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Google says it removed 700K apps from the Play Store in 2017, up 70% from 2016
The relatively open nature of Android has made it a target for malware authors and other bad actors of all stripes who often try to get their wares onto your phone through both the official Google Play Store, third-party app stores and any other way they can think of. For most users, though, the main…
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Rally Road lets you buy and sell equity shares in classic cars
Want to put your money in something like a 1955 Porsche or 1985 Ferrari but don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend? Meet Rally Road. The New York-based startup lets investors buy a real equity stake in a classic car for as little as $50. The company just closed a $2.9M seed round…
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Cake raises $5 million for a swipeable mobile browser
A startup called Cake has an ambitious plan to take on incumbents like Chrome and Safari to build a better browser for mobile devices. The company announced this morning it has raised $5 million for those efforts from Peak Ventures, Pelion Ventures and Kickstart Seed Fund. Cake was founded in late 2016 in Provo, Utah by…
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Snapchat enhances Bitmoji with 1.9 septillion avatar options
Now you can customize your Snapchat Bitmoji avatar with 40 skin tones, 50 hair colors, 50 hair treatment options and more so it looks just like you no matter what you look like. Today Snapchat launches Bitmoji Deluxe, a more configurable version of its cartoony avatars that embraces the growing diversity of its users. The…
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Child health advocates call for Facebook to shutter Messenger Kids app
The slings and arrows of outrage keep flying at Facebook. Today a coalition of child health advocates has published an open letter addressing CEO Mark Zuckerberg and calling for the company to shutter Messenger Kids: Aka the Snapchat-ish comms app it launched in the US last December — targeted at the under 13s. At the time…
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Virtual travel assistant Mezi acquired by American Express
American Express announced today that it has acquired Mezi, the AI-based virtual travel assistant, for an undisclosed amount. After the deal closes, Mezi will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Express. Its technology is already powering AskAmex, a personal concierge app for cardholders that launched its pilot program last year. Mezi users send requests for flights,…
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Uber’s India rival Ola is expanding to Australia in first overseas move
2018 is the year for ride-hailing expansions. Fresh from China’s Didi moving into Brazil and Taiwan, Ola in India is taking the first steps to move into the Australian market which expands its rivalry with Uber. Ola — which counts Didi as an investor — announced today that it has started recruiting drivers in Sydney, Melbourne and…
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Instagram won’t comment on rumored video calling feature
Instagram copied the ‘Snap’ and now it might be going after the ‘chat’. A video calling feature was spotted in a non-public version of Instagram by WhatsApp industry blog WABetaInfo. It would let users who’ve begun an Instagram Direct message thread to video chat with each other. That could let people spend even more time…
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SuperPhone is building a Salesforce for texting
The address book is the last, worst default app you rely on. It’s time it got as smart as the rest of our phones. That’s the idea behind SuperPhone. Email isn’t how you build relationships anymore. Yet most business software sanctifies the spammy inbox when it’s the immediacy of text messaging that keeps people in touch…
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US military reviewing tech use after Strava privacy snafu
The U.S. military has responded to privacy concerns over a heatmap feature in the Strava app which displays users’ fitness activity — and has been shown exposing the locations of military facilities around the world — by saying it’s reviewing the rules around usage of wireless devices and apps by its personnel. At the weekend, Australian…
