The Apple Maps launch fiasco led to the iOS public beta program
In an interview with Fast Company, Apple executives looked back at the launch of the Maps app and its current state. The company has been hard at work on improving the mapping app, and it’s interesting to see the learnings from the launch fiasco. In particular, Apple Maps bugs led to today’s public beta program for major iOS releases. The year was 2012. Scott Forstall introduced… Read More
via Romain Dillet
Romain Dillet – TechCrunch
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French startup Whyd started off as a social network for music lovers. Going forward, the company is going to focus on releasing a connected speaker. For existing users, the social network isn’t going away. Whyd is open-sourcing it and still hosting it at Openwhyd.org. Launched in 2012, Whyd has been looking at ways to improve music discoverability. The social network let you bookmark… 
Get ready for a massive MacBook Pro update. Apple is planning to unveil new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops with retina displays soon. According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is building a completely new pro laptop with many new features, such as a Touch ID sensor and an OLED mini screen above the keyboard. If you’ve been following MacBook Pro rumors,… 
What happens when you mix sound bites from French artists and politicians with eclectic music ranging from electro swing, nu-disco, remixes of classical French hits, lounge music and more? You get more than ten million plays on SoundCloud, play your music on a yacht near the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy and become a popular music brand in France. 
Service-level agreements (SLAs) are key when it comes to choosing a service that is going to play an important part for your own service. Cloud hosting services have an SLA, software-as-a-service products have an SLA, even airlines have SLAs. Software-as-a-service startup Algolia just revamped its SLA, and it’s interesting to see how the company is wording its policy. SLAs are simple: if… 
September 7 is going to be a busy day. Sony sent out invites for a press event in New York. The company will likely unveil the successor to the PlayStation 4. On the same day, Apple could also hold its usual iPhone launch event for the rumored iPhone 7. The event is called “PlayStation Meeting,” and the company plans to “share details about the PlayStation business.”… 
Kids, let’s nerd out for a minute and look at the names in the ending credits of Stranger Things. If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the Netflix original series and obsessively talking about it with literally everyone you know. I’m not going to spoil the show, but there are a few things that stood out for me and I wanted to share them all with you. 
Apple released a brand-new ad just in time for the Olympics. The video is all about diversity and happiness, and it features many different photos and short clips of people smiling and enjoying life. Maya Angelou is reading her own poem “Human Family” to narrate the ad. Apple will air it for the first time during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies tomorrow. Compared to previous… 
This might sound like inside baseball, but I’ve been using Ulysses for all my writing for a few months now. It’s a rock-solid, well-designed writing app for iOS and macOS. And now, the app lets you publish on any WordPress website with a native export screen, among other things. 
Popular password manager 1Password is trying a new distribution model. Instead of letting you pay for the 1Password app on your Mac or PC and pay again to upgrade to a new major version, AgileBits now has a new plan — for $ 2.99 per month, you can download and use all the 1Password apps for as long as you subscribe. 
Chinese tech company Cheetah Mobile has acquired French startup News Republic for $ 57 million. News Republic is a news aggregator — think about it as a sort of Flipboard, Apple News or RSS reader on steroids. Cheetah Mobile is the company behind optimization tools for computers and phones, such as Battery Doctor and Clean Master. News Republic has worked with around 1,650 news… 
You can’t say you haven’t seen this coming. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said again and again that the iPad Pro is the company’s vision of the future of computing. And today, Apple is confirming this vision with a new ad. 
Illumina is one of the leading companies when it comes to DNA sequencing. And today, the company is announcing that Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller is joining the board of directors. 
Step by step, Sketchfab is turning into the best platform to view 3D models using a virtual reality headset. First, the company added a VR button on every browsing page, then it released apps to support all VR headsets and showcase a few models. Now, the New York-based startup is making it easier to move around 3D models. 
Meet Krawd, a French startup that wants to rethink the way advertising agencies work. Like in other industries, Krawd thinks that it’s more efficient to build a marketplace than build a centralized, traditional company. Krawd is all about connecting the right freelancers with the right clients in this specific industry. 
A bit more than a year after Automattic acquired WooCommerce, the popular service that turns any WordPress website into an e-commerce store is now integrating with Square. While this kind of integration doesn’t sound groundbreaking on paper, it has bigger implications when it comes to bridging online stores with offline purchases. 
If you’re tech-savvy and a serious writer, chances are you already know about Scrivener. The popular writing app has been available on OS X and Windows for years now. And it is now available on iOS for $ 19.99 as well. Scrivener is a flexible and powerful writing app that makes it easier to write long-form stuff — think about it as a sort of writing studio. 
After a months-long bidding process and many layoffs, Yahoo has finally found a buyer. Verizon (which owns AOL, which owns TechCrunch) is officially acquiring Yahoo’s core business for $ 4.8 billion, which includes Yahoo’s advertising, content, search and mobile activities. 
Right after launching in France, Apple Pay is now available in Hong Kong as well. As usual, only a few partnering banks are part of the launch, but the company expects to roll out support for more cards and stores over the coming months. 
Are you ready for the performance-enhancing drugs TV special called the Olympic Games? It looks like Apple is ready for the marketing branding extravaganza as the company is releasing limited edition bands for the Apple Watch. GQ first spotted these new bands. Unfortunately, you’ll have to book a flight to Rio to buy one. 
Apple has told TechCrunch that Pokémon Go has broken an impressive App Store record. While the game was only available in a few countries at the time, the app has attracted more downloads in the App Store during its first week than any other app in App Store history. 
That didn’t take long. Just a day after releasing the third iOS 10 developer beta, the second public beta of iOS 10 is now available to download. The second public beta of macOS Sierra was also released today. And of course, you won't have to pay $ 99 a year for a developer account. But things are still rough at this stage so I wouldn’t recommend installing it on your main… 
Berlin-based startup Number26 is trying to reinvent the bank. This might sound crazy, and that's why the startup has processed step by step. After partnering with Wirecard for the banking back end, attracting 200,000 users and raising tens of millions of dollars, the company now has a full banking license to operate in Europe. 
British startup Revolut wants to make it easier to spend and send money in all kinds of currencies around the world. It’s not TransferWise, it’s not Number26 — Revolut sits between all these things. And the company is raising a $ 10 million Series A (£7.75 million) with Balderton Capital leading the round. 
Pokémon Go isn’t a global phenomenon just yet as the game has only been available in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. But the game is preparing for its European launch. Pokémon Go is now available in Germany on the iPhone and Android — other European countries should follow soon. 
DigitalOcean has become a popular cloud hosting provider over the years. But many customers have relied on third-party solutions to host large sets of data. DigitalOcean is launching block storage so that you can keep everything on their servers. 
Apple has been working on an unscripted TV series for a few months now. The TV show should be about the app economy, but it’s unclear how Apple is going to distribute it. Apple just announced an open casting call. 
What is the iPhone 7 going to look like? While nobody knows for sure, some leaks are starting to emerge with a common trend — the iPhone 7 is going to look an awful lot like the iPhone 6s. Based on today’s leak coming from Nowhere Else, there are just a few changes from the iPhone 6s casing. So let’s find out what’s new. 
It’s here. The first public beta of iOS 10 is now available to download. You can download it, even your neighbor can download it. And the good news is that you won’t have to pay $ 99 a year for a developer account. But remember, this is a beta. If you can’t wait to see iOS 10 in action, Apple’s public beta program is for you. The company wants you to try out its new… 
When you think about filing forms and requesting information from various administrations, chances are you get a headache. But it shouldn’t be like that. When you create an account on Spotify using Facebook Connect or request an Uber in just a few taps, it’s perfectly seamless — technology isn’t working against you. It’s clear that public services should use the… 
Curioos has experimented with other formats in the past, but its core product hasn’t changed much over the past few years. The New York-based startup sells art prints from digital artists. And it’s a great way to decorate your home or office. Curioos is taking this one step further with two additional formats. These new formats aren’t a gigantic departure as they’ll… 
BMW is teaming up with Mobileye and Intel to work on its first fully autonomous self-driving car, which it plans to ship by 2021, confirming Bloomberg’s report. Compared to existing self-driving technology, this new generation of cars is supposed to be able to drive itself from start to finish. This isn’t just about helping you when you’re on the highway. BMW and its… 
