Tynker, a startup that creates apps and curricula that teach kids the basics of coding using games and real-world gadgets, is looking to grow — and has raised $7.1 million in a Series A funding round to do so. Read More | Continue reading
As Google moves ahead to develop its Area 120 in-house incubator program, Microsoft is also looking to get more of its startup ducks in a row. On Monday, the company quietly, officially unveiled Microsoft Ventures — a new arm that will focus on “Series A and beyond” investments i … | Continue reading
Turkey has been making moves to bring tech business in the country under more localised control, and today big U.S. online payments company PayPal became the latest casualty. The company announced that it is suspending business operations in Turkey effective June 6, after failing … | Continue reading
A tiny programmable board designed as part of a UK educational initiative for kids to learn programming skills and originally distributed by the public service broadcaster, the BBC, to one million schoolchildren is now up for public pre-order. Read More | Continue reading
Tor users are currently being served DuckDuckGo search results by default. Read More | Continue reading
TechCrunch is pleased to bring you Pitch@Palace’s Demo Day this Wednesday, June 1st from Latitude59 in Tallinn, Estonia.Established by The Duke of York, Pitch@Palace offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business in front of an audience of influencers who can play … | Continue reading
Many of Katy Perry’s 89 million Twitter followers—the most on the platform—were probably intrigued and confused when the pop star tweeted supposed archnemesis Taylor Swift this morning. As it turns out, that tweet—along with several others that were filled with profanity and slur … | Continue reading
Lalamove, one of a number of companies offering logistics on-demand in China and across Asia, has closed $10 million in funding as it targets profitability this year. Read More | Continue reading
Companies have long come to the Bay Area to plant their seeds, and for good reason. The stretch of land from San Jose to San Francisco encompasses some of the most revolutionary technology in the world, and the best of the best call it home. But that’s beginning to change. Read M … | Continue reading
VetTech is a nonprofit founded last year with the goal of helping military veterans network with the technology industry. Over the 12 months they have worked towards this goal by hosting multiple “treks” that brought over 150 veterans and spouses to meet with veterans who work at … | Continue reading
Imagine that you are lead strategist for the Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump campaign (take your pick). Your job is to maximize voter turnout in November. You hypothesize that more people would vote if doing so were fun. If your campaign could turn rallies and voting into a game, … | Continue reading
We’re just a few short months away from Disrupt SF 2016, and soon thousands of entrepreneurs, innovators and investors will flock to the beautiful Pier 48 for the best startup show in the Bay Area. Will you and your budding international startup be joining them? Read More | Continue reading
Companies behind popular messaging apps have a year to move all the data they have on Iranian users onto servers in Iran, according to Reuters. This raises concerns about privacy. The Iranian government wants to be able to track private and semi-private conversations on messaging … | Continue reading
It’s time for a little friendly competition among startups. TechCrunch is coming to Austin and Seattle in two weeks, and we’re bringing the TC pitch-off with us. Ten companies will have exactly 60 seconds each to pitch their wares to a panel of expert judges, including TC editors … | Continue reading
Bitcoin is back! Or at least, there are positive signs indicating that bitcoin might not be as dead as everybody thought. Bitcoins are now trading at $547.40 on Bitfinex (the largest USD/bitcoin exchange according to | Continue reading
TechCrunch is pleased to bring you Microsoft Accelerator’s Machine Learning Demo Day this Thursday, June 2 from the Showbox SoDo in Seattle. The Microsoft Accelerator is an immersive 3 to 6-month program aimed at helping entrepreneurs get through the challenges of building a comp … | Continue reading
Google was caught by surprise. Last week, nearly a hundred employees of France’s equivalent of the IRS (Direction générale des finances) raided Google’s office in Paris for a tax noncompliance investigation. And French financial prosecutor Éliane Houlette
Branded content was already becoming more attractive to many marketers and publishers trying to navigate the shoals of the online media ecosystem. Now, thanks to Facebook, it’s set to really take off. I think this sector will grow quickly, and in some interesting new directions. … | Continue reading
French startup Nestor just raised $1 million (€900,000) from business angels through Anaxago, and TheFamily. The startup competes in the incredibly fierce market of food delivery startups in Paris. Compared to its competitors, Nestor has a full stack approach and focuses on weekd … | Continue reading
When Google bought bebop Technologies last fall for $348 million, it got more than a stealthy startup. It also landed Diane Greene as executive vice president of Google Cloud Enterprise and that perhaps was the bigger prize.Greene brought with her years of industry experience hav … | Continue reading
Today, the big data sector amounts to more than 7.5% of total venture investments. So where are we at in the world of big data and is the recent obsession with AI still fundamentally related to big data? Read More | Continue reading
In partnership with TechCrunch, The Europas Conference & Awards, which I founded, has come up with a new kind of tech conference. Think of it as a relaxed, summer prelude to the heat of a Disrupt, followed by an all-out celebration of startups. Admittedly, its how we like to do t … | Continue reading
In the popular media, we talk a lot about robots stealing jobs. But when we stop speculating and actually look at the real world of work, the impact of advanced robotics is far more nuanced and complicated. Issues of jobs and income inequality fade away, for example — there aren’ … | Continue reading
“Enjoy your com-FORT-able stay,” says a robot front-desk clerk at Japan’s Robot Hotel. Do you thank the robot for its awkward salutation? Or maybe you hesitate for a moment before shuffling off in silence. If our digital screens are separating us from human interaction, you bette … | Continue reading
The fundamentally transparent nature of blockchain technology – with its unalterable public ledger – will force politicians to be more honest about themselves and their intentions. Blockchain, they promise, will eventually disinfect the American political system – exposing dishon … | Continue reading
It may slip our notice, but technological innovation is often reducible to an innovation in the marketing and conceptualization of technology. While there are undoubtedly many technological breakthroughs that can’t be reduced to linguistic and conceptual changes, it’s surprising … | Continue reading
This week on the Technotopia podcast I interviewed Jeffrey Martin, the creator of 360Cities and the maker of the Sphericam. Martin is a skilled 360-degree camera operator and has created amazing panoramas of cities around the world.“I’ve been working with VR since the days of CRT … | Continue reading
Livestreams start boring because broadcasters don’t want to begin the real action until more people have tuned in. That can take a few minutes, even with streams being rapidly distributed via push notifications, tweets, and the News Feed. But by that time, the initial audience ma … | Continue reading
Chatbots have been in the news a lot this year. First there was Tay, Microsoft’s racist love child, who just couldn’t keep herself under control. Then came Facebook with its messenger bots, which, by most accounts, didn’t start well. And now there’s news coming from Viv, which at … | Continue reading
It’s been almost 10 years since Apple unveiled the iPhone. Since that day, the smartphone has been the overwhelming driver of innovation in the technology industry. Many components have made stunning advances to keep up with consumer demand to have sleeker, more powerful devices … | Continue reading
Welcome to the land technology forgot. High-end leases negotiated and signed via fax. Millions of dollars in apartment inventory tracked on whiteboards with dry-erase markers. Client histories recorded in longhand in legal notebooks and stashed in manila folders. Multi-family rea … | Continue reading
Silicon Valley has traditionally been the startup Garden of Eden, but it’s no longer the only game in town. Utah — specifically Salt Lake City and its ecosystem — has become a formidable breeding ground for startups, even developing its own unicorn herd. Read More | Continue reading
The Gillmor Gang — Dan Farber, Frank Radice, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recorded live Friday, May 27, 2016. Too muchTrump, TV, Twitter, and Gang thinks apps have jumped the shark. Gillmor says no way.Plus, G3 with Mary Hodder, Elisa Camahort Page, Francine Harda … | Continue reading
I’m writing this from a slightly saddened perspective, revisiting my favorite SNES RPGs and realizing something: I’ve been spoiled by modern UX design. The sentiment is pretty universal. Read More | Continue reading
Director Joe Dante made some of the most best-loved movies of the ’80s, including Gremlins and Explorers, so I was eager to ask him about how movies have evolved. This weekend, Dante will receive the very first Sierra Spirit Award at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival. Shira Dubrovn … | Continue reading
It’s heeeere! The Internet of Things, I mean. I just spent several days at the Connected Conference in Paris, which focused on IoT hardware. They built a whole home full of connected devices, showcased the War for the WAN, and underscored that the IoT is — as always — not quite w … | Continue reading
Amazon Alexa can now be used in a web browser to test it out. Facebook starts selling offsite ads. Apple pay wants to expand into more countries in both Asia and Europe. Nick Denton from Gawker challenges Peter Thiel to a public debate and Twilio is looking to IPO soon. All this … | Continue reading
Who could imagine being wowed by a garbage can? Not much floors us anymore in our age of technological whiz-bang, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the lowly garbage can. Embedded with smart sensors, it alerts city workers when it’s ready to be emptied, which slashes fuel costs … | Continue reading
It’s been a long journey for the VAIO brand: sold off from Sony in 2014 to investment firm Japan Industrial Partners, the deal saw all of its then-new products disappear. Read More | Continue reading
Musical.ly is expanding beyond music videos with the launch of livel.ly, its live stream platform. Users will be able to broadcast through the livel.ly app, and the streams will be viewable on musical.ly. Launched last year, musical.ly is growing fast with about 80 million young … | Continue reading
This week, Google successfully defended itself against the the $9 billion fair use court case against Oracle, Snapchat’s financials were leaked, Twilio revealed its IPO filing and more. These are the top stories of the week to catch you up on all things tech. 1. Closing out a $9 … | Continue reading
Comixology recently launched Comixology Unlimited, a subscription plan that offers unlimited access to thousands of digital comics for just $5.99 per month.Given the “all you can read” model, it’s natural to compare the new service to Netflix, but CEO David Steinberger told me th … | Continue reading
The UE Roll 2 is fun. How do I know it’s fun? Look at all of the press images on the side of the box. It’s gone skiing, bike riding, mountain climbing and rolling around in the mud with a bunch of attractive product models. Even more telling, the product ships with its very own m … | Continue reading
San Francisco’s fashion stable seems to be ripped jeans and a hoodie. But just between the dark and edgy All Saints and Paris designer St. Laurent on San Francisco’s Maiden Lane is a rare, high-end fashion pop-up called Maison de Mode. The shop boasts ethical fashion for the luxu … | Continue reading
The Omen X by HP VR PC is nothing if not compelling. The company showed off a picture of the concept earlier today and let slip a smattering of details around the backpack PC but not much else. No press release, no product page. It was a fairly usual announcement for HP.The hardw … | Continue reading
It’s been a good week for SpaceX. Earlier this week we learned that the company won a lucrative contract with the National Reconnaissance Office, the shadowy government organization that runs America’s reconnaissance satellites. Today, with the launch of Orbital ATK-built communi … | Continue reading
European Union officials announced today that, starting in 2020, any research that owes its existence in some way to public funding must be freely accessible and reusable. Recommendations were also made to encourage investment and ease the passage of startup founders between vari … | Continue reading
Well, this story keeps getting more and more interesting. According to a newly published account in the New York Post, Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay, is involved in an effort to help Gawker Media in its appeal of a $140 million judgement that was awarded to Hulk … | Continue reading