So much happened at SXSW, where to start? Well, you may have heard that the President rolled into town. He took the chance to warn -- the mainly tech crowd -- about not being "absolutists" on encryption, given what a hot topic that is right now. Mean...
It’s a wrap: So long SXSW, see you next year
So much happened at SXSW, where to start? Well, you may have heard that the President rolled into town. He took the chance to warn -- the mainly tech crowd -- about not being "absolutists" on encryption, given what a hot topic that is right now. Mean...
"SXSW is all about the big ideas." I've been saying it all week long. It's true. Here in Austin is not the place to launch a phone, it's where you show an idea about how to get people to Mars, or how to feel g-force in mobile VR. This is where apps l...
GIFs are portable human expressions. Looped images of grumpy cats, falling babies and weird Drake moves convey a barrage of information and emotions in a way that words and emoji cannot. While the format has been around since 1987, the ability to cop...
Sennheiser announced its 3D audio platform AMBEO back at CES this year, and today at SXSW I got a chance to try a VR demo and see how it sounds. Using a standard pair of headphones and a stock Gear VR, I was transported into a church where a lone pia...
Ohlala, an app that facilitates "paid dates," caused a ripple of raised eyebrows when it launched in New York last month. Despite Ohlala's insistence that it is not about paying for sex, people had a hard time figuring out what it really was for. The...
After President Obama's keynote, a SXSW session featuring J.J. Abrams alongside his friend Andrew Jarecki (writer and director HBO miniseries The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) was probably the hottest panel of the conference. Around 2,00...
A long line of people snakes through the halls until it winds down a flight of stairs. Over a thousand fans anxiously wait for the doors to open inside the Austin Convention Center. They're here to see the creator and lead actors of Mr. Robot, the mo...
The tagline reads: "AirJamz is the wearable Air Guitar that you have to see to believe." To be fair, you probably can believe it, especially if you're familiar with Zivix. The company is best known for Jamstik, a small wireless guitar that helps you...
The idea of a manned mission to Mars got in the public consciousness in a big way over the last few years thanks in large part to Andy Weir's novel The Martian and its excellent big-screen adaptation. I'll admit that I haven't always been fascinated...
People weren't just talking about how to deal with online harassment at SXSW -- they were also taking steps to put anti-harassment laws on the books. Representative Katherine Clark has unveiled a federal bill, the Cybercrime Enforcement Training Assi...