Category Archives: Blog

There are two plausible reactions to a new Instagram campaign from Burger King.

The first: Dope, burgers! 

The second: Dang, brands are about to clog up my Stories feed.

Spanish Burger King used Instagram Stories’ polling feature to allow customers to build their own Whoppers — and then get promo codes and actually redeem them. After choosing their ingredients, customers received a code that would let them pick up their custom burgers. Based on the most popular choices, Burger King España is now offering the “Instagram Whopper” for a limited time. Read more…

More about Advertising, Instagram, Burger King, Instagram Stories, and Tech

The drama is heating up after Tesla CEO Elon Musk called a bunch of analysts’ questions boring.

Well, this certainly isn’t boring: One of the analysts who asked about the electric car maker’s Model 3 reservations at last week’s unhinged earnings call wrote an open letter to Musk defending his “boneheaded” question. Musk had refused to answer it and moved along to several questions from Galileo Russell, who has a YouTube channel and is a retail investor.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak, who wrote the letter, said that he’s still all about Tesla, but, look, he’s supposed to ask questions: “My responsibility is to be well informed when I discuss Tesla’s stock with current and potential investors. A financial results call is an opportunity for Wall Street to re-calibrate our expectations.” Read more…

More about Tesla, Elon Musk, Investors, Analysts, and Tech

As concern over the very real dangers posed by screen addiction grows, tech companies are slowly beginning to do what was once unthinkable: create features that are meant to actively discourage people from using their services.

Google became the latest tech giant to undertake such an effort this week, when it announced its upcoming Android P update will launch with a slew of features specifically designed to combat the most addictive qualities of our devices. 

Soon our phones will be able to politely remind us when we’ve spent too much time binge watching, automatically switch on “Do Not Disturb” is some situations, and help us focus on “meaningful engagement” (whatever that means).  Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Artificial Intelligence, Google I O, and Google Assistant

 It was the “mm-hmm” heard round the internet. 

At Tuesday’s Google I/O keynote talk in Mountain View, California, CEO Sundar Pichai introduced the gathered developers to Google Duplex — a version of Google Assistant that will make actual phone calls for you and, in the process, trick the person on the other end of the line into thinking she’s talking to a real-life human. Yes, verbal mm-hmm ticks included. 

While currently limited to certain tasks like booking appointments, we shouldn’t expect AIs like Duplex to remain that way. As Google Principal Scientist Greg Corrado made clear at a Wednesday keynote addressing the future of artificial intelligence, what we saw Tuesday is only the beginning.  Read more…

More about Google, Artificial Intelligence, Google Io, Google Io 2018, and Google Duplex

Listening to music can have a profound effect on your state of mind — which could be part of the reason we buy headphones like they’re candy. Listening to music (or podcasts, or audiobooks) can be an integral part of getting through that daily commute or transatlantic flight.

But if the incessant sound of jet engines, the distracting laugh of a coworker in the next cubicle, or the deafening bang of nearby construction seems to prevent you from reaching that euphoric place, the best solution is to invest in some noise-cancelling headphones. 

More about Headphones, Earbuds, Bose, Noise Cancelling, and Mashable Shopping

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Yeah, it’s 2018 and this is still happening. 

Monica Lewinsky called out a faux pas on Twitter on Wednesday after she was uninvited from an event. 

The former White House intern and anti-bullying activist says she was invited to an event about social change — considering she’s an ambassador for several bullying prevention organizations and a board member on another, she is an ideal guest. But when former President Bill Clinton planned to attend, Lewinsky’s invitation was allegedly revoked. 

According to the Huffington Post, the offender was Town & Country Magazine, which held its Philanthropy Summit on Wednesday. Read more…

More about Twitter, Metoo, Culture, and Web Culture

It’s the Magic Shell from hell.

A truck containing 12 tons of liquid milk chocolate overturned on a Polish highway on Wednesday, coating the road in sticky candy goop. Now, crews are struggling to clean it all up because it’s hardening onto the asphalt. Fun!

According to the New York Times, the secret weapon for this type of situation is hot water, which is now being sprayed onto the street to re-melt the chocolate. Cleanup is expected to take several hours, which we bet people in cars are thrilled about.

More about Europe, Weird News, Culture, and Web Culture

Uber is flying high above its street-level ride-hailing business.

At its annual Elevate summit in Los Angeles Tuesday, the rideshare company detailed its aviation goals to launch electric flying taxis within the next five years. 

The service, dubbed UberAir, aims to move rides to the sky, so Uber is partnering with the U.S. Army’s research arm and NASA to make it happen.

Uber’s partnership with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), within the Army Research Lab, is focused on researching the tech needed to propel the company’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.  Read more…

More about Nasa, Uber, Aviation, Flying Cars, and Us Army

Get ready to re-learn how to use Android.

That’s because, after two years of very boring updates, Google’s making major changes to its Android operating system, and one in particular may take a lot of getting used to: switching between apps.

With Android P, app switching (what Google officially calls “Overview”) is unlike any previous version of Android. 

Instead of having its own dedicated button, you now swipe up from the bottom of the screen. And the list of apps is displayed horizontally, instead of stacked vertically. 

In short: It’s now almost identical to the iPhone X. Read more…

More about Tech, Google, Android, Apps And Software, and Iphone X