Tag: promise
Frore’s active cooling chips promise to double laptop CPU performance
Daily Crunch: Twitter backpedals on CEO’s promise, permanently bans user who tracked his private jet
Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
Daily Crunch: Twitter backpedals on CEO’s promise, permanently bans user who tracked his private jet by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch
Sony handhelds might be dead, but on its 18th birthday the promise of the PSP is as alive as ever
If you’re old enough to remember when Sony announced that it was getting into the handheld video game system thing, you’ll remember how exciting it was. At that time, in 2003, Sony was at the absolute height of its gaming powers, with the PS2 an absolutely undisputed dominator of the market. The idea that Sony would now encroach on the last corner of the market still held by Nintendo was thrilling.
It wasn’t just the capitalist nightmare of all-out corporate warfare for the pockets and backpacks of gamers that made the PSP special, though – it was that Sony was promising something different. There’d been other contenders in the gaming handheld market, from Sega to Nokia, but all had followed pretty much the same playbook as Nintendo, putting out either games built around handheld gimmicks or slimmed-down versions of known franchises running perhaps a generation or two behind what was hitting consoles at the time.
Sony, buoyed by its experience with the Walkman, wanted to create a device for adults – for that same audience it had successfully courted with the PS2. What you got was a surprisingly powerful console that quite often felt like a PS2, even though it wasn’t. It delivered numerous big-budget, broad-feeling experiences; the utter antithesis to what Nintendo was doing over on the Game Boy and DS.
Microsoft’s 10-Year Call of Duty Promise to Sony Would Reportedly Include PlayStation Plus
China petitions WTO as more countries promise semiconductor sanctions
Google made good on its private browsing promise for Pixel users
Good things come to Pixel users who wait.
After teasing private browsing at its Pixel event this past October, Google’s finally delivered. Today, the search giant dropped a bunch of new features for its line of smartphones, including that built-in VPN for its Google One cloud storage service. Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro users will now have access to this VPN through the Google One app at no extra cost and with no subscription necessary.
VPN by Google One works by encrypting your internet activity and hiding your IP address. If you’re using a public network or simply don’t want your location tracked, a VPN gives you that protection. In the Google One app, users can toggle “Use VPN” to instantly protect their browsing data and location. Apple has a similar tool for iPhones called Private Relay that similarly comes with a subscription to its iCloud+ or Apple One services, but it’s not free for iPhone 14 users. That said, Private Relay only protects user traffic within the company’s own web browser, Safari.
In addition to the VPN announcement, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro now have a module for checking security and privacy all in one place; a Clear Calling feature which enhances the caller’s voice and reduces background noise; and an improved Recorder app which can identify and label speakers in the recorded transcript.
Labour to promise biggest ever transfer of powers
Japan team-mates went to school together and made World Cup promise in year book
Hey, Google: It’s time to step up your Pixel upgrade promise
Look, it’s no big secret that I’m a fan of Google’s Pixel program.
I’ve personally owned Pixel phones since the first-gen model graced our gunk-filled pockets way back in 2016. And Pixels have been the only Android devices I’ve wholeheartedly recommended for most folks ever since.
There’s a reason. And more than anything, it comes down to the software and the overall experience Google’s Pixel approach provides.
- Part of that is the Pixel’s interface and the lack of any unnecessary meddling and complication — including the absence of confusing (and often privacy-compromising) duplicative apps and services larded onto the phone for the manufacturer’s business benefit and at the expense of your user experience.
- Part of it is the unmatched integration of exceptional Google services and exclusive Google intelligence that puts genuinely useful stuff you’ll actually benefit from front and center and makes it an integrated part of the Pixel package.
- And, yes, part of it is the Pixel upgrade promise and the fact that Pixel phones are still the only Android devices where both timely and reliable software updates are a built-in feature and guarantee.
[Psst: Got a Pixel? Any Pixel? Check out my free Pixel Academy e-course to uncover all sorts of advanced intelligence lurking within your phone!]