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Name: Alcohoot
One-Liner Pitch: Alcohoot is a breathalyzer that attaches to your smartphone.
Why It's Taking Off: The device fits comfortably in a pocket or purse and accuracy is comparable to police-grade devices, plus, a companion app ensures you're empowered to make safer choices based on your blood alcohol content (BAC).
While serving in the…
Apple CEO Tim Cook is heading to Washington, DC on Tuesday, May 21st to testify before a Senate committee scrutinizing Apple's massive offshore cash hoard of about $100 billion, which the company doesn't pay US taxes on. But Cook is already going on the offensive ahead of the hearing, giving a rare interview to Politico today saying he will stand by the legality of his company's practices. “I can tell you unequivocally Apple does not funnel its domestic profits overseas,” Cook said, according to Politico.
Passbook users rejoice, as life is about to get a little easier. Skycore has announced support for cross-carrier delivery of Passbook passes via MMS. That means in the near future you will be able to send friends and family tickets, coupons and gift cards via a simple text message, and have them installed in Passbook on their phones. The MMS message arrives showing an image, which the receiver simply has to tap on to install the pass.
Services for pass creators include the ability to monitor…
Apps for the Pebble smartwatch are about to get a whole lot smarter. Today the company is releasing a new developer toolkit that will allow Pebble apps to fully communicate with a paired iOS or Android app. Until now, existing apps have been limited to the watch's basic functions, but this won't be the case going forward. If a developer builds a phone app and a complementary watch app, the watch can be used to control the phone, display detailed information pushed from the phone, and even launch…
Anyone in the UK on Vodafone hoping for some LTE soon will be disappointed, as their CEO has confirmed the carrier won't be switching on 4G until around September. This is in part due to the current iPhone 5 being incompatible with their proposed LTE network. Speaking to The Guardian, CEO Vittorio Colao said:
“We are convinced our own 4G will be better performing. We want to be able to launch it when it's really ready. End of the summer means when there is going to be a…
If you've been waiting for Ultima Forever, the new iOS version of Ultima from EA, then it's here for you (kind of). The app has been spotted over on the Canadian App Store, and if you have an account over there, you can go and download it right now. The Canadian App Store is often used as a beta testing ground for iOS apps, especially by EA, so the company is likely testing out the game and its services before releasing it worldwide soon…
The CW Network is bringing its shows to the Apple TV with a new app, reports Deadline. That makes it the first TV network to make its content directly available to viewers on the set-top box rather than through an intermediary like Netflix or Hulu. The network behind shows like 90210, Gossip Girl, and the Vampire Diaries will be launching the app sometime in the coming weeks, but no exact release date has been given.
The network announced its plans at its annual upfront ad sales…
OtterBox, a pioneer in smartphone case technology based in Ft. Collins, Colorado, today got a little bit larger. The company acquired LifeProof, a company that builds a line of waterproof cases that provide superior protection without adding a lot of bulk or weight to devices.
OtterBox will begin incorporating the LifeProof line into its own line of cases over the next month, and it appears that both companies will retain existing employees for the time being. OtterBox has about 650 employees worldwide, while LifeProof…
Twitter's video-sharing app, Vine, has been used for a variety of teasers, including a Wolverine movie, a TV series, and the new Daft Punk album. Keen to promote its Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft is taking to Vine to create some entertaining and unique six-second sequences. In a series of “not your father's browser” clips posted to its browser you loved to hate site, Microsoft is once again poking fun at the perceptions of its old web browser.
The vines depict a relationship between old Internet Explorer and his…
Apple sent three top executives to Washington, D.C. yesterday to testify in front a congressional hearing on Apple's tax practices. Making the journey from Cupertino were CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Phillip Bullock — Apple's head of Tax Operations.
The hearing went on for a few hours, and as one might expect from such a controversial issue, the lively debate became intense at times. Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., took an especially tough stance on Apple, calling its tax practices “unacceptable.”
Nevertheless, there were moments of levity we can…