As the world looks to reopen after weeks of lockdown, governments are turning to contact tracing to understand the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Most nations are leaning toward privacy-focused apps that use Bluetooth signals to create an anonymous profile of where a person has been and when. Some, like Israel, are bucking the trend […]
2020 sucks. Want to let your brain slip back to 1999 for a while? This news might help: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 are coming back, complete with a full-blown graphic overhaul, online multiplayer — and, yes, the song “Superman” by Goldfinger. Here’s the announcement trailer, which does a great job of showing […]
Earlier today news broke that Uber is pursuing an acquisition of Grubhub. The global ride-hailing giant is worth a multiple of the American food delivery service, making the tie-up financially feasible, provided that a palatable price can be found for both parties. The Wall Street Journal broke the news; you can read TechCrunch’s coverage of […]
As most countries across the globe scramble to build an app to trace the spread of coronavirus, India’s solution is growing at an unprecedented scale — despite being dogged by privacy concerns. New Delhi’s contact-tracing app, called Aarogya Setu, has reached 100 million users of India’s 450 million smartphone owners in 41 days after its release. […]
SpaceX has launched a new browser-based simulator that provides an idea of what it would be like to manually control the docking process of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first human-carrying spaceship the company has made. Crew Dragon actually docks with the International Space Station (ISS) fully autonomously, but astronauts are able to take over […]
Earlier today, Jack Dorsey sent an email to Twitter staff, notifying employees that they will be able to continue working from home as long as they see fit. The CEO notes that Twitter was an early adopter of a work-from-home model, though — like much of the rest of the world — that push has […]
As part of its anti-bullying efforts, Instagram today announced a series of new features aimed at helping users better manage negative comments as well as highlight positive ones. It’s also adding new controls to manage who can tag or mention you on Instagram, which can be another source of online bullying. The first of the […]
Messaging service Telegram said on Tuesday it is abandoning its blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON) after a lengthy battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Today is a sad day for us here at Telegram . We are announcing the discontinuation of our blockchain project,” wrote Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive […]
Waymo has added an additional $750 million to the $2.25 billion funding round that it first announced in March, bringing the total size of the financing (its first from investors outside of Alphabet) to $3 billion. The extension comes from new investors, including those managed by T. Rowe Price, Perry Creek Capital, Fidelity Management and […]
LinkedIn adds new features to support virtual events, Elon Musk escalates his battle with Alameda County and Banjo’s CEO resigns after some disturbing revelations. Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 12, 2020. 1. LinkedIn adds polls and live video-based events in a focus on more virtual engagement Microsoft -owned LinkedIn announced a couple of big […]
LaunchNotes, a startup founded by three ex-Atlassian employees, makes it easier for businesses to communicate the changes in their software products to both their internal teams and external customers. In practice, you can think of it as a product similar to Statuspage, which made it easier for companies to communicate the status of their systems. […]
Sleeper is widening its ambitions to esports as the arena sports world goes into hibernation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While CEO Nan Wang has high hopes that the upcoming NFL season can proceed amid the pandemic, he’s hoping to expand his fantasy sports app’s appeal to gamers by launching support for the intensely popular title […]
Google is making it easier for Google Play Music users to make the switch to the company’s now preferred music app, YouTube Music, ahead of its plans to shut down Google Play Music later this year. Starting today, Google Play Music users will be able to move their libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to […]
Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg is admitting that the short-form video service’s launch hasn’t gone the way he’d hoped — and he knows what to blame for its issues. “I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus,” Katzenberg said in an interview with The New York Times. “Everything. But we own it.” Back in April, […]
Smartphone shipments are reportedly beginning to see signs of line China, after a sizable dip from the COVID-19 pandemic. New numbers from China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (a government connected agency) point to a 17% rise in shipments for April, pointing to some recovery for the market. The figure, from the China state […]
Uber is in talks to buy GrubHub in an all-stock deal, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the WSJ’s sources, GrubHub wants 2.15 Uber shares for each GrubHubs share. Uber first approached GrubHub earlier this year with an offer, but the two companies are still in talks, according to the WSJ. A Bloomberg report […]
As parents across the country are tasked with managing their children’s schooling amid a pandemic, investors are betting on a homeschooling startup that’s aiming to provide parents with services that can simplify the process of giving their kids a tailored education at home. Founder Ryan Delk says his startup Primer is building the “full-stack infrastructure” […]
When it comes to corporate venture capital, semiconductor giant Intel has shaped up to be one of the most prolific and prescient investors in the tech world, with investments in 1,582 companies worldwide, and a tally of some 692 portfolio companies going public or otherwise exiting in the wake of Intel’s backing. Today, the company announced its […]
It seems like only yesterday that we were all complaining about the boring uniformity of smartphone designs. In the last couple of years, companies have worked to offer some alternative through dual-screen devices, foldables and a slew of concept form factors — few of which have really gained much traction. Even so, the LG Wing […]
