Technology is connecting people like never before, but the language barrier remains one very analogue problem that's not so easily bridged by digital tech. That doesn't mean that big companies aren't trying though, and Microsoft-owned Skype just launched a preview of its Skype Translator program on Monday.
This week's featured startup is Couple Care, an app and service designed to help guide couples through the fertility process -- whether they want to have babies or not.
Just as hackers from the Internet forum 4Chan were reportedly using a possibly major vulnerability in Apple's iCloud system to leak private nude photos of celebrities, a somewhat distantly-related hacking group in Latin America have been using their skills to shake up politics in Peru in a major way.
Latin America, led particularly by Brazil, is continuing rapid growth in its online economy, according to a new study by Internet Retailer. And the boom in ecommerce is good news not only for Latin American Internet retailers, but also for some prominent U.S.-based companies as well -- especially Amazon.com.
The World Cup 2014 hasn't been great for Brazil -- in many ways. But with so many visitors flooding into the country, and an internet-savvy Latin American population, hospitality has become a big force for change in the last month in Brazil, particularly for small-time room rental through the popular lodging app Airbnb.
In Chile, startups are sprouting all over the place, but the country has a problem, too. four out of five startups successfully launched in Chile will leave the country after finishing the six month program. A third of them move to the U.S.
Mexico lost against the Netherlands on Sunday, and for many Mexicans, the loss was viewed on their smartphones. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 56 percent of Mexico's smartphone users planned on following the 2014 World Cup on their mobile device.
When the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil begins in São Paulo on Thursday, the kickoff of the Opening Ceremony will be something you've literally never seen before: A brain-controlled robotic bionic exoskeleton suit will enable a paraplegic Brazilian teen to get up from his wheelchair and make the ceremonial first kick of the tournament.
Brazil has been preparing for the FIFA 2014 World Cup, after hosting the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013, and while continuing to prepare for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. That's a lot to handle - is Brazil ready for kickoff this week?
Google may have released unflattering diversity figures recently (in a move that at least got the conversation started about the lack of minorities in Silicon Valley), but the tech giant is at least trying to bring about change. One initiative, a continuing partnership with Latino startup incubator Manos Accelerator, has just announced its second round of startups for its program.
Last week, a new website started by a Cuban dissident blogger began publishing, was hacked, and then banned. But now it's reportedly been unbanned as the Cuban internet, still far from modern or open, continues to make tiny steps toward opening up in terms of Cuban access, censorship and connectivity to the rest of the world.
eBay, one of the largest online marketplaces with 145 million active buyers globally, has made online shopping easier for Latin Americans by adding Spanish and Portuguese versions of its website.
Yelp's expansion into Latin American continued with their launch in Argnentina. For Yelp, the occasion was compared to Argentina's game-winning goal by Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Android owns more than 70 percent of the smartphone operating system market in the South American countries of Brazil and Argentina, according to a new report from global analytics firm Kantar Worldpanel.
