Less than a day after it agreed to put $2 billion into Southeast Asia’s Grab alongside Didi, now SoftBank is being linked with an investment in Uber, the U.S. firm that rivals those two aforementioned ride-sharing companies. A Wall Street Journal report claims SoftBank has been in touch with Uber with the apparent goal of buying a “multi-billion dollar stake” in the company.… Read More
KKR is buying WebMD for $2.8 billion, Didi and SoftBank invest $2 billion into Grab, Daimler and Bosch create a driverless parking garage and the next Microsoft HoloLens gets an AI chip. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Grabr, an SF-based platform with a convenient way for people to buy international goods, has secured a $2.7M funding round led by SignalFire. FF Angel (Founders Fund’s early stage investment vehicle), NFX, Global Founders Capital and multiple angel investors including Diana Moldavsky and Charles Songhurst also participated.
Grabr plans to use the cash to scale up its operations and… Read More
Facebook is on the cusp of a big push to lure independent content creators to share their art through the News Feed. But it needs to prove it can help creators monetize their content without allowing piracy to run rampant. That’s why it’s acquired content rights management startup Source3, including its team and technology. Read More
Chatbots – automated bots that let you interact with a service or brand via messaging apps or SMS – haven’t yet become breakout hits, as a group. But that hasn’t stopped investors from pouring in $8 million into a hotel booking startup called SnapTravel, which lets users find and book rooms via SMS texts and Facebook Messenger. The $8 million Series A round was led… Read More
Alphabet’s advertising business continues to grow at a mammoth pace despite a very hefty setback from the EU in the form of a massive fine — but all the signs might not be pointing to a perfect future for Google. Read More
There’s a lot going on in commercial DNA testing these days beyond what eye color you have or where your mitochondria comes from, and at-home lab testing startup EverlyWell hopes to cash in. The startup launched three new products today, based on your DNA to help get it there, including a food sensitivity test, DNA factors for your metabolism and breast milk DHA. Read More
On the heels of Blue Apron’s lackluster debut on the public market, a former employee is suing the company for allegedly violating the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires that companies provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for certain medical and family reasons. Read More
How many times have you heard some urban legend, chain letter or misleading bit of news repeated and immediately found a thorough, fact-based debunking on Snopes? Like every damn day for the last 20 years or so, right? Snopes was there for you when you were looking up fake news and cryptids — but it’s in trouble, and asking you to return the favor. Read More
Nvidia’s Shield TV is the best streaming box you can get right now, thanks to 4K support, a variety of surround sound audio formats and a great execution of Android TV, and it just got a little bit better: The latest update to the YouTube app brings 360-degree video support, as well as an improved UI that should make browsing content easier.
The new app introduces the 360-degree video… Read More
Google today launched the fourth and final developer preview of Android O, the latest version of its mobile operating system. As expected, there are no major changes in this release and, according to Google, the launch of Android O remains on track for later this summer. Given that Android Nougat was on a very similar schedule, I expect we’ll see a final release in August. Read More
Funny or Die is launching an all-new miniseries, The Real Stephen Blatt, which will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime video. Though some Funny or Die content is currently available on Amazon Prime, such as The Very Best of Will Ferrell, The Very Best of James Franco, Drunk History, and Between Two Ferns, The Real Stephen Blatt marks the first Funny or Die content to stream exclusively… Read More
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is joining parent company Alphabet’s board, according to an announcement Monday from the company. Pichai has been at the company since 2004, with previous roles overseeing Google consumer products, engineering and research efforts. Read More
Apple just released a new beta of iOS 11 ahead of the final iOS 11 release in September. Things are still quite rough and I wouldn’t recommend installing the beta on a production device just yet. You don’t want to risk having your phone become useless. The beta 4 is only available if you’re a registered developer for now. While Apple also has a public beta program, the… Read More
NASA has designed a supersonic plane that it hopes will help reduce flight time for international travelers, and its design is intended to reduce the noise of the jet to well below that of the Concorde. Starting in August, Bloomberg reports, NASA will seek bids from aircraft manufacturers to bring their design to life with a full-scale mode, with a budget of nearly $400 million from the… Read More
Hulu announced this morning the appointment of Kelly Campbell, the current head of Global Growth Marketing for Google Cloud, as its new chief marketing officer. The strategic hire for the streaming service will see Campbell tasked with driving Hulu’s overall marketing strategy across both its subscription video on-demand business and its new Live TV service, the company says. Read More
Ford’s latest Mustang GT is the fastest ever – in its new Drag Strip mode, it can do 0-to-60 mph in under four seconds, which is faster than a lot of expensive sports cars, including the Porsche 911. The Drag Strip mode setting optimizes torque, and transmission to achieve the new acceleration, and hits that sub-four second time when paired with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires on… Read More
Today’s kids aren’t just reading books. They’re also tapping and playing with interactive stories on tablets as preschoolers, then delving into instant messaging-like chat fiction apps as teens. Amazon’s entry in this space, Amazon Rapids, was announced late last year as a way to bring this style of interactive fiction to readers in the 5 to 12 age range. The company… Read More
In this episode, Cap Watkins, the VP of design at BuzzFeed, explains how to apply design to any business challenge, what managers can do to create a more productive environment, and how companies can create a culture that empowers their best people. The job of a designer, according to Watkins, is to “make everything a little grayer.” Rather than focusing on only one facet of design,… Read More
Netflix’s booming subscriber growth, announced in the company’s earnings last week, is also being felt on the App Store, where its app has again become the top earner in terms of revenue. According a recent report from app store analytics firm Sensor Tower, the app in Q2 saw 233 percent revenue growth year-over-year to $153 million in the most recent quarter. That’s up from… Read More
