disrupt2014
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Security app automatically encrypts your shared files so you don't have to
In this post-PRISM world, basically everyone is worried about privacy (and rightly so!) -- especially when it comes to cloud-based storage. Offloading your files to the likes of Dropbox doesn't come without a share of caveats regarding security, so that's where Places comes in. What sets the startup's service apart from its peers, according to TechCrunch, is local, automatic, end-to-end encryption for your documents and media. There apparently isn't another step you need to take between uploading the video of your toddler's first steps and it being securely locked away. What's more, Places uses your local machine to host offloaded content, relying on its centralized servers only when your PC is otherwise unavailable. And because your digital life is encrypted on the client side, Places claims it doesn't have the key to unlock anything stored on its end should the government or anyone else come knocking. That, of course, is reserved for the intended recipient and no one else.
This butterfly keyboard can replace your mouse, sort of
Have you ever thought about how you might improve the standard QWERTY keyboard? Jesse Vincent has. He's a keyboard enthusiast, a rare breed of geek inexplicably obsessed with text entry devices. We found him showing of Keyboardio at TechCrunch Disrupt -- a butterfly-shaped keyboard designed to put more emphasis on the opposable thumb. In addition to general ergonomic tweaks, Vincent's design puts keys like ctrl, delete, shift and alt under the user's left and right thumbs, taking the load of peripheral toggling off of the pinky finger. There's also a new "function" button under the typist's palms, which can apply macros and modifiers to almost any key.
Equil's Smartpen 2 can transcribe your notes without your tablet's help
The Equil JOT smartpen was a nice evolution on digitally-enhanced writing implements. Much like Livescribe's digitizing pen, it copied all a writer's scribbles to a companion iPad app -- but the JOT didn't need a special notebook to do it. Rather than requiring writers to buy special smartpen-friendly paper, Equil created a sensor that could be attached to any notebook and synced wirelessly with iOS devices. Now that JOT's rebranded successor, the Smartpen 2, doesn't even need to do that.
An analog timepiece beats in the heart of this awkward smartwatch
Think you know what to expect in the emerging category of wrist-worn computing? Think again -- the thick, heavy device pictured above is the Halo: a smartwatch that almost has more in common with a traditional timepiece than it does with a smartphone. Lonshine technologies bills the Halo as "the world's first smart analogue watch," meaning that it still relies on the ticking of mechanical quartz movement to keep time. This is a smartwatch that has a real watch face and real hands nestled underneath a transparent touchscreen.
Overwatch: a smartphone app that makes airsoft more like a video game
Prefer the physical activity (and force feedback) airsoft, paintball and laser tag provide, but miss the peripheral luxuries of the virtual battlefield? Well, now you can have both -- we found a new app at TechCrunch Disrupt makes physical warfare games a lot more like video games. It's called Overwatch, and it gives any player with access to an Android or iOS device access to player stats, live voice-chat, in-game perks and controllable game modes. One feature stands out in particular, however: real-time GPS-radar mapping the locations of all players on the field.
Twitch's CEO sees Amazon integration as an opportunity, not an obligation
When Amazon purchased Twitch for almost $1 billion, the question burbled to the top of everyone's mind: Which Amazon service will invade the platform first? The idea hangs with minor dread, a concern that a corporate agenda will ruin what customers have come to love about the game-streaming service. Twitch CEO Emmett Shear isn't worried, however. He's been adamant Twitch sold to Amazon because it promised autonomy. "Our attitude toward it is not that this transaction happened, therefore we have to do integrations," he explained at TechCrunch Disrupt. "It's that now we have the opportunity." Amazon, he explains, offers Twitch new resources for security, licensing and marketing -- but says that Twitch will only integrate Amazon services that benefit the consumer.
PayPal and Coinbase are partnering to enable Bitcoin payments
Remember that One Touch mobile payment solution PayPal announced last month? It's ready -- Braintree CEO Bill Ready announced at Disrupt that customers with the PayPal app will have access to mobile payments starting today. The mobile payment platform is the first fruit Braintree has borne since PayPal acquired it last year, but it isn't the last: Ready says his company is laying the foundation for PayPal Bitcoin payments, too.
Uber CEO claims his company creates 50,000 new jobs every month
How fast is Uber growing? Pretty darn fast -- CEO Travis Kalanick claims the company adds tens of thousands of new drivers every month. "There are hundreds of thousands of partners connected to our system," he said at TechCrunch Disrupt this morning. "We're in the neck of 50,000 new jobs every month that are being created." Kalanick admitted he didn't have the exact number, but that's a pretty massive increase. Back in May, the company said it was adding an average of 20,000 new drivers every month. You're not alone in thinking those numbers seem a little optimistic. By comparison, the entire US added 142,000 job in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest jobs report.
