Tag: Daily Crunch

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Daily Crunch: Verizon is selling Tumblr

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Verizon is selling Tumblr to WordPress.com parent, Automattic

It’s been six years since Yahoo acquired the popular blogging platform for more than $1 billion. Since then, Yahoo was acquired in turn by Verizon, and now Verizon is selling Tumblr for what’s been variously reported as a “nominal” price and “well below $20 million.”

While it may be simplistic to peg the service’s declining value to any single decision, last year’s move to ban pornography has certainly proved disastrous. At least on the surface, Automattic and WordPress seem like they might be a better fit.

2. Snap introduces Spectacles 3, with two HD cameras and 3D effects on Snapchat

Snap isn’t giving up on its Spectacles hardware yet.

3. Postmates to drop IPO filing next month

Despite previous reports indicating the on-demand delivery company is seeking an M&A exit, sources close to the matter say Postmates is on track to complete an initial public offering this year.

disrupt sf

4. Announcing the Disrupt SF 2019 agenda

We’ve got a little something for everyone: Space chats with Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson and Blue Origin’s Bob Smith, a word from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, a fireside chat with two of 2019’s big VC winners, Ann Miura-Ko and Theresia Gouw, as well as a rare chance to sit down with GV’s David Krane.

5. MasterClass founder launches Outlier, offering online courses for college credit

The classes cost $400 each and feature content specifically shot for online consumption (rather than your standard classroom lectures), with dynamically generated problem sets. And they come with credit from the University of Pittsburgh.

6. Singularity 6 raises $16.5M from Andreessen Horowitz to create a ‘virtual society’

The startup’s ex-Riot Games co-founders claim they’re less focused on building a button-mashing competitive shooter and more on creating a “virtual society,” where users can develop relationships with in-game characters powered by “complex AI.”

7. How lawyers help bring your acquisition deal to fruition

Attorneys can act as project managers, working with company executives and boards of directors, guiding them through the lengthy transaction process — and of course, advising them on the legal side of the equation. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Daily Crunch: Twitter tests reply subscriptions

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies

Many people already receive push notifications when selected accounts send out new tweets. Now you’ll be able to set up something similar for individual tweets, so you receive a notification every time there’s a reply.

And this is just one of a number of features that Twitter is testing to personalize conversation views.

2. ByteDance launches a new search portal that returns a mix of results from the Web and its own platforms

The Chinese company that owns social app TikTok and news aggregator Toutiao launched a new portal called Toutiao Search. This could set up ByteDance as a competitor to Baidu, while also driving traffic to various ByteDance properties.

3. Lucidworks raises $100M to expand in AI-powered search-as-a-service for organizations

Lucidworks has raised around $200 million in funding to date, and it says it’s been doubling revenues annually for the past three years.

bosch 3d display

4. Bosch is working on glasses-free 3D displays for in-car use

These 3D displays use passive 3D tech, which means you won’t need to wear glasses to see the effect. It also skips eye tracking, which is a key ingredient for most high-quality glasses-free 3D displays today.

5. How a Swedish saxophonist built Kobalt, the world’s next music unicorn

Combining a technology platform to better track ownership rights and royalties of songs with a new approach to representing musicians in their careers, Kobalt has risen from the ashes of the 2000 dot-com bubble to become a major player in the streaming music era. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

6. Adobe’s Amit Ahuja will be talking customer experience at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise

Customer experience is a term we’re hearing a lot of these days, and we’ll be discussing that very topic with Amit Ahuja, Adobe’s vice president of ecosystem development, at our big enterprise event in September.

7. Startups seek sperm … and venture capital backing

That headline is not a joke: This week’s Equity is about male reproductive health startups. Meanwhile, Original Content reviews the new Netflix series “Another life.”

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Daily Crunch: Uber reports big losses and slowing growth

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Uber lost more than $5B last quarter

Uber reported earnings for the second time as a public company, posting its largest-ever quarterly loss. And while revenue grew 14% year-over-year, that also sparked concerns over (relatively) slow growth.

The company’s stock took a nose-dive of 11% in after-hours trading following the news.

2. HarmonyOS is Huawei’s Android alternative for smartphones and smart home devices

After months of conflicting statements from executives, Huawei has officially unveiled HarmonyOS, a distributed operating system developed to power smartphones, laptops and smart home devices as the company attempts to reduce its reliance on American firms.

3. Apple expands its bug bounty, increases maximum payout to $1M

Apple is finally giving security researchers something they’ve wanted for years: a macOS bug bounty.

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Hustle and bustle of Indian roads around monument of Charminar in Hyderabad, India.

4. India’s Lendingkart raises $30M to help small businesses access working capital

Lendingkart Finance has issued over 60,000 loans to more than 55,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 1,300 cities across India. The startup says it will use the fresh capital to widen its lending range and find new clients.

5. This startup is helping food app delivery workers start their own damn delivery companies

Dumpling’s goal is to turn today’s delivery workers into “solopreneurs” who build their own book of clients and keep much more of the money.

6. The smartwatch category is growing, as Apple remains dominant

The good news for smartwatches is that the category continues to grow — but the numbers start to look less rosy when you take Apple out of the equation. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

7. Quantum computing is coming to TC Sessions: Enterprise on Sept. 5

Joining us onstage will be Microsoft’s Krysta Svore, who leads the company’s quantum efforts; IBM’s Jay Gambetta, the principal theoretical scientist behind IBM’s quantum computing effort; and Jim Clarke, the director of quantum hardware at Intel Labs.

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Daily Crunch: Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note 10

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. This is Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and 10+

The landscape has changed dramatically since the Galaxy Note was first unveiled in 2011, with Samsung pulling the rest of the industry into a world of bigger screens.

Now, the question is how to make the latest updates compelling. With the Note 10 and 10+ (available August 23 at a starting price of $950), Samsung is splitting the line into two distinct devices, and it’s getting rid of the headphone jack.

2. Google launches ‘Live View’ AR walking directions for Google Maps

The Live View feature isn’t designed with the idea that you’ll hold up your phone continually as you walk. Instead, in provides quick, easy and super-useful orientation by showing you arrows and big, readable street markers overlaid on the real scene in front of you.

3. Lyft’s stock is a roller coaster after its Q2 earnings release

Despite big losses, what made Wall Street happy was Lyft’s optimism for Q3, as well as the full-year 2019.

Netflix app icon iOS

Photo: TechCrunch

4. Netflix signs multi-year deal with ‘Game of Thrones’ showrunners

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deal is worth $200 million. This follows expensive Netflix pacts with other high-profile showrunners, including Ryan Murphy ($300 million) and Shonda Rhimes ($100 million).

5. Instagram ad partner secretly sucked up and tracked millions of users’ locations and stories

Hyp3r, an apparently trusted marketing partner of Facebook and Instagram, has been secretly collecting and storing location and other data on millions of users, violating the policies of the social networks, according to Business Insider.

6. Sperm storage startups are raising millions

Both Dadi and Legacy recently raised funding, hoping to leverage venture capital dollars to become the dominant men’s fertility brand.

7. How to fundraise in August

Danny Crichton argues that although August is generally considered a black hole for VC, using it effectively for fundraising is perhaps the single most important factor for success in the coming season. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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The Daily Crunch 8/6/19

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Apple rolls out Apple Card Preview to select users

Matthew Panzarino has been using Apple’s new credit card for a few days, making purchases and payments and trying out other features like rewards. His verdict? It works.

And even if you’re not part of the preview, you shouldn’t have to wait long — a full rollout of Apple Card will come later in August.

2. Snap looks to raise $1 billion in private debt offering

The debt offering will be used to cover the cost of general operating expenditures, Snap says, but also potentially to “acquire complementary businesses, products, services or technologies.” It also could be used for future stock repurchase plans, though the company says no such plans exist currently.

3. Squad, the ‘anti-bro startup,’ is creating a safe space for teenage girls online

The app allows you to video chat and share your phone screen with a friend in real time.

4. Optimus Ride’s Brooklyn self-driving shuttles begin picking up passengers this week

Optimus Ride will become the first startup to operate a commercial self-driving service in the state of New York — specifically shuttle services within Brooklyn Navy Yards, a 300-acre private commercial development.

5. Google is shutting down its Trips app

Google says much of the functionality from the service will be incorporated into its Maps app and Search features.

6. Ticket marketplace TickPick raises $40M in its first institutional funding

The core of TickPick’s identity is the elimination of all hidden fees.

7. 6 steps to reduce churn for high-volume subscription companies

This article outlines how to intercept customers who show intent to cancel, then use their feedback to take action, build better experiences and ultimately retain subscribers. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Daily Crunch: StockX admits it was hacked

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. StockX was hacked, exposing millions of customers’ data

It looks like StockX wasn’t being entirely honest when it sent out a password reset email to customers last week citing “system updates.”

What was really going on? Well, a data seller contacted TechCrunch to say that more than 6.8 million records were stolen from the site in May (and we were able to review a sample of those records). StockX has since acknowledged the breach, but it still isn’t answering questions about why it wasn’t more forthcoming with customers.

2. Just Eat and Takeaway.com reach agreement to gobble each other

The two European food delivery companies had already said they were in talks, and now their boards have reached agreement on the terms of “a recommended all-share combination.”

3. Cloudflare will stop service to 8chan, which CEO Matthew Prince describes as a ‘cesspool of hate’

The decision was made after the suspect in this weekend’s mass shooting in El Paso posted a lengthy racist and anti-immigration “manifesto” to 8chan almost immediately before the attack.

4. Didi Chuxing’s autonomous driving unit is now an independent company

Didi’s autonomous driving team was created in 2016 and now has more than 200 employees in China and the United States. It seems that the two companies will still be closely linked, with Didi CTO Zhang Bo serving as CEO of the new autonomous driving company.

5. Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch still lacks the line’s best feature

Brian Heater misses the mechanical spinning bezel.

6. A closer look at China’s smartphone market

In February 2013, China surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest smartphone market. More than half a decade on, it’s still an elusive target for international sellers. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

7. United Airlines CISO Emily Heath joins TC Sessions: Enterprise this September

Joining her to talk enterprise security will be a16z partner Martin Casado, DUO/Cisco’s head of advisory CISOs Wendy Nather and others.

8. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts

The latest episode of Equity looks at DoorDash’s $410 million acquisition of Caviar, while Original Content reviews the at-times terrifying HBO show “Years and Years.”

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Daily Crunch: Apple responds to Siri privacy concerns

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Apple suspends Siri response grading after privacy concerns

After The Guardian ran a story last week about how Siri recordings are used for quality control, Apple says it’s suspending the program worldwide while it reviews the process.

The practice, known as grading, involves sharing audio snippets with contractors, who determine whether Siri is hearing the requests accurately. Apple says that in the future, users will be able to choose whether or not they participate in the grading.

2. DoorDash is buying Caviar from Square in a deal worth $410 million

Square bought Caviar about five years ago in a deal worth about $90 million. Now, Caviar has found a new home with DoorDash.

3. President throws latest wrench in $10B JEDI cloud contract selection process

Throughout the months-long selection process, the Pentagon repeatedly denied accusations that the contract was somehow written to make Amazon a favored vendor, but The Washington Post reports President Trump has asked his newly appointed defense secretary to examine the process.

LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 21: Twitch streamer and professional gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins streams during Ninja Vegas ’18 at Esports Arena Las Vegas at Luxor Hotel and Casino on April 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

4. Following Ninja’s news, Mixer pops to top of the App Store’s free charts

Yesterday, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins announced that he’s leaving Twitch, moving his streaming career over to Microsoft’s Mixer platform. This morning, Mixer shot to the top of the App Store’s free app charts.

5. Google ordered to halt human review of voice AI recordings over privacy risks

Apple isn’t the only company to face scrutiny over its handling of user audio recordings.

6. UrbanClap, India’s largest home services startup, raises $75M

Through its platform, UrbanClap matches service people such as cleaners, repair staff and beauticians with customers across 10 cities in India, as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

7. Why AWS gains big storage efficiencies with E8 acquisition

The team at Amazon Web Services is always looking to find an edge and reduce the costs of operations in its data centers. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Daily Crunch: Fires prompt Lyft to pull e-bikes

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Lyft pulls e-bikes in light of apparent battery fires

Lyft recently won the right to launch its pedal-assist bikes in San Francisco, but now it’s pulling those bikes from the city and other parts of the Bay Area after two of those bikes experienced apparent battery fires.

A spokesperson told us, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are temporarily making the ebike fleet unavailable to riders while we investigate and update our battery technology.”

2. For the next month, the Impossible Whopper will be available at Burger Kings across the country

The world’s second largest fast food chain is rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide at all of its 7,200 U.S. locations, testing demand for the meaty tasting meatless patty.

3. With the acquisition closed, IBM goes all in on Red Hat

These announcements further IBM’s ambitions to bring its products to any public and private cloud — which was the reason IBM acquired Red Hat in the first place.

4. Asana launches Workload to help prevent burnout

Workload provides a central view of how much more work any given team can currently handle. Team members can customize their own workload based on criteria like points or hours, and even set capacity limits.

5. Amazon-backed food delivery startup Deliveroo acquires Edinburgh software studio Cultivate

Cultivate is a software development and user experience design house that has worked with a number of big names, including Deliveroo itself.

6. Smartphone sales expected to drop 2.5% globally this year

New numbers from Gartner forecast a drop of 2.5%, down to 1.5 billion, with the biggest hits to the industry in Japan, Western Europe and North America.

7. The Exit: The acquisition charting Salesforce’s future

With Salesforce’s $15.7 billion acquisition of Tableau closing, we talked to investor Scott Sandell of NEA. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Daily Crunch: Facebook wants to build brain-controlled wearables

Facebook reveals its research into brain-controlled wearable devices (yes, really), iPhone sales dip and Samsung announces a new Galaxy Tab. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 31, 2019.

1. Facebook is exploring brain control for AR wearables

Facebook revealed that it’s working with UCSF to research a brain-computer interface as a way to control future augmented reality interfaces. The company says the approach would involve “a non-invasive wearable device that lets people type just by imagining what they want to say.”

The company acknowledged that there are some thorny privacy issues here: “Neuroethical design is one of our program’s key pillars — we want to be transparent about what we’re working on so that people can tell us their concerns about this technology.”

2. Apple’s revenue growth slows as iPhone sales dip 12% year-over-year

Across categories, iPhone revenue had the biggest year-over-year dip, going from $29.5 billion in last year’s Q3 to just $26 billion this most recent quarter.

3. Samsung targets iPad Pro with the Galaxy Tab S6

Samsung’s latest tablet is going after the same slice of creatives targeted by the iPad Pro and various Surface devices. Its most appealing feature may be the addition of the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 03: The Spotify banner hangs from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the morning that the music streaming service begins trading shares at the NYSE on April 3, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

4. Spotify hits 108M paying users and 232M overall, but its average revenue per user declines

“We missed on subs… That’s on us,” the company said.

5. The maker of popular selfie app Facetune just landed $135 million at a unicorn valuation

Facetune, a photo-editing app that empowers users to cover their gray hairs, refine their jaw lines and reshape their noses, was first introduced around six years ago. Its parent company Lightricks is based in Jerusalem and has 260 employees supporting six products across three divisions.

6. How the new ‘Lion King’ came to life

Even though the film looks like a live-action remake of “The Lion King,” every shot (except for the first) was created on a computer.

7. The dreaded 10x, or, how to handle exceptional employees

The very concept of a 10x engineer seems so… five years ago. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

8. Bindu Reddy, co-founder and CEO at RealityEngines, is coming to TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise

RealityEngines is creating research-driven cloud services that can reduce some of the inherent complexity of working with AI tools.

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Daily Crunch: Capital One discloses enormous data breach

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Capital One hacked, over 100 million customers affected

Another day, another data breach. This time, the company involved is Capital One, which says the breach affects roughly 100 million individuals in the U.S., and 6 million in Canada.

The data leaked potentially includes “names, addresses, ZIP codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income,” as well as information like “credit scores, credit limits, balances, payment history, contact information.”

2. What Huawei didn’t say in its ‘robust’ half-year results

The media has largely bought into Huawei’s “strong” half-year results today, but there’s a major catch in the report: the company’s quarter-by-quarter smartphone growth was zero.

3. Real estate platform Compass raises another $370M on a $6.4B valuation en route to an IPO

The platform is not just a marketplace to connect buyers to real estate agents to sellers, but an engine that helps figure out pricing, timing for sales and how to stage homes to get the best prices and most sales.

4. Monday.com raises $150M more, now at $1.9B valuation, for workplace collaboration tools

The big bump is in part due to the company’s rapid expansion; it now has 80,000 organizations as customers, up from a mere 35,000 a year ago.

5. The Museum of Future Experiences offers a spooky, surreal take on VR

The experience isn’t easy to describe, but afterwards, I felt equal parts amused, excited and unsettled, and I knew this wasn’t like any other VR I’d seen.

6. Techstars nabs $42M to expand its global presence

Techstars is both a fund deploying capital to early-stage upstarts and an operating business nearing $100 million in annual revenue. Its latest equity investment will fuel the latter.

7. Facebook and YouTube’s moderation failure is an opportunity to deplatform the platforms

While the major platforms reap the bitter harvest of years of ignoring the issue, startups can pick up where they left off. (Extra Crunch membership required.)