3D printing startup Formlabs is using its Digital Factory conference today to make its two biggest announcements since launching the Form 1 on Kickstarter half a decade back. Both are pretty logical extensions for a company that’s always straddled the line between desktop and industrial 3D printing, by offering pro-level high-res printing in a portable/affordable form factor. According… Read More
Entrepreneur and digital media executive Luke Beatty is the new chairman and CEO at Brandfolder. The Denver-based startup helps companies manage logos, images, videos and other resources in a secure, permissions-based way, with analytics. (Naturally, Brandfolder has its own brandfolder.) This can serve as a handy resource for reporters, but also as a tool for salespeople to find all the… Read More
Video is the name of the game in social media these days, as Facebook and Instagram continue to ramp up features to grab users from Snapchat; and Twitter moves into 24-hour news broadcasting partnerships to push more engagement. Now a startup from Berlin, Germany hopes a focus on video will help it break open a new market for e-commerce: Generation Z Yeay (pronounced “yay”) is a… Read More
It’s time, Apple fans. It’s Day 1 of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference — which, in turn, means it’s time for Apple to debut pretty much everything it’s been working on behind the scenes for the past year. Just as we’ve been doing for ages, we’ll be reporting live from the scene with up-to-the-second updates as the news unfolds. Read More
Oi oi London! Did you miss us? We missed you — although, admittedly, I do live here — which is why we’re returning for a TechCrunch Meetup + Pitch-off on 19 July, in conjunction with the incredibly fun conference, Unbound. Read More
In recent years, there’s been plenty of debate about the merits of college and whether, given the escalating price of a higher education — and the time required — it’s worth it. Certainly, dropping out of college proved an auspicious decision for Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Michael Dell. The same could be said of Mark Zuckerberg, Ev Williams, and Travis Kalanick.… Read More
I’m not a fan of educational toys. They’re usually either too educational or too toy-like and, in the end, kids get little education and little fun. The Code Kit from LittleBits has changed my mind.
The Code Kit is very specifically targeted at classroom learning for grades 3-8 and costs $299. Why? Because it’s a bit more robust than the other coding kit LittleBits overs.… Read More
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which it launched on Saturday, June 3, has made its rendez-vous with the International Space Station, as planned. The capsule, SpaceX’s first used cargo spacecraft reflown for an active mission, has around 6,000 lbs of supplies and materials on board for ISS crew and to support scientific experiments. The Dragon craft launched from SpaceX’s Kennedy… Read More
NASA has greenlighted three of its teams of researchers to perform feasibility studies on projects that could pave the way for autonomous drones and self-driving cars to operate safely and effectively at scale. Many companies are investing both in self-flying drones and in driverless cars as future transportation technologies, but in order for these to become everyday options, there are a… Read More
Ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference today, and the expected announcement of iOS 11, the company briefly removed older, 32-bit iOS applications from appearing in the App Store’s search results. The change, which appears to have been a short test on Sunday, could have impacted a sizable portion of the App Store’s long tail. According to data collected by Sensor Tower… Read More
Online and mobile-based dating has always had one major issue – it’s really hard to figure out what your match’s messages mean. Sure, they may think they are being direct and to the point, but if you’ve ever actually tried a dating app you know this isn’t the case. Enter WittyThumbs. Launching today, the website is the first product from Hermes, a YC-based… Read More
Krypt.co, a new security startup founded by two former MIT students and one of their professors, is launching today with a free product called Kryptonite, designed to help developers protect their private encryption keys, using an app on their smartphones. It’s a big day for the fledgling company as it also announced a $1.2 million seed round led by Rough Draft Ventures/General… Read More
4k projectors are finally becoming affordable. Optoma today announced the pricing for its first line of 4k projectors. The UHD60 is $1,999 and the UHD65 is $2,499, making these two models the least expensive 4k projectors available. You can send thank you notes to Texas Instruments. Optoma unveiled this line of 4k projectors earlier this year at CES. These projectors use a new 4k UHD DLP chip… Read More
June 4 fell this weekend, which, in China, marks the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, one of the most infamous dates in the country’s modern history. The government has never acknowledged nor commented upon the event — which resulted in upwards of 300 deaths as troops forcibly suppressed student-led protests. China’s internet regulators are usually hard… Read More
The UK government has once again amped up its attacks on tech platforms’ use of end-to-end encryption, and called for International co-operation to regulate the Internet so that it cannot be used as a “safe space” for extremists to communicate and spread propaganda online. Read More
London has a new VC in town. Officially launching today, having already made a number of investments, is Rooks Nest Ventures. The VC firm is described as an early-stage, evergreen fund targeting tech startups that are innovating in and around content, along with companies creating “highly licensable intellectual property”. Read More
Recently, I registered with the GP across the road from my flat. I’ve lived there for a year. I had put off registering beforehand due to a severe allergy to bureaucracy. Last year, I wanted to go see a specialist. I snored at my private healthcare provider’s response that I first needed to have a consultation with my doctor… Safe to say it never happened.… Read More
A leak spotted on the eve of Apple’s WWDC event suggests that the company is preparing to revamp the way iPhone owners manage and store files on their phone. That’s according to a new app placeholder unearthed by developer Steve Stroughton Smith which hints at a new ‘Files’ app for iOS coming soon. A major feature would almost certainly ship within the iOS 11 software… Read More
Apple is holding a keynote today at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, and the company is expected to unveil new updates for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS and maybe also the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro. At 10 AM PT (1 PM in New York, 6 PM in London, 7 PM in Paris), you’ll be able to watch the event as the company is streaming it live. Apple is likely to talk about some new features… Read More
Last time we heard from Palmer Luckey, the one-time poster boy for VR, he was quietly ousted from Facebook after a $100,000 donation to a pro-Trump ‘shitposting’ group came to light. Now Luckey, who sold his VR company Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, is back, and his new company is concerned with national security. The New York Times reports that his newest business… Read More
