TechCrunch

 Apple’s WWDC moves to San Jose, an update on Elon Musk’s tunnel project, Google makes an update that plays piano duets and Google Home steps on Alexa’s turf. All this on Crunch Report. Read More

 He might not want to run for office any time soon, but Mark Zuckerberg has perfected the time-honored political art of talking a lot without saying anything. In a sprawling letter consisting mostly of feel-good mumbo jumbo and a light sprinkling of feature ideas, the Facebook visionary laid out 5,700 words’ worth of nonspecific stuff that sounds nice. Like fellow Facebook feel-gooder… Read More

 Yet more developments for Beepi, the used car marketplace that had raised $150 million but then went bust: The company has completely shut down and has been sold off in parts to repay creditors. Read More

 The good news: the 80+ new Pokémon that were supposed to hit Pokémon GO “later this week”? They just went live. I caught a Chikorita! The bad news: If you were a player in the early days, things might look pretty familiar right now… in that you might just be looking at an error screen. The server seems to be having a hard time at the moment, with players reporting issues… Read More

 According to Loom founder Chase White, there’s a familiar cycle that tech entrepreneurs go through: When they’re first getting started, they sell equity to angel investors, then they use the money to hire developers to actually build the product. Read More

 Betsy DeVos was barely confirmed last week as the new Secretary of Education –- or should I say bearly. In her welcome address to the Department of Education on Wednesday, Secretary DeVos made light of her remark about schools needing guns to protect children from grizzly bears: “For me, personally, this confirmation process and the drama it engendered has been a … bit of a… Read More

 Facebook wants to give you the power to define what is and isn’t objectionable, and influence the local defaults of those who don’t choose voluntarily. You’ll eventually be able to select how much nudity, violence, graphic content and profanity you’re comfortable seeing. Read More

 Many studies have been done on the potential effects of semi trucks being able to travel in platoons. It could be more fuel efficient, it could be safer, it could be easier on the drivers. And now, it could be coming to a highway near you. Peloton Technology has partnered with Omnitracs, a fleet management company, to provide platooning technology this year. Read More

 Mike Rothenberg has been in a heap of trouble over a series of purportedly fraudulent transactions within his investment firm Rothenberg Ventures and his virtual reality startup River Studios. Now Transcend VR, as first reported in The Wall Street Journal, is suing the venture capitalist on allegations of fraud, breach of contract and deceptive diversion of funds. Read More

 Twitter will no longer notify you about replies in conversations started by people you’ve either blocked or muted, Twitter said today. You will, however, still get notified if someone you follow directly mentions you in the thread. Twitter made this decision after hearing “consistent feedback from the safety community regarding notifications from conversations started by… Read More

 Meetup, the site that helps people organize get-togethers like hiking trips and cooking classes, is taking a very solid political stance in the face of the new administration’s policies here in the U.S. — a move that has angered Trump supporters, who are deleting their accounts and calling for a boycott. While Meetup’s platform is open to anyone on both sides of the… Read More

 LG is doing a downright terrible job keeping the lid on the G6 ahead of its launch at Mobile World Congress in a couple of weeks. Numerous leaks involving the handset have popped up recently, and today the company just went ahead and offered up a whole slew of information through its official channels — confirming a number of reports and adding some new insight into what the handset… Read More

 “Are we building the world we all want?” That’s a question often reserved for the lips of presidents and religious leaders, and too rarely asked by CEOs. But technology has risen as a force that unites us, alongside government and faith. So too must captains of industry rise to accept their opportunity of influence, for the betterment of humanity in one of its most… Read More

 The short answer for why Snap lowballed its initial valuation for its initial public offering is that it probably won’t be that low for long. Normally these prices are set by expectations the underwriters and executives can divine from their conversations with Wall Street. It’s essentially a matching game — how does Snap and its underwriters figure out where to price the… Read More

 I’ll be honest, hearing about what Raybaby does made me happy I don’t have kids. The mere thought of needing a device to monitor a child’s breathing stresses me out. But it’s a legitimate concern, and the Hax graduates are offering a solution that may well provide some extra peace of mind for concerned parents of newborns. Read More

 Less than 24 hours after his first pick to head the Department of Labor withdrew his nomination over intense scrutiny of his various professional and personal controversies, President Trump is ready to throw a new name into the mix: Alexander Acosta. By most accounts, Acosta makes for a less controversial choice than Puzder, a fast food executive decried by opponents as anti-worker. Acosta,… Read More

 One percent of the world’s population, approximately 70 million people, are blind. That is not a huge number when you think of it in terms of a potential use base for a consumer product, but it is massive when you consider that there are currently few assistive technologies available as an aid to make easier the lives of the visually impaired. Read More

 When Google launched Project Loon a few years ago, the plan was to provide internet access to underserved areas with the help of a series of balloons that would constantly circumnavigate the earth. When one balloon moved out of range, another would move in behind it. Today, Google is still Google but it’s also Alphabet — and as Alphabet’s “Captain of Moonshots” at… Read More

 Most consumer drones available on the market today fit in one of two categories: full-fledged UAVs like DJI’s Inspire, Phantom or Mavic, or portable “selfie” drones like Hover that prioritize size and convenience over features. So what about “in-between” drones? Drones that are easy to carry, typically under the weight that requires FAA registration but still have… Read More

 Have you ever wondered why the snack bowls on the second floor of your fancy startup office never runs out of snacks? Your office manager is most likely in charge of all of this, and sometimes it can be hard for them to keep track of all requests and make sure everything is running smoothly. Hivy plans to be the only service office managers ever need. The company is participating in Y… Read More