahead of GDC later this month, Amazon has confirmed an acquisition that speaks to its ambitions to do more in the area of gaming — and specifically through offering platform tools for the games developer community. The company has acquired UK- and Ireland-based cloud gaming platform GameSparks — a “backend as a service” for game developers…
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Facebook swings at Twitter with Breaking News label
Facebook’s algorithm is terrible at surfacing breaking news, often showing urgent posts hours or even days later when more facts have since emerged or the story has changed. This has made Twitter the default home for this content, but that position has weakened since Twitter implemented its own relevancy algorithm that brings up old tweets.…
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Google Search comes to iMessage
Google Search is now available within iMessage. In an effort to more deeply integrate Google’s search engine on iOS devices, the company announced today that its Search app for iOS has added an iMessage extension, allowing iPhone and iPad users to search the web, then quickly add those search results to their iMessage conversations. The extension…
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MoviePass CEO proudly says the app tracks your location before and after movies
Everyone knew the MoviePass deal is too good to be true — and as is so often the case these days, it turns out you’re not the customer, you’re the product. And in this case they’re not even attempting to camouflage that. Mitch Lowe, the company’s CEO, told an audience at a Hollywood event that…
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Bumble is banning guns from profile pictures
Dating app Bumble is joining the dozens of major companies that have decided to take the fight against gun violence into their own hands following a string of mass shootings and renewed discussions around gun reform. Starting immediately all profile pictures with visible guns and other deadly weapons like knives will be banned. Bumble is…
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Bumble is becoming the LA Clippers’ jersey sponsor
The latest company to sponsor an NBA team by putting a patch on a jersey is…Bumble, the female-led dating and networking app. The company’s logo will now be appearing on the jersey of the LA Clippers. The deal brings some serious brand recognition to the four-year old dating app, which is now adding between 75k-100k…
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Grabr gets $8M to connect travelers with luggage space with those longing for products abroad
You might get to actually save money while you’re traveling if you just leave some free space in your bag — or not pay for that travel at all — if Daria Rebenok’s plan plays out. As avid travelers, and ones longing for products from home they can’t get abroad, she and Artem Fedyaev decided to start…
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New cars from Fiat Chrysler and VW will come with up to 6 months of free Apple Music
Two major car manufacturers, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Volkswagen, announced today they will begin to offer free Apple Music subscriptions of up to six months to customers purchasing new vehicles with CarPlay starting on May 1, 2018. The offers are meant to help boost Apple Music subscribers, and arrive shortly after rival Spotify filed to…
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Target is expanding its Drive Up curbside pickup service nationwide
Drive Up is Target’s latest attempt to blur the lines between online ordering and brick and mortar. Customers order things through the company’s app, drive up to a store and employees will bring the purchases out to their car — the very literal embodiment of meeting customers halfway. After beta testing the offering in its…
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The day that changed your phone forever
There are a lot of links in this piece, many of which were difficult to resurrect on today’s web. Make sure you take the time to explore! I’ve also tried to avoid technical jargon, so even if you don’t know your Swift from a hole in the ground, you can still follow along. Touching the Future For…