The tech graveyard is ending 2024 with a few new inhabitants. Throughout the year, companies put aging products out to pasture and billion-dollar deals ended with curt blog posts about focusing their efforts (and dollars) elsewhere. It was the end of the road for products big and small, old and new. Here’s a look back at those that ended their run in 2024.
JANUARY
(Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
In some circles, the Kardashians are no longer the money-making juggernauts they once were, and we saw evidence of that in January with the demise of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The mobile fashion game debuted to chuckles more than a decade ago (“shallow, addictive fun,” we said in our 2014 review), but it quickly raked in millions for the eponymous reality star. Still, nothing lasts forever in Hollywood. “I’ve realized that it’s time to focus that energy into other passions,” Kim said in announcing the shutdown.
Twitter NFT Profile Photos
Meta dumped non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in 2023, and X followed suit this year by dropping the ability to create NFT profile photos. The social network first started experimenting with them in 2022 as a perk for premium subscribers, but interest has waned as crypto bros failed to adequately explain why anyone would pay top dollar for what is basically a JPG. Case in point: an NFT of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet initially sold for $2.9 million in 2021 but only fetched $280 on the resale market a year later.
Artifact News App From Instagram Founders
Artifact, the news app created by Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, shut down in January, less than a year after its debut. “We have concluded that the market opportunity isn’t big enough to warrant continued investment,” Systrom said at the time. (Krieger is now the chief product officer at AI company Anthropic.) It was a rocky month for news startups, with The Messenger also abruptly closing up shop after throwing tons of money at high-profile journalists in an effort to combat “bias in the news.”
Uber’s Drizly Booze-Delivery Service
In 2021, Uber spent more than $1 billion on alcohol-delivery service Drizly. But unlike Uber Eats, Drizly didn’t have Uber drivers deliver booze; it was a back-end system for liquor stores to facilitate deliveries they handled themselves. Complicating matters was a cybersecurity issue that Drizly failed to address, resulting in hefty FTC fines. By January, Uber said it would shut down Drizly to “focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app.”
AMD Link
AMD’s Link app debuted in 2017 and allowed Radeon graphics card owners to stream PC games—including VR titles—to their smartphones. Seven years later, “there are many options available for users to stream their PC content to other devices,” AMD said, so it released a driver update that officially killed the Link app.
Fossil Smartwatches
Apple and Samsung dominate the US smartwatch market; it’s hard to compete with watchOS and the Galaxy brand. Fossil saw the writing on the wall this year and dropped out of the market. The Gen 6, released in 2021, will be Fossil’s last smartwatch, though it plans to keep the device updated “for the next few years.”
Razer X Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch (Credit: WillGreenwald)
Cat Phone Maker Bullitt
British phone manufacturer Bullitt Group shut down in late January amid financial trouble. It was known for its rugged, Caterpillar-branded phones, like the Cat S60, Cat S40, and Cat S61, which offered the ability to measure air quality. In 2022, Bullitt tried to “pivot away from hardware” toward a satellite offering, including a clip-on device that enables satellite messaging for any smartphone, but that never got off the ground.
FEBRUARY
Google Search Cache Views
It’s estimated that 38% of web pages from 2013 no longer exist, a phenomenon known as link rot. For years, Google took and stored snapshots of web pages as it crawled them, giving users an archived view if a site went down. It also made it easy to see if any changes had been made to a web page, a helpful tool for journalists and search engine optimization specialists. In February, Google quietly pulled the plug because it was developed for a time when you “couldn’t depend on a page loading,” it said. More recently, Google partnered with the Internet Archive to offers links to its Wayback Machine directly from search results (though the Internet Archive itself almost got added to this list this year).
Ring Car Cam (Credit: John Delaney)
Ring Car Cam
The Ring Car Cam launched at CES 2023 and worked as a dash cam while your vehicle was in motion and as a security camera when parked. In our 2023 review, we liked the Ring Cam’s dual-camera imaging and 1080p video as well as its inclusion of the GPS locator. However, we were disappointed with the number of integration options available for the device and thought the camera was pricey, especially with an added subscription. After ongoing delivery delays, Ring decided to discontinue the device.
Funimation
The writing’s been on the wall for Funimation since 2021, when Sony acquired Crunchyroll for almost $1.2 billion and announced plans to merge the two anime streaming services. The larger Crunchyroll took priority, and Sony this year said the Funimation app and website would shut down on April 2, 2024. On the downside, Crunchyroll does not support Funimation Digital copies, meaning exclusive DVD and Blu-ray content purchased in digital form from Funimation is no longer accessible.
Noggin
This year’s Paramount layoffs took out the team behind kid-focused streaming service Noggin. Shows like Blue’s Clues & You, Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig made the leap to Paramount+.
Encrypted Email Service Skiff
Skiff offered private email, storage, a calendar, and collaboration tools that were simple, forward-looking, and free. In our initial review last year, Skiff earned an Editors’ Choice award, but in February, Skiff announced it would no longer exist as a separate entity after its acquisition by productivity service Notion. All Skiff services ended on Aug. 9, except for email forwarding, which will continue until Feb. 9, 2025.
Mozilla Hubs
Introduced in 2018, Mozilla Hubs was intended as a meeting place for those using virtual reality. You could go to the site, click a button, and generate a VR room with a share link. In 2022, the first public beta opened to subscribers for $20 a month. Earlier this year, however, Mozilla said it would shut down Hubs as part of a larger company restructuring, resulting in the end of the Hubs Demo Server and subscription service.
Apple Car
Rumors about Apple producing a vehicle swirled for years before Bloomberg reported that the company had formally axed plans for an Apple car. Originally known as Project Titan, the EV endeavor was expected to become a major new business for Cupertino, which reportedly poured billions into the effort. But the company’s board was skeptical, dooming the effort (for now).
MARCH
(Credit: Microsoft/Amazon/PCMag)
Android Apps on Windows 11
The ability to run Android apps was a highly touted Windows 11 feature, but a big drawback was that it tapped into Amazon’s limited Amazon Appstore, not Google Play. The feature went live in July 2023, but by March, Microsoft updated its documentation to say that support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) would end on March 5, 2025. As PCMag’s Michael Muchmore noted, “It was a neat idea to be able to run mobile apps on your desktop, but…if you have a compatible Android phone, you get a better experience running apps via the Phone Link app.”
CrowdTangle
This tool, which Facebook acquired in 2016, allowed publishers to track high-performing social media posts but also helped researchers and fact-checkers monitor bad actors on Facebook Pages, Groups, Instagram accounts, and—before API access was restricted—Twitter/X and Reddit. In March, Meta said it would shut down CrowdTangle and shift to its own Meta Content Library. Lawmakers urged Meta to delay the shutdown, arguing that the Content Library was more limited than CrowdTangle, to no avail. It closed up shop for good in August.
Twitch Watch Party
Pandemic-era lockdowns prompted streaming services to launch watch parties that allowed us to Netflix and not-quite chill from our own homes. Amazon-owned Twitch’s solution offered a way for streamers to connect with fans via movies or shows streaming on Prime Video. It was a great alternative to watching someone play a game, but Watch Party usage declined dramatically as lockdowns lifted, so Amazon shut down the service to focus on other features.
(Credit: Twitch)
Atla and Google VPNs
The VPN industry is crowded, and a few major player threw in the towel this year. Atlas VPN, a service with 6 million users, shut down in April, citing competition and rising costs. It migrated users to NordVPN, whose parent company acquired Atlas VPN in 2021. Atlas was supposed to remain independent while growing its freemium business after the merger, but it “encountered insurmountable challenges,” Atlas VPN said. A month later, Google said it would pull the plug on the VPN that’s included with Google One because “we found people simply weren’t using it.” For Atlas customers, NordVPN is at least a top-rated VPN service, but check out our picks for the fastest VPNs and best free VPNs, too.
APRIL
(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon ‘Just Walk Out’ Grocery Stores
Amazon has been experimenting with cashier-less technology for a few years, starting with its Amazon Go stores in 2016. It let shoppers grab things off shelves and leave the store without checking out; everything was tabulated as you shopped using a maze of sensors and charged to your Amazon account after you left. It expanded to Whole Foods and even select Starbucks, but started to wind down last year. In April, Amazon confirmed that it would transition from “Just Walk Out” tech in large grocery stores to speciality “Dash Carts,” where you manually scan items. It’s not completely ditching “Just Walk Out,” but it’s now positioned as a service Amazon is providing to third parties. A few “Just Walk Out” stores are still open internationally.
Alexa Developer Rewards Program
Remember Alexa Skills? When Amazon debuted its Alexa-powered Echo devices a decade ago, it allowed developers to create “skills” that you called up with specific words or phrases. In 2017, Amazon added a rewards program that paid developers with high customer engagement and handed out millions of dollars in 2018. By 2020, however, it had scaled back and the program shut down in April. “These older programs have simply run their course, so we decided to sunset them,” Amazon said. Developers can still make money from in-app payments.
DALL-E 2 Image Generator
DALL-E 2 took the world by storm in April 2022 thanks to its ability to generate impressively high-quality images from simple text prompts. A few months later, OpenAI opened the beta to a broader audience, but it’s since been eclipsed by DALL-E 3, which includes full integration with ChatGPT, making for a simpler interface that produces even better images.
MAY
Getir
This delivery service picked up steam during the pandemic when people were stuck at home looking for quick access to groceries and other convenience items. It launched in 2015 in Turkey with a promise of deliveries in 13 minutes from drivers clad in the brand’s purple and yellow colors, and expanded to the US in 2021. Its valuation quickly ballooned, and it acquired US grocery-delivery service FreshDirect last year. But like Kozmo.com before it, interest dwindled as early discounts disappeared and people emerged from lockdowns and returned to buying their own groceries. By May, Getir shut down its US and European operations.
Facebook At Work in 2015 (Credit: Meta)
Meta’s Workplace
“Facebook for work” always sounded like a terrible idea, but someone at Meta thought we’d all be curious to know what Anne in accounting had for lunch or how to help the C-Suite leverage its core competencies. Workplace debuted almost a decade ago as Facebook at Work, positioned as a useful way for those in non-traditional offices to communicate—helping retail workers, ship crews, or baristas stay connected from a phone or tablet, for example. That didn’t really catch on, however, and in May, Meta announced plans to shut down Workplace “so we can focus on building AI and metaverse technologies.” You have until Aug. 31, 2025, to log into Workplace and pour one out for cross-functional synergies and maybe shift a few paradigms.
JUNE
Google Pay App
Google moved to simplify its mobile payment apps this summer by folding the Google Pay app into Google Wallet. According to Google, the Wallet app saw five times the usage of Pay, so it made sense to focus on Wallet. On the downside, the shutdown meant that Google Pay users lost the ability to send and receive money, forcing them to migrate to one of several non-Google-operated alternatives, such as PayPal, PayPal-owned Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle.
ICQ
After almost three decades, once-popular instant messaging client ICQ finally shut down on June 26, an unceremonious end for a software program that helped kick off instant messaging on PCs in the 1990s. ICQ, which stands for “I Seek You,” was originally developed at an Israeli company called Mirabilis before AOL bought it in 1998 for $407 million. Twelve years later, AOL then sold it to Russian social media company VK (then known as DST). VK recommended that ICQ users migrate to one of its messaging platforms following the shutdown.
Affordable Connectivity Program
Providing broadband subsidies for low-income households might seem like a no-brainer, but Congress couldn’t get it together this year to renew funding for The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $30 per month ($75 on qualifying Tribal lands) for those with household incomes up to 200% of federal poverty guidelines, those participating in Medicaid, or anyone with a child who received free or reduced-cost school lunches. Approximately 23 million households signed up. Some ISPs tried to fill the gap at lower rates, but it wasn’t enough. Despite a big push from the White House to renew funding, multiple bipartisan bills introduced in the House and Senate went nowhere.
Twitter ‘Like’ Tab
Ted Cruz breathed a sigh of relief this summer when X announced it would make the “like” tab on people’s profiles private. Musk framed it as a way for people to “like posts without getting attacked,” but many argued it just allowed users to escape scrutiny for liking objectionable content. Like counts still remain on X, and you can still see your own likes. But only the author of a tweet can see who liked a post. It’s not completely without precedent. In 2019, for example, Instagram dropped the “following” tab, which put people’s likes, comments, and follows into a public news feed. Rivals like Threads and Bluesky also don’t have a way to see a person’s likes.
Apple Pay Later
Apple Pay Later was the company’s answer to “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) options from firms like Klarna, allowing users to make a purchase and pay for it over time, but with the added bonus of no fees. It launched to small group in March 2023, and became fully available in the US in October. By June, however, Apple said it would no longer offer its own loans. Instead, those on iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 and up can select a BNPL option at checkout, but the loans will be handled by third parties lenders.
JULY
(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon Astro Robot for Business
Amazon launched the Business version of its Astro robot in November 2023 as a security guard for small and medium-sized businesses. Each unit was $2,350 and came with four months of Ring Protect Pro and Astro Security. Like the consumer version, Astro for Business had an HD periscope camera, night vision, 24/7 live view, and two-way talk. In a July email to employees, however, an Amazon exec said the company would be focusing on home robotics, “so we’ve made the decision to wind down the Astro for Business program.” Businesses that purchased the device were promised a full refund and a $300 credit toward a replacement solution.
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock
Also on the chopping block from Amazon in July was the version of its Echo Dot smart speaker with an LED clock. It earned an “Excellent” 4 out of 5 rating from PCMag and an Editors’ Choice award, in part for adding visible information like song titles and weather conditions on the most recent version. But after Amazon resurrected the Echo Spot with a small display, it discontinued the Echo Dot with Clock.
(Credit: Amazon)
Google URL Shortener Links
In July, Google hit the kill switch on the Google URL Shortener. It dates back to 2009 and was created in response to the rise of Twitter and its 140-character limit. Since then, the web and social media landscape has changed dramatically, and by 2018, Google said it was diverting resources away from its URL shortener. All goo.gl links now display a warning message and will no longer work after Aug. 25, 2025.
Meta’s Celebrity Chatbots
Late last year, Meta rolled out celebrity chatbots on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. But while these chats featured images of celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady, you weren’t actually talking to them. The most you got was a looping video of the celebrity reacting to your messages with different facial expressions. They didn’t talk back. It was a little weird, and by July, Meta scrapped the whole thing. In the fall, Meta instead partnered with a new crop of celebrities to embed their real voices into its Meta AI assistant, including Awkwafina, Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan Michael Key, and Kristen Bell.
Talking to ‘Tom Brady’ on WhatsApp (Credit: Meta)
Game Informer
It’s rough out there for digital media. Shortly after decades of MTV News content was wiped from the web, Game Informer closed up shop after 33 years. It was one of the few remaining video game magazines, but earlier this year, owner GameStop pulled the plug on the print and online versions of the publication.
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AUGUST
Meta’s Spark AR Platform
These days, tech companies are trying to one-up each other with their AI tools, but back in 2017, the social networks were engaged in a face-filter war. Meta (then Facebook) went after Snapchat with eight face filter options, which evolved into the Spark AR platform that allowed third-party developers to create their own smartphone-based AR filters. But 2024 is not 2017; silly overlays have given way to undetectable beauty filters. As such, Spark AR is shutting down and third-party tools and content will be wiped, effective Jan. 14, 2025, news that shocked and angered many creators. First-party effects owned by Meta will remain.
Boomerang Cartoon Streaming
Boomerang, which launched in 2017, was known for its library of popular animated shows, which include Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, and Bugs Bunny, among others. But in August, Warner Bros. Discovery said it would shut down the app and website for its classic cartoon streamer on Sept. 30. Existing Boomerang subscriptions were automatically transferred to the ad-free version of Max, but that does not include the full library.
SEPTEMBER
Echo Show 8 (Credit: Will Greenwald)
Echo Show 8 Photos Edition
The Echo Show 8 Photos Edition launched in September 2023 alongside the third-gen Echo Show 8 and Echo Hub. It cost $10 more than the base Echo Show 8 and required a $2-per-month subscription to Amazon’s PhotosPlus service after a six-month free trial. It turned the device into more of a digital photo frame and added 25GB of storage through Amazon Photos. But Amazon axed PhotosPlus in late September and inserted ads into photo slideshows. Buyers could keep the 25GB of storage.
Recommended by Our Editors
OCTOBER
(Credit: Amazon)
Kindle Oasis
For a time, the Kindle Oasis was Amazon’s most luxurious ebook reader, in part because it was the only device in the lineup that was waterproof. There was also an ergonomic grip, but as Amazon updated its Kindle lineup, the Oasis’ features didn’t really justify a $249.99 price tag. When it launched the latest Kindles, including the Colorsoft, Amazon confirmed to The Verge that it was pulling the Oasis from its lineup.
Microsoft HoloLens
Before there was the Vision Pro, there was the HoloLens, a mixed-reality headset that dates back to 2016. Microsoft marketed it as an enterprise device, and secured a US Army contract for use on the battlefield. But it seems that not enough people wanted to slap on an AR headset at work, and Redmond announced in October that it would sunset the latest version, the HoloLens 2. It will get updates until the end of 2027, but support for the original HoloLens ended on Dec. 10. The Pentagon contract is unchanged, however.
HoloLens 2 (Credit: Microsoft)
JuiceBox Chargers
In early October, Enel X, the company that makes the JuiceBox EV charger, abruptly shut down operations in the US and Canada. Initially, those with Juicebox home chargers were out of luck as Enel X had no plans to continue providing customer support. After some backlash, JuiceBox reached an agreement with a software provider to keep the JuiceBox software and mobile app alive “for an extended period.” ChargeLab stepped in to assist with commercial chargers, but declined to do the same for residential ones “given the complexities of the migration process.” The business was auctioned off at the end of October, though it’s unclear who picked it up and what it means for existing JuiceBox owners.
WordPad
With October’s Windows 11 2024 update, WordPad was officially added to Microsoft’s list of deprecated features. This basic word processor and document editor had been installed by default on Windows computers since the launch of Windows 95. In 2020, it was made an optional Windows feature, allowing people to uninstall it. Microsoft now recommends Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt.”
Snapdragon Dev Kit (Credit: Qualcomm)
Snapdragon Dev Kit
Announced in May, the Snapdragon Dev Kit mini PC was supposed to launch a month later to help developers create Windows applications that were natively compatible with chips manufactured by semiconductor giant Arm. However, in an Oct. 17 email to developers, Qualcomm said the kit had “not met our usual standards of excellence” and would be canceled. Customers who preordered the device were promised a refund from Qualcomm.
Kindle Vella
Launched in 2021 on the Kindle app and Amazon website, Kindle Vella allowed authors to publish stories one short episode at a time. The model was supposed to give authors a new way to earn royalties, but “Kindle Vella hasn’t caught on as we’d hoped,” Amazon said in October. As of Dec. 4, the platform stopped allowing authors to publish stories and readers to purchase tokens. If readers have any tokens left, they can use them to unlock stories until February.
NOVEMBER
Microsoft Paint 3D
Paint 3D launched in 2017 and combined the Microsoft Paint and 3D Builder applications to create a hybrid 2D-3D editing experience. Microsoft then tried to deprecate the original Paint, creating an uproar among fans, prompting it to clarify that MS Paint would be removed as a standard feature of Windows 10 but remain in the Windows Store. At the time, the company pointed to Paint 3D as the “new app for creativity,” but that didn’t last long. In 2021, 3D Viewer and Paint 3D were removed from the default app install list on Windows 10, meaning you had to install it from the store. Last month, Paint 3D was deprecated and removed from the Microsoft Store entirely.
TikTok Music
Many of you were probably not aware that TikTok had its own version of Spotify, known as TikTok Music, likely because it only launched in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Singapore. But despite the fact that TikTok has been a boon for many artists whose songs are used in creators’ videos, that didn’t translate to the music-streaming business. As a TikTok exec told The Wall Street Journal, ByteDance would shut down TikTok Music to “focus on our goal of furthering TikTok’s role in driving even greater music listening and value on music streaming services, for the benefit of artists, songwriters and the industry.”
Netflix Interactive Titles
In 2017, Netflix began experimenting with interactive titles that added a “Choose Your Own Adventure” component to some of its originals, most notably with Black Mirror. But Netflix recently pulled the plug on most of the 24 interactive shows and movies on the platform, leaving only Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and You vs. Wild. “The technology served its purpose but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” Netflix said.
Sony Airpeak S1 Drone
Sony’s Airpeak S1 drone was marketed to serious videographers looking to send their Sony a1, a9 II, a7S III, a7R IV, and FX3 cameras into the skies. But its $9,000 price tag did not include the price of a camera, lens, gimbal, or even spare propellers. As PetaPixel explains, Sony struggled to compete with DJI and announced in November that “sales of the Airpeak S1 and related products, except for some accessories, will end at the end of March 2025.”
Amazon Freevee
Amazon Freevee (previously IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV) was Amazon’s ad-supported streaming service. It saw some success with shows like Jury Duty and Bosch: Legacy, but Amazon in November said it would shut down Freevee and fold the content into Prime Video. You don’t have to pony up for Prime to keep watching; new episodes of Freevee originals will remain accessible to non-Prime subscribers. And there are plenty of other free video-streaming services.
LinkedIn Audio Events
First introduced in 2022, LinkedIn Audio Events allowed people to create and host audio-only streams, where participants could log in and talk. However, as Dec. 2, users can no longer stream Audio Events on LinkedIn without using a third-party platform, though they can still record events using LinkedIn Live. When it launched Audio Events in 2022, LinkedIn pitched them as “a great way to connect with your followers, build relationships, and even unlock new career opportunities.” They’re “camera-free and pajama-friendly, so you can launch a conversation from anywhere.” But it was late to the game following a pandemic-era boom in audio-only apps trying to replicate the success of Clubhouse.
Windows 11 Mail, Calendar, and People Apps
Last month, Microsoft ended support for the Mail, Calendar, and People apps on Windows 11. It will redirect users to the free version of Microsoft Outlook after Dec. 31, though they’ll still be able to export emails, events, and contacts after that date. The move is part of Microsoft’s broader push to get people to use its new AI-powered Outlook, which added new themes, easier-to-dismiss notifications, and more search features this month.
DECEMBER
(Credit: Spotify)
Spotify Car Thing
Originally launched to a limited audience in October 2021, the $89.99 Car Thing allowed Spotify users to control the music-streaming service in their cars via voice recognition and preset buttons. Spotify stopped making its Car Thing in 2022 due to low demand and supply chain issues, but it continued to sell the device on its website at a discounted $49.99. This year, it announced the device would be discontinued and “no longer be operational” as of Dec. 9. Initially, there were no plans for refunds, but Spotify backtracked after buyers complained. You now have until Jan. 14, 2025, to get your money back.
Microsoft Surface Studio
Microsoft’s pricey Surface Studio all-in-one PCs earned high marks in our reviews. The second-gen version debuted in 2018 as “a beautiful, pricey all-in-one desktop for artists, content creators, and professionals wedded to pen input,” we said, complete with “components peppier than the original’s, and a downright stunning screen.” But that came at a premium; the version we tested was $4,199. Now, the Surface Studio is on the chopping block. The company confirms to Windows Central that it won’t be making any more Surface Studios once the current inventory runs out.
Surface Studio 2 (Credit: Microsoft)
Verizon Message App
We’re not exactly at a loss for messaging apps these days, which is maybe one reason Verizon ditched its Messages apps for iOS and Android. Verizon Messages, also known as Message+, supported MMS and SMS messages and group texts. The carrier is now recommending that Android users move to Google Messages while those on iOS use Apple Messages, but there are plenty of other options for secure chats.
Cruise Robotaxis
After a tough 2023 that saw robotaxi firm Cruise halt its driverless taxi operations following a pedestrian accident, the company seemed to be making a slow recovery in 2024. Its self-driving cars returned to the roads, albeit with human safety drivers, and the firm inked a deal with Uber. But after being hit with a $500,000 fine for failing to disclose details around last year’s crash, Cruise’s main source of funding—General Motors—pulled its financial backing, effectively killing the company. The move will save GM about $1 billion per year.
(Credit: Cruise)
Skype Credits
Skype Credits let people pay to make traditional telephone calls, a convenient way to reach people still on landlines. Customers could buy credits in $5, $10 or $25 increments, but Skype owner Microsoft quietly updated its website to say that credits are no longer available. It’s encouraging callers to instead buy monthly subscriptions, which vary in price and minutes depending on which countries you want to call, or to simply place Skype-to-Skype VoIP calls.
Foursquare City Guide App
When Foursquare launched at SXSW 2009, it promised an easy way to keep tabs on your friends’ whereabouts and get recommendations for nearby restaurants, bars, and shops. But over the last decade, Foursquare’s business has tilted increasingly toward providing location services to other businesses. Foursquare’s City Guide app shut down this month, and its web version will expire early next year. Foursquare’s original check-in feature lives on in the company’s Swarm app.
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About Chloe Albanesius
Executive Editor for News
