Twitter to remove 140-character limit for DMs in July

Currently, users have a 140-character limit for both tweets and direct messages, but in July Twitter will be removing that limitation from direct messages.

Twitter's biggest problem in one chart (TWTR)

Twitter announced on Thursday that Dick Costolo will step down as CEO on July 1.

Since being named CEO in 2010, Costolo's had a rough ride, constantly having to deal with rumors of management change at Twitter.

How Fintech Can Disrupt Africa’s Cash-Based Economy

Paying at a local coffee shop or superstore with your smartphone instead of your bank card is convenient, but not much more convenient than using a credit card. While there is significant disruption in some fintech areas, such as international money transfer by companies like TransferWise and Azimo, other innovations can seem a bit cosmetic to Western users.

Worth $33 billion, Mark Zuckerberg still works 45 hours a week

Facebook has often been regarded as one of the best places to work in the tech industry.

Scientists are Growing Tiny Human Neural Cortexes in Petri Dishes

Yep, you heard that one correctly. In what could be a major step forward for personalized medicine, researchers have perfected a technique for growing miniature balls of cortical tissue—the key working tissue in the human brain—in a dish.

Thousands of Websites Block Congress in Protest of NSA Surveillance

In protest of any possible last-ditch re-authorization of NSA spying powers, thousands of sites are blocking Congressional IP addresses using a piece of code written by the activist organization Fight for the Future.

There is a good argument for why the creator of Silk Road shouldn't go to prison

Free Ross UlbrichtRoss Ulbricht

Ross Ulbricht, the creator of online black market Silk Road, was sentenced to life in prison by a judge in federal court Friday. 

This woman’s Instagram of perfectly arranged fruit totally blew up after celebrities became obsessed with it

instagram.com/myfruitplatter

Instagrammer Jenny Zhang is trying to get more fruit into your daily internet diet. 

Two years ago, Zhang, a 21-year-old university student, started taking pictures of her afternoon snacks from her dorm room in London and posting them on her 

Twitter Is Giving Advertisers More User Data In The Hope That They Spend More

Twitter is hoping to help marketers better understand their Twitter audience by adding a tool that will give them deeper user behavior around organic tweets.

Carl Sagan's solar-powered spacecraft is in trouble

The test flight of Carl Sagan's LightSail craft is in jeopardy after a computer problem left it unable to communicate with its mission controllers.

Worldwide Smartphone Growth To Slow In 2015, As China Reaches Saturation

The writing has been on the wall for some time, but analysts at IDC are again confirming today that the worldwide smartphone market will continue to see its overall growth slowing in 2015. The firm says that global smartphone shipments will grow just 11.3% this year, down from 27.6% the year prior. The changes are attributed, in part, to the Chinese smartphone market reaching saturation, which will make 2015 the first year that China’s smartphone growth (2.5%) will be slower than the worldwide market.

China’s slowdown will also impact Android’s growth, IDC says, as the Google-developed mobile platform is also expected to see slower growth than the worldwide market at 8.5% in 2015.

The figures are in line with smartphone shipment reports IDC released earlier this year, which had predicted 11.8% worldwide growth in 2015.

China’s smartphone market is still the largest in the world, but it’s no longer growing as before. Previously this month, it was reported smartphone shipments in China had decreased for the first time in nine years. During Q1 2015, 98.8 million smartphones shipped, down 4 percent year-over-year, and 8 percent on the previous quarter.

China, which is often still perceived as an “emerging” market, is actually similar to other more mature markets like the U.S., U.K, Australia, and Japan, IDC analyst Kitty Fok had explained at the time. In other words, smartphone vendors are now in the position of having to convince current Chinese smartphone owners to upgrade their devices, and that’s more difficult than converting first-time buyers.

Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, explains today how the shifts in China’s smartphone market are now affecting the top mobile OS platforms, iOS and Android.

“This has implications for Android because China has been a critical market for Android smartphone shipments in recent years, accounting for 36% of total volume in 2014,” he says. “As Chinese OEMs shift their focus from the domestic market to the next high-growth markets, they will face a number of challenges, including competition from ‘local’ brands.”

Reith added that Apple faced a similar situation in 2012 to 2014, when its own year-over-year growth rates were slightly lower than the worldwide market. But when it began to offer bigger-screen phones, its volumes increased. This year, IDC expects iOS smartphones to grow 23%, remaining above the worldwide market growth rates. In fact, Apple had capitalized on the fact that it was able to convince many Android owners to switch back to iOS after they had previously left the platform for bigger-screened Android phones, says Reith.

While worldwide growth and China in particular is slowing this year, there are still a number of markets that are expected to experience “robust growth” this year and in years to come, IDC claims, which will help push smartphone shipment volumes to 1.9 billion by 2019.

Featured Image: JOHANNES EISELE/Getty Images

from  TechCrunch

 by 

Sarah Perez

Senate blocks NSA reform bill and Patriot Act extensions

The USA Freedom Act aimed at addressing the NSA's bulk collecting of phone call metadata wasapproved by the House of Representatives ten days ago, but blocked by the Senate tonight

Ecocapsules are pint-sized solar and wind-powered micro homes

Ecocapsule is a small, egg-shaped abode that could be the perfect home for someone who wants to let it all go like Elsa and live off the grid.

Silk Road Survival: In conversation with 'Deep Web' director Alex Winter

An unassuming, Mormon family man. A brilliant physics and engineering student with a goofy smile. Five years ago, neither of these men knew each other, let alone suspected that they'd be drawn into a web suffused with libertarian dogma, hard drugs and the sort of rhetorical dedication that allegedly drove that student -- Ross Ulbricht -- to order a hit on that family man.

NASA's Plan To Make Cheap Spacecraft That Will Explore Distant Worlds

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Netflix to add BoJack Horseman season 2 this July

If you like yourself some adult-friendly cartoons, good news: Netflix has decided to nab a second season of the not-for-kids animated series BoJack Horseman, which revolves around a man that is half-horse and voiced by Will Arnett. Season 2 will consist of

Seinfeld will start streaming on Hulu starting June 24

Late last month it was revealed that Hulu will be the exclusive streaming home of Seinfeld, and though we found out at the time that it would arrive in June, a specific date was not provided. Today

Pick Your Own Apple Toy Giveaway

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Ansible Partners With Cisco, CSC, HP And Rackspace To Make Deploying And Managing OpenStack Easier

Enterprise IT automation service Ansible today announced that it’s partnering with HP, RackSpace, CSC, Cisco and the open source community to help make deploying and managing OpenStack clouds easier.

The Case For Finding Your ‘Lime Equation’ And Keeping It Secret

Editor’s note: Dane Atkinson is the CEO of SumAll.

Sixteen years ago, I thought that owning a bar and running a tech startup simultaneously would be a great match for my ADD.