The consumer version of BBM is shutting down on May 31
13 hours ago
Permalink
Android

The consumer version of BBM is shutting down on May 31

It might be time to move on from BBM. The consumer version of the BlackBerry Messenger will shut down on May 31. Emtek, the Indonesia-based company that partnered…

Continue Reading →

Alibaba will let you find restaurants and order food with voice in a car
17th April 2019
Permalink
Android

Alibaba will let you find restaurants and order food with voice in a car

Competition in the Chinese internet has for years been about who controls your mobile apps. These days, giants are increasingly turning to offline scenarios, including what’s going on…

Continue Reading →

Waymo launches robotaxi app on Google Play
17th April 2019
Permalink
Android

Waymo launches robotaxi app on Google Play

Waymo is making its ride-hailing app more widely available by putting it on the Google Play store as the self-driving car company prepares to open its service to…

Continue Reading →

Google turns your Android phone into a security key
11th April 2019
Permalink
Android

Google turns your Android phone into a security key

Your Android phone could soon replace your hardware security key to provide two-factor authentication access to your accounts. As the company announced at its Cloud Next conference today,…

Continue Reading →

A powerful spyware app now targets iPhone owners
9th April 2019
Permalink
Android

A powerful spyware app now targets iPhone owners

Security researchers have discovered a powerful surveillance app first designed for Android devices can now target victims with iPhones. The spy app, found by researchers at mobile security…

Continue Reading →

The Google Assistant on Android gets more visual responses
6th April 2019
Permalink
Android

The Google Assistant on Android gets more visual responses

About half a year ago, Google gave the Assistant on phones a major visual refresh. Today, the company is following up with a couple of small but welcome…

Continue Reading →

Fleksy’s AI keyboard is getting a store to put mini apps at chatters’ fingertips
4th April 2019
Permalink
Android

Fleksy’s AI keyboard is getting a store to put mini apps at chatters’ fingertips

Remember Fleksy? The customizable Android keyboard app has a new trick up its sleeve: It’s adding a store where users can find and add lightweight third party apps…

Continue Reading →

Gmail turns 15, gets Smart Compose improvements and email scheduling
2nd April 2019
Permalink
Android

Gmail turns 15, gets Smart Compose improvements and email scheduling

Exactly 15 years ago, Google decided to confuse everybody by launching its long-awaited web-based email client on April 1. This definitely wasn’t a joke, though, and Gmail went…

Continue Reading →

India’s Mswipe raises $30M to grow its smart point-of-sale terminal business
2nd April 2019
Permalink
Android

India’s Mswipe raises $30M to grow its smart point-of-sale terminal business

Mswipe, an Indian fintech company that develops point-of-sale terminals for merchants, has pulled $30 million in new funding as it bids to triple its reach to 1.5 million…

Continue Reading →

Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute
30th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to the TechCrunch transportation newsletter; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch. This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt…

Continue Reading →

Mozilla’s free password manager, Firefox Lockbox, launches on Android
27th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Mozilla’s free password manager, Firefox Lockbox, launches on Android

Mozilla’s free password manager designed for users of the Firefox web browser is today officially arriving on Android. The standalone app, called Firefox Lockbox, offers a simple if…

Continue Reading →

Android users’ security and privacy at risk from shadowy ecosystem of pre-installed software, study warns
26th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Android users’ security and privacy at risk from shadowy ecosystem of pre-installed software, study warns

A large-scale independent study of pre-installed Android apps has cast a critical spotlight on the privacy and security risks that preloaded software poses to users of the Google…

Continue Reading →

Law enforcement needs to protect citizens and their data
21st March 2019
Permalink
Android

Law enforcement needs to protect citizens and their data

Over the past several years, the law enforcement community has grown increasingly concerned about the conduct of digital investigations as technology providers enhance the security protections of their…

Continue Reading →

Razer hooks up with Tencent to focus on mobile gaming
21st March 2019
Permalink
Android

Razer hooks up with Tencent to focus on mobile gaming

Razer is summoning a big gun as it bids to develop its mobile gaming strategy. The Hong Kong-listed company — which sells laptops, smartphones and gaming peripherals —…

Continue Reading →

Opera’s VPN returns to its Android browser
20th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Opera’s VPN returns to its Android browser

Opera had a couple of tumultuous years behind it, but it looks like the Norwegian browser maker (now in the hands of a Chinese consortium) is finding its…

Continue Reading →

Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe
20th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe

Google is widely expected to be handed a third antitrust fine in Europe this week, with reports suggesting the European Commission’s decision in its long-running investigation of AdSense…

Continue Reading →

Huawei has built an Android alternative in case US tensions increase
14th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Huawei has built an Android alternative in case US tensions increase

Tensions between the U.S. and Huawei show no sign of easing. Last week, the electronics giant announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the government over an…

Continue Reading →

New Android adware found in 200 apps on Google Play
13th March 2019
Permalink
Android

New Android adware found in 200 apps on Google Play

Security researchers have found a new kind of mobile adware hidden in hundreds of Android apps, and downloaded more than 150 million times from Google Play. The malware…

Continue Reading →

Google introduces educational app Bolo to improve children’s literacy in India
6th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Google introduces educational app Bolo to improve children’s literacy in India

Google is expanding its suite of apps designed for the Indian market with today’s launch of a new language-learning app aimed at children, called Bolo. The app, which…

Continue Reading →

Google gives Android developers new tools to make money from users who won’t pay
6th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Google gives Android developers new tools to make money from users who won’t pay

Google today is introducing a new way for Android developers to generate revenue from their mobile applications. And no, it’s not subscription-related. Instead, the company is launching a…

Continue Reading →

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute
4th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch . This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt into…

Continue Reading →

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute
4th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch . This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt into…

Continue Reading →

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute
4th March 2019
Permalink
Android

Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch . This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt into…

Continue Reading →

5G phones are here but there’s no rush to upgrade
2nd March 2019
Permalink
Android

5G phones are here but there’s no rush to upgrade

This year’s Mobile World Congress — the CES for Android device makers — was awash with 5G handsets. The world’s No.1 smartphone seller by marketshare, Samsung, got out…

Continue Reading →

Polestar unveils its all-electric response to the Tesla Model 3
27th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Polestar unveils its all-electric response to the Tesla Model 3

Volvo’s standalone electric performance brand Polestar introduced Wednesday its first all-electric vehicle — a five-door fastback that is gunning for the Tesla Model 3. In the past few…

Continue Reading →

Ford partners with geocoding startup what3words
26th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Ford partners with geocoding startup what3words

Ford is partnering with what3words to give drivers access to the startup’s novel addressing system. Under the partnership, drivers will be able to connect to the free what3words…

Continue Reading →

Google will bring its Assistant to Android Messages
25th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Google will bring its Assistant to Android Messages

It’s only been a few weeks since Google brought the Assistant to Google Maps to help you reply to messages, play music and more. This feature first launched…

Continue Reading →

More password-less logins are coming to Android
25th February 2019
Permalink
Android

More password-less logins are coming to Android

The FIDO Alliance and Google today announced that Android (from version 7.0 up) with the latest version of the Google Play Services is now FIDO2 certified. At first…

Continue Reading →

The Google Assistant gets a button
25th February 2019
Permalink
Android

The Google Assistant gets a button

Traditionally, the Google Assistant always lived under the home button on Android phones, but as the company announced at MWC today, LG, Nokia, Xiaomi, TCL and Vivo are…

Continue Reading →

Apple is offering interest-free financing to boost iPhone sales in China
22nd February 2019
Permalink
Android

Apple is offering interest-free financing to boost iPhone sales in China

Apple is looking to get over its sales woes in China by offering prospective customers interest-free financing with a little help from Alibaba. Apple’s China website now offers…

Continue Reading →

Facebook will shut down its spyware VPN app Onavo
22nd February 2019
Permalink
Android

Facebook will shut down its spyware VPN app Onavo

Facebook will end its unpaid market research programs and proactively take its Onavo VPN app off the Google Play store in the wake of backlash following TechCrunch’s investigation…

Continue Reading →

Facebook will shut down its spyware VPN app Onavo
22nd February 2019
Permalink
Android

Facebook will shut down its spyware VPN app Onavo

Facebook will end its unpaid market research programs and proactively take its Onavo VPN app off the Google Play store in the wake of backlash following TechCrunch’s investigation…

Continue Reading →

Facebook adds new background location privacy controls to its Android app
20th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Facebook adds new background location privacy controls to its Android app

Facebook is updating its privacy settings on Android to make it easier for users to control what location data is sent to and stored by the company. In…

Continue Reading →

Europe agrees platform rules to tackle unfair business practices
14th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Europe agrees platform rules to tackle unfair business practices

The European Union’s political institutions have reached agreement over new rules designed to boost transparency around online platform businesses and curb unfair practices to support traders and other…

Continue Reading →

Is Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?
10th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Is Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?

The German Federal Cartel Office’s decision to order Facebook to change how it processes users’ personal data this week is a sign the antitrust tide could at last be…

Continue Reading →

Opera adds a free VPN to its Android browser app
8th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Opera adds a free VPN to its Android browser app

Opera became the first browser-maker to bundle a VPN with its service, and now that effort is expanding to mobile. The company announced today that its Android browser…

Continue Reading →

Google intros a pair of Android accessibility features for people with hearing loss
4th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Google intros a pair of Android accessibility features for people with hearing loss

Google this morning unveiled a pair of new Android features for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. As the company notes in a blog post this…

Continue Reading →

Daily Crunch: Google launches Live Transcribe
4th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Daily Crunch: Google launches Live Transcribe

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am…

Continue Reading →

Google brings Chrome OS Instant Tethering to more Chromebooks and phones
4th February 2019
Permalink
Android

Google brings Chrome OS Instant Tethering to more Chromebooks and phones

Tethering your laptop and phone can be a bit of a hassle. Google’s Chrome OS has long offered a solution called Instant Tethering that makes the process automatic, but…

Continue Reading →

First China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in Indonesia
1st February 2019
Permalink
Android

First China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in Indonesia

Asia’s venture capital-backed startups are gunning for Starbucks . In China, the U.S. coffee giant is being pushed by Luckin Coffee, a $2.2 billion challenger surfing China’s on-demand…

Continue Reading →