South by Southwest

Five 'South by Southwest' stories February 2014 - March 2016

President Obama cautions against taking ‘absolutist view’ on encryption in Apple/FBI case [Video]

Jordan Kahn Mar 11 2016 - 4:34 pm PT

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The latest to speak out on the Apple and FBI controversy is none other than President Obama who earlier today attended a talk at South by Southwest Interactive. While the talk was about “civic engagement in the 21st Century,” the conversation not surprisingly turned to the government’s role in the high-profile Apple and FBI case.

Obama made it clear that he isn’t behind Apple in the case, saying that tech companies shouldn’t “take an absolutist view” on encryption and encouraging them to make concessions instead of forcing Congress to pass new law:

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Twitter’s live streaming video app Periscope updated as it crushes Meerkat

Ben Lovejoy Apr 2 2015 - 4:28 am PT

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periscope

Twitter has updated Periscope, the free iPhone app that allows anyone to stream live video to the world. Rather than display a random video stream when you open it, it now puts people you follow at the top of your feed. The update also includes a number of performance improvements and bug-fixes.

Periscope was beaten to launch by rival app Meerkat, which made a big splash at SXSW, but Twitter’s app quickly took the crown, as QZ tech editor Dan Fommer noted.

Frommer tweeted a graph comparing the number of tweets per day made from the two apps, with Meerkat’s share falling steeply as soon as Periscope launched. Within 24 hours, Periscope was approaching 50k tweets while Meerkat fell from a high of 35k to a little over 20k.

[tweet https://twitter.com/fromedome/status/582200679885905920]

Via The Verge

SXSW plans largest iBeacon deployment yet to let attendees meet up & find events via mobile app

Jordan Kahn Mar 3 2015 - 8:30 am PT

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South by Southwest (SXSW) just launched its official mobile app ahead of the festival and alongside it announced plans for the world’s largest deployment of iBeacons to offer mobile app features triggered by the Bluetooth beacons. In total, more than 1000+ beacons will be deployed to pull it all off. SXSW thinks the features will “fundamentally change attendee’s experiences” by letting mobile app users network and navigate the event.
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SXSW Festival using iBeacons for interactive sessions, speedy badge pickup through iOS app

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2014 - 12:02 pm PT

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SXSW-app On top of the many uses for iBeacons we’ve seen in retail environments, event organizers are another group that have started taking advantage of Apple’s new Bluetooth tech recently. The MLB is deploying them in stadiums to send notifications to baseball fans, CES hosted an iBeacon scavenger hunt this year, and today we’ve found out the upcoming SXSW festival where Apple is hosting its latest iTunes Festival will also be using the technology.

Eventbase, the company that has been building the official SXSW festival app for a few years now reached out to let us know it will be deploying some iBeacons around the event this year to improve the experience. Specifically, it will be using the technology to “help attendees in Austin pick up their badge faster and get more involved in the sessions they attend.” One feature in the app will allow for real-time audience interaction during sessions:
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Apple adds Kendrick Lamar to iTunes Festival lineup at SXSW

Zac Hall Feb 27 2014 - 10:26 am PT

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As noted by The Loop, Apple has announced that Kendrick Lamar will be returning to the iTunes Festival again this year at its March event in Austin, Texas, during SXSW later this year.

Earlier this month, Apple shared that it was bringing its iTunes Festival to the United States for the first time this year. Apple has already announced other artists added to the lineup including Soundgarden.

Check below for more of the already announced lineup:
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