Google’s changes to the Pixel cameras are mostly on the software side, but they gain some excellent additional abilities, including a new Portrait mode, as well as optical image stabilization to complement Google’s digital anti-shake for photos and video. Google spent a lot of time during its presentation crowing about the Pixel 2 (and Pixel 2 XL, since their cameras are the… Read More
In the earliest days of the Surface, it was hard to shake the notion that the line was something of a reference design for Windows 8. Things have evolved quite a bit. The line has grown to include two convertible tablets, a pair of laptops, a 28-inch all-in-one and a high-tech whiteboard, while the devices themselves have become some of the most capable and compelling in their respective spaces. Read More
Polkadot is a project which has emerged from the Blockchain world, and was designed to do something increasingly important. In effect, Polkadot is the interchange and translator between multiple blockchains which creative people developing on the Ethereum blockhain have been looking for in order to build a wealth new projects and infrastructure. As companies develop their own side-chains,… Read More
The global adoption of blockchain technology is starting to feel like an inevitability. Following on the news that Moscow is launching a cryptocurrency (creatively called the CryptoRuble… because of course it is), a consortium comprised of the top technology officers at some of Spain’s largest companies in finance, energy, and telecommunications has launched to develop a… Read More
GM’s Cruise Automation will expand its test pool, while keeping a focus on city driving, something it has said gives it an edge in the autonomous driving space. What better city to use for testing, then, than New York, one of the densest and most hectic traffic nightmares in North America. Cruise will test its self-driving fleet in New York in a five mile square section of Manhattan,… Read More
PayPal this morning announced its mobile payments service Venmo is now available at over 2 million online U.S retailers, allowing Venmo users to shop on the mobile web at almost everywhere PayPal is accepted today. This includes popular retailers like Lululemon, Forever21 and Foot Locker via the mobile web, the company says.
As with PayPal, eligible purchases bought using Venmo online will… Read More
Feedzai is announcing a $50 million Series C this morning led by an unnamed VC with additional capital from Sapphire Ventures. The six year old startup builds machine learning tools to help banks and merchants spot payment fraud. In today’s rapidly maturing world of fintech, Feedzai is trying to thread the needle between turnkey solution and customizable platform. With 60 clients… Read More
Mercedes-Benz Arocs trucks are an autonomous means to an end: The industrial vehicles can work without drivers, and without requiring a bevy of expensive sensors equipped on the truck itself. The service vehicles work by following the leader, along GPS mapped routes, providing high accuracy from a lead vehicle with control over the followers. The Arocs version of autonomous transportation… Read More
Apple has now responded to a letter from Senator Franken last month in which he asked the company to provide more information about the incoming Face ID authentication technology which is baked into its top-of-the-range iPhone X, due to go on sale early next month. Read More
As LinkedIn ads in video and other features to look a little more like Facebook, Facebook continues to take on LinkedIn in the world of social recruitment services. In the latest development, Facebook is testing a feature to let users create resumes — which Facebook calls a “work histories” feature — and share them privately on the site as part of their job hunt.… Read More
Indiez is an up-and-coming freelance service that aims to bring a higher standard to a world that is dominated by the likes of Gigster, Upwork and Fiverr by taking a different, team-led approach. There are already plenty of options for developers who opt for freelance work perhaps because they don’t like the shackles of a single day job, want to moonlight outside of office hours, or… Read More
When you walk upstairs at the Strava offices over on Third Street in San Francisco, you’ll find boards as tall as your typical human. They’re covered with images — screenshots of Instagram posts, comments and a whole lot of paper cutouts of other social networks printed onto little sheets — and they served as the launchpad for Strava’s latest product as it tries… Read More
TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin this December is a chance for the European tech scene to take stock and assess the biggest trends affecting the industry. One of those trends is that European startups are raising later and later rounds while staying in Europe. Three of the best examples of this is Skimlinks, MOVE Guides and Talent Clue where all raised large, late-stage rounds from their European… Read More
Students deciding on their next phase in higher education face a daunting choice and a array of options. Most schools have zero capability to deal with sifting 40,000 undergraduate courses in the UK, alone. Why not apply big data to the problem and create an ‘adaptive learning platform’ which actually helps students make these crucial decision, based on real data.
That’s… Read More
When it comes to container orchestration, it seems clear that Kubernetes, the open source tool developed by Google, has won the battle for operations’ hearts and minds. It therefore shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention that Docker announced native support for Kubernetes today at DockerCon Europe in Copenhagen.
The company hasn’t given up… Read More
Spotahome, a Madrid-based startup that lets you view and book mid to long-term accommodation online, has closed €13.6 million in Series A backing. This brings the total raised to €20.7 million since the ‘proptech’ company was founded in 2014. Read More
Google Maps will remove a widely criticized experimental iOS feature that estimated how many calories its users could potentially burn by walking a route. A Google rep told TechCrunch that the decision was “based on strong user feedback” and the calorie estimator will no longer appear in Google Maps for iOS starting this evening. Read More
The Uber-SoftBank deal is almost done, said Arianna Huffington on stage at WSJ D.Live in Laguna Beach on Monday. When pressed whether SoftBank’s multi-billion dollar investment in Uber could be finalized within the week, the Uber board member replied that it’s “very likely.” She confirmed media reports that the proposed deal would involve both a direct investment in… Read More
Facebook acquires tbh, the Samsung connected tag, Terminal offers international-office-as-a-service and IBM now has its own blockchain solution. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Eyewear e-commerce giant Warby Parker is accused of signing partnership contracts and NDAs with online eyeglass prescription test startup Opternative, then stealing the technology to launch its own competing “Prescription Check” feature. That’s according to a legal complaint filed by Opternative last month that was unsealed today as the lawsuit unfolds. Read More
