After finally issuing a version of its TWC TV app for Android tablets and phones (sans-live TV streaming, for now) Time Warner Cable has finally made its iOS version, which launched last March on the iPad, compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. There's no additional charge for the app which allows for the aforementioned live TV viewing (as long as you're on your home WiFi) and DVR scheduling, and the accompanying blog post reveals the available list of channels has reached 196. We should probably mention that the app is unlikely to play nicely with any jailbroken iOS devices it encounters, so some extra hackery may be in order to get things working there. Otherwise, Time Warner customers can grab it now from iTunes at the source link below.[Thanks, Jason]
Picky eaters can be tough to deal with regardless of their age, but new research from Cornell University suggests that using a specific number of colors in a dish might help boost appetite in fussy eaters. More »
We love Recon's MOD system for Ski-goggles, especially now that it's open to developers. Starting soon, an avalanche of new winter-sports enthusiasts will be able to wear the multi-sensor based statistics system atop their eyeballs, thanks to a new partnership with both Scott and Smith. The GPS touting in-goggle display will be unveiled in the new family of eyeware at a slew of outdoor sports events this month. Of course, if you're still unsure the tech is up to your hardcore ski routine, have a word with these guys. Want to know more? We thought so. Slide on past the break to read the full PR.
There's a number of live TV-streaming apps out there for cable subscribers, and Comcast has added its AnyPlay service to the mix. Part of the Xfinity TV iPad app, AnyPlay allows subscribers with Xfinity HD Triple Play to access live cable programming at home via the iPad. Those who are traveling can't access their cable but can utilize Xfinity's On Demand services.
The service is restricted to the Denver and Nashville area for now with further rollouts planned. Xfinity's mobile app also just received an update with the ability to send free texts using the app and an Xfinity home phone number.
Check-in enthusiasts can embrace creative eating (read: eat something other than lunchtime burritos) thanks to a new integration of SinglePlatform to the Foursquare mobile app and Foursquare Explore, the location service’s desktop app.
SinglePlatform is a start-up that helps local businesses market themselves online, and it has more than 250,000 menus in its database. Thanks to that database, Foursquare desktop users will now have access to over 13 million individual food items in major U.S. cities. The official Foursquare blog tells us there’s more to come.
Menus aren’t available yet on the Foursquare mobile app, but users can access them by going to foursquare.com and m.foursquare.com on their mobile browsers.
The menus option will be a feature that will holds Foursquare above locale-based review sites including Yelp, Urbanspoon and Google-acquired Zagat, at least for now. Currently, none of these websites have a menu option. Other online menu directory resources include Menupages — which was acquired by Seamless — has over 35,000 menus. Seamless competitor GrubHub also recently acquired Dotmenu, which carries over 250,000 menus.
For now, Foursquare users may click through to the menus section of the right-hand side of venue pages. There’s also a price-filtering action available.
Tell us what you think about this new Foursquare integration of menus? How will mobile access to menus help you in your day to day?
He has built companies. He has sold companies. He has angel invested in a ton of Boston startups. But what future generations will remember about Dave Balter has nothing to do with the previously listed accomplishments. Dave will long be remembered as the namesake of Dave Balter Tech Prom.
Dave is one of Boston’s best and most accessible startup mentors. Even though he is the CEO of BzzAgent, serves on the Global Executive Team of dunnhumby, sits on the advisory boards of the Wharton Future of Advertising Project, MITX and the Boston Boys & Girls Club Marketing and Communications Committee, is a mentor with Tech Stars, is Executive Chair of Smarterer, Venture Advisor at Boston Seed Capital and is an investor and/or advisor to startups including FitnessKeeper, Promoboxx, Relay Rides, eLaCarte, ProctorCam and HelpScout… He makes tons time to help startups!
Feel free to get in touch with Dave if you need any help or are looking to get a great angel investor involved with your project.
Who needs extra hardware to add mobile payments to iOS and Android? Not Card.io, who's unveiled a new SDK for it's visual card processing system alongside a payment app allowing anyone to accept payments from other users. Having already launched its scanner software development kit last year, the new SDK will open up the company's payment process to third-party developers. The new payment app works across Android and iPhone platforms, with no need to register as a merchant to access the feature. Although there are no registration charges, payments made through either PayPal or your bank account will have an additional 3.5 percent plus 30 cents nudged on top of each transaction. Going dutch has never been more (begrudgingly) easy.
TED has posted an “emergency” TED Talk called “Defend Our Freedom To Share (Or Why SOPA is a Bad Idea)” by Internet writer and NYU professor Clay Shirky. Shirky gave his address yesterday at the New York offices of TED, the company that produces a popular series of conferences and lectures about “ideas worth spreading.”
Shirky begins the 14-minute video with a story about a bakery that printed children’s drawings on sugar plates for their birthday cakes. This became a problem because kids like to draw cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse.
“It turns out to be illegal to print a child’s drawing of Mickey Mouse onto a plate of sugar,” he says.
Shirky then summarizes the evolution of online content law leading up to the Stop Online Piracy Act and its sister bill, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). He tells how the two controversial bills were preceded by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 and Audio Home Recording Act of 1992.
The video not only explains what SOPA and PIPA want to do, but also serves as a call to action for opponents of the legislation to preserve their ability to share, remix, and discuss.
“Because the biggest producers of content on the Internet are not Google and Yahoo — they’re us –we’re the ones getting policed,” he tells the audience. “The real threat to the enactment of PIPA and SOPA is our ability to share things with one another.”
In a column written for the Guardian, Shirky argues that the bills would create a “consumption-only” Internet.
Many websites are protesting SOPA and PIPA today by going dark, while SOPA’s author, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), has scheduled a debate for February and called out Wikipedia for participating in the blackout.
What do you think about Shirky’s TED Talk? Let us know in the comments.
Shortly after Reuters announced its web TV programming iniative with YouTube, news emerged that AOL’s Huffington Post Media Group is developing an even more robust online video offering for its own website.
According to Forbes — and our own source confirms this — the Huffington Post is planning to launch a 24-hour live programming channel called the Huffington Post Streaming Network, or HPSN.
Think of it as the Huffington Post‘s cable news network, minus the cable subscription. Whether the content will be up to cable news quality remains to be seen.
The Huffington Post‘s existing editorial staff of 300+ will offer live commentary throughout the day, and the footage will later be cut into clips to be embedded throughout the site. Presumably we can expect to access the stream through the Huffington Post‘s apps as well. Viewers will also be privy to editorial meetings to see the newsgathering process at play, Forbes says.
At present, both the Wall Street Journal and Fox News offer live online programming in the style of cable news, but only during the workday.
Mario Ruiz, VP of communications at AOL, did not confirm any details about the video channel but said that further information would be announced at a press event in New York City on Feb. 2.
Fans of skateboarding, surfing and BMX biking have a variety of new ways to feed their addictions to the extreme after the video sharing site introduced a set of action sports channels on Wednesday.
According to the official YouTube Blog, the added channels won’t just show the coolest kick-flips, grinds and ollies, though. Many will take viewers behind the scenes with some of the genre’s biggest stars, offering how-to demonstrations, special glimpses of the professional competition circuit and other lifestyle features.
One channel sponsored by action sports icon Tony Hawk even turns the spotlight back on fans with a series called “One in a Million,” in which amateur skateboarders will compete with one another for sponsorships from major brands. Hawk’s RIDE channel will also feature daily tips on pulling off successful tricks, as well as tutorials on photography and videography techniques. In another series, called “Dissent,” Hawk will leverage his celebrity for interviews with a variety of musicians, artists and actors.
Meanwhile, Red Bull: The Red Bull Channel will add more than a dozen shows looking at the the day-to-day lives and competitions of some of the world’s most popular athletes from a variety of sports. Motocross legend Travis Pastrana, skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and trial bike star Danny MacAskill will be among those followed.
Alli Sports and Network A round out YouTube’s group of new channels that focus on the extreme. Alli Sports will bring a variety of tips, profiles and analysis. Network A plans to focus on the personalities behind the tricks.
Sports videos — from highlights of world-class pros to grainy shots of future phenoms — have long been among YouTube’s most popular content. Now action sports will add to the fun.
Which new channels are you excited about? What are your favorite sports-centered YouTube channels already? Let us know in the comments.