CurrencyFair, one of a number of so-called peer-to-peer currency exchanges, has scored a further €8 million in funding. The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from Proxy Ventures. It brings total raised by the 2010-founded company to around €20 million — a figu … | Continue reading
Not to be left behind as companies like IBM, Cisco and Microsoft all expand their services for enterprises opting for hybrid cloud environments, Google today announced a raft of partnerships to advance its position in the market, too. Google Stackdriver, the company’s platform fo … | Continue reading
Today at the GCPNext16 event in San Francisco, Google announced the launch of Google StackDriver, a tool that gives IT a unified tool for monitoring, alerting, incidents management and logging complete with dashboards providing visual insights across each category. Google purchas … | Continue reading
Google today announced a new machine learning platform for developers at its NEXT Google Cloud Platform user conference in San Francisco. As Google chairman Eric Schmidt stressed during today’s keynote, Google believes machine learning is “what’s next.” With this new platform, Go … | Continue reading
Google is planning to compete with Nuance and other voice recognition companies head on, by opening up its speech recognition API to third-party developers. To attract developers, the app will be free at launch with pricing to be introduced at a later date. We’d been hearing murm … | Continue reading
When Apple introduced its new iPad Pro 9.7″, one of the small technical specifications touted has led to the most questions from readers: the new embedded Apple SIM. For context, Apple introduced its Apple SIM — a programmable version of a regular SIM card that allowed people to … | Continue reading
Back in October, we wrote about how the team behind contacts management app Brewster got acqui-hired by RBI, the owner of Burger King and other fast-food brands, where they would work on building tech for RBI and maintain Brewster, which was not part of the RBI deal, as a side pr … | Continue reading
Israeli company Cellebrite has been appointed by the FBI to find an alternative way to unlock the iPhone 5c involved in the San Bernardino shootings, according to Israeli newspaper the Yedioth Ahronoth and Reuters. Cellebrite has been developing Read More | Continue reading
Microsoft has unveiled an A.I.-powered chat bot called Tay.ai, which was built by the Microsoft Technology and Research and Bing teams, with the goal of conducting real-world research on conversational understanding, the company says. The bot, which is aimed at 18 to 24 year olds … | Continue reading
When it comes to producing beautiful, immersive content for VR on a PC, everything can be a bit confusing. Visionary VR, an LA based story creation software company, is looking to create a more intuitive manner for content creators to build and simultaneously experience their sto … | Continue reading
Author Tom Wolfe once wrote a book about the American space program called The Right Stuff. Last week I wrote a piece called Technology is disrupting everything. I don’t bring up Wolfe’s work to compare myself to him — that would be laughable– but because an astute reader named J … | Continue reading
The Pangu hacking team, best known as the team that delivered the first public jailbreak for iOS 9 devices, has done it again: this time, the hackers have released a jailbreak for the 4th generation Apple TV running tvOS 9.0.x. (specifically, 9.0 and 9.0.1). This jailbreak was pr … | Continue reading
Bob Messerschmidt knows a little about health and wellness tech, having spent three years helping architect the Apple Watch platform after Apple quietly acquired his spectroscopy company, Rare Light, in 2010. (The terms were undisclosed.) Messerschmidt also knew when he left Appl … | Continue reading
The Syrian war has been raging for over 5 years now, and Lebanon — with which it shares a long border — has born the brunt of over a million Syrian refugees flooding into the country.Tomorrow TechCrunch will bring together experts from UNICEF, and local NGOs, to discuss how techn … | Continue reading
Vice and Apple Music are teaming up to release a new docu-series that takes a hard look at some of the most interesting local music scenes in the world. The presser doesn’t give a whole lot of detail, but did include descriptions of a techno scene in South Africa and hip hop comi … | Continue reading
Last year, Amazon announced a set of tools that allowed third-party developers to integrate its virtual assistant Alexa, which today powers devices like the Echo speaker and Fire TV, into their own apps. Now, the company has introduced a number of improvements to one of these too … | Continue reading
Pornhub, one of the most popular adult entertainment sites in the world, is getting into the VR biz. The company will be teaming up with BaDoinkVR, which has already been creating premium VR adult content for quite a bit, to add a new “virtual reality” content section to its site … | Continue reading
Back in October, we reported that Checkr — a San Francisco startup that runs employee background checks and vets potential hires by way of an API — was raising north of $30 million as it expanded its business beyond the 300,000 checks per month it already does for some 3,000 tech … | Continue reading
It appears that Google is working on a third-party keyboard for iOS that would allow search functionality directly within the keyboard itself, according to The Verge. Casey Newton reports that the keyboard will have swipe functionality, letting users run their finger from one let … | Continue reading
Want to make your P90D about 20 percent faster? Sure, no worries. Tesla is now allowing P90D buyers who skipped the insane Ludicrous Mode upgrade at the time of purchase to add it to their vehicle for $10,000. The company claims the upgrades will drop the car’s quarter mile time … | Continue reading
By opening up its application program interface to Bandsintown (the first of several planned integrations with different partners), Ticketmaster hopes to solve the industry’s nagging problem, which North American President, Jared Smith, said was ignorance about when an event is o … | Continue reading
From baby boomers to Generation X to millennials, it seems that each generation faces a new set of problems that they believe to be tougher to solve than those faced by the former generation. Baby boomers grew up during the height of the Cold War, Gen Xers took the brunt of the r … | Continue reading
Research marketplace Science Exchange is now $25 million richer. The startup hooking researchers up with service providers just pulled in that amount in Series B funding, putting the total raised at $40 million. Maverick Capital led the round, with participation from Union Square … | Continue reading
European news startup Blendle has already attracted funding from two of the biggest names in the media business — The New York Times and German publisher Axel Springer. Today it’s launching in the United States. Blendle is betting that people are still willing to pay for journali … | Continue reading
BetterWorks, a platform for employees to set themselves goals, share them with others in their organization and track how well those goals are being met, has raised another $20 million in Series B funding. The company is not disclosing its valuation but we understand from sources … | Continue reading
Ringier Africa Deals Group, a joint venture between Swiss Ringier Africa AG and South African Silvertree Internet Holdings Ltd., acquired Nigerian online shopping startup DealDey for an undisclosed amount. Read More | Continue reading
Cherubic Ventures, an early-stage VC firm with a focus on the U.S. and Asia, has announced a new fund targeted at $120 million. Read More | Continue reading
Now signing up 1.5 million users each week in the U.S., Android Pay, Google’s payment platform and mobile wallet for Android devices and apps, is now coming to the UK, with dozens of partners including banks, physical retailers, apps and payment platforms in tow. Google is not gi … | Continue reading
There’s more money flowing into India’s e-commerce space after BigBasket, a Bangalore-based company that focuses on groceries, landed a $150 million investment led by The Abraaj Group in the UAE. Read More | Continue reading
GoCardless has become somewhat of a poster child for the London fintech scene. Offering an alternative to card payments, the startup provide’s a simple way for businesses to set up and accept bank-to-bank payments online (also known as Direct Debit), and is now processing £1 bill … | Continue reading
Eye-tracking virtual reality headset maker FOVE has closed an $11 million Series A led by Colopl VR Fund, with participation from the venture fund of Hon Hai (Foxconn), 2020, and Samsung Venture Investment. Read More | Continue reading
Apple’s newest addition to the iPhone family may be its cheapest phone yet at $399, but the four-inch iPhone SE isn’t likely to move the needle in emerging markets, where the lion’s share of growth in the handset industry lies. Read More | Continue reading
The Cygnus cargo vehicle was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:05pm EST to begin its 3-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS). Launching on top of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, Cygnus was carrying 7,500 pounds of food, water, scienc … | Continue reading
Nuren Group, a Malaysian-based company that runs community and e-commerce sites for women, has raised a $2 million Series A led by Gobi Partners. Read More | Continue reading
Have you tried the Quartz News app, yet? Please do. Imagine a text conversation with a bot that sends you a news topic. You’re then presented with two choices: Either tap a string of relevant (and surprisingly entertaining) emojis, which is like pressing “learn more,” or tap an “ … | Continue reading
“You’ll notice we have many more startups that aren’t in the traditional software category,” said Y Combinator President Sam Altman at the start of its Winter 2016 Demo Day 1. While once upon a time YC was known for legions of social and marketplace apps no one needed, it’s branc … | Continue reading
The Famous app got itself banned from Apple’s App Store about a month ago. They sidestepped the ban by promptly launching an Android version instead, and is today back on an iOS device near you in the form of a web app. For the new version, the company recycled much of the game m … | Continue reading
Instagram began as a mobile-only service, but now it’s enhancing its web version so you can use the service without opening your phone. Today Instagram rolled out an Activity tab on web that’s identical to the notifications tab inside its app. Here’s you’ll be able to see who Lik … | Continue reading
The New Horizons science team has published new findings from their mission to Pluto in a series of 5 articles in the journal Science. The data from the papers reveal that Pluto is much more geologically diverse and dynamic than anyone could have imagined. “These five detailed pa … | Continue reading
Master & Dynamic is known in the audiophile space as the “newbies” — but they’ve made a name for themselves. The headphones seen here are the company’s latest offering, but also their first Bluetooth pair. The fanfare has been resolute: it’s been continuously sold out since its l … | Continue reading
I have voraciously read endless pro and con scenarios about artificial intelligence since first writing about it years ago. There is no doubt that concerns about the dangers of runaway AI raised by Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, Bill Joy and others are genuine. There als … | Continue reading
Truebill, a startup that helps people track and cancel their subscriptions, is announcing that it has raised a small round of seed funding. The round includes $120,000 from Y Combinator (yes, the Y Combinator that’s having its Demo Day today), with additional funding from angel i … | Continue reading
Electric vehicles come out of the gate with green cred. They don’t even have tailpipes because they don’t have any emissions while they’re driving. But do EVs deserve their goody-too-green rep? A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists says they do indeed. Even if you take … | Continue reading
Adobe unveiled a new push for cross-device targeting today at its Adobe Summit. Amit Ahuja, the general manager of data management for the Adobe Marketing, explained the product to me beforehand, and he laid out the problem in a pretty straightforward manner: “If you don’t know w … | Continue reading
Blackberry-loving device clutchers are facing a tricky choice if they wish to continue to interact with their friends: WhatsApp, Facebook and Facebook Messenger hit the “unfriend” button on the struggling phone maker’s latest operating system. WhatsApp made a half-hearted debut o … | Continue reading
Utah-based Domo has been a force in the enterprise space for a few years with its data management platforms, but the team is poised for growth with an additional $130 million in capital from BlackRock, Credit Suisse and others at a $2 billion valuation. Domo will be using the cap … | Continue reading
Music startup 8tracks has always had a strong sense of community. But the startup is taking this one step further by raising $30 million from its own community. Instead of asking money from venture capitalists, the company has started an equity crowdfunding campaign on SeedInvest … | Continue reading
Apple doesn’t like to talk about specs. But it turns out my boss Matthew Panzarino already has review units of the new iPad Pro and iPhone SE. So nobody is going to stop us if we want to run Geekbench on these new devices. The result is both interesting and unsurprising. While th … | Continue reading