Monzo, the U.K. challenger bank with more than 4 million customers, has confirmed it has closed £60 million in top up funding.
Backing the round are existing investors Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Accel, Stripe, Goodwater, Orange, Thrive, Passion Capital, along with new investors Reference Capital, and Vanderbilt University.
One of fintech’s worst kept secrets, the down round sees the bank take a 40% hit in its paper pre-money valuation compared to its previous round, now priced at £1.24B.
That’s likely a reflection of the current funding climate amidst the coronavirus crisis, with Monzo having to raise a bridge round at quite possibly the worst time.
I also understand from sources that a number of Monzo’s later stage investors played hardball, in a bid to force down the challenger bank’s ticket price, perhaps after investing at the height of the funding market pre-COVID-19. What is also interesting about the new round is that the share price is the same as the bank’s last equity crowdfund, meaning that the most recent armchair investors haven’t seen a paper loss.
Monzo is also disclosing that its business banking product has now reached 25,000 signups. Launched officially in March, the business bank account is aimed at sold traders and SMEs, with both free and premium paid-for versions available, offering various feature sets.
Meanwhile, it has been a turbulent time for Monzo, as it, along with many other fintech companies, tries to insulate itself from the coronavirus crisis and resulting economic downturn.
Planned layoffs in the U.K. were communicated internally earlier this month — up to 120 but now thought to be around 80. It followed earlier U.S. layoffs and the shuttering of its Las Vegas-based customer support office, and almost 300 U.K. staff being furloughed.
Like other banks and fintechs, the coronavirus crisis has resulted in Monzo seeing customer card spend reduce at home and (of course) abroad, meaning it is generating significantly less revenue from interchange fees. The bank has also postponed the launch of premium paid-for consumer accounts, one of only a handful of known planned revenue streams, alongside lending, of course, and the more recent business banking.
Separately, in May, Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield announced internally that he was stepping down as CEO of the U.K. challenger bank to take up the newly created role of president. His replacement is current U.S. CEO, TS Anil, who now also holds the title of “Monzo UK Bank CEO,” subject to regulatory approval.
Apple is under formal investigation by antitrust regulators in European Union — following a number of complaints related to how it operates the iOS App Store and also its payment offering, Apple Pay.
The Commission said today that it has concerns that conditions and restrictions applied by the tech giant may be distorting competition in a number of areas, following a preliminary probe of the issues.
Back in March 2019, European music streaming service Spotify filed an antitrust complaint against Apple — railing very publicly against what it dubbed an “Apple tax”; aka the 30% tariff the tech giant applies on accepting payments in apps on its App Store. Spotify also accused Apple of impeding its business by applying arbitrary rules — such as making it harder to offer its own users discounts.
The Commission confirmed today that it’s looking formally into whether Apple’s rules for app developers on the distribution of apps via the App Store violate EU competition rules. It said the probe focuses on Apple’s mandatory requirement that app developers use its own proprietary in-app purchase system, as well as restrictions applied on the ability of developers to inform iPhone and iPad users of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities outside of apps.
As well as the very public complaint from Spotify, the Commission has received a similar complaint from an unnamed e-book/audiobook distributor related to the impact of the App Store rules on competition.
Two specific restrictions imposed by Apple in its agreements with companies that wish to distribute apps to users of Apple devices will be investigated, per the Commission — namely [emphasis its]:
(i) The mandatory use of Apple’s own proprietary in-app purchase system “IAP” for the distribution of paid digital content. Apple charges app developers a 30% commission on all subscription fees through IAP.
(ii) Restrictions on the ability of developers to inform users of alternative purchasing possibilities outside of apps. While Apple allows users to consume content such as music, e-books and audiobooks purchased elsewhere (e.g. on the website of the app developer) also in the app, its rules prevent developers from informing users about such purchasing possibilities, which are usually cheaper.
“Following a preliminary investigation the Commission has concerns that Apple’s restrictions may distort competition for music streaming services on Apple’s devices,” it writes in a press release. “Apple’s competitors have either decided to disable the in-app subscription possibility altogether or have raised their subscription prices in the app and passed on Apple’s fee to consumers.
“In both cases, they were not allowed to inform users about alternative subscription possibilities outside of the app. The IAP obligation also appears to give Apple full control over the relationship with customers of its competitors subscribing in the app, thus dis-intermediating its competitors from important customer data while Apple may obtain valuable data about the activities and offers of its competitors.”
Commenting in a statement, Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager — who heads up competition policy for the bloc — added: “Mobile applications have fundamentally changed the way we access content. Apple sets the rules for the distribution of apps to users of iPhones and iPads. It appears that Apple obtained a ‘gatekeeper’ role when it comes to the distribution of apps and content to users of Apple’s popular devices. We need to ensure that Apple’s rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers, for example with its music streaming service Apple Music or with Apple Books. I have therefore decided to take a close look at Apple’s App Store rules and their compliance with EU competition rules.”
Vestager’s reference to a “gatekeeper” role has specific significance as the Commission is currently consulting on updating regulations for digital platforms — including floating the possibility of ex ante regulation for platforms deemed to be gatekeepers vis-a-vis other suppliers. (In parallel, the Commission is consulting on updates to competition law that may allow it to intervene more swiftly in future, in instances where it suspects digital markets have ‘tipped’.)
Spotify welcomed the Commission’s action, writing in a statement:
Today is a good day for consumers, Spotify and other app developers across Europe and around the world. Apple’s anticompetitive behavior has intentionally disadvantaged competitors, created an unlevel playing field, and deprived consumers of meaningful choice for far too long. We welcome the European Commission’s decision to formally investigate Apple, and hope they’ll act with urgency to ensure fair competition on the iOS platform for all participants in the digital economy.
On Apple Pay, the Commission said a formal investigation of how it operates the payment tech will look at the “terms, conditions and other measures” Apple applies for integrating the payment solution in merchant apps and websites on iPhones and iPads; Apple’s limitation of access to the NFC functionality on iPhones for payments in stores; and allegations of “refusals of access to Apple Pay”.
Following a preliminary probe, the Commission said it is concerned Apple’s processes “may distort competition and reduce choice and innovation”.
It also notes that Apple Pay is the only mobile payment solution that is allowed to access NFC technology on iOS devices for making payments in stores.
“The investigation will also focus on alleged restrictions of access to Apple Pay for specific products of rivals on iOS and iPadOS smart mobile devices,” it added.
The Commission said it will carry out the investigations “as a matter of priority”, but there’s no set timeframe for how long this process might take.
EU antitrust investigations have tended to take a number of years from an announcement of a formal probe to a decision being reached. (Although, in an ongoing investigation against Broadcom, Vestager recently dusted off a tool to accelerate regulatory intervention — but as yet there’s no formal ‘statement of objections’ against Apple so it remains to be seen how this case will proceed, and whether regulators may seek to speed up any intervention.)
Reached for comment on the Commission’s announcement of the two antitrust investigations, Apple dubbed the complaints “baseless” — choosing to throw shade on the complainants by claiming these companies are after “a free ride, and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else”.
Here’s Apple’s statement on the two investigations in full:
Throughout our history, Apple has created groundbreaking new products and services in some of the most fiercely competitive markets in the world. We follow the law in everything we do and we embrace competition at every stage because we believe it pushes us to deliver even better results.
We developed the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for entrepreneurs and developers. We’re deeply proud of the countless developers who’ve innovated and found success through our platform. And as we’ve grown together, we’ve continued to deliver innovative new services — like Apple Pay — that provide the very best customer experience while meeting industry-leading standards for privacy and security.
It’s disappointing the European Commission is advancing baseless complaints from a handful of companies who simply want a free ride, and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else. We don’t think that’s right — we want to maintain a level playing field where anyone with determination and a great idea can succeed.
At the end of the day, our goal is simple: for our customers to have access to the best app or service of their choice, in a safe and secure environment. We welcome the opportunity to show the European Commission all we’ve done to make that goal a reality.
Apple has had a number of run-ins with EU regulators over the years — including a probe of its acquisition of Shazam (which was later cleared); a major investigation of ebook pricing; and a probe of tax benefits in Ireland which saw it on the hook for $15BN.
French competition regulators also recently fined the tech giant $1.2BN for anti-competitive sales tactics. It’s also been fined $27M by French regulators this year for throttling old iPhones.
This report was updated with comment from Spotify
Over the past few months, Yelp has been takin steps to help businesses reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic — things like waived fees, virtual service listings and GoFundMe fundraisers (that last one had a mixed reception).
But without getting into the question of whether the United States is reopening at the right time in the right way, it’s clear that the reopening is happening, and businesses are going to need new tools to safely navigate the changing landscape. So Yelp is announcing two of those tools today.
First, it says it’s expanding on its COVID-19 banners with a full COVID-19 section on each business profile. So those businesses can indicate whether they’re doing things like enforcing social distancing, sanitizing spaces between customer visits, requiring that employees wear masks and/or gloves, requiring masks that customers wear masks and so on.
These updates will be timestamped. There can, of course, still be a difference between what the business promises and the reality in the store. But as a consumer, at least you’ll know how up-to-date those promises are.
Image Credits: Yelp
In addition, Yelp says it will use a combination of human moderation and machine learning to update these sections with information that businesses have posted elsewhere, like whether they offer curbside pickup or virtual services.
The company is also updating its waitlist feature, which restaurants may be turning to as a way to avoid long lines and crowds. Restaurants will now be able to print out a QR code that customers can scan to add themselves to the waitlist in a contactless way. Hosts will also be able to manually adjust wait times, and they’ll get alerts when they’re approaching legally-mandated seating capacities.
In a statement, Yelp’s head of consumer product Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh said that the company’s response to the pandemic has broken down into two phases. During the first phase, “We helped businesses convey how they are updating their operating models and services they offered.”
He added, “In phase two, as people begin to reenter businesses, addressing the health and safety needs in the local marketplaces across the US is of paramount importance.”
As our browsing patterns change, so should the tools of a browser. Check out some of these new bookmarking apps to save links for later and organize what you’ve already saved.
The internet has a peculiar problem these days. Social media doesn’t let you easily bookmark or save links. If you tap the Heart or Like button, the world perceives it as an endorsement, even if you meant it as a way to save that post for later.
So if you want to save a tweet for later, it’s better to bookmark it and keep them organized.
Memex is one of the most powerful bookmark apps to meet the needs of the modern user, who wants to save links while using a phone, tablet, or computer. Install the extension on your browser and the app on your phone. To bookmark a link on the phone, “share” any link, and from the Share Menu, choose Memex.
You can save a link and quickly move on, but it’s best to add tags or put it in a particular collection. That will make it easier to find the link later. Memex also includes built-in annotation and notes, which is a handy feature for researchers. Highlight any part of the page that’s important for you, and add notes for later too.
Memex’s full-text history search is a powerful tool to find saved links. When you don’t remember a website’s name or the saved link’s page title, this historical search should be able to find it. The advanced filters can further refine your search query by date or tag.
The free version includes all these features, but you need to manually sync data between the phone and the extension. The paid version of Memex offers automatic sync, as well as data encryption to protect your privacy.
And yes, you can easily export all previous bookmarks from a browser or another service and import them into Memex.
Download: Memex extension for Chrome | Firefox (Free)
Download: Memex for Android | iOS (Free)
Scrapp is a progressive web app (PWA), which means it works offline through browsers like Chrome and Safari on phones and tablets. Once you create an account, you will get a prompt to add it to the home screen. After that, it works just like any phone app, you won’t know the difference. On a desktop browser, you can continue to use it with the extensions.
Scrapp makes organizing bookmarks as simple as possible and looks good doing it. It uses auto-tags to add labels to any new bookmarks, based on your current labels. So if a link’s URL, title, description, or text have any similar keywords to labels you’ve already created, it will be easier to find it in the future.
The app also has a “reading list” mode to add links to. Every day, it will send a notification about how many items you have in your reading list, along with a random link from it. The idea is to not let your “read it later” list pile up too much. Plus, you can read links offline by tapping the “read” button on any bookmark.
Scrapp is an excellent lightweight bookmarking service. It’s completely free, and the developer says he wants to keep it ad-free too.
Download: Scrapp for Chrome | Firefox (Free)
Ktab is like a souped-up version of OneTab, one of the best browser tab management extensions. In fact, many OneTab users might want to switch to Ktab after reading this comparison, since you are once again mass-saving links in a session, and clearing up memory.
When you have a large number of tabs open, Chrome slows down. Click the Ktab icon to get a dropdown list of all tabs, with three options for each tab: rename, close, select/unselect. And there’s a big “Save” button. Click it to save the selected tabs, unselect the tabs that you don’t want. The saved tabs are automatically closed.
Before saving, you can also add tags to these tags. This is an important step in finding those links later because Ktab doesn’t have a search function for bookmarks. When you open the Ktab dashboard, you can sort bookmarks by tags, the original website, or the period they were saved: daily, weekly, monthly, or all.
This is why tagging is important, and you might want to come up with creative tag names to save a session. Also, bear in mind that Ktab auto-selects and closes pinned tabs, tabs from other windows, and browser-based apps. It’s an annoying switch for OneTab users, and hopefully, there will be a customizable setting in future versions of this marvelous extension.
Download: Ktab for Chrome (Free)
PageMarker is a really interesting bookmark manager and organizer because it packages the best features people want from various bookmark apps. Import your current bookmarks into it and get started.
The app has both tags and folders, letting you organize bookmarks better than ever before. The free version limits you to five tags and folders, while the premium version makes both unlimited. You can also add notes to any bookmark, in markdown. And there’s a robust search engine to quickly find any link.
PageMarker focuses on actually reading your “read it later” items. It attacks the problem in two ways.
First, it marks all links in two default folders: Read and Unread. Next, it sends a newsletter of your most recent bookmarks to your inbox, reminding you to read the links rather than letting them saturate.
In the free version, you can choose which days of the week you want the newsletter, while the paid version even lets you choose the time.
But PageMarker doesn’t yet have extensions or mobile apps, so it’s more an organizer than your main bookmarking tool. You have to visit the website and manually add links. Once extensions and apps come in, it promises to be one of the best bookmark managers out there.
Some apps don’t need to do a lot to be just what you’re looking for. Chrome’s bookmark manager is a bit frustrating for power users and lacks a few simple things. Savory tries to fix those limitations as a wrapper for Chrome bookmarks.
If you have years and years of unorganized bookmarks, you know that Chrome’s bookmark manager doesn’t have the best search engine. Savory is lightning fast at finding links and auto-tags the websites too. You can also add your own tags to make bookmark management easier.
Chrome also doesn’t let you select multiple links to delete them in bulk. It’s one of the most frustrating limitations, but Savory solves that too.
A note before you install it: Savory asks you to sign in before it can get to work. It’s unclear why that is, or the privacy implications of it.
Download: Savory for Chrome (Free)
Why are there so many different bookmark apps, managers, and organizers? Well, it’s mainly because different people have different browsing patterns and needs. There’s no right answer, just find one that works for you.
If the above list doesn’t work, try a Trello-like system or an auto-deleting temporary bookmark folder, or any of the other excellent bookmark managers to save links for later.
Read the full article: 5 Bookmark Apps to Organize Links, Save Social Posts, and Read It Later
Considering a new phone, but don’t know if it’s worth the hassle to switch? Really want an iPhone, but have all your contacts and data on a Samsung or other Android phone?
Switching from Android to an iPhone should be straightforward. Here’s what you need to know about how to transfer your contacts from Android to iPhone.
Transferring your data from one phone to another is far simpler than it once was. Often, the biggest risk is from data duplication, rather than data loss. This applies when copying data between two phones of the same platform—such as Android to Android—as well as different platforms.
You can transfer all sorts of data from Android to iPhone, including contacts, photos, and apps. It’s also possible to copy various other types of data, from videos and documents to emails accounts. However, there is a very important step you need to take before transferring data from Android to iPhone.
Take the time to check that the data you’re migrating—including what’s on your external microSD storage, if applicable—will fit on your new iPhone. There is no expandable storage for iPhones, so you’re limited by the phone’s built-in storage. Available storage differs across devices, so check the maximum storage on your device before proceeding.
When you’re ready, read on to start transferring data from Android to your new iPhone.
If you’re switching phones, you need to transfer your contacts. In the old days, this just meant copying contacts to your SIM card, swapping the cards over, and moving them to the new phone. So what is the solution now? How do you transfer your address book and contacts from Android to iPhone?
As it turns out, you can handle all Android to iPhone data migration using the Move to iOS app. However, this isn’t suitable for phones older than Android 4.4, so you may prefer manual methods (see below).
With the app installed, ensure both the Android device and iPhone are plugged in to charge and have Wi-Fi enabled. Then, follow these steps:
Using this app, you can copy various types of data. Apple states that along with contacts, the Move to iOS app also lets you transfer:
The app will also transfer camera photos from Android to iPhone. In addition, free apps available on both platforms will be transferred during the process. For apps without an exact match, Move to iOS may highlighted other options as suitable replacements.
However, Move to iOS can’t move all data over automatically. Music, books, PDFs, and other types of files must be transferred manually. See below for steps on how to do this.
While it’s possible to store contacts on your SIM card, doing so isn’t common these days. A large collection might not fit on the SIM card, and you’ll run into problems if your new phone uses a differently sized SIM than the old one.
However, if you just want to move a few key contacts, this method might work for your needs. If you don’t mind a DIY workaround, you can resize a SIM card to fit other phones (at your own risk).
In Android, open the Contacts app, then choose Settings. Here, select Export > Export to SIM card. Tap OK to continue and select the contacts you wan to back up to the SIM card.
To save time, you can expand the top-right menu and select Mark all. Remember, however, that your SIM card may not have the capacity for all contacts.
With all required contacts selected, click Export > Add contacts.
The next step is to switch off your phone, remove the SIM card, and insert it in your iPhone. Go to Settings > Contacts > Import SIM Contacts. Select an account to import them to (iCloud or Gmail), then wait as they import.
If the above methods don’t work, you can easily move contacts to your iPhone by exporting a VCF file containing their details.
Again, on your Android phone, use the Export function in the Contacts app. This time, selecting the option to SD card or internal storage (.vcf file). This is the vCard format, which you can send to your iOS device as an email attachment, through cloud storage, or similar means.
Alternatively, use the Share all contacts option. With the VCF file ready to share, simply sync to your iPhone and open it as an attachment to save the contacts on your new device.
What if your contacts are only saved in Gmail? Here’s how to import Google contacts to iPhone.
If you’re switching from Android to iPhone and have other data you wish to transfer, there are a few options.
The manual option is to copy the data via USB cable to your PC, then move that data onto your iPhone in the same way.
Alternatively, you can sync your data to the cloud. While switching from Android to iPhone might lead you to use iCloud by default, you might prefer to stick with Google Drive. Both are available on iPhone; meanwhile, you have plenty of options to access iCloud from an Android device. Dropbox is also a good option.
The aim is to sync the data from Android to the cloud solution, then to your iOS device. While it might take a while to sync, it doesn’t require any cables, which makes the solution smarter. Check the specific steps for your preferred syncing solution if you run into trouble.
It might seem daunting at first, but moving data to iOS isn’t as tricky as you might think. Follow the steps above to get your Android contacts, photos, apps, and other data onto any new iPhone.
Now that you’re an iPhone user, make sure you know about the best iPhone features and how to properly maintain your iPhone.
Read the full article: How to Transfer Contacts From Android to iPhone
Most video conferencing platforms now allow you to set a virtual background. This can be really useful when you want to look professional, even though you’re speaking from your spare bedroom. Hello Backgrounds takes this idea one step further, with a library of high-quality backgrounds for any occasion. It works with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. Right now, you can get the Images Pack for $19.99 at MakeUseOf Deals.
Whether you are jumping on a conference call, teaching from home, or hosting online events, it’s nice to have a clean background. While apps like Zoom offer a few options, they don’t cover everything.
In contrast, Hello Backgrounds gives you loads of scenes to choose from. This library offers unlimited access to 305 high-resolution images, which you can grab with a couple of clicks. The selection includes pictures of open-plan offices, cozy studies, and modern homes, If you really want to turn on the style, you can even appear inside a private jet.
The images have no watermark, and they are all 16:9 format — the perfect size for video calls. When you purchase the package, you also get lifetime updates.
The Images Pack is normally priced at $29, but you can get started with Hello Backgrounds today for just $19.99.
Read the full article: Hello Backgrounds Helps You Set the Scene in Zoom Calls — Now 31% off
As our browsing patterns change, so should the tools of a browser. Check out some of these new bookmarking apps to save links for later and organize what you’ve already saved.
The internet has a peculiar problem these days. Social media doesn’t let you easily bookmark or save links. If you tap the Heart or Like button, the world perceives it as an endorsement, even if you meant it as a way to save that post for later.
So if you want to save a tweet for later, it’s better to bookmark it and keep them organized.
Memex is one of the most powerful bookmark apps to meet the needs of the modern user, who wants to save links while using a phone, tablet, or computer. Install the extension on your browser and the app on your phone. To bookmark a link on the phone, “share” any link, and from the Share Menu, choose Memex.
You can save a link and quickly move on, but it’s best to add tags or put it in a particular collection. That will make it easier to find the link later. Memex also includes built-in annotation and notes, which is a handy feature for researchers. Highlight any part of the page that’s important for you, and add notes for later too.
Memex’s full-text history search is a powerful tool to find saved links. When you don’t remember a website’s name or the saved link’s page title, this historical search should be able to find it. The advanced filters can further refine your search query by date or tag.
The free version includes all these features, but you need to manually sync data between the phone and the extension. The paid version of Memex offers automatic sync, as well as data encryption to protect your privacy.
And yes, you can easily export all previous bookmarks from a browser or another service and import them into Memex.
Download: Memex extension for Chrome | Firefox (Free)
Download: Memex for Android | iOS (Free)
Scrapp is a progressive web app (PWA), which means it works offline through browsers like Chrome and Safari on phones and tablets. Once you create an account, you will get a prompt to add it to the home screen. After that, it works just like any phone app, you won’t know the difference. On a desktop browser, you can continue to use it with the extensions.
Scrapp makes organizing bookmarks as simple as possible and looks good doing it. It uses auto-tags to add labels to any new bookmarks, based on your current labels. So if a link’s URL, title, description, or text have any similar keywords to labels you’ve already created, it will be easier to find it in the future.
The app also has a “reading list” mode to add links to. Every day, it will send a notification about how many items you have in your reading list, along with a random link from it. The idea is to not let your “read it later” list pile up too much. Plus, you can read links offline by tapping the “read” button on any bookmark.
Scrapp is an excellent lightweight bookmarking service. It’s completely free, and the developer says he wants to keep it ad-free too.
Download: Scrapp for Chrome | Firefox (Free)
Ktab is like a souped-up version of OneTab, one of the best browser tab management extensions. In fact, many OneTab users might want to switch to Ktab after reading this comparison, since you are once again mass-saving links in a session, and clearing up memory.
When you have a large number of tabs open, Chrome slows down. Click the Ktab icon to get a dropdown list of all tabs, with three options for each tab: rename, close, select/unselect. And there’s a big “Save” button. Click it to save the selected tabs, unselect the tabs that you don’t want. The saved tabs are automatically closed.
Before saving, you can also add tags to these tags. This is an important step in finding those links later because Ktab doesn’t have a search function for bookmarks. When you open the Ktab dashboard, you can sort bookmarks by tags, the original website, or the period they were saved: daily, weekly, monthly, or all.
This is why tagging is important, and you might want to come up with creative tag names to save a session. Also, bear in mind that Ktab auto-selects and closes pinned tabs, tabs from other windows, and browser-based apps. It’s an annoying switch for OneTab users, and hopefully, there will be a customizable setting in future versions of this marvelous extension.
Download: Ktab for Chrome (Free)
PageMarker is a really interesting bookmark manager and organizer because it packages the best features people want from various bookmark apps. Import your current bookmarks into it and get started.
The app has both tags and folders, letting you organize bookmarks better than ever before. The free version limits you to five tags and folders, while the premium version makes both unlimited. You can also add notes to any bookmark, in markdown. And there’s a robust search engine to quickly find any link.
PageMarker focuses on actually reading your “read it later” items. It attacks the problem in two ways.
First, it marks all links in two default folders: Read and Unread. Next, it sends a newsletter of your most recent bookmarks to your inbox, reminding you to read the links rather than letting them saturate.
In the free version, you can choose which days of the week you want the newsletter, while the paid version even lets you choose the time.
But PageMarker doesn’t yet have extensions or mobile apps, so it’s more an organizer than your main bookmarking tool. You have to visit the website and manually add links. Once extensions and apps come in, it promises to be one of the best bookmark managers out there.
Some apps don’t need to do a lot to be just what you’re looking for. Chrome’s bookmark manager is a bit frustrating for power users and lacks a few simple things. Savory tries to fix those limitations as a wrapper for Chrome bookmarks.
If you have years and years of unorganized bookmarks, you know that Chrome’s bookmark manager doesn’t have the best search engine. Savory is lightning fast at finding links and auto-tags the websites too. You can also add your own tags to make bookmark management easier.
Chrome also doesn’t let you select multiple links to delete them in bulk. It’s one of the most frustrating limitations, but Savory solves that too.
A note before you install it: Savory asks you to sign in before it can get to work. It’s unclear why that is, or the privacy implications of it.
Download: Savory for Chrome (Free)
Why are there so many different bookmark apps, managers, and organizers? Well, it’s mainly because different people have different browsing patterns and needs. There’s no right answer, just find one that works for you.
If the above list doesn’t work, try a Trello-like system or an auto-deleting temporary bookmark folder, or any of the other excellent bookmark managers to save links for later.
Read the full article: 5 Bookmark Apps to Organize Links, Save Social Posts, and Read It Later
The Classic Start menu was part of many versions of the Windows operating system, including Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Vista. However, Microsoft dropped the same from Windows 7 and later versions. Now, the all-new Start menu in Windows 10 is better than the Classic Start menu in most ways. It’s faster, looks […]
The post 2 Ways To Get The Classic Start Menu In Windows 10 appeared first on Into Windows. Content from IntoWindows website.
Finland-based Swappie has closed a €35.8 million ($40.6M) Series B to expand into new markets in Europe. The ecommerce business refurbishes and resells used iPhones, taking care of the entire process from testing and repairing used handsets, to selling the refurbished devices via its own marketplace, with a 12-month warranty.
Local VC and private equity firm TESI is a new investor in the Series B, along with Lifeline Ventures, Reaktor Ventures and Inventure Investors, all of whom participated in Swappie’s 2019 Series A. The total raised to date since the business was founded in 2016 is $48M.
Right now Swappie operates in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. The new financing will be used to expand across Europe, beginning with launches in Germany, Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands this summer.
It’s also eyeing expansion beyond Europe — so will be speccing out a broader roadmap for the future.
“The main focus of this round is to become the number one player in Europe. But also to explore opportunities outside Europe as well,” says CEO and co-founder Sami Marttinen. “That’s something we will be looking into but no concrete plans to announce at this point.
“There are still opportunities for our business model everywhere in the world. So it’s a matter of just building the roadmap — where to go next.”
Swappie’s Jiri Heinonen (CMO) and Sami Marttinen (CEO) (Photo credit: Swappie)
Swappie touts growing consumer demand in the region to buy refurbished phones, saying that from 2018 to 2019 revenues grew 4x, hitting $35M+ in net revenue in 2019. It’s also seeing demand continuing to grow this year — recording a 5x increase in net revenue growth in April and May 2020 vs the same period last year, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the trend of consumers shifting to buying more online looks to be a help for its online marketplace.
Commenting on Swappie’s Series B in a statement, Tony Nysten, Investment Manager at TESI, said: “We believe there is a huge growth opportunity for Swappie. The smartphone market in Europe is worth over €100BN but used or refurbished phones currently make up just over 10% of that and only one in four pre-owned phones are currently re-sold. Through its rapid growth to date, Swappie has proven its ability to not just grow market share within the refurbished market, but to expand the size of the category overall. The business has enormous potential.”
Swappie’s early choice of market focus included not only familiar turf in the Nordics — but Italy, in Southern Europe. The latter was chosen deliberately on account of it being a tough market for ecommerce, per Marttinen.
“In the really early days the reason why we went to Italy was because it was one of the toughest ecommerce markets in Europe — they have a really low ecommerce maturity index. It’s very different in terms of shopping behavior. You need to build another level of trust in that market. There are lots of unique traits like cash on delivery, things like that. So we knew that in order to really conquer the market globally — and to be able to deliver on our global ambitions we would need to enter as difficult markets as early in our journey as possible.
“These days we have a much more advanced playbook and market studies across Europe.”
Swappie describes itself as a ‘scale-up’ tech business on account of addressing the whole value chain, per Marttinen.
“We’ve done a lot there on the hardware side — when it comes to actually refurbishing the devices we can make them even stronger then the original devices in many cases. So that means we can go as deep as onto the motherboard level in the repairs. Then on the software side, of course, we’re making selling and distribution and everything else scalable. Making sure that the checking processes and all the processes in the factory are according to the latest standards,” he says.
“Because of being so focused in also building the processes and focusing on the quality so much, so actually we have been able to truly change the way people consume electronics,” he adds. “If you think about it from a local player perspective they are typically mostly competing for the people who are already buying used devices — whereas we are able to deliver on this market by having full control of the entire value chain, from buying to refurbishing, to selling the phones to consumers.
“Most of our customers are buying used or refurbished devices for the first time — so actually our biggest competitors are new smartphone retailers.”
The most popular iPhone model sold on Swappie’s marketplace last year was the iPhone 8, per Marttinen.
He won’t disclosed the exact number of iPhones Swappie has refurbished and sold at this point but he says it’s a six-figure number — aka ‘hundreds of thousands’.
The team chose to focus on iPhones to ensure they can deliver the highest quality device refurbishment, he says, while also benefiting from the relatively higher cost of Apple’s smartphone hardware vs Android devices. Though he doesn’t rule out expanding to offer another type of refurbished smartphone in future.
“The business is now growing really rapidly but what we noticed in the early days is that the new device prices had started to rise before we started this business so we have been very lucky with the timing,” he tells TechCrunch, noting that Swappie also benefitted from the plateauing into advancements between handset models in recent years, as the technology matured.
“If you can build trust into this business, and make sure that the phones function as well as new devices — and that you’re actually making the buying process as well as safe as buying a new phone — that way you can actually accelerate the growth of the market. So that’s what we have been really successful in. It’s kind of the key to being able to grow so quickly.”
“One main point there has been that because we refurbish every device ourselves in our own factory in Finland we can deliver to customers the highest quality devices under warranty for much less than the cost of a new phone and also be more environmentally friendly,” he adds.
While, in years past, there have been instances of iPhone users’ devices bricked after a repair by an unauthorized repair shop Marttinen says Swappie is using only original iPhone parts so has avoided such problems.
He also points to recent European Commission proposals for a pan-EU ‘right to repair’ for electronics which suggests device makers selling in the region will be required to respect repairability, rather than using software updates as a way to penalize consumers who seek to extend the lifespan of their current device.
Photo credit: Swappie
Swappie’s business also slots into a wider Commission mission to transition the EU to a circular economy, as part of the green deal announced by current president, Ursula von der Leyen — so it’s skating to where the puck is headed, if you like.
“It’s really good for the environment that the right to repair legislation has come forward in the past few years. That’s one very important point for us as well which was one of the reasons why we wanted to built microscope level repairs in our factories — so we wouldn’t have to scrap as many phones as you normally would,” Marttinen adds.
What can’t it repair? The proportion of iPhones which turn out to be truly unsalvageable via its processes is “extremely small“, he says. “We can actually do any repairs that are possible to do the phones so, basically, water damaged phones which have been at the bottom of the ocean — those are of course unrepairable. Or if the phone is bent too much or if the motherboard is completely ruined. But basically all the other faults we can repair.”
On the competitive front, he says Swappie’s main rival are retailers selling new iPhones — given it’s trying to woo iOS users away from buying a brand new iPhone. On the secondhand marketplace front Marttinen mentions reBuy as one of the main rival players in refurbishing and reselling electronics, though it does not focus on iPhones — offering a full range of devices, from wearables to smartphones and tablets, laptops, consoles and cameras.
The United States Department of Commerce today issued a change to its sweeping Huawei ban. Proponents of the move note that the change in policy ought not be regarded as a softening on the government’s stance toward the embattled hardware maker, but instead is an attempt to develop more streamlined standards for 5G, along with the company, which has been one of the primary forces in its development
According to the Department:
This action is meant to ensure Huawei’s placement on the Entity List in May 2019 does not prevent American companies from contributing to important standards-developing activities despite Huawei’s pervasive participation in standards-development organizations.
The change is designed to allow Huawei and U.S. to both play a role in hashing out the parameters for the next-generation wireless technology. “The United States will not cede leadership in global innovation. This action recognizes the importance of harnessing American ingenuity to advance and protect our economic and national security,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “The Department is committed to protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by encouraging U.S. industry to fully engage and advocate for U.S. technologies to become international standards.”
The new Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) rule essentially allows companies to share information about technologies in order to develop a joint standard without requiring an export license. Beyond that, however, the DOC has no stated plans to ease up after placing Huawei on its entities list last year.
The Chinese smartphone maker was included in the blacklist over a litany of ongoing complaints, including its ties to national government, concerns over spying and alleged sanction violations with Iran. The move has had a profound impact on the company, including a severing of its ties to Google, which formed the software backbone of its mobile line through Android and a suit of included apps. Subsequent handsets, including the recently released P40 Pro+, have been shipped without the software on board.
Google is opening Stadia up to more phones. So much so that Google Stadia should now work on almost any Android phone. While an 8-year-old phone running KitKat won’t be capable of running Stadia, a 5-year-old phone running Marshmallow may well be.
Google Stadia is only officially supported on a select number of handsets. And while the number is growing, there are more phones not supported than supported. However, thanks to an experimental feature, Google Stadia should now work on a lot more phones.
To use Google Stadia, first check whether your phone is on the list of supported handsets. If so, happy days. You can download the app and start playing immediately. If not, there’s still a chance. Just head to Google Play and download the Google Stadia app.
If your device is old and incompatible, you’re out of luck. However, if you can download and install the Google Stadia app, you’ll be able to stream games on Google Stadia. Just sign into the app, open the Settings, tap Experiments, then select “Play on this device”.
Google Stadia should then work on your device, even if it’s several years old. Almost any phone running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or later should be compatible. However, cloud gaming still requires a fast and reliable internet connection to function correctly.
This feature is still very much in development to the point that Google has labelled it as an experiment. Which means there is no guarantee Stadia will function perfectly on your particular handset. Still, there’s no harm in trying it out, right?
For more on Google Stadia, here’s how to use different controllers with Google Stadia, and the best Google Stadia games to play today. Having said all of that, Google Stadia is far from perfect, so it’s worth reading our review of Google Stadia first.
Read the full article: Google Stadia Now Works on Almost All Android Phones
Over and over again, research has shown that one of the best ways to stick to your workout routine is by involving other people. Having friends, family members, or complete strangers encourage you as you work out can help you meet your goals, and even exceed them.
Social fitness apps are one of the best ways to do this, but you need to find the one that works best for you. So, in this article, we’ve listed the best social fitness apps to work out with friends. You’re bound to find one that helps you achieve your fitness goals.
Fitbit is one of the most widely-used social fitness apps. Most users pair it with their favorite Fitbit tracker, as these trackers automatically log stats, such as steps taken, different activity levels, and stairs climbed.
However, you don’t technically have to own a Fitbit tracker to use the app, as most smartphones have a pedometer feature that Fitbit can use to track your steps. The only downside is that you’ll have to manually enter any other exercises you do.
Fitbit is also a great way to improve your fitness while competing against others. Once you connect with your friends and family on the app, you can compete to have the most steps during the week. Plus, Fitbit has plenty of fitness challenges to do with friends and family that will motivate you to get fit.
On Fitbit’s Community page, you can join fitness groups that pertain to specific activities, like running, hiking, and swimming. People from all over the world can post images of their latest workouts, which should inspire you even more.
Download: Fitbit for Android | iOS (Free, with premium version available)
Nike Run Club is packed with features that can improve your workout sessions. Not only does it track stats from your runs and encourage you to complete challenges, but it also has a coaching feature that leads you through a targeted program for specific race distances and running levels.
The social aspect of the Nike Run Club app is integral to its design. It allows you to share the completion of your runs to the social media network of your choice. An in-app camera also lets you share photos without leaving the app. You can even get “cheers” from your Nike Run Club friends, which triggers a cheering sound that you’ll hear through your headphones.
If you want to connect with other runners in person, you can use the app to find and partake in nearby running events. The more you exercise, the more in-app achievements you’ll get to show off.
Nike Run Club is compatible with the Apple Watch, as well as Android wearables. That said, it’s definitely one of the best fitness apps for Apple Watch, and most Android fitness devices.
Download: Nike Run Club on Android | iOS (Free)
Apps such as PumpUp are designed specifically for those who love talking about their workouts on social media. Although it’s marketed towards women, plenty of men use the app too. The app tracks your exercise, and lets you post photos with descriptions to share with your followers.
PumpUp’s interface resembles Instagram in both its appearance and functionality. You have access to the feed of people you follow, along with feeds for the latest and most popular posts. Most posts show a user’s progress, while others have to do with healthy eating. Either way, PumpUp can inspire you to get fit alongside the thousands of other users on the app.
PumpUp isn’t just all about sharing your ventures in fitness. It, additionally, helps you stay active while you connect, as it comes with a variety of guided workouts that you can try. Each workout has a specific theme. With full-body, high-intensity, strength-training, abs, and treadmill workouts at your disposal, you’ll likely find a routine that works for you.
The premium version of the app gives you access to a larger selection of workouts, but it’s rather expensive. Despite this, PumpUp is still a great choice if you love using social media to connect, and are interested in sharing your fitness activities with like-minded groups.
Download: PumpUp for Android | iOS (Free, with premium version available)
Strava is another fantastic fitness-sharing app. Whether you enjoy running, biking, hiking, kayaking, doing yoga, or training at the gym, this app can track all of it. Strava even records your distance, pace, speed, and calories burned.
Want to get your friends and family involved in a group fitness app? Fortunately, you can simply add them to Strava from your Facebook friends list or phone contacts. After you complete a workout, you can post your stats on the app for all of your friends to see.
Strava gives you the chance to join and compete in challenges against your friends and family. In other words, this feature makes it a viable option if you’re looking for a workout app that keeps you and your friends accountable.
One of the best parts about Strava is its emphasis on local fitness activity. You can check out nearby running or biking routes that other Strava users have used, and try them for yourself. If you subscribe to the premium version of the app, you can actually see how your time ranks compared to the other users who have used that trail.
Download: Strava for Android| iOS (Free, with premium version available)
Social fitness apps have been improving rapidly, and will likely continue to get better. Whether you want to compete with your friend, local athletes, or people from around the world, the social aspect makes working out way more fun. The app you choose should depends on the kind of social connections that best fit your lifestyle and personality.
Most of these apps come equipped with workouts that you can do from home, but you might get bored of doing the same routine. If that’s the case, change it up with these body weight exercise apps to help you get fit anywhere.
Read the full article: The Best Social Fitness Apps to Work Out With Friends
