Apple Swift Student Challenge winners for 2024
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 by Austin Harris
Apple’s annual Swift Student Challenge recognizes the best in student coding, and this year, it has added a new category to its ranks. Out of 350 winning submissions, 50 students have been named Distinguished Winners for building app playgrounds that stand out for their innovation, creativity, social impact, or inclusivity. These 50 students have been invited to a...
Microsoft outage caused by software update from CrowdStrike
Tuesday, July 23, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
On July 18, a software update released by CrowdStrike, an independent cybersecurity firm, began to affect IT systems worldwide. Although Microsoft was not directly responsible for the incident, the impact on their ecosystem prompted the company to take immediate action to support their customers.
Microsoft outage caused by software update from CrowdStrike affect...
GameMaker free access sparks wave of new users
Thursday, July 18, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
More aspiring young game developers than ever are starting their game design journeys with GameMaker after access to the platform was made free for non-commercial users to create and share games late last year.
The latest GameMaker user survey has found that the percentage of new 13-17-year-old users has rocketed by two-thirds (63%) since access was made free. At the...
OpenAI acquires Rockset to enhance data capabilities
Monday, July 15, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
OpenAI has acquired Rockset, a company that specializes in real-time analytics databases, for almost $200 million. The acquisition has drawn attention and various reactions from influencers on the social media platform "X", revealing the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
OpenAI acquires Rockset, the real-ti...
Rise in cyberattacks is alarming folks
Friday, June 28, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
A recent study has uncovered a startling rise in cyberattacks from 2022 to 2023. Throughout 2023, the United States experienced an alarming 3,205 data breaches, marking a dramatic 78% surge from the 1,801 incidents reported in 2022.
The study conducted by data collection experts SOAX utilized data from the Identity Theft Resource Center on the number of data vi...
Token Trek user engagement platform launched by The Radix Ecosystem
Thursday, June 6, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
The Radix Ecosystem has launched a quest-focused user onboarding initiative called Token Trek, aimed at increasing community engagement and on-chain transactions. Built by Dmany, a social infrastructure startup empowering web3 enthusiasts to earn crypto rewards, Token Trek provides users with opportunities to explore the Radix ecosystem whilst being rewarded for doing s...
TikTok and Instagram stock popularity revealed by new study
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
A new study conducted with the help of global fintech group Plus500 examined each company within the S&P 500 by analyzing the volume of content generated and the corresponding views on TikTok and Instagram. Subsequently, the stock prices were compared between January 3rd, 2023, and April 8th, 2024, to assess the performance of S&P 500 stocks favored by traders o...
Social engineering takeover attacks are on the rise
Thursday, April 18, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
OpenSSF and the OpenJS Foundation (home to JavaScript projects used by billions of websites worldwide) are alerting open-source project maintainers of social engineering takeover attacks, following new attack attempts they’ve witnessed similar to the XZ Utils incident.
The OpenJS Cross Project Council received suspicious emails, imploring OpenJS to update one o...
Social media misinformation could impact the 2024 election
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
As Congress moves to potentially ban TikTok in the U.S., Media.com, a new profile-based network, unveils a study showing that 70 percent of social media users are moderately to extremely concerned that misinformation will impact the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. Respondents were also inclined to hold social media companies accountable for misinformation and hate...
GPT app store revenue and API insights
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
GPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer." It refers to a class of artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI that use transformer architecture for natural language processing tasks. These models are pre-trained on vast amounts of text data and can generate human-like text based on the input they receive.
It has been two months since...
TikTok ban: A developers guide
Monday, March 18, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
In the event of a comprehensive prohibition of TikTok across the United States, the ramifications for the digital ecosystem would be substantial, necessitating immediate and strategic responses from both the developer community and the platform's extensive user base. This scenario would require a multifaceted approach to compliance, with developers in particular fac...
Conversational AI platform Loora to break down language barriers
Monday, March 4, 2024 by Richard Harris
Loora announced that it raised $12M in a Series A financing round from lead investor QP Ventures, with participation from new investor Hearst Ventures and existing investors Emerge and Two Lanterns Venture Partners, among others. The new funding, which comes just eight months after Loora’s launch from stealth with a $9.25M seed funding round, will enable the compa...
Physical exercise prescription apps research findings
Wednesday, February 28, 2024 by Richard Harris
In a context in which physical exercise is considered a key factor in healthy aging, a group of researchers led by the physiotherapist at the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili health complex Luis Soto, working with experts in digital health at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), examined the mobile applications for exercise available in the leading app stores. Their obj...
Tom Brady NFT sale sparks warning to consumers from experts
Wednesday, February 28, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
An expert has warned those considering purchasing an NFT off the back of the Tom Brady $40.7k sale, as NFT marketplaces saw $38 million stolen by scammers last year.
The findings, pulled together by Smart Betting Guide, analyzed a database recording crypto scams and exploits to identify the most vulnerable platforms and blockchains over the last year - with NFT marke...
Gecko edge computing from Akamai takes to cloud computing
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
Akamai Technologies, the cloud company has unveiled plans to embed cloud computing capabilities into its massive edge network. Akamai’s Generalized Edge Compute (Gecko) advances Akamai’s strategy to be the cloud computing platform for companies that want to deliver better experiences by running workloads closer to users, devices, and sources of data.
Akam...
Frostpunk Beyond the Ice opens early access
Monday, February 5, 2024 by Freeman Lightner
Com2uS, in collaboration with NetEase and 11 bit studios, has opened Early Access for Frostpunk: Beyond the Ice on Google Play and Apple App Store for players living in the US, UK, and Philippines. Fans of the original Frostpunk, which has sold more than 3 million copies since its launch in 2018 and was a nominee for both the British Academy Film Awards and BAFTA Game A...
AI marketing automation from Act On Data Lake
Thursday, February 1, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
Act-On Software is helping marketers harness the power of data and improve customer engagement with a robust Data Lake, functioning as a private Customer Data Platform (CDP) within Act-On’s customer-beloved marketing automation (MA) solution.
As martech stacks become increasingly complex, data extensibility is critical. Act-On’s Data Lake allows for ...
Open source AI trends for 2024 according to Eclipse Foundation
Thursday, December 21, 2023 by Richard Harris
Each year I usually like to make a few predictions about where the software industry, open source, and Eclipse Foundation projects are headed. This year is going to be a little broader, as some large trends are going to impact us in ways that should be discussed and understood.
Government regulation will impact the software industry
The first trend is that for the...
Future of digital communications according to Sendbird
Wednesday, December 20, 2023 by Richard Harris
Over the last year, human-to-machine interactions skyrocketed almost overnight with the launch of ChatGPT. These interactions were as intelligent and personal as ever, and the hype cycle for generative AI, large language models, and next-generation chatbots has stayed in hyperdrive.
Today, we’re experiencing the biggest paradigm shift since the Internet Dot.com...
AI cybersecurity impacts according to NetLib Security
Monday, December 18, 2023 by Richard Harris
This is an easy call to make: NetLib Security predicts that Artificial Intelligence - Generative AI - will continue to heavily impact the world of cybersecurity, upping the game for defensive players, while giving cybercriminals more tools on the offensive side.
2023 was a year in which AI seemed suddenly to be everywhere. Although AI is not a new field, ChatGPT and ...
AIGC marketing will increase in 2024 says Mobvista
Thursday, December 7, 2023 by Richard Harris
Embrace technological change: the great popularity of AIGC in recent years has brought great influence and change to the marketing industry. The application of AIGC can improve the efficiency, degree of personalization, and creativity enhancement of enterprise marketing. Utilizing these advanced technologies, companies can better meet customer needs and improve market c...
PGC London 2024 celebrates 10 year anniversary
Thursday, November 30, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Pocket Gamer Connects will celebrate its 10th anniversary this upcoming January at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024. Hosted at the city's familiar Brewery venue, this conference will be the ultimate knowledge-sharing and networking event for the games industry.
Starting in the UK in 2014, the Pocket Gamer Connect event series has transformed from its modest...
Mobile cramming scheme halted by FTC
Thursday, November 30, 2023 by Richard Harris
The Federal Trade Commission has obtained orders with the four remaining individual defendants and their affiliated companies in a mobile cramming scheme that the agency says bilked consumers out of more than $100 million through bogus charges added to their mobile phone bills.
The proposed settlements with Darcy Michael Wedd and Phwoar, LLC.; Fraser Robert Thompson ...
AI software testing explained by Perforce
Thursday, November 30, 2023 by Richard Harris
Stephen Feloney from Perforce explains the strategies and techniques for providing test data within an agile shift-left approach, how to identify and address bottlenecks in the testing process, the biggest opportunities for AI to impact on software testing, how AI generates data faster and makes testing more through, how BlazeMeter is helping testing teams provision and...
Generate AI videos with Creative RealityTM Studio mobile app
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 by Freeman Lightner
D-ID has announced the launch of its popular Creative RealityTM Studio as a Mobile App. Available on Google Play and iOS, the app increases access for existing and new users to create videos of digital people from a single image with accompanying scripts in 120 languages.
The desktop version of Creative RealityTM Studio already boasts more than 150 million video...
Virtual field trip exploring XR from Discovery and Verizon
Thursday, October 26, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Discovery Education and Verizon today announced a new virtual experience 'Bridge to the Future: A Virtual Field Trip into Extended Reality' showing students in grades 6-12 the possibilities of the immersive world. This virtual field trip builds upon Discovery Education’s immersive learning suite of resources, including a multi-year partnership with Ve...
Forge beta launches to reward gamers for their achievments
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 by Freeman Lightner
Forge, the video game platform that connects and rewards gamers for their gaming achievements and ongoing play has opened to players in beta. The platform announced a $11 million seed funding round, led by Makers Fund, BITKRAFT Ventures, and Animoca Brands, with participation from Hashkey Capital, Polygon Ventures, Formless Capital, and Adaverse. Forge’s...
Cost per like for paid posts is less than expected says Thumzup
Tuesday, October 17, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Thumzup Media Corporation ("Thumzup" or the "Company") has announced that the estimated cost per like for paid posts* on its platform in August 2023 is $0.76, less expensive than the publicly-reported average Cost Per Like on major social media advertising platforms.
The Thumzup mobile app, which is available for download in the App Store and Goog...
The mobile app market is still growing to hit 571 billion by 2030
Monday, October 16, 2023 by Richard Harris
The increasing status of other mobile devices and smartphones, the rising demand for mobile apps in various industries, such as healthcare, gaming, education, and retail, the growing adoption of mobile payment and other mobile commerce solutions, the increasing use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in mobile apps. The mobile app market is also expected to ...
TikTok sister app remains major money spinner for ByteDance
Friday, September 29, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
While TikTok continues dominating the social media space as the fastest-growing app in the market's history, its sister app, Douyin, remains the major money spinner for Chinese tech giant ByteDance.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, as the highest-grossing iPhone app globally, Douyin grossed $372 million in July or nearly 30% more than TikTok.
Ti...
Youtube Shorts has grown 33 percent in a year says OnlyAccounts
Thursday, August 31, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Over the past few years, the social media giants have been battling to win the short video war as the global demand for this type of content surged to never-seen highs. Although still far behind Facebook and Instagram, as the top two names in the short video market, YouTube Shorts has also seen impressive user growth.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, Y...
Influencer platform Infuse unlocks opportunities for advertisers
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Fluent, Inc. announced the launch of Infuse, a proprietary influencer platform designed to help brands reach incremental audiences through the trusted voices of creators.
Led by a team of influencer marketing veterans, Infuse connects brands with a growing community of creators, influencers, and affiliates eager to promote exclusive brand offers. Streamlining the par...
3D social app Peer is available now
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Peer Inc. has announced the launch of a new social app that the company describes as the ultimate global launchpad for next-generation digital experiences. The Peer app, now available for iOS, is built on a proprietary ecosystem that promises to offer new ways to create, interact and explore.
"All the world’s a game and Peer makes everyone a player. Get re...
Influencer marketing solution CreatorFuel lands from AdParlor
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
AdParlor recently announced the launch of CreatorFuel, its new fully managed influencer offering. With CreatorFuel, brands can now unlock the full potential of influencer marketing to fuel their growth and connect with their target audience in a more authentic and impactful way.
In today's digital landscape, influencer marketing has become an essential strategy f...
Web3 adoption driven by Cronos Labs and Protocol Labs
Tuesday, July 18, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Cronos Labs announced a partnership with Protocol Labs, the open-source research and development laboratory that builds protocols, tools, and services to radically improve the internet. As part of the collaboration, Protocol Labs will provide startups within Cronos’ Accelerator Program with the resources needed to develop innovative Web3 applications within t...