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Birchbox brings its grooming subscription service offline with first permanent physical store

Jul10
by on July 10, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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In what is seemingly a growing trend among digital companies, US-based e-commerce startup Birchbox has opened its first physical retail space, at 433 West Broadway, Manhattan. We’ve followed the startup since its early days, having originally launched its monthly subscription service of sample-size beauty and grooming products back in 2010. The company revealed its plans to open a physical store earlier this year, so today’s news isn’t actually surprising. In the store, you’ll be able to peruse an assortment of products from 250 brands, and a “dedicated B.Y.O.B (Build Your Own Birchbox)” service, which lets shoppers hand-pick five sample size…

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OpenSignal’s crowdsourced cellular coverage app for iPhone just got way more useful

Jul10
by on July 10, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

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We’re big fans of OpenSignal, the London-based startup that creates maps of mobile phone network coverage based on information crowdsourced from smartphone users. OpenSignal has emerged as one of the biggest independent sources of data on the speed and coverage of mobile phone carriers around the world. Rather than relying on coverage maps provided by networks themselves, OpenSignal gathers this information directly from users and opens it to anyone, so they can see for themselves which ones offer the best coverage where they are. Up until last April, OpenSignal garnered the chunk of its data from Android users only, but…

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella vows to ‘reinvent’ productivity in huge memo sent to employees

Jul10
by on July 10, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Almost six months after he was named as Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella has issued a massive memorandum to employees, as well as making it publicly available. “The day I took on my new role I said that our industry does not respect tradition – it only respects innovation,” he says. “I also said that in order to accelerate our innovation, we must rediscover our soul – our unique core. We must all understand and embrace what only Microsoft can contribute to the world and how we can once again change the world. I consider the job before us to…

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LinkedIn replaces its Contacts iOS app with Connected to take the ‘work’ out of networking

Jul10
by on July 10, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

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LinkedIn today replaced its Contacts app for iOS with Connected, a new app that reminds you to reach out to people in your network. Connected, which is English-only for now, uses a simple card interface to let you swipe through notifications about contacts that are celebrating milestones like a new job or a birthday. The app also syncs with your calendar to show you the LinkedIn profiles of people you just met. When you’re ready to reply to a card, you can post a public message or send a direct one. Tapping on the card will pull up a micro-profile of the…

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FreedomPop brings its free mobile network overseas, starting with Belgium

Jul10
by on July 10, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Product Updates

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Freemium mobile network FreedomPop has its eye set on Europe, as it announced today a partnership with Dutch carrier KPN for an initial test launch of its service in Belgium. Subsequently, it plans to expand to the UK, Germany, France, Spain and countries in the Pacific Rim (which include Asia) in the “coming months” with different carrier partners. FreedomPop acts as a mobile virtual network operator — in the US it purchases bandwidth from Sprint. Steven Sesar, FreedomPop’s co-founder and chief operating officer, says that the company has been receiving “a ton of interest” from international carriers and consumers. FreedomPop,…

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