Netflix now lets you control how much data it uses when streaming from your smartphone

Netflix announced this morning a new way for consumers to control how much data its app uses when they’re accessing the service by way of a mobile device. In the updated version of the iOS or Android application, there will be a new setting called “Cellular Data Usage,” where you … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Drawbridge raises $25M as it takes its cross-device tech beyond advertising

Drawbridge, a startup that helps businesses identify when a single person is using multiple devices, has raised $25 million in Series C funding. Every time I write about Drawbridge, I’m contractually obligated to mention that the company is backed by two of the best-known venture … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Spotify-backed Soundtrack Your Brand launches in U.S., inks global deal with McDonald’s

As Spotify continues to grow its consumer subscription business and expand the services it provides to artists, one of its side bets is making inroads in another route to music streaming riches. Spotify-backed and co-founded Soundtrack Your Brand, which streams music in business … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

A few words on chatbots

Lo and behold! A new wave of technology is preparing to crash down upon the unsuspecting consumer. Chatbots are surging towards our conversations at breakneck speed! Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Basho open-sources its Riak TS database for the Internet Of Things

It seems as though every device manufacturer in the world wants to connect its products to the internet, from mattresses and washing machines to toasters and juicers. There’s so much data out there that is just sitting around waiting to be analyzed. The amount of this kind of dat … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Time to debut its own streaming service focused on celeb & pop culture

There’s been an explosion of niche, over-the-top video streaming services in recent months, as consumers cut the cord with traditional pay TV in favor of videos they can watch at any time on any device. Today, yet another over-the-top service is making its debut – this one from T … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Gifs.com launches a new tool to augment your animated gifs

The team who brought you gifyoutube.com is back. Having been part of gifs.com for a while, their new tool still lets you convert many video formats into gifs but adds a host of functions to your gif-making needs like: blur, stickers, hue changes and more. We covered the first ver … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Craig Wright backs out and won’t prove that he is bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto, 2016 edition, might not be Craig Wright after all. Just a couple of days after claiming that he was the creator of bitcoin, the Australian entrepreneur updated his website with a note that says that he won’t share the proof that he’s Satoshi Nakamoto. Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Humanyze raises $4M to help businesses better understand employee productivity

Humanyze, a company that helps businesses better understand how their employees spend their days at work, today announced that it has raised a $4 million Series A round led by Romulus Capital. The company, which was spun out of the MIT Media Lab in 2010, provides businesses with … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Apple’s App Store search is completely broken right now

Apple’s App Store search is experiencing significant issues this morning, which, if allowed to continue for a longer period of time, could end up impacting app developers’ sales. The problem is that keyword searches on the App Store are simply not returning the appropriate list o … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

The most common marketing mistake startups make

I’ve seen the same basic marketing mistake play out at some of the best software companies in the world: If your marketing team needs help from engineering to update their website (publish new posts, edit copy, upload images, etc.), then they have been set up to fail. Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Engagio launches PlayMaker to turn B2B marketing insights into action items

Engagio, the B2B marketing platform built by Marketo founder Jon Miller, is about a year old and performing well. The company has 36 clients and is operating at $675,000 in recurring annual revenue. But now is no time for the company to rest on its laurels. Today, Engagio is intr … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Harper Collins inexplicably turns to Bookshout to offer ebook downloads

If there’s one thing readers love it’s extra reading apps on their iOS and Android devices. A few years ago there were about a dozen – apps for long-form writing, apps for books, apps that let publishers monetize (not really) by offering their own downloads. Now there’s Kindle. A … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Deep Space Industries partners with Luxembourg to test asteroid mining technologies

Deep Space Industries, the asteroid mining company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Luxembourg Government to co-fund the development and launch of DSI’s first spacecraft. Known as Prospector-X, the small spacecraft will test key technologies in Low Earth Orbit t … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Thingthing takes $400k to turn a productivity keyboard app into a services platform

Thingthing has built an iOS app focused on amping up user productivity by decreasing the amount of app switching users have to do by loading productivity-focused additional functionality right into the keyboard… Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Pivotal scores $253 million Series C led by Ford on hefty $2.8 billion valuation

Pivotal has a couple of new friends with big wallets. Today it announced that Ford and Microsoft were joining EMC, VMware and GE as investment partners on a massive $253 million Series C investment with a whopping $2.8 billion valuation. It’s not a coincidence that Pivotal has be … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Remittance startup Azimo raises $15M from Viber owner, e-commerce giant Rakuten

Azimo was once in talks to be acquired by WhatsApp and Messenger owner Facebook. And while may not have gone anywhere, today it is announcing funding from another big tech company in possession of a major messaging app. Viber owner Rakuten is putting $15 million into the London-b … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Microgravity contest takes students and experiments on the vomit comet

FOX’s “Xploration Outer Space” show is teaming up with Arlington, Va.-based ZERO-G Corporation, which operates weightless flights from U.S. airports. The reason they’re collaborating: to create the ultimate consolation prize for college students who were just too young to apply t … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Periscope makes replays permanent if you put #Save in the title

Periscope added its biggest missing feature today in a move that could make it more palatable to brands and social stars, and help it compete with Facebook Live. You can now permanently save replays of your broadcasts by including #Save in their title. Previously, broadcasts disa … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

No one organizes any crime on Slack, apparently

Following the lead of other major tech companies, Slack released its second annual transparency report today, revealing that it has received a grand total of one government request for user data. Just one. The number is somewhat remarkable when compared with the rest of the indus … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

How consolidations will play out in the transportation, food and entertainment industries

There has been no shortage of thoughtful articles exploring a bubble in technology. I would argue that the world has already been transformed, and there is no bubble in the purest sense. Instead of massive flameouts that leave everyone burned, I think we are going to see a wave o … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Free Code Camp survey reveals demographics of self-taught coders

If you’ve ever wondered who exactly is signing up for all these free learn-at-home coding classes and tutorial websites, Free Code Camp (which is one of them) has kindly surveyed 15,624 users with regard to various basic demographics and some more code-centric items. Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Oculus snags Fitbit exec Hans Hartmann as new COO

Oculus is bringing a new COO aboard as it perhaps looks to double down on tightening things up logistics-wise. Fitbit COO Hans Hartmann will be jumping ship and joining the virtual reality company owned by Facebook according to a tweet from Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. Hartmann, who … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Fitbit shares tank after reporting a weak outlook amid rising competition

Fitbit is not having a good day, with the stock crashing more than 11% after reporting its first-quarter results. Here’s the rub: its guidance for the second quarter came in light. Very light. Industry watchers were expecting the company to report earnings around 26 cents per sha … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Why Zuck is funding the evolution beyond cookie-cutter education

The best teachers see how each student requires a unique inspiration and learning style. Yet with classroom sizes ballooning and teachers underpaid, there’s no way for students to get the dedicated attention they need. Luckily, technology could offer the adaptive education guidan … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Robot surgeon outperforms human colleagues doing same procedure

It’s another victory for the machines: a robotic surgical system outperformed humans and robot-assisted human operators in a soft tissue procedure, bringing us that much closer to automated medical care (and the robocalypse). Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Tesla ramps up its ambitions, expecting to produce 500,000 cars annually by 2018

Tesla says it is expecting to hit its goal of producing 500,000 cars annually — including the Model S, Model X and Model 3 — two years earlier than expected, meeting that expectation by 2018. All this is coming ahead of a critical next year for Tesla with the expansion of its lin … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

NextVR gets ready to drop the bass with live VR concerts

After dedicating tons of energy (and loads of bandwidth) to live streaming sporting events in stereoscopic VR, NextVR is moving to its next major market: live virtual reality concerts. NextVR has announced a major partnership with Live Nation to live stream “hundreds” of concerts … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Winter brings oppurtunities for the wise and frugal

One of my seed portfolio founders called for advice recently. He’d raised a Series A from a Tier 1 VC and was ahead of plan, but his investor suddenly wanted him to cut spending: on SEM, on PR, on whatever he could. He wanted to know why, and how to think about it. Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Farfetch grabs another $110 million for its fashion marketplace

Farfetch is growing like crazy as the company just secured $110 million. The London-based startup has become a dominant e-commerce player in the fashion space. Farfetch runs a marketplace that connects high end fashion retailers with customers. But the company doesn’t plan to sto … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

EchoPixel’s breakthrough VR tech lets doctors look inside your body

Think of EchoPixel’s tech like InnerSpace but instead of actually minimizing scientists and shooting them into your body to find disease, the medical imaging startup lets doctors pinpoint problem areas from CT scans using 3D glasses and a special display. Most doctors view CT sca … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Uber taps global leaders for new public policy advisory group

Uber announced today that it has assembled an advisory board from around the globe to help guide the company on public policy as it continues to expand into new markets. The board includes members from every continent except Africa and Antarctica. Read More | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Teachable raises $2 million to help instructors teach outside the confines of course marketplace

New York-based Teachable has raised $2 million in a seed round of venture funding to help instructors of anything set up their own, branded storefronts for selling courses and connecting with learners online. The company’s technology lets instructors teach courses online in any s … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Spirocall measures lung health over any phone – no app necessary

Sometimes you see an application of technology that’s so innovative and helpful that you can’t believe it exists in this age of narcissistic and short-sighted startups. Spirocall, a service that lets anyone in the world call a toll-free number and have their lung health evaluated … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

GoPro hitched a ride on a rocket and the video is incredible

Today, GoPro released some pretty incredible footage of a suborbital rocket launch that climbed to 396,405 feet at speeds as high as Mach 5.5. Check out the very real footage below.The launch in the video took place from Spaceport America in New Mexico on November 6th, 2015 with … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Instagram Business Profiles to feature ‘Contact’ buttons, directions and more

Instagram had confirmed earlier this year that it was developing business profiles – basically, the Instagram equivalent to a Facebook Brand Page. Now, we’re able to see what these profiles look like as they’ve been spotted in the wild. The profiles, which are currently being tes … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Google launches Slides Q&A to help presenters connect with their audiences

Google is launching Slides Q&A today, a new feature for Slides, its PowerPoint competitor. With Slides Q&A, presenters can get questions and general feedback from their audience — and audience members can vote for their favorite questions. Slides Q&A is rolling out globally today … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Apple brings in ex-Googler and robotics expert Yoky Matsuok to work on Healthkit

Apple has tapped Nest’s former tech chief Yoky Matsuok to head up health projects at the company, according to Fortune. The MacArthur genius award winner comes with an impressive resume as a former professor of robotics and co-founder of the Google X lab. Matsuok joined Nest as h … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Technical recruiting platform Triplebyte launches engineer genome project

Technical recruiting platform Triplebyte, which has raised $3 million in funding, just launched its engineer genome project to foster software-driven, intelligent job-matching. “We figured out the exact list of attributes that top tech companies in Silicon Valley care the most ab … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Five years after a failed IPO, ON24 is back with $25 million from Goldman Sachs

Webinars… who needs ’em? Apparently lots of companies. That’s why Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital Investing Group is investing $25 million in the cash-positive business of the once-foundering marketing technology company, ON24. The round is a rebirth for the company, that had… | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Concerns raised over broad scope of DeepMind-NHS health data-sharing deal

Concerns have been raised about the scope of a data-sharing agreement between Google-owned DeepMind and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) after it was revealed the agreement covers access to all patient data from the three London hospitals involved, rather than a more target … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

EHang reveals plans to deploy its passenger drones for emergency organ deliveries

There were plenty of questions surrounding the actual real world functionality of EHang’s impressive human-sized drone when it made its debut on the CES floor back in January.Was the Chinese manufacturer actually planning to bring the thing to market, or was the giant quadcopter … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Apple Music revamp to debut at WWDC in June (Report)

Apple Music has been much maligned for its confusing interface which reviewers have referred to as cluttered and difficult to navigate, “a confusing mess,” and “so crammed with items, lists and menus that it’s hard to find things initially,” among other things. But according to a … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

LiveNinja secures a further $2M to combine live web chat and messaging

With the rise and rise of messaging (I have at least six messaging apps on my phone and counting), tech companies are piling into the space. Many are trying to shoe-horn ‘chat bots’ into behaving like they are capable of customer service. Facebook Messenger, Kik, Twitter, Skype, … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Peergrade lets students grade each other’s assignments

For as long as I can remember, technology has been seen as a panacea that will finally make education scalable beyond the one to few model employed in the classroom. As a result there seems to be an endless conveyer belt of edtech startups finding new (and sometimes very old) way … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Designer bag reseller marketplace Rebagg pulls in $8 million from General Catalyst

Rebagg, an online resell market for designer handbags, has raised $8 million in Series A funding to continue the pace of rapid growth.There are a lot of designer clothing and handbag resellers out there, including Tradesy, TheRealReal, and even secondary markets out of RenttheRun … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

eShares puts the screws to 409A auditors

Every startup that gives employees option grants has  to comply with 409A, a section of the U.S. tax code that was established in late 2004 and basically states that a company has to pay tax on some of the compensation it defers, including those options. The 409A valuations are a … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago

Hulu CEO confirms plans for a live TV streaming service in 2017

This morning at the Hulu Upfronts in New York, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins confirmed the recent report from The Wall St. Journal which indicated that the company was developing a live television streaming service to complement its current on-demand offering. While Hopkins was light on … | Continue reading


@techcrunch.com | 8 years ago