Ever since Facebook announced it was buying Oculus VR -- maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset -- some gamers and especially those who backed the company when it was on KickStarter have criticized the company. Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe sat down at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York to explain why he thinks the buyout was a good idea, and Latin Post Tech was there to hear it.
Depending on where you live in the country, Spring is back, or Summer is on its way. In either case, it's that time again: time to break out the drop-resistant smartphone case and earphones and hit the track to really get started on that perennial New Year's resolution. Here are the five best fitness apps to get you going and to track your progress.
Every year, generations of geeks celebrate the impact of "Star Wars" on their lives. Why this day? Because "May the 4th Be With You." While the younger generation of "Star Wars" fans are just entering the work force, the older generation that grew up on the original trilogy have been around long enough for some of them to become scientists and engineers. Here is some "Star Wars"-inspired technology that either actually exists or is quickly on its way into our galaxy.
In the wake of leaks about new, weaker, Open Internet rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, and soon after Netflix had to pay two internet service providers for better access to their customers, Netflix has taken its concerns directly to the FCC. Meanwhile, Google, Yahoo, and other internet heavies may be planning a SOPA-like grassroots protest for net neutrality.
This week in social media, Foursquare split its app in two; Twitter tested a mute button for annoying followers; Snapchat added video calling; and Facebook announced a new direction for its social media business. It's time for Social Media Saturday!
After a year of learning about the U.S. National Security Agency's internet spying programs, at home and abroad, frustration has led major U.S. technology companies to defiantly change their transparency policies. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook have all announced they're updating their policies to inform users when the government requests a seizure of their data.
The Federal Communications Commission will propose new Open Internet rules supposedly meant to protect consumers and internet businesses later this month. They will do nothing of the kind, giving big broadband companies exactly the kind of anti-net neutrality power they've wanted for years, at a time when the concept of net neutrality desperately needs enforcement.
This spring is officially the season for mega-mergers. As T-Mobile looks to take over Sprint and cable-giant Comcast is trying to convince the public that merging with the country's second largest cable provider, Time Warner Cable, would be a good thing, AT&T has reportedly approached DirecTV about a possible buy-out.
At its F8 developer's conference on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled new products and policies geared towards making the world's largest social media site feel less intrusive, as well as making it more inclusive to mobile developers. The changes are part of Zuckerberg's efforts to shift the company towards a more "mature" outlook and attitude.
Twitter released its earnings report for the second quarter that it has been a publically traded company late Tuesday. The results beat expectations in several fiscal categories, but the outlook for the social media company remains grim.
The digital video recorder (DVR) is a wonderful invention, but it gets spoiled when you actually can't use it to record your shows because someone else in your household is monopolizing all the storage. This grave problem has almost reached epidemic proportions, according to a new nationwide survey by Verizon, which found that more than half of DVR users have a hog in their home.
The proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable (the nation's second largest cable provider) by Comcast (the first) has attracted criticism and consternation from media advocates, as well as some companies like Netflix and Charter. As of this week, you can Latino television giant Univision to the list of companies that are concerned about the merger.
Netflix has made it very clear that it doesn't think it should have to pay Internet service providers to get quality streaming service to an ISP's subscribers, going so far as to make a case for a new "strong net neutrality" that protects them (and presumably others) from such fees. Nevertheless, the company has made a deal with Verizon for better access.
This week, popular training app RunKeeper has released an iOS app for the less motivated users called Breeze. We're also recommending "doubleTwist", the closest thing to "iTunes for Android" and a web app called Netflix Roulette that will solve that common problem of Netflix paralysis.
Starting on Monday April 28, Netflix's instant streaming service will join the programming lineup for some cable subscribers in the U.S., with an official channel dedicated to the insurgent internet entertainment service. The move is a breakthrough for Netflix, which has been trying to make its popular video streaming more mainstream.
This week in social media, Facebook introduced two new products in its continued quest for dominance in everything. Pinterest added "Guided Search" (a very Pinteresty search engine), Instagram's Explore page is now more personalized, and Facebook's $19 billion buddy, WhatsApp, reached half a billion users. It's time for Social Media Saturday!
Net Mundial, a global internet governance conference being held this week in Brazil ended on Thursday with little concrete progress to show. Nevertheless optimistic participants representing a wide range of interests celebrated the constructive conversations that took place during the two-day event, which coincided with Brazil signing its groundbreaking "Internet Bill of Rights" into law.
On Thursday, Amazon released a relatively strong quarterly earnings report, with revenues and sales that were better than expected. But soon after, shares in the largest ecommerce company in the world dropped precipitously, down nearly 10 percent at the end of trading on Friday. What gives?
The Federal Communications Commission will release a proposal soon to reinstate its Open Internet rules in a new form, after a federal court struck down the current incarnation of the FCC's net neutrality-friendly rules. But the new rules may not not enshrine certain net neutrality principals, leading tech watchers and advocacy groups, including the National Hispanic Media Coalition, to preemptively condemn the changes.
The Federal Communications Commission will release a proposal soon on a new set of Open Internet rules to replace the net neutrality-friendly rules recently struck down by a federal court. But early leaks suggest the new replacement system is not so net neutrality-friendly, sparking a war of words between FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the tech community.
Facebook has made a couple of big moves in the past year, the first towards a multi-app mobile presence, and the second towards becoming more of a news source. While the multi-app strategy has garnered a lot of attention recently, the company is still going forward with plans to make, and break, more news, announcing on Thursday FB Newswire, a new platform for newsrooms.
The U.S. Agency for International Development's controversial 'Cuban Twitter' initiative tried to shift its social media program into the hands of Roots of Hope, a nonprofit organization for young Cuban-Americans, according to a new Associated Press report.
The public fight over Comcast video streaming fees, its possible Time Warner Cable merger, and Netflix just got more heated. On Monday, Netflix announced it would raise subscriber fees (as predicted, but only for new users), and simultaneously voiced strong opposition to the proposed Comcast buy-out of TWC.
Google Fiber is a relatively new, semi-experimental super-fast internet service provider that only a few cities in the U.S. have had the pleasure of experiencing so far, and other municipalities are bending over backwards to try to get Google's gigabit fiber internet. Now AT&T wants to play the same game with its fiber service, including in some of Google's prospective domain.
The Federal Communications Commission just divulged some of their plans to free up wireless spectrum in the U.S. If successful, the FCC's plan will allow for more open airwaves that could lead to better WiFi, Bluetooth, and wireless broadband innovation, but setting it up is not an easy task.
