Business

Josh Constine is a technology journalist who specializes in deep analysis of social products. He is currently a writer for TechCrunch. Previously, Constine was the Lead Writer of Inside Facebook, where he covered Facebook product changes, privacy, the Ads API, Page management, ecommerce, virtual currency, and music technology. Prior to writing for Inside Facebook, Constine graduated from Stanford University... ? Learn More Calling all chefs, wedding planners, stylists, and crafty-types: Pinterest has just opened registration to the public after two years of requiring an invite to join. Anyone can now sign up with Twitter, Facebook, or just an email address. Seems that $100 million cash infusion from Rakuten bought it some operations engineers. Its growth has already been staggering, so it will be fascinating to see what happens next. Will users flood in faster than ever before? Or will the lack of exclusivity make membership seem less trendy? And yes, if you’re asking, somewhere ther...

Ryan has spent more than five years covering business, technology, and telecom-related subjects for a variety of publications based in New York and San Francisco. Ryan currently works as a writer for TechCrunch. ? Learn More There are all sorts of loyalty program out there, but let’s be honest — most of them are a pain in the ass to navigate. They require you to carry around a punch card, or you have to check in using some kind of mobile app, or use a specific rewards card. And each local merchant is tied to a different app or loyalty program, which means that users need to have various different apps or cards at the ready to capture rewards. New York City-based LocalBonus differentiates itself by offering up a “universal” loyalty program that doesn’t require users to download an app, checkin to a location, or carry around a punchcard to get points. Instead, it ties LocalBonus loyalty points to purchases made with a user’s debit or credit card. Once someone has registered a card with...

Matt is currently working as a writer for TechCrunch. Matt Burns is a family man first and attempts to be a writer second. Born and raised in the heart of the automotive world, only cars eclipse his love of gadgets. He previously wrote for Engadget and EngadgetHD before moving into the party house that is TechCrunch. He learned the retail... ? Learn More Samsung and Apple are currently fighting over rectangles and retail packaging. The legal battle is a classic CF, but the process has yielded a treasure trove of early Apple product designs. So far court documents have revealed early iPhone and iPad designs. Some models have kickstands, others are inspired by Sony — all pretty interesting. But today is Samsung’s turn with freshly-minted court documents revealing some early feature phone concept designs. And you know what? Samsung’s early designs are lame. Once a staple of Samsung’s mobile portfolio, these sorts of fashion-forward feature phones attempted to bridge huge gap between mor...