ByeBuy Raises €1M To Make It Easier To Switch Gadgets

 German startup ByeBuy, which offers a pay-as-you-go and on-demand alternative to gadget ownership, has raised a €1 million seed round. Read More from TechCrunch » Gadgets http://ift.tt/20q4kaZ via IFTTT

Fitbit Crushes Expectations In Q3, But A Follow-On Equity Offering Drags Its Shares Down

 Following the bell, Fitbit announced its third quarter financial performance, including revenue of $409.3 million, and earnings per share using normal accounting methods of $0.19. The company’s adjusted profit totaled $0.24 per share. The results are notably strong. Investors had expected the company to report a far-slimmer $0.10 adjusted per-share profit off of revenue of…

Google Self-Driving Car Update From October: No Crashes, Halloween Helpful

 Today, Google shared their self-driving car project monthly report. Good news, there were no accidents. There were however, some interesting learnings that the team shared about how they’re training their software. Apparently, Halloween was a big help: Halloween’s a great time to get some extra learning done. This week, lots of little ghouls, superheroes and…

Google: Chrome OS Is Here To Stay

 By now you have probably seen the WSJ report that says Google plans to fold its Chrome operating system into Android and phase it (and the “Chromebook” name) out over time. Google today published a story on virtually every blog it owns that denies this. “While we’ve been working on ways to bring together the…

Apple TV App Store Tops 1,000 Apps: Games And Video Apps Dominate, But Discovery Is A Challenge

 Developers have been digging into the Apple TV App Store data in the absence of category listings and a Top Charts section on Apple’s newly launched version of its media player device, which now, for the first time ever, has opened up to third-party applications. Apple had “hundreds” of applications live at the time of…

The Czur Scanner Can Build A Digital Library Five Minutes At A Time

 When the Visigoths burned Library Of Alexandria you can bet that old Ptolemy I Soter would have loved to have had a Czur (pronounced “Cesar”) scanner in his palatial marble-clad staterooms. The Czur is basically a book scanner on steroids that allows you to scan a 300-page book – or priceless scroll of ancient knowledge…

This Cube Robot Can Climb Up Little Hills Thanks To Its Springy Tongues

 Imagine you’re a squishy cube. Imagine you need to climb a hill. How do you do it? With your tongue(s), of course. Researchers at CSAIL at MIT have created a little cube robot that can propel itself around by swiping at surfaces with metal tongues. The tongues turn around an axis and stick out briefly,…

Vinaya Gets $3M To Build Connected Tech That’s More Sensitive To Human Psychology

 Can the problem of tech gobbling up too much of your attention be fixed by buying more technology? Vinaya, a U.K. startup which started out back in mid 2013 — and is now announcing its first full product launch, fleshing out its business philosophy and detailing $3 million in seed funding — reckons so. Read…

DJI Teams Up With Canonical To Launch Embedded Computer For Drones

 Drone manufacturer DJI and Canonical, the corporate entity behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, today announced the launch of Manifold, a small embedded computer that’s optimized for building applications for drones. Read More from TechCrunch » Gadgets http://ift.tt/1ixt1jq via IFTTT

Checking In On Windows 10

 Mired as we are in earnings season, I was slightly remiss this week in keeping tabs on Windows 10, Microsoft’s new operating system. A few things happened that are worth our time, and, as it’s the weekend, we have the minutes. First up, Microsoft detailed how it will continue to encourage — force? — users up…