News you need to know
Send Money to Friends in Facebook Messenger
Facebook finally announced a payments service built right into Messenger this week. You can send money directly to friends from right inside a chat message; a few services existed like this already like Venmo, but with Messenger's huge amount of users, this could be the absolute best way to pay friends.
What's interesting is that Messenger is quickly becoming the core Facebook experience for many and the company is seeking to turn it into a platform of its own by allowing other apps to tap into it directly, just like competitors in Asia have. It would be a dramatic shift for the company away from the original social network, but it also feels inevitable.
Google starts reviewing apps before they reach the Play Store
Google Play has been a bit of a wild west for apps until now, with the company not generally reviewing apps before they appear on the store. Starting this week, Google is reviewing them before they hit the store to ensure a reasonable level of quality and no shady activity.
Good progress for Android users and it's interesting to see it making moves to control the platform more.
Windows 10 launching summer, free even for pirates
Microsoft's biggest version of Windows yet is landing sometime this summer, free for Windows 7 and 8 users as well as pirates. Obviously, the company is motivated to get all the holdouts on older versions on the latest and greatest.
FYI
- Microsoft released details on what your PC will need to run Windows 10
- Mysterious augmented reality company MagicLeap showed off a demo video this week
- Amazon can now legally test its delivery drones
- Music labels are reportedly pushing to shut off free streaming services
Must reads
How Will Apple Watch Teach People To Love Watches?
An interesting post on a watch website that looks at how Apple needs to win people over with the Watch. Very in-depth and objective read from someone who deeply cares about watches.
"The Apple Watch feels like a genuine modern manifestation of the watch, complete with quality materials and a very pleasant ergonomic and tactile experience. It is a watch product that would have naturally come about if the traditional watch industry continued to modernize and develop after the quartz watch became the status quo."
How TripAdvisor Is Changing the Way We Travel
TripAdvisor is apparently now so large that it can impact entire countries. The site now touts 890,000 hotels and the world's largest collection of user-contributed travel photos anywhere. If you're ever booking or researching a trip, you'll inevitably find yourself on the site, but how did it get to be so big?
You Should Be Afraid
"We are deeply concerned about the fact that we don’t know what this technology is doing to us. And our feverish mass adoption of the era’s tech advances is moving too quickly for us to have the time (in the moment, or in terms of historical data) to answer our very legitimate questions."
How schools spy on their students
A harrowing look into how schools and other educational institutes spy on their students. They're watching every post students make and often going to great lengths in an attempt to trace students who are using anonymous profiles.
The Invention of the AeroPress
How did the inventor of the world's best frisbee wind up later inventing the world's best coffee gadget? According to him, "inventing is a disease and there is no known cure."
How I Became The World's Leading Toilet Paper Expert
I accidentally created an international news story this week, simply by tweeting a picture of a patent for toilet paper. It was an interesting lesson for me in how far viral tweets can travel and what a single joke can turn into.
“Rules of Business”
Highly recommended reading. The rules of business that you should follow for everything you do in your life:
- Pretend like you're a human being
- Make it inevitable
- Every job you do has your signature on it
- Everyone should always be trying to make it easier for everyone
Trending Products
Priime For iPhone Intelligently Suggests Which Filters To Use
This lovely free app for iOS analyzes your photos and suggests filters to you, rather than just suggesting a wall of choices. Priime taps the community to create its filters for $0.99 each and you can preview them in action on your photos before you buy.
There are so many great photo apps out there, but this makes it incredibly simple to make your shots shine in seconds.
