My 2017 predictions for the fintech industry spell out a future of continued scale and disruption, coming off the heels of what ended up being a pretty unpredictable year in 2016. In spite of that, by my count, I got 75% of my 2016 predictions right. Will I have the same level of success this year? Time will tell.
While we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, 2017… Read More
With Android Wear 2.0 due next month (with most outlets pegging a not too distant release date of February 2), we’re in a bit of a post-CES wearable holding pattern at the moment. The delay of Google’s wearable operating system was largely seen as a contributing factor in the declining smartwatch space, but certainly not the sole driver. In a recent interview with Swiss paper… Read More
After dipping his toes in government work last year, Google Search guru Matt Cutts is now stepping away from Google in a more permanent way. Cutts, who has wrestled spam and SEO at Google since 2000, joined the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) in mid-2016 for a role that he expected to last three months. After extending his stay by three more, Cutts, now the USDS director of engineering, will… Read More
Peter Thiel being suddenly cast into the center of U.S. politics in 2016 isn’t something that either Thiel or his longtime friend and colleague Ajay Royan could have anticipated in 2014, when they founded Mithril Capital Management. But it doesn’t change much for the low-flying, 12-person firm, which is based in San Francisco but makes outsize bets on companies that are… Read More
Slowly but surely, huge entertainment companies are throwing major resources into virtual reality plays.
Fox took part in Within‘s $12.5 million Series A in June, and now the group’s newly formed “immersive, next generation entertainment” arm, FoxNext, will be partnering with the VR studio headed by the innovative filmmaker Chris Milk to begin crafting custom… Read More
Keenon Werling would be the first to agree that conversational AI is regularly overhyped. So instead of taking the traditional approach and gloating about a glitzy new deeper learning algorithm to pitch his new venture Eloquent Labs, Werling instead opted to differentiate by optimizing something far more low-tech, people. The startup’s special sauce is embracing a mix of AI,… Read More
Tesla’s Model S P100D can already match the still unreleased Faraday Future FF91’s top 0 to 60 mph time, and that’s using a stock car with software available to any driver right now. The Ludicrous+ software Easter Egg update pushed out by the automaker late last year has resulted in a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.389 seconds, a hair faster than Tesla’s own claims about… Read More
Solaria Labs, Liberty Mutual Insurance’s tech incubator, has created an API developer portal to bring together public data and “proprietary insurance information” to help users find potentially safer routes — and help them assess damage when that doesn’t work out. The AI in the API gives users repair estimates post-crash. “The AI Auto Damage Estimator… Read More
Brazil is the most populous country in South America, as well as its largest market. Internet penetration and use are high — Brazil trails only the US in total Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users — and the country has more mobile devices than human inhabitants. Brazil is uniquely positioned to capitalize on regional markets and is artificially devoid of international competition. Read More
Well on its way to becoming the most influential tech company in Canada, Shopify is growing – and growing fast. The e-commerce platform company just opened its second Toronto office, Shopify R&D located in the city’s downtown, a short walk from its primary headquarters in the commerce capital of the country. Toronto Mayor John Tory attended the opening, hailing the city as… Read More
With a little over two weeks until the 10th Annual Crunchies Awards, it is our pleasure to announce the Crunchies Board members. This group of investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, technologists and TechCrunch writers and editors are charged with the exciting and challenging job of choosing the winners for each Crunchies award category.
The official Crunchies ballot was sent to board… Read More
Russian state-funded media company RT (previously Russia Today) was temporarily banned from posting content to Facebook — a move that would have prevented the organization form posting articles, photos or video to the social network until Saturday, the day after Trump’s inauguration. However, Facebook says now that it has lifted the ban, and will look into the reasons behind… Read More
At this year’s CES, Dish introduced a 4K-ready streaming media player called Air TV, which is designed to combine Sling TV’s internet television service with over-the-air channels pulled in through your digital antenna, along with Netflix. The promise of the box, then, is one of an integrated experience – where all your favorite cable channels from Sling are accessible… Read More
We’re giving you an unprecedented opportunity to purchase a limited supply of tickets at a special rate of two for the price of one. Only 50 pairs of tickets will be released on January 27 to those who sign up. To take advantage of these limited-supply tickets, sign up at our website here. After you sign up, you’ll get an email with a link to purchase, so don’t miss out! Read More
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its full findings following the investigation into last year’s fatal crash involving a driver’s use of Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot feature. The report clears Tesla’s Autopilot system of any fault in the incident, and in fact at multiple points within the report praises its design in terms of… Read More
Since 2003, Amazon-owned Audible has been the sole proprietor of audiobook on iTunes, a deal that has ruffled plenty of publishing feathers and raised some antitrust red flags around the world. According to The European Commission, the two tech giants have agreed to put an end to their exclusivity agreement, opening up iTunes to content from other third-party providers. The move comes as both… Read More
TechCrunch Include Office Hours are back and will take place in New York on January 25th from 3-5 p.m. Betaworks partner Matt Hartman will be hosting private feedback sessions for startups. For a chance to participate, apply here. In 2014 TechCrunch started Include, our diversity program designed to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to gain access to networks,… Read More
Restaurant food delivery company Deliveroo has begun trialing a subscription service in the U.K. — presumably targeted at its most frequent and loyal customers. Read More
But there are still a lot. Twitter just released its first diversity report since hiring Jeffrey Siminoff, the former director of worldwide inclusion and diversity at Apple, in December 2015. Overall, Twitter is 57% white, 32% Asian, 3% black, 4% Hispanic/Latinx, 3% multi-racial, less than one percent American Indian and Native Hawaiian in the U.S. and 37% female worldwide, up from 34% in… Read More
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will close the investigation it began six months ago into a driver death that occurred while using Tesla’s Autopilot highway semi-autonomous driving feature, Reuters reports. The investigation did not find cause for a recall of Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, the report claims. There’s no dispute from anyone involved… Read More
