Maze turns your InVision prototypes into flexible testing tools https://ift.tt/2J0nZxF Meet Maze, a startup building a user interface testing tool for your app prototypes. Maze is a simple web-based service that lets you turn InVision and Marvel files into UX tests. While most designers work with InVision and Marvel, it’s hard to turn those designs into a quantitative test. Maze isn’t a video recording tool and doesn’t require you to watch video footage. It isn’t a new prototyping tool either as the startup wants you to keep using InVision and Marvel. Maze can record a user path from a web browser on desktop or mobile without having to install anything. After setting up your test, you can share a link with a bunch of users. When you open this link, you get clear instructions telling you what you’re supposed to do (“find the nearest Lebanese restaurant” or “add John as friend” for instance). After each test, Maze automatically shows you the next one so you can keep going. Developers then get a dashboard with a clear overview of the different tests. You can see the success rate, the time it takes to do something and the screen areas that get a lot of taps. You can also look at individual tests. You can use Maze for simple A/B tests by sending two different designs to different groups and comparing the results. Thousands of designers have tried the service so far, including people working for Amazon, Airbnb, Uber and Shopify. The company has raised a $470,000 pre-seed round with Partech and Seedcamp (£350,000). Maze uses a software-as-a-service approach with a limited free plan and multiple paid subscriptions. I played with the product for a few minutes and it’s a polished experience. You wouldn’t expect that from such a young startup. While I’m not a designer, I think many designers are probably going to use it regularly. [gallery ids="1643670,1643671,1643672"]Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 22, 2018 at 04:19AM
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Announcing the last judges for the TC Startup Battlefield Europe at VivaTech https://ift.tt/2IDIXz3 VivaTech is starting in a couple of days, which means TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield Europe is also starting on Thursday. So let me introduce you to the last batch of judges that will come to Paris for the event. If you haven’t been to TechCrunch Disrupt, the Startup Battlefield is arguably the most interesting part of the show. Before everybody started doing a startup competition, there was the Startup Battlefield. Companies like Dropbox, Fitbit, N26 and Yammer all launched on the TechCrunch stage. And we’re bringing talented investors and founders to judge the startups. Here’s the third round of judges (see part 1, part 2 and part 3). Roxanne Varza, Director, Station FRoxanne Varza is the Director of Station F, which is the largest startup campus worldwide, backed by Xavier Niel. She is also involved in the European Commission's European Innovation Council (EIC) and is on the board of Agence France Presse (AFP). Prior to her current role, Roxanne was the lead for Microsoft’s start-up activities in France, running both Bizspark and Microsoft Ventures programs for 3 years. She was also Editor of TechCrunch France from 2010-2011 and has written for several publications including Business Insider and The Telegraph. In April 2013, Business Insider listed her as one of the top 30 women under 30 in tech. She has also been listed in additional rankings by Business Insider, Vanity Fair and Le Figaro, The Evening Standard and more. Roxanne also co-founded StartHer (ex Girls in Tech Paris) and is the co-organizer of the Failcon Paris conference. More recently, she co-founded Tech.eu, a European tech media backed by Dave McClure, Adeo Ressi, Daniel Waterhouse and more. Prior to TechCrunch, Roxanne worked for the French government’s foreign direct investment agency helping fast-growing startups develop their activities in France. Roxanne has spoken, moderated, mentored and judged numerous startup events and programs throughout Europe and also helps European startups with content and communications. Roxanne is trilingual and holds degrees from UCLA, Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics. She is also an epilepsy advocate. Keld van Schreven, Co-Founder, KR1Keld is co-founder of KR1, UK’s leading crypto investment public company. First investors in Melonport, Funfair, Rocketpool and Etherisc. Keld is advisor to IXLedger and previously co-founder of several web startups since 1995. Brent Hoberman, Co-Founder, firstminute capitalBrent Hoberman is chairman and co-founder of Founders Factory, an ambitious corporate backed incubator/accelerator based in London, and also of Founders Forum, a series of intimate annual global events for the leading entrepreneurs of today and the rising stars of tomorrow. Brent is a co-founder and was founding chairman of Smartup, Grip & made.com, a leading European direct-from-factory consumer homewares retailer. Most recently, Brent co-founded firstminute capital, a London-based pan-European seed fund, backed by some of the world's top entrepreneurs. Brent co-founded lastminute.comin April 1998, was CEO from its inception and sold it in 2005 to Sabre for $1.1bn. Technology businesses he has co-founded have raised over $500m. Brent sits on the Advisory board for LetterOne Technology (a $16bn investment fund), the Oxford Foundry and the UK Government Digital Advisory Board. He is a board member of The Economist, a YGL and one of the Prime Minister's Business Trade Ambassadors. Brent was awarded a CBE for services to entrepreneurship in the 2015 New Year's Honour's List. Yann de Vries, Partner, AtomicoYann is a Partner at Atomico, based in London, where he works on the sourcing, evaluation, negotiation and due diligence of new investment opportunities. Yann focuses on technology in advertising, logistics and transportation, and healthcare, and works with several Atomico portfolio companies including Jobandtalent, Teralytics, GoEuro and Lilium. Yann joined Atomico from Redpoint e.ventures (RPeV), one of Brazil’s leading venture capital funds in Brazil, where he was a Managing Director and co-founder, leading investments in Farfetch and Gympass. Prior to starting RPeV, he was the head of corporate development for Cisco in EMEA and Latin America, and spent five years in Silicon Valley working in a start-up and venture capital. Yann began his career in engineering and operating roles at large tech companies across Europe and emerging markets, including Hong Kong and Egypt. Yann holds an MSEE from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Yann is fluent in English and French, and proficient in German and Portuguese. Sonali De Rycker, Partner, AccelSonali De Rycker focuses on consumer, software and financial services businesses. She led Accel’s investments in Avito (acquired by Naspers), Lyst, Spotify, Wallapop, KupiVIP, Calastone, Catawiki, JobToday, Wonga, Shift Technology and SilverRail. She is also an independent director of Match Group (public). Prior to Accel, Sonali was with Atlas Ventures. Sonali grew up in Mumbai and graduated from Bryn Mawr College and Harvard Business School. Matthew Panzarino, Editor-In-Chief, TechCrunchMatthew Panzarino has been a retail jockey, founded a professional photography business and a news blog covering the Apple ecosystem. He has served as News Editor and Managing Editor at The Next Web and is now Editor-In-Chief at TechCrunch. He has made a name for himself in the tech media world as a writer and editor, relentlessly covering Apple and Twitter, in addition to a broad range of startups in the fields of robotics, computer vision, AI, fashion, VR, AR and more. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 22, 2018 at 04:15AM
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Instagram will tell you when ‘you’re all caught up’ with your feed https://ift.tt/2GDO809 Admit it. When you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed, you occasionally feel a little antsy as you wonder if you’ve seen every new post that’s appeared since the last time you looked. In that case, a new feature being put through its paces by Instagram should serve to settle your nerves. Currently being tested with a select group of Instagrammers, the popular app will show a message that reads, “You’re all caught up,” when you’ve seen everything there is to see in your feed. The notification, first spotted by TechCrunch, actually refers to all new images and videos posted to your feed in the previous 48 hours, so depending on just how much you fear missing out on stuff, you could continue swiping to dig ever deeper into your endless stream of content. Since Instagram scrapped its chronological feed in 2016, it’s more difficult to know if you’ve seen all the new posts that have landed in your feed. A feature like this, if Instagram rolls it out to the entire community, would certainly help to provide clarity. Part of its aim is to prevent so-called “zombie browsing,” freeing you up to go and do something more useful instead, though Instagram would ideally like you to stay with its app and maybe perform searches for new images or find some new users to follow. Time wasting?News of Instagram’s latest feature comes at a time when tech companies are talking a lot about spending more quality time with online services. Back in January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was changing the site’s news feed to reduce the number of posts by businesses, brands, and media in the hope of increasing interaction between family and friends. He acknowledged that it could mean users spend less time on the social networking service. Just last week, we learned that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, may introduce an analytics tool telling you how long you’ve spent on the service in a given time-frame. The apparent aim to give users a way to help them manage their time on the app, thereby giving them enough control to make better decisions about their usage. And then there’s Google. At the company’s recent I/O developer meet-up, CEO Sundar Pichai spent time in his keynote talking about responsibility in technology. The company is introducing a new Dashboard feature for Android users that’ll help them track how much time they spend on different apps. Coming with Android P, users will also find an alerts feature that lets you set timers that prompt you to take a break from an app. Google-owned YouTube has just rolled out such a feature for both Android and iOS users.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2p4eJdC May 22, 2018 at 03:56AM
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Lyft may join others and put electric scooters on the streets of San Francisco https://ift.tt/2x3ZT04 Already a partner in a bike-sharing scheme in Baltimore, Maryland, Lyft is now eyeing the launch of a scooter-sharing scheme in San Francisco. The news comes via The Information, which recently learned that Lyft representatives have been seeking advice from local transportation officials about the possibility of obtaining permits for such a scheme. A person with knowledge of the matter told the news outlet that Lyft’s plan is still in its “early stages,” though the report adds that the ride-sharing company is already developing prototypes for its own electric-scooter designs. Should Lyft launch the scheme, it’ll go up against a slew of others in the city offering similar bike and scooter services. They include ridesharing rival Uber, which at the start of this year partnered with Jump to offer electric-powered bicycles, perfect for San Francisco’s hilly streets. Given that there are already so many bike and scooter services operating in the city, some will find it curious that Lyft is considering doing the same rather than going elsewhere. Three outfits — Bird, Lime, and Spin — launched dockless electric-scooter services in San Francisco just two months ago, but some local officials are getting upset about how the vehicles are transforming the streets and sidewalks. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin recently told Cnet he was getting “all kinds of complaints” about the scooters, including from people “having to dodge them as they go 15 miles an hour down the sidewalks illegally … people tripping over them [and] businesses upset that they’re [blocking their premises].” San Francisco is yet to regulate the scooter schemes, making the business something of a free for all. However, officials are about to start insisting on permits and applications for providers that would, for example, limit the number of scooters they can put on the streets. While those behind the schemes claim they’re helping to reduce car trips and turn boring commutes into something more fun, there are those who are clearly having a hard time dealing with the sudden influx of scooters and bikes. It’s not clear when Lyft might bring its electric scooters to the streets of San Francisco, and it’s of course possible that it could abandon the idea entirely. Either way, we’ll keep you posted.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2p4eJdC May 22, 2018 at 02:59AM
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Razer claims ‘world’s smallest’ with its 2018-edition Blade 15 gaming laptop https://ift.tt/2rXHtt0 Razer is claiming the “world’s smallest” trophy with the latest version of its Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop. The 2018 edition packs a six-core Intel Core i7-8750H processor and your choice of a GeForce GTX 1070 or GTX 1060 (6GB) discrete graphics chip, both of which are based on Nvidia’s Max-Q design. That means they are tweaked for ultra-thin laptops to draw less power and thus produce less heat but at the cost of a slight performance decrease compared to the non-Max-Q chips. That said, the use of Nvidia’s Max-Q GPUs enable Razer to build a high-performance 15.6-inch gaming laptop at just 0.66 inches thick. That is for the GTX 1060 configurations: the GTX 1070 models are nearly as thin at 0.68 inches. By comparison, Razer’s 13.3-inch Blade Stealth measures just 0.54 inches thin while Razer’s high-end desktop replacement, the 17.3-inch Blade Pro, is 0.88 inches thin. Here are the five configurations Razer offers starting at $1,899: As the chart shows, all models will ship with 16GB of system memory clocked at 2,667MHz although you can upgrade the sticks to 32GB. The GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 models have two storage configurations each – either 256GB or 512GB on a PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD – but they support storage of up to 2TB. There are no dual-storage options. All configurations ship with one Mini DisplayPort 1.4 connector, one HDMI 2.0b port, one Thunderbolt 3 port, three USB-A ports (5Gbps), and one audio combo jack. Other shared features include Wireless AC and Bluetooth 5 connectivity, a 1MP (720p) webcam with an array microphone, two front-facing speakers with Dolby Atmos technology, and an 80WHr battery. “The anti-ghosting keyboard is powered by Razer Chroma and offers 16.8 million colors per key, customizable through Razer Synapse 3 software,” the company says. “New power management options are also available, including modes to boost graphics performance or maximize the [battery’s] runtime.” Keeping this laptop cool is a large vapor chamber with direct contact to the heat sources, and high-performance thermal blockers and interface materials. What you won’t see here are bulky, noisy fans ruining your gaming experience. The 1060 models ship with a 200-watt adapter and the GTX 1070 model relies on a 230-watt adapter. The 2018 Razer Blade Pro is available today in the United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Germany, and China starting at $1,899. Complementing the new Razer Blade is the company’s new Core X external graphics enclosure. It connects to your desktop or laptop via a Thunderbolt 3 port that must support the external graphics card standard. That said, you could game on the go with the latest Razer Blade, and then come home and connect it to the Core X for increased desktop-like performance. Razer’s enclosure supports Windows 10 and MacOS, and fits up to a three-slot wide, full-length add-in desktop graphics card from Nvidia and AMD. The included 650-watt ATX power supply allocates 500 watts for the installed graphics card and 100 watts for charging your laptop through the Thunderbolt 3 port (if supported). Compatible Razer laptops include the Blade Stealth, Blade 14, Blade 15, and Blade Pro. Here are the supported cards: The Razer Core X is available now for $299 (graphics card not included).
Digital Trends via Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2p4eJdC May 22, 2018 at 02:59AM U.S. and China reportedly working on a deal to save ZTE https://ift.tt/2s12rq4 The United States and China are said to be working on a deal that would keep ZTE from going out of business. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two countries have agreed on a “broad outline” of a deal to settle a trade dispute sparked when the Commerce Department banned American companies from selling to ZTE for seven years after it violated sanctions against Iran and North Korea. If the deal goes through, the U.S. would lift the ban. In return, ZTE would have to make major leadership changes and also potentially face heavy fines. The deal would enable its business to survive, however, since many of its most important suppliers, including Qualcomm, are American and the ban has the potential to cause irreversible damage to its business. ZTE is also the fourth-largest vendor of mobile phones in the U.S. As part of the deal, China reportedly offered to remove tariffs that impact billions of dollars in U.S. farm products, though one of the WSJ’s sources said “the White House was meticulous in affirming that the case is a law enforcement matter and not a bargaining chip in negotiations.” Talk of the deal isn’t a complete surprise. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump tweeted that “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast.” He was met with backlash from officials and lawmakers concerned that the administration is softening its stance in trade negotiations with China. The Chinese government had reportedly demanded that the U.S. roll back sanctions against ZTE as a prerequisite for continuing trade talks, which stalled last month (though the countries agreed yesterday to continue).
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC yesterday that ZTE is “not going to get off scot-free” and that it still faces fines, “very severe compliance measures, a new board of directors, a new management team.” Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 22, 2018 at 02:26AM
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Razer’s new external graphics enclosure is compatible with Macs https://ift.tt/2s0Qgtq A couple of gaming hardware announcements just dropped from team Razer. What makes the Core X graphics enclosure arguably the most notable of the bunch is the inclusion of a standard Thunderbolt 3 connection on the rear of the device. In addition to Razer’s own systems and Windows 10 PCs, the new enclosure is compatible with Apple products running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4. That’s part of a whole new focus on gaming for Apple’s devices, unveiled back at WWDC roughly this time last year, along with the promise of VR development support. In late March, external GPU support officially arrived for High Sierra 10.13.4, and now Razer’s ready to get on-board. The Core X is designed to hold up to three desktop graphics cards and can charge a connected laptop through the aforementioned Thunrderbolt 3 connection. The enclosure is available now for $299. Along with the X, Razer’s Core V2 is now also compatible with Macs via Thunderbolt 3. That one will run you $499. Good new all around for Mac users ready to get serious about gaming. Also new today is the Razer Blade 15.6-inch, an ultra thin gaming notebook the company has taken to calling “the world’s smallest…in its class.” The 15.6-inch display comes 1920 x 1080, standard, which users can upgrade to 4k. All of that is surrounded by some skinny 4.9mm bezels. Inside is an 8th gen Core i7 processor, coupled with either a either GeForce GTX 1060 or GeForce GTX 1070 graphics. There’s also up to 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage inside, loaded with what Razer says is $420 of games and software. The system features a 16.8 million color keyboard and output for up to three external displays. The new system starts at $1,899. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 22, 2018 at 02:26AM Former software engineer accuses Uber of “degrading conduct” toward women in new lawsuit https://ift.tt/2KGXP0c A former Uber software engineer filed a lawsuit against the company today in the Superior Court of California, accusing it of retaliating against her for after she reported sexual harassment and discrimination. The complaint by Ingrid Avendaño, who worked at Uber from 2014 to 2017, alleges that Uber’s workplace “was permeated with degrading, marginalizing, discriminatory and sexually harassing conduct toward women.” Avendaño’s account and her claim that “this culture was perpetuated and condoned by numerous managers, including high level company leaders” is similar to the description of Uber’s internal culture presented by Susan Fowler, also a former Uber engineer, in her pivotal February 2017 blog post. Fowler’s account led to an internal investigation, multiple firings and, along with other company scandals, contributed to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Avendaño’s complaint (“Ingrid Avendaño v. Uber Technologies, Inc.,” Case No. CGC-18-566677 in the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County) claims that when she tried to report misconduct, she faced “blatant retaliation, including denial of promotions and raises, unwarranted negative performance reviews and placement on an oppressively demanding on-call schedule that had detrimental effects on her health. She was also threatened with termination.” Avendaño eventually resigned from Uber, the lawsuit says. Avendaño is represented by Outten & Golden, a law firm that specializes in employee rights. Last October, Avendaño and two other Latina software engineers were the named plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Uber for allegedly discriminating against women and people of color. But Avendaño later opted out of the collective action and, according to Outten & Golden, did not participate when Uber agreed to a settlement in March 2018. The lawsuit filed by Avendaño today is separate from that settlement. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 22, 2018 at 01:24AM
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The Zuck’s EU grilling will be live-streamed and here’s how to watch https://ift.tt/2IBB4y8 Fresh from his appearance before Congress in which he faced questions about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is about to grab his rarely worn suit for a similar grilling in Europe. The Zuck will meet senior European Union (EU) lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss Facebook’s role in the controversial affair, which involved the harvesting of large amounts of user data by the now-defunct London-based political consulting firm. The original plan was to hold the meeting behind closed doors, but following calls by a number of European officials to make it public, the Facebook CEO agreed to have his appearance live-streamed. European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová, for one, reminded Zuckerberg in a tweet last week that “there are more EU users on FB than there are in the U.S. [and] Europeans deserve to know how their data is handled.” Following talks with Zuckerberg and his team, Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, confirmed in a tweet that he had discussed the idea of live-streaming the meeting, adding, “I am glad to announce that he has accepted this new request. Great news for EU citizens. I thank him for the respect shown towards EP.” Tajani said the meeting will take place in Brussels, Belgium, at 6.15 p.m. local time (12.15 p.m. ET, 9.15 a.m. PT) on Tuesday May 22, and is expected to last around 75 minutes. The stream will be available via this page, with the broadcast link expected to be posted on Tuesday morning, local time. Zuckerberg has already made two appearances before Congress to answer questions about how Facebook data belonging to as many as 87 million users — around 2.7 million of them based in Europe — came to be harvested by Cambridge Analytica without Facebook’s explicit consent. The Facebook chief’s appearance comes in the same week that the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes law. This aims to give internet users more power in how their data is used, while forcing companies to follow strict rules on how that data is gathered, stored, and leveraged. The U.K.’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee has also asked Zuckerberg to attend a hearing to answer lawmakers’ questions on the matter, but the social networking giant says the CEO currently has “no plans to meet with the committee or travel to the U.K. at the present time.”
Digital Trends via Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2p4eJdC May 22, 2018 at 12:57AM
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Subscription video services’ recommendations aren’t working, study claims https://ift.tt/2GFibV0 Streaming video services invest heavily in technology to improve their ability to show users a set of personalized recommendations about what to what next. But according to a new research study released today by UserTesting, it seems that consumers aren’t watching much recommended content – in fact, only 29 percent of the study’s participants said they actually watched something the service recommended. On some services, those figures were extremely low – for example, only 6 percent of HBO NOW users said they watched recommended content. That’s probably because consumers found it difficult to locate HBO NOW’s recommendations in the first place. The service was given a low 16.8 “customer experience” score on this front, the study says. That’s a much lower score than all other services analyzed, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and YouTube TV – all of which had scores in the 80’s. (See first chart, below). To be fair, HBO NOW doesn’t really do recommendations in the same way as the others. Its app offers a “Featured” selection of content for all users, and, if you scroll down further, there are a couple of editorial collections, like “Essential HBO” or “14 Hidden Gems You Missed the First Time.” A separate “Collections” section includes more of these suggestions, like “New Movies,” “Just Added,” “Last Chance” and others. The lack of personalized, easily located recommendations also impacted HBO NOW’s overall score in the UserTesting study, which rated the services across a variety of metrics including availability of content, friction-free viewing, ease of scrubbing and episode scanning, and other factors. HBO NOW was also was dinged by survey respondents for lagging, freezing and buffering issues, though they said they appreciated its clean design. Netflix’s overall score was 89.5, making it the highest-rated streaming service among those analyzed due to having the most relevant recommendations, overall high ease-of-use, and a speedy service. It was followed by Hulu (86.8), Amazon Prime (85), YouTube TV (80.7), and then HBO NOW (71.8). Coincidentally, Netflix also just beat HBO in a survey related to consumer appreciation for original programming, put out by Morgan Stanley. 39 percent of respondents in that survey said Netflix had the “best original programming” compared with HBO’s second place rank of 14 percent. UserTesting’s study also backed up earlier research from Deloitte, as it found that subscription video customers are having to subscribe to more than one service in order to find all the content they want to watch. More than half said they subscribe to at least two apps. For example, 90 percent of HBO NOW customers also subscribed to Netflix, while 80 percent subscribed to Amazon Prime. The study additionally found that much of viewing (45%) takes place on TV or via streaming media devices like Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV. 37 percent preferred laptops, and 11 percent said their smartphone or tablet was their primary streaming device. For some services, TV viewing is even higher – Hulu recently said that the majority – 78 percent – takes place on TVs. UserTesting’s study involved 500 subscription video customers, 74 percent of whom said they watched streaming media every day. The full report is available here.
Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com May 21, 2018 at 11:35PM |
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