In an effort to increase its competition with family entertainment juggernaut Disney, Comcast announced this morning that it will spend $3.8 billion to acquire DreamWorks Animation, home to popular kids’ franchises like “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Kung Fu … | Continue reading
Communication startup Mast Mobile is launching on Android — specifically the Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.The news is part of a broader partnership with Samsung, which has made a minority investment of undisclosed size in the company. In additio … | Continue reading
The just announced HP Chromebook 13 is a new take on the hardware side of Chrome OS — a premium system, with some specs reminiscent of Chrome OS laptops, but with the ultrabook spice seen on the market from Apple and Microsoft. Read More | Continue reading
Drug research giant AbbVie announced a deal to buy cancer drug startup Stemcentrx in a $5.8 billion cash and stock deal this morning. The terms of the deal include $2 billion in cash and $3.8 billion in stock upfront, plus another $4 billion in milestone-based payouts to StemCent … | Continue reading
After Facebook’s stellar quarter, which sees users spending massive amounts of time on its mobile apps, including Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, the company announced this morning it’s bringing this popular trio of apps to Windows 10. Facebook and Messenger are now rolling ou … | Continue reading
A questionable Snapchat filter that lets users show off their speed while taking a selfie is being blamed for a serious car accident that left a man with traumatic brain injuries after being struck by a driver going over 100 MPH, according to a new lawsuit. The victim and his wif … | Continue reading
Like so many organizations today, Infosys, the Indian consulting giant, is a company in transition. For years it has made a good living helping customers manage legacy tools, but CEO Vishal Sikka, who took over 21 months ago saw a shifting landscape and he began implementing new … | Continue reading
You know it’s not just any old Chromebook when Google and HP team up for the thing’s product launch. And indeed, the HP Chromebook 13 looks to be a pretty compelling alternative to the MacBook upgrade Apple ushered into the world last week. The laptop makes a compelling case both … | Continue reading
You can now purchase August’s second generation Smartlock at Best Buy and Amazon, starting today. The much-anticipated Bluetooth-enabled device allows homeowners to lock and unlock their front door using an app and joins a host of other gadgets in the August Smart Home Access Sys … | Continue reading
TechCrunch is hitting the road for the Summer and checking out some key global tech hubs to spread our Crunchie love all over you guys. Our world-famous TechCrunch Pitch-Off is a two-piece event. We invite a panel of investor judges to check out the very best startups in each cit … | Continue reading
Oracle today announced that it is making an acquisition to (literally and figuratively) build out its Primavera project management and billing business: it is buying Textura, a provider of cloud-based contract and payment management solutions specifically for the construction ind … | Continue reading
Let’s be honest, the Philips Hue app has a horrible design. But this is just a bad memory now as the company has released a new major version of its iOS and Android app. The app is now more polished and comes with a bunch of extra features.Let’s start with the design. I’ve been u … | Continue reading
One of the major promises of virtual reality is the ability to find yourself transported to exotic locations. Nothing is quite so exotic as the final frontier. SpaceVR wants to launch high-definition 360-degree cameras into space so that users can experience the majesty of the co … | Continue reading
TechCrunch is excited to announce the judges of the next round of Startup Battlefield. These are kind folks tasked with picking the finalists and winner of the startup competition held at Disrupt NY. It’s a big task, but these judges are up to the challenge. This year the competi … | Continue reading
Amazon is spreading the Alexa love. The voice service is now available on the Triby. This small, family-focused message board, internet radio and VoIP device is the first device available for purchase not made by Amazon to feature the company’s clever voice service.Using the Amaz … | Continue reading
Deliveroo, the on-demand delivery service for restaurant food, has begun investing in its own kitchen space, as a means to help solve the supply-side problem and expand the offering. Dubbed RooBox, the startup has launched an off-site kitchen initiative that is bringing restauran … | Continue reading
Xola, a software platform that manages booking and marketing for tour providers, is venturing deeper into international markets after closing a $5 million Series A. The funding was led by Rakuten Travel, which is Japan’s largest online travel agency, and contributed half of the r … | Continue reading
Worldwide sales of smartphones declined year over year, from Q1 2015 to Q1 2016, according to figures from analyst Strategy Analytics, which it says is the first time in the history of what it dubs the “modern smartphone market” that this has occurred. Read More | Continue reading
Anyone who has been a long-time user of Coinbase knows that the cryptocurrency startup hasn’t exactly always made it easy to buy Bitcoin. In the early days you had to link your U.S bank account, verify it via two small deposits, and still wait up to five days for the Bitcoin to b … | Continue reading
Apple begins rolling out Carekit, its mobile software framework for health apps, today.Apple announced the open-source software development platform last month with the aim to make it easier for developers to build health apps on iOS devices.Starting today, Carekit will integrate … | Continue reading
As Europe’s tech startup ecosystem continues to grow up, so does the venture capital that underpins it. London’s Balderton Capital has promoted long-standing General Partner Bernard Liautaud, who joined the firm in mid-2008, to the newly created role of Managing Partner. In other … | Continue reading
Samsung Electronics delivered strong results for the first quarter of 2016, thanks to sales of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, its flagship smartphones. Read More | Continue reading
French startup Drivy has raised another $35 million (€31 million) from Cathay Innovation, Nokia Growth Partners and existing investors Bpifrance, Via-ID and Index Ventures. If you don’t already know Drivy, the company wants to rethink the way car rental works today. Read More | Continue reading
There should be a new definition for container-native that aims to better represent the magnitude of impact that containers will have on software development and operations. Read More | Continue reading
NASA is spreading the dough around like a pastry chef. Today the agency announced $50 million in grants to nearly 300 different recipients, from small engineering firms to big-time research institutions. And then it truly shelled out, awarding a $193 million contract to Universit … | Continue reading
If you think Facebook will get rich on Oculus, you better be patient. Mark Zuckerberg said on the Q1 2016 earnings call saying he sees VR as a long, long-term bet rather than a way to make a quick buck on 3D games. “This is early and it’s going to take a long time. There’s a lot … | Continue reading
Facebook’s “family of apps” strategy is a wild success. While some might have expected it to roll Instagram into Facebook and leave chat in its main app, keeping Instagram independent and splitting off Messenger into a companion app has helped it solidify itself as more than just … | Continue reading
As a venture investor for the last 20 years, George Zachary has witnessed plenty of trends develop and fizzle. Yesterday, we talked with him about what he’s seeing right now, and among the newest wrinkles he noted were a growing number of Chinese investors who’ve grown aggressive … | Continue reading
The payments giant that is PayPal posted strong Q1 earnings today, counter balancing some of the weaker showings from other tech stocks yesterday and outstripping the overall growth rate of e-commerce, in its own words. Following in the footsteps of its former parent, which also … | Continue reading
DeWalt, a name familiar to anyone who loves power tools (and who doesn’t?), is jumping into the mobile market with the rugged MD501. It’s waterproof, has a good variety of high-end features, and looks like you could use it to pound nails. Read More | Continue reading
Facebook today, as part of its earnings release, said it would add a new class of non-voting stock for the company, which will keep Mark Zuckerberg in control of the company. “This proposal is designed to create a capital structure that will, among other things, allow us to remai … | Continue reading
Facebook continued its winning streak as other tech companies floundered, reaching 1.65 billion monthly users and surpassing estimates in its Q1 2016 earnings report with $5.38billion in revenue and $0.77 earnings per share. It grew 3.77% from 1.59 billion users last quarter, and … | Continue reading
With the U.S. knee deep in what has been an unusual presidential primary season, many eligible voters are highly engaged in the process. But the number of Americans heading to the polls each election has been declining for the last 50 years, which helps explain a push by election … | Continue reading
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act, sending it on to the Senate and from there, hopefully anyhow, to the President. The yeas were swift and unanimous. Read More | Continue reading
Pan-European train travel booking website Loco2 has launched its first app, letting iOS users book and pay for trips via their phone. Launching an Android app is also on its roadmap for this year. Read More | Continue reading
So you wanna buy a startup? But how do you get the deal signed and roll their team into yours? Consulting behemoth Ernst & Young wants to have the answers and rule M&A advisory services in Silicon Valley. So today it acqhired Tasman Consulting, Bay Area specialists in integrating … | Continue reading
Get ready for lots of virtual cubes in virtual reality! Minecraft: Gear VR Edition is now available on the Oculus Store for $6.99. The blocky blockbuster was met with major fanfare when it was revealed last month that it was landing on the Gear VR. I had a chance to try it out a … | Continue reading
I’ve officially been at TechCrunch for a week and a half now, which I’ve been informed is the hot sauce anniversary. You know, the one where GE sends you a bottle of scientifically-engineered hot sauce made from peppers with names like the Trinidad moruga scorpion, Carolina reape … | Continue reading
Samsung unveiled the Gear 360 virtual reality camera last month at Mobile World Conference. People were generally impressed, but without a price tag most withheld judgment. Well today onstage at the Samsung Developer’s Conference, the company revealed that the 4K 360-degree camer … | Continue reading
Somewhere, Elon Musk is bored; you can tell because he starts tweeting like crazy about colonizing the solar system. “Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018,” SpaceX tweeted this morning, apropos of nothing. More details followed, in typical Musk style. Read More | Continue reading
In an entirely unsurprising ruling, a federal judge has sided with the FTC in the agency’s lawsuit against Amazon, which had said that the company did not do enough to safeguard customers against unauthorized in-app purchases made by children. According to the FTC’s original comp … | Continue reading
A body was found in a conference room at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino this morning, according to several news reports. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating the incident. A public information officer for the department did not return a reques … | Continue reading
Menlo Ventures, the 40-year-old, Sand Hill Road venture firm, has raised a new, $250 million “special opportunities fund,” says a spokeswoman. (The SEC filing is here.) The idea: to address a comparative dearth of capital for startups that are looking for Series B and C funding, … | Continue reading
After months of anticipating what the hell Nic Cage was going to be doing in the new Snowden movie, we finally get to see him in the first official trailer! Sadly, Cage’s role is only that of a rando NSA guy urging Snowden to “find the terrorist in the internet haystack.” This is … | Continue reading
And then there’s this: an Indiegogo campaign for the world’s first firefighting drone. As a lover of both drones and crowdfunding campaigns, I nearly wet myself with excitement. But alas. The campaign, it turned out, is a great exercise in how a little bit of basic due diligence … | Continue reading
Tinder announced this morning it’s testing a new friend-finding feature called “Tinder Social” in its popular dating app. The idea is to offer a way for you and your group of friends to find and connect with other groups out in the real world. Similar to how Tinder works for find … | Continue reading
Despite the fact that numerous companies have tried to solve this problem, scheduling meetings is still a hassle. If you use Google for Work or Edu on the desktop, you are probably familiar with how Google lets you find meeting times across your organization already (though the f … | Continue reading
Eden, the on-demand tech support company turned office support service, has today announced the launch of the platform in Oakland. That means that Eden’s service now covers all of the Bay Area, from Oakland to San Francisco to the Peninsula, including Palo Alto and Mountain View. … | Continue reading