Once upon a time, browsers were all about getting faster and scoring better on JavaScript benchmarks than their competitors. While speed still matters, many developers have recently focused more on energy efficiency than speed (which makes sense, given that most users now browse on laptops). When Microsoft said that its Edge browser was more energy-efficient than its competitors, like… Read More
The online learning market is becoming as crowded as the app stores. Ranku offers the equivalent of SEO assistance to make sure colleges with electronic courses convert visitors into students. Now Ranku (pronounced ran-koo) is being acquired by publicly traded education conglomerate John Wiley & Sons. A source familiar with the deal confirms to TechCrunch that the acquisition price was… Read More
Confirming earlier reports, Pandora today announced the launch of a new paid music service called “Pandora Plus.” While this service doesn’t offer a true alternative to Spotify, in terms of on-demand listening, the new $4.99 per month paid option offers a wider set of features, including the ability to skip more songs, more replays and support for offline listening. The… Read More
The success of high-tech accelerators has ignited the creation of similar models around the country hoping to replicate their accomplishments. But their achievements have not come without criticism. The exclusivity of the high-tech sector in general is reflected in the lack of diverse entrepreneurs being supported by high-tech accelerators and, to a lesser degree, by high-tech incubators. Read More
Indiegogo is going a long way towards making crowdfunding sexy again. Whether you like sticking your private parts in things, or sticking things in your private parts, Indiegogo’s got your back. And your front, for that matter. Read More
While Europe’s technology ecosystem is growing, there’s sometimes a view that it lags behind the U.S. for healthtech or Health 2.0, or whatever you want to call it. But that’s basically bullshit. While Europe has been a slow starter, it’s catching up very fast. There are many new EU-based healthtech companies, and a brief analysis of CrunchBase shows that while the U.K.… Read More
Apple has issued a statement tonight that is essentially setting expectations for those who hoped they’d be able to walk into an Apple store on Friday and pick themselves up an iPhone. The statement makes it clear that all iPhones will be in short supply for walk-in customers without a reservation. The statement also indicates that Apple’s jet black iPhones and all iPhone 7 plus… Read More
Uber starts self-driving car pickups in Pittsburgh, a coalition of people want to get Edward Snowden a presidential pardon, we talk to Startup Battlefield company Wazer, New Yorkers are watching porn on free Wi-Fi kiosks, and Amazon brings back the Echo Dot. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
After Google launched the first version of its Angular web application framework in 2010, it quickly became one of the hottest web technologies. Since then, the web has changed, though, and when Google announced Angular 2 in 2014, it created quite a stir in the web development community because this new version wasn’t just an update, but instead a complete rewrite that wasn’t… Read More
We have been using the computer mouse for decades to interact with our technology. Touchscreens brought us a new way to input commands to our gadgets, but they rely on the same fundamental idea of the click. Even the new 3D touch on the iPhone 7 is just an incredibly sophisticated way of using the hand to answer a yes or no question. Both Michael Buckwald, CEO of Leap Motion and Jim Marggraff,… Read More
Shervin Pishevar, well-known venture capitalist and co-founder in the two-year-old L.A.-based futuristic transportation company Hyperloop One came to TechCrunch Disrupt today to chat about shooting people and things across the world faster than the speed of sound. But just how soon will we see that happen? Pishevar says his team is “full steam ahead” to get us there by 2021 and… Read More
Startups participating in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. They all presented in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech leaders serving as judges to win $50,000 and the coveted Disrupt Cup. After hours of deliberations, TechCrunch editors pored over the judges’ notes and narrowed the list down to six… Read More
Anyone who has ever worked with clients will know the pain of tracking your time. Yes, it’s important to know how long you spent so that you can bill correctly, but it is tedious, hellish and horrid — and, added to that, too often left until the last minute when it becomes harder to remember what was done. Enter Timeular and its pretty little eight-sided box which makes… Read More
In shadow of AT&T Park, two Bay Area-based engineers took to the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt to showcase their plans for a new kind of sports league. Dressed like a matching pair of flamboyant American flags, Gui Cavalcanti and Matt Oehrlein debuted a trailer for an upcoming web series following MegaBots’ journey from pipe dream to a Formula 1-inspired robotic fighting league. With… Read More
The European Commission’s proposals to reform the region’s copyright rules, published in draft form today, have been criticized by tech companies and digital rights groups as regressive and a missed opportunity to modernize hopelessly outdated rules. Read More
The audience at Disrupt got a surprise visit from Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot. While the company’s YouTube channel is quite popular, it’s even more impressive to see one of Boston Robotics’ robots in action.
Boston Dynamics founder and CEO Marc Raibert got interviewed by TechCrunch’s Brian Heater. The two of them spent some time commenting on a video of the… Read More
As Airbnb, the $30 billion private accommodation renting portal, continues to mature and very slowly inch its way to an IPO, it is adding more ways to bring in more properties and hosts to its platform. TechCrunch has learned that Airbnb is working on a new service under the name “Experienced Hosts,” where it connects would-be hosts (those who have homes or space in their… Read More
Imagine walking into a store, picking up a pair of shoes, and seeing specs for the kicks appear on a TV next to the display. Or imagine standing in front of an airport departures screen and seeing your flight appear and then a map displaying the best route to your gate. These use cases were supposed to be the killer app for beacons and, finally, these dreams are being realized. The Mirror… Read More
Sapphire Ventures, a Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture firm funded solely by the German software giant SAP, has secured a whopping $1 billion to invest across two new funds: a $700 million growth fund, and a $300 million early-stage tech fund.
The capital places the group into a ever-growing circle of venture groups that have raised north of a billion dollars in 2016, including Founders Fund… Read More
It can take a lot to build a positive habit — whether that’s stretching every morning, drinking enough water or remembering to go on a run. Kayla Matheus and Laura Day hope to make that a little easier with a small robot that sits on your table or desk called MOTI, which is currently running a Kickstarter campaign. But how would that help? Basically, the duo want to try to… Read More
