The Spectre x2 is what a Surface Pro would feel like with HP’s design cues and a few better specs for the dollar. In fact, most of the Spectre x2’s drawbacks stem from having to squeeze so much into its frame, which is better than having glaring software issues. Nearly free of stutters under heavy workload, Windows 10 remains a smooth experience. Specs of a svelte slate The… Read More
A month ago I brought you the Blackbelt, a belt-driven 3D printer with an “infinite Z” meaning you can print really long objects or multiple objects in the same print job. Now there’s a new printer on the block, and it looks like it’s blowing the Blackbelt out of the proverbial 3D printing water. Read More
We’re holding a micro-meetup tomorrow in Warsaw. We’ll be holding it at Campus Warsaw, 33C Ząbkowska, 03-736 Warszawa, Poland. The fun starts at 6pm and ends at 8pm with some after-event drinks nearby. Much merriment will be had. Space is limited, so make sure to join us early. Read More
Amazon has completed its acquisition of e-commerce firm Souq.com, which was first announced at the end of March and sees the U.S. retail giant enter the Middle Eastern market. Read More
Tesla is likely to reveal the first production model of its hotly anticipated Model 3 this week, according to CEO Elon Musk, with the first batch of customers on track to get their vehicles by July 28.
Musk took to Twitter, as he so often does, to reveal that the Model 3 passed its regulatory approvals for production two weeks ahead of time.
Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for… Read More
500 Startups has apologized to its Australian partner LaunchVic after the U.S. firm admitted that it failed to disclose an internal investigation into sexual harassment claims against co-founding partner Dave McClure.
LaunchVic is a $460 million entrepreneurship scheme backed by the government of Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state. It’s a major investor in 500… Read More
Would you be comfortable buying glasses sight-unseen? Despite the undeniable rise in online shopping, there are still products we are concerned to buy online. Touching, feeling, wearing, and testing out physical products are where the value of brick and mortar retail truly shines. On high-end purchases, the shopping experience is part of what we pay for. In-store stylists, personal shoppers,… Read More
Update 7:37 PM EDT: SpaceX aborted the countdown at T-9 seconds. More info about the cause of the abort, and whether that’s a wash for today’s launch, should be available shortly. Update 7:41 PM EDT: SpaceX has confirmed that the computer triggered an abort at T-10 seconds because something wasn’t within limits. They still aren’t sure what caused the computer to trigger… Read More
The venture capital industry’s corrosive gender bias, on full display in the past few months, has already cost one of its most valuable new companies billions of dollars; brought about the dissolution of one partnership; and forced the resignation of one of its most public spokesmen. It’s also been on display at our own TechCrunch Disrupt New York conference (more on that later).… Read More
Each second in the U.S., an older adult takes a fall, accounting for more than 27,000 deaths from falling among older individuals, according to the CDC. A company based in Haifa, Israel, however, is working on a way to prevent those falls in the first place. B-Shoe Technologies is working on a prototype for a shoe that senses imbalance in every step and uses a mini treadmill-like system to… Read More
Nature has inspired robotics since its earliest days. In 1739, French artist Jacques de Vaucanson gave the world the Digesting Duck, a surreal automaton that appeared to eat — and, yes, poop out — grain. In the middle of the 20th century, British neuroscientist William Grey Walter invented turtle and tortoise robots, so-named for their slow movement and shell shapes.
In modern… Read More
Apple has continued to expand its retail footprint in Asia after the iPhone-maker opened its first store in Taiwan this weekend. The inaugural Apple Store is located in Taipei 101, a landmark skyscraper in Taipei, and it is staffed with an initial workforce of 130 employees, Apple said. Doors in Taiwan opened at 11am local time on Saturday, but eager fans had queued for as long as 68 hours… Read More
Microsoft is poised to layoff thousands of employees worldwide in a move to reorganize its salesforce.
A source with knowledge of the planned downsizing told TechCrunch that the U.S. firm would lay off “thousands” of staff across the world. The restructuring is set to include an organizational merger that involves its enterprise customer unit and one or more of its SME-focused… Read More
Blue Apron has finally gone public, and we’re at about the halfway point of the year. We’ve seen a lot of IPOs for the first half of 2017, which followed a huge drought last year.
All this started when Snap opened up the so-called “IPO window” when it made its debut with a bang, popping the normally-expected 20% or so on its first day of trading. But since then… Read More
What a year (life?) it’s been for white women, people of color and nonbinary people in tech. First, engineer Susan Fowler came forward about her time at Uber, where she says the company ignored her numerous reports of sexual harassment. Then, 3 female founders came forward about their experiences of sexual harassment and unwanted advances with Justin Caldbeck, co-founder of Binary Capital. Read More
Well, why not? I mean, you know, what the hell. Dave Aitel’s proposal over at The Hill for “a cyber investigatory setup funded by private industry” to react to hacks into the American government may not be a good idea, per se, but who can afford that kind of cost-benefit analysis when we’re already in the throes of de-facto high-seas Internet warfare? Let’s just… Read More
Last Wednesday TechCrunch hosted the TechCrunch Meetup + Pitch-Off in Tel Aviv, and a good time was had by all! Over 700 people packed into the Trask venue to see on-stage interviews and 10 companies pitching to win tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt. The startups had only one minute to pitch their product (with no slides) to a panel of local VC judges and TechCrunch editors. The winner of the… Read More
Taking an alternative approach to Chris Sacca’s pre-publication statement on the New York Times’ story of his alleged misconduct, Dave McClure waited a day to respond to the allegations made in yesterday’s article.
In a Medium post published Saturday evening, McClure neither denies nor defends the actions that he says have cost him the executive position at the firm he founded. Read More
Sorry, Luke — but it looks like both your lightsaber and R2-D2 have new owners.
In an auction that I’d like to pretend took place in front of a Sandcrawler in the middle of a desert, someone reportedly just dropped over $2 million dollars on R2-D2. Read More
