FM radio has awesome features – it’s free, it doesn’t use up your data, it often has better reception than LTE, it offers various mixes of playlists (both hip and classic) along with news and up-to-date info. So, why does it seem like makers are increasingly reluctant to include it in their phones? Well, while […]
Author: admin
Microsoft patents a wearable device that could help Parkinson’s patients
Ever since the Microsoft Band 2 came out back in 2015, old Redmond has mostly been out of the wearable game. That being said, that wearable did pack some truly impressive and ambitious tech, enabling things like maximum volume of oxygen (VO2 max) tracking. Microsoft is clearly no stranger to experimentation when it comes to […]
Leaked Google Pixel 3 Lite cases show similar yet slightly different phone design
After a veritable surge of Pixel 3 Lite leaks back in November, the rumor mill has been surprisingly lacking on info regarding Google’s alleged midrange phone. Still, the “leakster” community appears adamant that at least one or maybe even two such Pixel Lite handsets are indeed in the pipeline and inching towards a release. Last […]
Screen protector leak shows a teardrop notch on the Huawei P30 Pro
Huawei currently has more than a few things on its plate to worry about and quite some work to do, pushing out eagerly-anticipated models, like the nova 4, a new 20W SuperCharge protocol and aiding in the release of the View 20 from its subsidiary Honor. Both of these upcoming phones share an exciting new […]
Apple getting sued over alleged false screen size and pixel count advertisement
Before we get into things, we feel that we should preface this news by saying that when you’re the likes of Apple, lawsuits are a pretty common occurrence and come in a wide scale of severity. This particular case seems to be airing more on the amusing side in terms of scope and potential repercussions. […]
The limits of coworking
It feels like there’s a WeWork on every street nowadays. Take a walk through midtown Manhattan (please don’t actually) and it might even seem like there are more WeWorks than office buildings. Consider this an ongoing discussion about Urban Tech, its intersection with regulation, issues of public service, and other complexities that people have full […]
Apple Music is now playing on Amazon Echo speakers with Alexa
At the end of November Amazon announced that Apple Music would soon be supported by its Echo smart speakers with the Alexa virtual assistant built-in. Today the integration has finally gone live, around two weeks after the initial reveal. The rollout has started in the US through the Alexa app on Android and iOS. Over […]
New Facebook data leak allowed apps broader access to 6.8 million users’ photos
It looks like the year couldn’t end without yet another Facebook scandal. This time around the company has come clean about discovering a bug in its photo API that allowed apps to access unposted photos from 6.8 million accounts. The bug affected people who used Facebook Login and granted permission to third-party apps to access […]
Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite will have exclusive color versions
It’s already been rumored that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S10 Lite is basically the company’s reaction to Apple’s iPhone XR and should be that device’s main competitor. Now a new report claims that the theme will continue when it comes to colors. The XR is Apple’s most colorful iPhone of 2018, and the S10 Lite will […]
Samsung Galaxy S10 trio to offer reverse wireless charging too?
Just the other day a report came in disclosing the pricing of the Samsung Galaxy S10 trio in the UK and along with it, the source also shared a small tidbit about the possibility of Samsung implementing a reverse wireless charging feature. Just like the one on Huawei Mate 20 Pro and now an independent […]
Estimated Samsung Galaxy F bill of materials shows why it will cost $1,800
Korean agency CGS-CIMB Research has posted a report in which it estimates the Bill of Materials (BOM) for the foldable Galaxy F and compares it to a Galaxy S9+ and an iPhone XS Max. The priciest item is the display – or should we say “displays”. The Galaxy F will have one large 7.3″ panel […]
China’s BYD further drives into Chile with 100 electric buses
Over the past few years, Chinese automaker giant BYD has been on a partnership spree with cities across China to electrify their public transportation systems, and now it’s extending its footprint across the globe. On Thursday, BYD announced that it has shipped 100 electric buses to Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The step marks […]
GE’s digital future looking murkier with move to spin off Industrial IoT biz
When I visited the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York in April 2017, I thought I saw a company that was working hard to avoid disruption, but perhaps the leafy campus, the labs and experimental projects hid much larger problems inside the company. Yesterday GE announced that it is spinning out its Industrial IoT […]
Amazon Echo speakers now play friendly with Apple Music
Amazon recently said Apple Music would find its way onto Amazon Echo devices sometime soon — and sure enough, it appears to be rolling out now. To make Alexa work with Apple’s streaming service, you should just have to jump into the newly updated iOS/Android Alexa app and link up your account. You can find […]
This drone shrinks to fit
Researchers at the University of Zurich and EPFL have created a robot that shrinks to fit through gaps, a feature that could make it perfect for search and rescue missions. The researchers initially created a drone that could assess man-made gaps and squeeze through in seconds using only one camera. This extra feature — a […]
Facebook bug exposed up to 6.8M users’ unposted photos to apps
Reset the “days since the last Facebook privacy scandal” counter, as Facebook has just revealed a Photo API bug gave app developers too much access to the photos of up to 5.6 million users. The bug allowed apps users had approved to pull their timeline photos to also receive their Facebook Stories, Marketplace photos, and […]
Facebook Portal adds games and web browser amidst mediocre Amazon reviews
After receiving a flogging from privacy critics, Facebook is scrambling to make its smart display video chat screen Portal more attractive to buyers. Today Facebook is announcing the addition of a web browser, plus some of Messenger’s Instant Games like Battleship, Draw Something, Sudoku and Words With Friends. ABC News and CNN are adding content […]
Jack Dorsey and Twitter ignored opportunity to meet with civic group on Myanmar issues
Responding to criticism from his recent trip to Myanmar, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he’s keen to learn about the country’s racial tension and human rights atrocities, but it has emerged that both he and Twitter’s public policy team ignored an opportunity to connect with a key civic group in the country. A loose group […]
Propel raises $12.8M for its free app to manage government benefits
Propel, maker of the Fresh EBT app for managing food stamps and other benefits, announced today that it has raised $12.8 million in Series A funding. Fresh EBT (the EBT stands for the Electronics Transfer Benefit card, which is how food stamp participants receive their benefits) allows users to check their food stamp/SNAP balance and […]
Niantic reportedly raising $200M at $3.9B valuation
Pokémon GO creator Niantic is raising a $200 million Series C at a valuation of $3.9 billion, according to a report from Katie Roof at the WSJ. The round is expected to be led by IVP with participation from Samsung and aXiomatic Gaming. The upcoming raise would bring the company’s total funding to $425 million, according to […]
Robinhood said to not be properly insured to offer checking & savings
Robinhood’s new high-interest, zero-fee checking and savings feature seems to be too good to be true. Users’ money may not be fully protected. The CEO of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, a nonprofit membership corporation that insures stock brokerages, tells TechCrunch its insurance would not apply to checking and savings accounts the way Robinhood claims. “Robinhood […]
Last call for Polish pitch-offs
I’m heading back to Europe to hang out in Wroclaw and Warsaw so it’s last call for pitch-off applications. I’ll be at a Wroclaw event, called In-Ference, which is happening on December 17; you can submit to pitch here. The team will notify you if you have been chosen. The winner will receive a table at TC […]
International money transfer company TransferGo scores $17.6M Series B
TransferGo, the London-based international money transfer startup, has raised just over $17.6 million in Series B funding, including an earlier tranche of funding closed in May. The round is led by Vostok Emerging Finance and Silicon Valley’s Hard Yaka, with participation from Revo Capital, U-Start Club and Practica Capital. The figure also includes around $830,000 […]
MIUI 10 ported to the OnePlus 6 and 6T
MIUI is Xiaomi’s Android skin and a long time ago, the company used to develop its UI for non-Xiaomi devices. These days, Xiaomi doesn’t do that anymore, but it does allow its devices to be unlocked and flashed as the customer pleases. The company even offers full ROM files on its community site. MIUI 10, […]
OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition: is it better than the regular 6T? (VIDEO)
OnePlus announced the 6T McLaren Edition this week – in fact its most expensive smartphone ever. We’ve already unboxed it on video and gone hands-on, but now it’s time for a different take on this device. Our new video asks whether this is in fact better than a vanilla 6T, and will hopefully provide you […]
You can now set Google Assistant to have a British or Australian accent
Starting today, Google now lets you switch the voice to have either an Australian or British accent for Google Assistant across your devices. You could always do this in the past, but it involved changing your system language to another region like English UK or English AU. But now you can keep an accent while […]
Our first good look at the Huawei nova 4 in leaked official renders
Huawei’s first punch hole camera smartphone, the nova 4, is about to be released in just a few days and we already know everything there is to know. Including the better part of the design but it won’t hurt to have a few more, right? Also, the leaked renders are here to showcase the available […]
Samsung Galaxy M20 has dual cameras and it’s made of metal
After the front glass panel of the Galaxy M20 leaked the other day, today we see back panel as well. It was the last piece of the design puzzle and reveals that the handset will indeed come with a dual-camera setup. And fortunately for some, it’s will have a metal body, too. In addition to […]
Facebook Watch is finally growing as payouts get spread thin
Both Facebook Watch and Instagram’s IGTV have yet to become superstar video platforms, leaving Facebook at risk as more people seek streaming entertainment instead of status updates. So today Facebook is trying to build some buzz for Watch with new stats and rollouts. The free video hub that combines original content, sports and cult favorite […]
Distinguished VCs back wholesale marketplace Faire with $100M at a $535M valuation
A slew of venture capitalists known for high-profile exits — Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, Alfred Lin of Sequoia Capital and Alex Taussig of Lightspeed Venture Partners — have invested in Faire (formerly known as Indigo Fair), a 2-year-old wholesale marketplace for artisanal products. A quick glance at Faire suggests it’s […]
Online ads and games would benefit from more rewards, according to UCLA survey
A new study from Versus Systems and the MEMES (Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment & Sports) Center at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management examines how gaming and advertising are evolving, and how one influences the other. As Versus Systems CEO Matthew Pierce put it, the goal was to study, “What is the impact on […]
The annual PornHub year in review tells us what we’re really looking at online
PornHub, a popular site that features people in various stages of undress, saw 33.5 billion visits in 2018. There are currently 7.53 billion people on Earth. Y’all have been busy. The company, which owns most of the major porn sites online, produces a yearly report that aggregates user behavior on the site. Of particular interest, […]
They scaled YouTube — now they’ll shard everyone with PlanetScale
When the former CTOs of YouTube, Facebook and Dropbox seed fund a database startup, you know there’s something special going on under the hood. Jiten Vaidya and Sugu Sougoumarane saved YouTube from a scalability nightmare by inventing and open-sourcing Vitess, a brilliant relational data storage system. But in the decade since working there, the pair have […]
OffGridBox raises $1.6M to charge and hydrate rural Africa with its all-in-one installations
The simplest needs are often the most vital: power and clean water will get you a long way. But in rural areas of developing countries they can both be hard to come by. OffGridBox is attempting to provide both, sustainably and profitably, while meeting humanitarian and ecological goals at the same time. The company just […]
Apple is working on its own modem for use in future iPhones
Apple used to exclusively employ Qualcomm-made modems in its smartphones, then switched to a 50-50 split between Qualcomm and Intel, and this year started exclusively collaborating with Intel, pushing Qualcomm aside while at the same time being involved in a litigation war with the company. In the future, however, Apple wants to create its own […]
Our Oppo RX17 Pro video review is up
Oppo launched the R17 Pro in Europe last month calling it RX17 Pro for no obvious reason. Nevertheless, this is an intriguing smartphone that can easily be confused with the OnePlus 6T from the front, because they share the exact same design – not surprising given how these are sister companies under the umbrella of […]
Samsung to supply the 2019 iPhone XS Max with cheaper OLED panels
It’s a well-known secret that Samsung is the sole supplier for OLED panels for last year’s iPhone X and this year’s iPhone XS and XS Max. However, those panels take a good chunk of the overall production cost so Samsung is reportedly offering a more affordable option. But more affordable doesn’t mean worse. In fact, […]
Huawei working on a new 20W SuperCharge Protocol (SCP)
With the release of the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the company announced its ridiculously fast 40W SuperCharge protocol that can charge the 4,200 mAh cell in just 60 minutes from 0 to 100%. But due to the high production cost, the 40W charging protocol was limited to the Mate 20 Pro and the Honor […]
Honor View 20 will pack the flagship Kirin 980 chipset, AnTuTu shows
The Honor View 20 was teased earlier this week – or rather its 48MP rear camera and punch hole selfie camera were. We’re still in the dark about its other specs. Good thing AnTuTu offers pretty comprehensive reports about the hardware. It confirms the flagship Kirin 980 chipset. It will be paired with 8GB of […]
Oracle is suing the US government over $10B Pentagon JEDI cloud contract process
Oracle filed suit in federal court last week alleging yet again that the decade-long $10 billion Pentagon JEDI contract with its single-vendor award is unfair and illegal. The complaint, which has been sealed at Oracle’s request, is available in the public record with redactions. If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same argument the […]
Tigera raises $30M Series B for its Kubernetes security and compliance platform
Tigera, a startup that offers security and compliance solutions for Kubernetes container deployments, today announced that it has raised a $30 million Series B round led by Insight Venture Partners. Existing investors Madrona, NEA and Wing also participated in this round. Like everybody in the Kubernetes ecosystem, Tigera is exhibiting at KubeCon this week, so […]
AI-powered knowledge-sharing platform Guru raises $25 million Series B
Guru, the enterprise-focused information-sharing platform, has today announced the close of a $25 million Series B funding led by Thrive Capital, with participation from existing investors Emergence Capital, FirstMark Capital, Slack Fund and Michael Dell’s MSD Capital. Guru came on to the scene in 2013 with the premise that organizations are not so great at […]
AtScale lands $50 million investment led by Morgan Stanley
AtScale, the startup that helps companies move massive amounts of data into business intelligence and analytics tools, announced a $50 million Series D round today. Morgan Stanley led the round, with previous investors Storm Ventures and Atlantic Bridge joining in. New investor Wells Fargo also participated. The funding comes almost exactly a year after the […]
Software marketplace G2 Crowd acquires Siftery to fold software usage into its dataset
After raising $55 million in October at a $500 million valuation, business software marketplace G2 Crowd is making its first-ever acquisition to bring more features to its platform. It is acquiring Siftery, a startup that has built its own database of business software not on user reviews, but by providing a service to businesses where it […]
Review: Nomad leather AirPod Rugged Case
In my never-ending quest to wrap everything in brown leather, I’m pleased with this AirPod case from Nomad. It’s simple: just a plastic case covered with brown (or black) leather. But I like it. This will be short. The Nomad AirPod Rugged Case adds a little character to the sterile AirPod housing. Instead of medical-grade […]
Let’s talk hardware in Vegas
Hello, Las Vegas! We are all heading to LV for CES next month and instead of spending all our cash on a booth we’ll be wandering the halls and want to meet you as far away from the Convention Center as possible without ending up in the Grand Canyon. And we need your help. While […]
Review: Amazon Echo Input is the easiest way to stream media to speakers
This is the Echo I’ve been waiting for. Throughout my house, I have Amazon Echo Dots connected to stereo systems. In my office, I have a Dot connected to an Onkyo receiver and amp. In my basement, I have one hooked up to a small bookshelf system. Outside on the deck, a Dot serves audio […]
Facebook redesigns Life Events feature with animated photos, videos and more
Facebook today announced a redesign of its “Life Events” feature, which allows people to share significant milestones in their life, like an engagement, graduation, a new job, a move to a new city and more. The feature has existed since the launch of Timeline, but has to date offered a fairly nondescript type of post. […]
TNB Aura closes $22.7M fund to bring PE-style investing to Southeast Asia’s startups
TNB Aura, a recent arrival to Southeast Asia’s VC scene, announced today that it has closed a maiden fund at SG$31.1million, or around US$22.65 million, to bring a more private equity-like approach to investing in startups in the region. The fund was launched in 2016 and it is a joint effort between Australia-based venture fund Aura […]
Revolut gets European banking license in Lithuania
Fintech startup Revolut is now officially a bank. While the startup initially expected to get its European banking license during the first half of 2018, the company has finally come out of the regulatory tunnel with a license in hand. As expected, Revolut applied for a license through the Bank of Lithuania and is leveraging […]
Bowery, an indoor farming startup, raises $90 million more, including to counter a SoftBank-funded rival
When in July of last year, SoftBank’s Vision Fund led a whopping $200 million round in the Silicon Valley startup Plenty, investors behind a competing indoor farming startup across the country, New York-based Bowery, were left reeling. Just one month earlier, they’d closed on a round that brought Bowery’s total funding to $31 million. As […]
Farfetch bets on sneakers with $250M Stadium Goods acquisition
The lines between streetwear and luxury fashion have blurred in recent years, especially as excitement around sneaker brands like Yeezy and Off-White has soared. A marriage between a luxury fashion marketplace and a sneaker and streetwear reseller seems like a natural way to wrap up M&A in 2018. With that said, Farfetch has acquired New […]
YayPay raises $8.4 million for its accounts receivable service
Fintech startup YayPay just raised another $8.4 million for its software-as-a-service solution focused on collecting money from outstanding invoices. The company participated in TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield several years ago. Information Venture Partners led today’s funding round with existing investors Birchmere, QED, Fifth Third Capital, Gaingels and 500 Fintech Fund also participating. YayPay targets large companies […]
Accenture will acquire digital ad company Adaptly
Accenture announced today that it’s reached an agreement to acquire Adaptly. The digital advertising company launched in 2010 with self-serve tools for running ads across different social networks. In a blog post about the acquisition, co-founder and CEO Nikhil Sethi wrote that the company’s mission hasn’t changed, but it has expanded to support Google and […]
T-Mobile OnePlus 6T update brings new Google Assistant shortcut, plenty of fixes and improvements
T-Mobile’s version of the OnePlus 6T has consistently been receiving software updates at a different (read:later) pace than the unlocked model. Today a new one has started making its way to those units sold by the magenta carrier. It’s a 110MB download that enables activating the Google Assistant by holding the power button for 0.5s. […]
OnePlus sold 249% more 6T units in the US than 6, doesn’t rule out smaller phone for the future
Its partnership with T-Mobile has unsurprisingly helped OnePlus to move many more units of the 6T in the US than it did of its predecessor, the OnePlus 6. 249% more, to be exact. The figure comes straight from OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, speaking in an interview with PCMag. He hasn’t shared actual sales numbers, but […]
Moto Camera app update brings AR stickers, selfie portrait and spot color
Motorola just updated its default Moto Camera app by adding some of the latest features introduced in the recent Moto devices. Of course, there are a couple of bug fixes in there as well. The changelog in Google Play Store says that Moto Z3 and Z3 Play get AR stickers support while the front camera […]
ZTE nubia Red Magic Mars soon coming to the UK and Europe
The beastly nubia Red Magic Mars was released just last month in China and by the looks of it, it will be stepping outside of the country really soon. A landing page has already been set up and you can sign in your email address so you can receive a notification once it arrives. According […]
vivo NEX Dual Display Edition hands-on review
The vivo NEX Dual Display Edition teasing is over as the anticipated smartphone was finally unveiled at a special event in Shanghai. And for this flagship, the maker has ditched the motorized popups and instead has solved the notch issue in a different way – with a full-fledged AMOLED screen at the back. Powered by […]
Dell’s long game is in hybrid and private clouds
When Dell voted to buy back the VMware tracking stock and go public again this morning, you had to be wondering what exactly the strategy was behind these moves. While it’s clearly about gaining financial flexibility, the $67 billion EMC deal has always been about setting up the company for a hybrid and private cloud […]
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation adds etcd to its open-source stable
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the open-source home of projects like Kubernetes and Vitess, today announced that its technical committee has voted to bring a new project on board. That project is etcd, the distributed key-value store that was first developed by CoreOS (now owned by Red Hat, which in turn will soon be […]
Dell votes to buy back VMware tracking stock and go public again
Dell announced it has agreed to buy back the VMware tracking stock from the EMC acquisition. The company confirmed the buy-back price of $120 per share for a total of $23.9 billion. With today’s move, Dell will return to being publicly traded starting on December 28th. Sixty-one percent of shareholders voted in favor of the deal. It’s […]
TechSee nabs $16M for its customer support solution built on computer vision and AR
Chatbots and other AI-based tools have firmly found footing in the world of customer service, used either to augment or completely replace the role of a human responding to questions and complaints, or (sometimes, annoyingly, at the same time as the previous two functions) sell more products to users. Today, an Israeli startup called TechSee […]
InVision, valued at $1.9 billion, picks up $115 million Series F
“The screen is becoming the most important place in the world,” says InVision CEO and founder Clark Valberg . In fact, it’s hard to get through a conversation with him without hearing it. And, considering that his company has grown to $100 million in annual recurring revenue, he has reason to believe his own affirmation. […]
Bumblebees bearing high-tech backpacks act as a living data collection platform
There’s lots of research going into tiny drones, but one of the many hard parts is keeping them in the air for any real amount of time. Why not hitch a ride on something that already flies all day? That’s the idea behind this project that equips bumblebees with sensor-filled backpacks that charge wirelessly and […]
Google CEO admits company must better address the spread of conspiracy theories on YouTube
Google CEO Sundar Pichai admitted today that YouTube needs to do better in dealing with conspiracy content on its site that can lead to real-world violence. During his testimony on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, the exec was questioned on how YouTube handles extremist content that promotes conspiracy theories like Pizzagate and, more recently, a […]
Facebook relaunches search ads to offset slowing revenue
It’s an ad duopoly battle. Facebook is starting to test search ads in its search results and Marketplace, directly competing with Google’s AdWords. Facebook first tried Sponsored Results back in 2012 but eventually shut down the product in 2013. Now it’s going to let a small set of automotive, retail and e-commerce industry advertisers show […]
Coffee Meets Bagel goes anti-Tinder with a redesign focused on profiles, conversations
How do other dating apps compete with Tinder? By further distancing themselves from Tinder’s “hot-or-not” user interface design to focus on differentiating features — like conversation starters, commenting and richer profiles. Today, another anti-Tinder app is doing the same. On the heels of its $12 million Series B announced earlier this year, the oddly named […]
Watch Google CEO Sundar Pichai testify in Congress — on bias, China and more
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has managed to avoid the public political grillings that have come for tech leaders at Facebook and Twitter this year. But not today. Today he will be in front of the House Judiciary committee for a hearing entitled: Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices. […]
Report: Morgan Stanley lands coveted Uber IPO role
Uber has reportedly picked Morgan Stanley to lead its upcoming initial public offering, news of which became public last week when the ride-hailing giant filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO expected in the first quarter of 2019. Uber’s choice, first reported by Bloomberg, comes after a months-long bidding war, of sorts, […]
Wix launches a new suite of products for support, sales and marketing
Wix is taking a big step beyond website building today with the launch of a suite of products called Ascend. PR Manager Matt Rosenberg explained that just as Wix was founded with the aim of “demystifying and democratizing how you get online,” Ascend has a similar mission: “You don’t have to be a developer and […]
With $15M, The Riveter plans to open 100 new female-focused co-working spaces
In a disappointing year for female-founded startups — at least those looking to raise venture capital — The Riveter not only closed its first institutional funding round, but it’s today announcing a $15 million Series A funding, bringing its total backing to $20.5 million. The Seattle-based co-working startup, led by co-founder and chief executive Amy Nelson […]
Lift Aircraft’s Hexa may be your first multirotor drone ride
We were promised jetpacks, but let’s be honest, they’re just plain unsafe. So a nice drone ride is probably all we should reasonably expect. Lift Aircraft is the latest to make a play for the passenger multirotor market, theoretical as it is, and its craft is a sleek little thing with some interesting design choices […]
Online liquor store Drizly just landed $34.5 million in fresh funding
Apparently, a lot of people realize at the last minute that they don’t have either beer, wine or liquor in their home when they need it. It’s certainly the most obvious explanation for a sizable new round of funding into Drizly, a six-year-old, Boston-based on-demand delivery app for alcohol that works with roughly 1,000 brick-and-mortar […]
WaveOptics nabs $26M as it sets its sights on lower-cost AR hardware
At the heart of the lightweight augmented reality glasses that you’ve been promised is a display engine that a handful of tech companies are racing to improve. WaveOptics is one such startup looking to expand the capabilities and shrink the form factor of waveguide displays. The U.K.-based company has just raised $26 million in what […]
Samsung Galaxy S9 gets a new Android Pie beta update in the US
Samsung is sending out another beta update of Android 9 Pie to the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US today. It’s a bit smaller than the one that went out at the end of November, but it does contain a very long list of bug fixes and general improvements. It’s also packing the December […]
Xiaomi’s 48 MP phone might be a Redmi with a hole in the display for the selfie cam
Xiaomi President Lin Bin shared an intriguing teaser image a few days ago, revealing that his company is working on a smartphone with a 48 MP main camera, which is to become official next month. Rumor had it this would be the Mi 9, but apparently that’s not the case. A new report today claims […]
Apple Pay reportedly coming to Germany really soon
According to sources in the banking industry related to the German blog Macerkopf, Apple is finally going introduce its Apple Pay system as early as this week. In fact, many believe this will happen tomorrow. Tim Cook confirmed that Germany will get Apple Pay before the end of 2018 back in July and it appears […]
Nokia 8.1 launched in India, goes on sale December 21
HMD Global has launched the Nokia 8.1 in India. The phone is priced at INR 26,999 ($372) and will be available in only one variant, starting December 21, with pre-orders starting December 10. The phone can be purchased across all major offline retailers as well as online through Amazon and Nokia.com. The Nokia 8.1 is […]
First camera samples by the 48MP camera of the Honor View 20
Earlier today, Honor announced a bunch of new tech that’s supposed to make it to its future smartphones and the 48MP camera sensor is one of them. It takes advantage of the Quad Bayer tech. The camera uses Sony’s IMX586 CMOS sensor with 0.8µm pixel size. It’s will surely be part of the upcoming Honor […]
Kong launches its fully managed API platform
API platform Kong, which you may remember under its previous name of Mashape, is launching its new Kong Cloud service today. Kong Cloud is the company’s fully managed platform for securing, connecting and orchestrating APIs. Enterprises can deploy it to virtually any major cloud platform, including AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, and Kong will handle […]
Krisp reduces noise on calls using machine learning, and it’s coming to Windows soon
If your luck is anything like mine, as soon as you jump on an important call, someone decides it’s a great time to blow some leaves off the sidewalk outside your window. 2Hz’s Krisp is a new desktop app that uses machine learning to subtract background noise like that, or crowds, or even crying kids […]
Voyager 2 joins its twin in interstellar space
Voyager 2, the multi-planetary exploratory probe launched in 1977, has finally entered interstellar space, some six years after its twin, Voyager 1, did the same. It’s now about 11 billion miles from Earth, the second-farthest-out human-made object in space. Interstellar space starts where the sun’s “heliosphere” ends — the big ball of radiation and plasma […]
Pew: Social media for the first time tops newspapers as a news source for US adults
It’s not true that everyone gets their news from Facebook and Twitter. But it is now true that more U.S. adults get their news from social media than from print newspapers. According to a new report from Pew Research Center out today, social media has for the first time surpassed newspapers as a preferred source […]
Instagram launches walkie-talkie voice messaging
You’d think Facebook would be faster at copying itself. Five years after Facebook Messenger took a cue from WhatsApp and Voxer to launch voice messaging, and four months after TechCrunch reported Instagram was testing its own walkie-talkie feature, voice messaging is rolling out globally on Instagram Direct today. Users can hold down the microphone button […]
Trello acquires Butler to add power of automation
Trello, the organizational tool owned by Atlassian, announced an acquisition of its very own this morning when it bought Butler for an undisclosed amount. What Butler brings to Trello is the power of automation, stringing together a bunch of commands to make something complex happen automatically. As Trello’s Michael Pryor pointed out in a blog […]
Google has acquired one of India’s most popular train-tracking apps
Google is increasing its efforts in India after it snapped up the team behind popular transportation app “Where is my Train.” The app claims 10 million registered users and, as the name suggests, it helps commuters track arrivals and departures as well as buying seats. That’s no small job, given that India is estimated to operate […]
Waggel launches ‘fully digital’ pet insurance
Waggel, a new “insurtech” startup in the U.K., is officially launching today to offer what it describes as “fully digital” pet insurance. Founded by Andrew Leal and Ross Fretten (a contestant of The Apprentice 2017), the company wants to offer more transparent coverage for your pet, where you’ll know exactly how much you’re paying and […]
Tencent Music sued by investor ahead of $1.2 billion US IPO
China’s largest music streaming service has had a whirlwind year. With 800 million monthly users across multiple apps and a profitable business, Tencent Music Entertainment is gearing up for one of this year’s most anticipated initial public offerings in the U.S. But the firm has landed in hot water in the months leading up to […]
HypeHop is a product to fix sponsored videos
I’ve been thinking hard about the concept of sponsored content — you can find some of it on TechCrunch if you look hard enough, and it appears almost everywhere else. It’s an important consideration, because as an online journalist I’ve heard everything from “How much did Apple pay you to post this?” to “How much […]
SoftBank invests in parking startup ParkJockey pushing valuation to $1 billion
SoftBank continues to invest in the future of transportation — this time in ParkJockey, a startup that has built a technology platform aimed at monetizing parking lots. And ParkJockey, which was founded in 2013, is already using that capital to scale up. Along with the SoftBank investment news, ParkJockey also announced that it was acquiring two […]
CTRL-labs’ first dev kit is a gesture-tracking neural controller
The race to replace the mouse and keyboard has yielded a lot of weird tech, but as various hardware startups try to find the missing link between what we have now and some sort of embedded brain chip, we’re seeing some fascinating solutions surface. New York-based CTRL-labs just announced its first developer kit that’s aiming to […]
AR startup Blippar in danger of becoming a blip as shareholders fight over future funding
Blippar, the U.K.-based AR startup that raised more than $130 million, may be nearing the end of the road. The company has been burning through cash in a bid to pivot in search of a profitable AR business model, and now shareholders are in dispute over whether to throw Blippar any more money to aid […]
Solo.io raises $11M to help enterprises adopt cloud-native technologies
Solo.io, a Cambridge, Mass-based startup that helps enterprises adopt cloud-native technologies, is coming out of stealth mode today and announcing both its Series A funding round and the launch of its Gloo Enterprise API gateway. Redpoint Ventures led the $11 million Series A round, with participation from seed investor True Ventures . Like most companies […]
Week 49 in review: Samsung Galaxy S10,A8s, nova 4, Snapdragon 855 and more
As we sweep week 49 of the year under the rug and look around to find there are only three left in the year, our news section sees an even bigger shift toward early 2019 devices. The Galaxy S10 dominated the headlines thanks to a few leaked renders and an alleged screen protectors that showed […]
Weekly poll: Nominees for Best Phones of 2018
There are only a few weeks left in 2018 and even though we’re still expecting new phones to launch they will be too late to make a significant impact this year. So, we’re no longer accepting applications for Best Phones of 2018. It’s now time to vote. There were so many new devices that we […]
Top 10 trending phones of week 49
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro was the most popular phone in our database in week 49 of 2018, followed by the Galaxy A7 (2018) – the pair retaining the top 2 spots for three straight weeks now. In third we have the Galaxy A9 (2018), which climbed three positions since last week and knocked […]
Android 9.0 Pie rolling out to the Xiaomi Mi A1
Smartphones that are part of the Android One program come with a promise for timely OS updates. Well, it’s hardly been timely, but Android 9.0 Pie has now rolled out to the Xiaomi Mi A1. The firmware weighs in at 1074MB and aside from bringing the major OS release, comes with support for FM radio […]
Weekly poll results: second screens are loved, as long as they don’t cost too much
Dual screens are a potential solution to the selfie camera craziness – no notches, holes, sliders, pop-ups and so on, just use the rear camera and the second display as a viewfinder. In last week’s poll dual screens proved more popular than foldable phones. Even a small second screen is fine, though there’s a clear […]
Payment service Toss becomes Korea’s newest unicorn after raising $80M
South Korea has got its third unicorn startup after Viva Republica, the company beyond popular payment app Toss, announced it has raised an $80 million round at a valuation of $1.2 billion. This new round is led by U.S. firms Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital, both of which cut their first checks for Korea with this […]