Tinder has hit number 1 in the App Store’s top grossing category for the very first time.
Claiming top spot in the App Store likely has to do with the global launch of Tinder Gold, which lets users see who has liked them without swiping at all, among other premium features.
Tinder’s initial foray into monetization came in 2015 with the launch of Tinder Plus, which lets users… Read More
Today marks the second Force Friday. Disney started the tradition back in 2015 ahead of the release of The Force Awakens as an opportunity to build hype and announce a bunch of products without giving up too many secrets ahead of the film’s release. The impending arrival of Episode VII: The Last Jedi has brought a ton of new Star Wars merch. Here are a few highlights hitting stores. Read More
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a social experiment regarding how many acronyms an audience can endure before passing out. Each week we dive into the world of venture capital, looking to understand exactly what’s going on behind the money. This week Katie Roof, Matthew Lynley, and myself — Alex! — were joined by Samuel Angus, a partner on the corporate team of Fenwick and… Read More
Google has a new website compiled using search data and built by its News Lab, working together with Xaquin G.V., an interactive visual data journalist. The site uses data related to searches made by users about “How To” do things, which represents a massive amount of activity on Google, it turns out.
Xaquin explains in the visual essay that he was inspired by his own searches… Read More
Microsoft today announced that the Fall Creators Update, the next major release of Windows 10, will start rolling out to all users on October 17. That’s a little bit later than some pundits expected but still well within Microsoft’s promised release window. When Microsoft announced this update at its Build developer conference earlier this year, some of the more hyped features… Read More
Startup Alley is at the center of TechCrunch’s Disrupt events, and this year at Disrupt Berlin (4-5 December) we are going to feature some of the top startups in Europe. We are looking for 30 outstanding startups to participate in one of our featured pavilions, so exhibit your startup and attend Disrupt Berlin for free. Here’s how the program works. TechCrunch is seeking… Read More
America’s tech industry has urged President Donald Trump and other political leaders to continue a program that allows undocumented young immigrants to remain in the country. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an initiative that was established by former President Obama. Also known as the Dreamers Program, it gives young immigrants the opportunity to stay in the U.S., to… Read More
Bragi’s completely wireless earbuds, the Dash Pro (and the older Dash), will get access to Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant via a software update coming in October. This is the first time Alexa has been available on a totally wireless set of headphones, and could make The Dash even more appealing – they’re already my top pick in the wireless Bluetooth earbud category.… Read More
Startup Battlefield applications for Disrupt Berlin are now open. TechCrunch is hunting for innovative startups to launch on the famous Disrupt stage this December. Read More
The first ICO unicorns have arrived, the Nest Thermostat E is a new cheaper, simpler thermostat, Postmates laid off all its city managers yesterday and the latest SanDisk microSD card can now hold 400 GBs of data. All this on Crunch Report! Read More
Tom Calderone, Spotify’s head of video and podcasts, is departing the company amid a shift in content strategy. The news was first identified by Bloomberg. The digital streaming business, known for its music playlists, had expanded into other categories like original video, but the company has confirmed that it’s changing its approach. Said a spokesperson, going forward… Read More
Machine learning has turned out to be a very useful tool for translation, but it has a few weak spots. The tendency of translation models to do their work word by word is one of those, and can lead to serious errors. Google details the nature of this problem, and their solution to it, in an interesting post on its Research blog. Read More
Okay, full disclosure, I never read any Baby-Sitters Club book. But you know what I’m talking about, right? We all had some endless series we read where a few kids just like us navigated the vicissitudes of life, teaching us lessons along the way. I’m hoping that The Friendship Code, which aims to do that — but with tech and coding woven in — will become that series for… Read More
Lan Xuezhao has spent the last few months pulling together $136 million for her new machine intelligence-focused venture capital fund, Basis Set Ventures. I met Xuezhao for tea on a park bench in Potrero Hill earlier this week to chat about her strategy for the fund. Read More
Twitch today is introducing a suite of tools called Twitch Extensions that will allow its streamers to customize their channel pages with interactive features, including polls, leaderboards, tickers, schedules, overlays and even virtual pets, among other things. Beyond simply personalizing their channel to make it more engaging to fans, the extensions in some cases will help streamers… Read More
Uber has hired Firefox co-founder Blake Ross to work with them on product strategy. Ross will be working with the ridesharing company part-time from Los Angeles. He announced it on Facebook, where he once worked as director of product. Read More
An all-black exterior, backlit triple snake logo and a keyboard with every color in the rainbow is often what kept corporate types and minimalists away from Razer’s laptop portfolio. Now for the first time, Razer is making a laptop with a new color scheme, with a basic backlit keyboard, sans snake light show — it’s refreshing. Read More
Earlier today Nest announced a new thermostat but it appears the company has more things to announce. Nest just sent invites to an event on September 20, saying it’s a big announcement. No other details were offered.
The company needs a hit and the product announced earlier today is not a hit in the same league as the Learning Thermostat.
Nest has been seemingly slow to roll out new… Read More
Essential has a unique port around back on its debut Phone, which can handle data and power transfer, and which attaches to accessories via magnets. The first such accessory is Essential’s own 360 camera, which offers you an easy way to capture immersive images and video in a very small package. The Essential 360 camera is much smaller than most other consumer 360 cameras out there, and… Read More
Last week, we reported Black Girls Code turned down a $125,000 grant from Uber in what Black Girls Code CEO Kimberly Bryant described to me as a multi-layered decision. Shortly after we broke the news of this decision, many members of the tech community stepped up to donate to Black Girls Code. Since last Saturday, when Slack Head of Communication Design Kristy Tillman donated $1,000 and… Read More
