Daily Crunch: Apple releases macOS Big Sur

The latest Mac operating system arrives, Amazon faces a lawsuit over PPE and Disney+ turns one. This is your Daily Crunch for November 12, 2020.

The big story: Apple releases macOS Big Sur

This update, which was first announced five months ago at WWDC, includes a number of design changes that continue to blur the line between macOS and iOS.

One of the big additions is the Control Center, an iOS/iPadOS feature that presents a translucent pane down the right side of the screen. Meanwhile, Safari added features like built-in translation. And app icons and sounds have been updated throughout.

Brian Heater has been using the beta since June, and he concluded that Big Sur “boasts some key upgrades to apps and the system at large, but more importantly from Apple’s perspective, it lays the groundwork for the first round of Arm-powered Macs and continues its march toward a uniformity between the company’s two primary operating systems.”

The tech giants

Facebook’s Snapchat-like ‘Vanish Mode’ feature arrives on Messenger and Instagram — The feature, meant for more casual conversations, allows users to set chats to automatically delete after the message is seen and the chat is closed.

Amazon faces lawsuit alleging failure to provide PPE to workers during pandemic — The class action suit alleges Amazon failed to properly protect its warehouse workers and violated elements of New York City’s human rights law.

Apple HomePod Mini review: Remarkably big sound — A smart speaker for the masses.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Menlo Security announces $100M Series E on $800M valuation — CEO and co-founder Amir Ben-Efraim told us the startup remains focused on web and email as major attack vectors.

Livestorm raises $30M for its browser-based meeting and webinar platform — It’s purely browser based, without requiring presenters or attendees to install any software.

Nana nabs $6M for an online academy and marketplace dedicated to appliance repair — Nana runs a free academy to teach people how to fix appliances, then gives them the option to become a part of its repair marketplace.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Are subscription services the future of fintech? — As subscriptions become an increasingly alluring business model, fintechs will have to consider whether this strategy is worth the risk.

Conflicts in California’s trade secret laws on customer lists create uncertainty — Read this before you jump ship or hire a salesperson who already has.

As public investors reprice edtech bets, what’s ahead for the hot startup sector? — Selling edtech on the vaccine news (as investors did) was a bet that growth in the sector would be constrained by a return to normalcy.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Disney+ has more than 73M subscribers — The streaming service launched one year ago today.

L’Oréal rolls out a line of ‘virtual makeup’ — This builds on L’Oréal’s 2018 acquisition of an augmented reality filter company called Modiface.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/12/daily-crunch-apple-releases-macos-big-sur/

Daily Crunch: Google Photos will end free, unlimited storage

Google changes its storage policy, Facebook extends its political ad ban and Ring doorbells are recalled. This is your Daily Crunch for November 11, 2020.

The big story: Google Photos will end free, unlimited storage

Google is changing its storage policies for free accounts in a way that could have a big impact on anyone regularly using Google Photos.

Currently, Google Photos allows users to store unlimited images (and HD video) as long as they’re under 16 megapixels. Starting on June 1, 2021, new photos and videos will all count toward the 15 gigabytes of free storage that the company offers to anyone with a free Google account.

Google says it will take the average user three years to reach 15 gigabytes — at which point they’ll either need to delete some photos or pay for a Google One account. Also on June 1: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard files will start counting toward your storage total as well.

The tech giants

Facebook extends its temporary ban on political ads for another month — The company says the temporary ban will continue for at least another month.

ByteDance asks federal appeals court to vacate US order forcing it to sell TikTok — TikTok’s parent company says it remains committed to a negotiated solution and will only try to stop the government from forcing a sale “if discussions reach an impasse.”

Ring doorbells recalled over fire threat — The recall comes in the wake of 23 reports of fire and eight reports of minor burns.

Startups, funding and venture capital

SentinelOne, an AI-based endpoint security firm, confirms $267M raise on a $3.1B valuation — SentinelOne’s Singularity monitors and secures laptops, phones and other network-connected devices and services.

E-commerce startup Heroes raises $65M in equity and debt to become the Thrasio of Europe — The company has a strategy of acquiring and scaling high-performing Amazon businesses.

Seedcamp raises £78M for its fifth fund — This new fund increases the amount of capital the firm will invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Dear Sophie: What does Biden’s win mean for tech immigration? — Attorney Sophie Alcorn looks at the presidential election’s impact on U.S. immigration and immigration reform.

Greylock’s Asheem Chandna on ‘shifting left’ in cybersecurity and the future of enterprise startups — Enterprise software is changing faster this year than it has in a decade.

Square and PayPal earnings bring good (and bad) news for fintech startups — Square’s earnings give us a window into consumer payment activity, card usage, stock purchases and more.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Honda to mass-produce Level 3 autonomous cars by March — Honda claims it will be the first automaker to mass-produce vehicles with autonomous capabilities that meet SAE Level 3 standards.

Data audit of UK political parties finds laundry list of failings — The audit claims parties are failing to come clean with voters about how they’re being invisibly profiled and targeted.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/11/daily-crunch-google-photos-will-end-free-unlimited-storage/

Upstream aims to be the new home for your professional social life

Last fall, social analytics startup SocialRank sold its product and business to Trufan, allowing the team to focus on something new: a professional social network. Today, they’re officially unveiling Upstream to the public.

To be clear, CEO Alex Taub told me that he’s not trying to replace LinkedIn — he acknowledged that thanks to network effects,”If you want to go and try to take down LinkedIn, you’re not going to be able to take them down.”

Instead, the goal is to create something that fulfills a different need. Where LinkedIn works primarily as an online résumé and rolodex, Upstream aims to help users build the connections and relationships that are important to their careers — something that’s sorely needed at a time when large-scale meetups and conferences aren’t really possible (though we’re certainly trying to create the virtual equivalent at TechCrunch).

“This is the place for your professional social life,” Taub said.

Upstream’s first product focused on professional groups and communities, allowing users to post what the company called Professional Asks, like if they’re looking to hire someone for a certain position or need an introduction at another company.

Taub suggested that things really took off with Upstream’s next product, Upstream Events, where Upstream would host a guest speaker, then attendees were matched up for five-minute, one-on-one video chats with the other people at the event.

Image Credits: Upstream

Upstream says it’s already hosted more than 100 events, with 72% of people who who attend one event subsequently attending another.

While the team has built multiple products (and we’ve covered some of them already), they’re outlining the broader vision today and launching some new features at the same time.

For one thing, while communities were previously shared via a private, unlisted link, you can now browse all the different communities in a Discovery section. At the same time, community organizers will be still be able to control who joins by approving or rejecting new members.

There’s also a new spin on Events called Office Hours, allowing users to set aside structured time for virtual one-on-one sessions with anyone who’s interested in speaking to them. These sessions can be listed publicly, or they can be unlisted, so that you only share them via email or within a certain community.

Image Credits: Upstream

In a blog post, Taub noted that he met his SocialRank/Upstream co-founder and CTO Michael Schonfeld via Ohours.org, and they’re trying to replicate that experience here:

Let’s say you are the CMO of a large company and you want to give your people the opportunity to meet 1:1. The thought of coordinating the individual scheduling of ten minute blocks using your Outlook calendar and email is not attractive. But with Upstream, you are able to choose the 30min block you want to offer and how long you want the sessions to be. You decide you want to run your office hours every other Friday at 2pm ET for the rest of the year. The event is built and able to be shared seamlessly to whoever you choose to offer the Office Hours to.

In fact, Taub’s post lists more than 30 different people who are already offering office hours on Upstream, including New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz, Foursquare co-founder/Expa partner Naveen Selvadurai and Amazon Photo Head of Product Nate Westheiemer.

Upstream is also announcing that it has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from 8-Bit Capital, Human Ventures, Basement Fund, NYVP and various angel investors.

Looking ahead, Taub said that the next big priority is launching a web version of Upstream (which is currently available via mobile app), and to continue building live experiences, asynchronous experiences and features that provide real utility.

“We imagine a future when professionals come to Upstream for an event or Ask, and stay for the compelling opportunities that make Upstream an energizing and beneficial experience for them,” he wrote.

SocialRank sells biz to Trufan, pivots to a mobile LinkedIn

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/27/upstream/

Daily Crunch: DOJ files antitrust suit against Google

Google faces a big antitrust suit, Amazon offers to pay customers for shopping data and we review the iPhone 12. This is your Daily Crunch for October 20, 2020.

The big story: DOJ files antitrust suit against Google

The suit accuses Google of “unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States.” It’s co-signed by 11 states, all with Republican attorneys general — Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana and South Carolina.

Google called the U.S. Department of Justice’s case “deeply flawed” and offered a platform-by-platform argument that it doesn’t actually have unfair market dominance. For example, it attributed its popularity in search to a superior product, rather than anti-competitive practices.

Meanwhile, Wall Street investors don’t seem to be particularly alarmed by the suit.

The tech giants

Amazon launches a program to pay consumers for their data on non-Amazon purchases — The Amazon Shopper Panel program asks users to send in 10 receipts per month for any purchases made at non-Amazon retailers.

Snap shares explode after blowing past earnings expectations — The company delivered $679 million in reported revenue, smashing past Wall Street expectations.

Review: iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, two gems, one jewel — Both of these phones offer solid value, but two challengers wait in the wings.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Perch raises $123.5M to grow its stable of D2C brands that sell on Amazon — Perch acquires D2C businesses and products that are already selling on Amazon, then continues to operate and grow them.

Gowalla is being resurrected as an augmented reality social app — The startup was an ambitious consumer social app that excited Silicon Valley investors but ultimately floundered in its quest to take on Foursquare.

Synthetaic raises $3.5M to train AI with synthetic data — It’s already working with Save the Elephants to track animal populations, as well as with the University of Michigan to classify brain tumors.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Seven investors discuss augmented reality and VR startup opportunities in 2020 — “It’s still early, but it’s no longer too early.”

As startups accelerate in record Q3, Europe and Asia rack up huge VC results — Investment outside North America just had its best quarter in years.

Now may be the best time to become a full-stack developer — Talos Digital’s Sergio Granada has thoughts about this buzzy job title.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/20/daily-crunch-doj-files-antitrust-suit-against-google/

Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau and Audible back audio measurement startup Veritonic

Veritonic is announcing that it has raised $3.2 million in Series A funding led by Greycroft, with participation from Lerer Hippeau and Amazon-owned audiobook service Audible.

CEO Scott Simonelli, who founded the New York startup with COO Andrew Eisner and CTO Kevin Marshall, told me that his goal is to create a new category of “audio intelligence” — namely, measuring and predicting the effectiveness of any piece of audio content or advertising.

The company is focused on marketing initially, with its first product, Creative Measurement, analyzing any audio ad and showing marketers how it scores compared to similar content, as well as identifying which parts of the audio are most effective. And Veritonic is launching a new product, Competitive Intelligence, which helps businesses see how and where their competitors are spending on advertising and provides alerts when those competitors launch a new ad.

Simonelli said that until now, audio measurement has been limited to things like creating audience panels with a few hundred people, which simply doesn’t scale, given the enormous growth in the audio market.

Veritonic, on the other hand, has analyzed thousands of audio files, correlating the content with data about how people responded and using that analysis to predict how people will respond to new audio. Simonelli said the company can add more “fuel” by going out and gathering more human response data, but even without additional data, it can provide an instant prediction on an ad or campaign’s effectiveness.

Image Credits: Veritonic

Simonelli also noted that Veritonic has spent the past five years developing technology that’s specifically attuned to the challenges of measuring audio effectiveness — like the fact that audio is experienced over time and, even more than other media, needs to be memorable.

“We can look at a sonic profile and predict and evaluate how somebody is going to respond,” he said.

The ultimate goal, he added, is to create the “benchmark for audio advertising,” which means working with a variety of players in the industry. For example, he said that when you look at other audio investments in Greycroft’s portfolio (such as podcast network Wondery or podcast analytics company Podsights): “Veritonic makes every one of those audio investments more valuable.”

Veritonic’s made pretty good progress on that goal already, with partners including Pandora, SiriusXM and NPR, and brand clients like Pepsi, Visa and Subway. It was previously backed by Newark Venture Partners (whose founder Don Katz previously founded Audible).

“We are excited to be a part of Veritonic’s continued growth and success,” said Greycroft’s Alan Patricof in a statement. “I’m personally very passionate about the future of voice, and the team at Veritonic deeply understands how to use audio to drive recall, stickiness and brand awareness — which is hugely important in a highly-competitive consumer brand landscape.”

Simonelli added that Veritonic will use the new funding to expand its data science and sales teams. Eventually, he hopes to start analyzing non-advertising content as well — for example, since Audible is an investor, he said, “Analyzing every audiobook on the planet is something we’re ready for and excited to do.”

Will podcast ad revenue bounce back after COVID-19?

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/08/veritonic-series-a/

Daily Crunch: Big tech responds to antitrust report

The major tech platforms push back against the House antitrust report, Google Assistant gets a “guest” mode and we interview a freshly minted Nobel laureate. This is your Daily Crunch for October 7, 2020.

The big story: Big tech responds to antitrust report

The House Judiciary Committee released its tech antitrust report late yesterday, concluding that the big tech platforms should face additional regulation. Recommendations include creating new separations to prevent dominant platforms from operating in adjacent lines of business, new requirements for interoperability and data portability and increased restrictions on mergers and acquisitions.

For now, these are just recommendations — and they weren’t endorsed by the committee’s Republican minority. But they have prompted forceful responses from four of the companies targeted by the report: Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.

Amazon, for example, dismissed the committee’s views as “fringe notions” and “regulatory spitballing,” while Apple said it “vehemently” disagrees with the report’s conclusions.

The tech giants

Google Assistant gets an incognito-like guest mode — With Guest mode on, Google Assistant won’t offer personalized responses and your interactions won’t be saved to your account.

Slack introduces new features to ease messaging between business partners — One new feature: Slack Connect DMs, allowing users inside an organization to collaborate with anyone outside their company simply by sending an invite.

Instagram’s Threads app now lets you message everyone, like its Direct app once did — These changes are rolling out shortly after a major update to Instagram’s messaging platform.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Envisics nabs $50M for its in-car holographic display tech at a $250M+ valuation — The startup brings together computer vision, machine learning, big data analytics and navigation to build hardware that integrates into vehicles to project holographic, head-up displays.

Shogun raises $35M to help brands take on Amazon with faster and better sites of their own — Shogun lets companies build sites that sit on top of e-commerce back-ends like Shopify, Big Commerce or Magento.

DoorDash introduces a new corporate product, DoorDash for Work — DoorDash says it conducted a survey of 1,000 working Americans last month and found that 90% of them said they miss at least one food-related benefit from the office.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Transportation VCs suggest frayed US-China ties will impact mobility markets — During TechCrunch’s annual Mobility event, we interviewed three investors who spend much of their time focused on shifts in the transportation industry.

Unqork’s $207M Series C underscores growing enterprise demand for no-code apps — The no-code/low-code world could be enjoying an even sharper tailwind than anticipated.

Media roundup: Google to cut big checks for news publishers, Substack continues to draw top creators, more — I do my best to highlight the latest trends, platform shifts and noteworthy funding rounds.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna shares her perspective on COVID-19 and CRISPR — CRISPR co-discoverer Jennifer Doudna was named a Nobel laureate in Chemistry today, so it seemed like the perfect time to post video of our interview at Disrupt.

Tech-publisher coalition backs new push for browser-level privacy controls — A coalition of privacy-forward tech companies, publishers and advocacy groups has taken the wraps off of an initiative to develop a new standard that gives internet users a simple way to put digital guardrails around their data.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/07/daily-crunch-big-tech-responds-to-antitrust-report/

Daily Crunch: Venmo launches a credit card

Venmo’s first credit card is here, a former Amazon employee is arrested for fraud and we review the Nest Audio smart speaker. This is your Daily Crunch for October 5, 2020.

The big story: Venmo launches a credit card

PayPal-owned mobile payment app Venmo already offers a Mastercard-branded debit card, and it announced a year ago that it was planning to launch its first credit card as well. Today, it made good on that promise.

The Venmo Credit Card is a Visa card that offers personalized rewards and 3% cash back on eligible purchases. The cards come in five colors and include the user’s own Venmo QR code on the front.

Naturally, it also integrates with Venmo, allowing customers to track their spending and make payments from the mobile app. The card is currently available to select Venmo users, with plans to launch for the rest of the U.S. in the coming months.

The tech giants

Feds arrest former Amazon employee after company reported him to FBI for fraud — The company says it reported Vu Anh Nguyen to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July 2020 over allegations of falsely issuing refunds for products ordered on Amazon.com to himself and his associates.

Nest Audio review — Brian Heater says it’s a welcome update to the Google Home.

Instagram expands shopping on IGTV, plans test of shopping on Reels — The product lets you watch a video, then purchase the featured product with a few taps.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Ola fails to get ride-hailing license renewed in London, says it will appeal and continues to operate — The India-based ride-hailing startup is not getting its Transport for London ride-hailing license renewed after failing to meet public safety requirements around licensing for drivers and vehicles.

Cooler Screens raises $80M to bring interactive screens into cooler aisles — Cooler Screens is led by co-founder and CEO Arsen Avakian, who previously was founder and CEO of Argo Tea.

GrubMarket raises $60M as food delivery stays center stage — The startup provides a platform for consumers to order produce and other food and home items for delivery, as well as a service supplying grocery stores, meal-kit companies and other food tech startups with products for resale.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Accel VCs Sonali De Rycker and Andrew Braccia say European deal pace is ‘incredibly active’ — De Rycker’s comments point to a future where there is no single center of startup gravity.

Two Kindred Capital partners discuss the firm’s focus and equitable venture model — The London-based VC, which backs early-stage founders in Europe and Israel, recently closed its second seed fund at £81 million.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Camera that will film a spacewalk in VR delivered to the International Space Station — The camera will be used to film a spacewalk in immersive, cinematic VR for the first time ever on an upcoming ISS astronaut mission.

Original Content podcast: Netflix’s ‘Away’ deftly balances space exploration and human drama — I worried that the show might be a bit too weepy and melodramatic, but I was wrong.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/05/daily-crunch-venmo-launches-a-credit-card/

Daily Crunch: Amazon lets you pay with your palm

Amazon unveils a new biometric ID technology, the Biden campaign takes aim at Facebook and iRobot’s co-founder joins a robotic gardening startup. This is your Daily Crunch for September 29, 2020.

The big story: Amazon lets you pay with your palm

The company announced a new biometric device for Amazon Go stores. Called Amazon One, the first time you use it, you insert your credit card and scan your palm; after that, you can just hold your palm over the device when entering the store and Amazon can automatically charge you for the items you purchase.

If you’re worried about privacy and security, Amazon said the images are encrypted and stored securely in the cloud, and it also argued that palms are more private than other forms of biometric identification, since you can’t determine someone’s identity just by looking at their palm.

The technology is being tested in two Seattle-area Amazon Go stores. The company suggested that the technology could eventually be used by third parties, for example at stadiums and office buildings.

The tech giants

Ringing alarm bells, Biden campaign calls Facebook ‘foremost propagator’ of voting disinformation — In a new letter to Mark Zuckerberg on the eve of the first presidential debate, the Biden campaign slammed Facebook for its failure to act on false claims about voting in the U.S. election.

Serious injuries at Amazon fulfillment centers topped 14,000, despite the company’s safety claims — More than 14,000 serious injuries (requiring days off or job restrictions) were reported in fulfillment centers in 2019, according to a story in Reveal.

Pivoting during a pandemic — Facebook’s vice president of Messenger discusses how his team has responded to the new normal.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Starlink puts towns devastated by wildfires online for disaster relief workers — A couple small towns in Washington have received Starlink connections to help locals and emergency workers.

iRobot cofounder Helen Greiner named CEO of robotic gardening startup, Tertill — Launched as a 2017 Kickstarter, the product is essentially a solar-powered robotic weed whacker designed to live in the user’s garden and do routine maintenance.

Online course platform Thinkific raises $22 million — Thinkific is different from businesses such as MasterClass and Skillshare because it doesn’t create, distribute or monetize online classes itself.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Duolingo CEO explains language app’s surge in bookings — Luis von Ahn tells TechCrunch that Duolingo has hit 42 million monthly active users, up from 30 million in December 2019.

Healthcare entrepreneurs should prepare for an upcoming VC/PE bubble — Patientco CEO Bird Blitch has a warning for entrepreneurs.

9 VCs in Madrid and Barcelona discuss the COVID-19 era and look to the future — Part one of a two-part survey that polled 18 active investors in the region.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Disney+ adds a co-watching feature called GroupWatch — Disney’s experience has some advantages (like the fact that it works on internet-connected TVs), but it lacks one of the hallmarks of co-watching, namely a chat that runs alongside the video.

Polaris and Zero Motorcycles reach deal to bring electric off-roaders to market — Polaris is a name synonymous with powersports.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/daily-crunch-amazon-one/

Daily Crunch: Amazon unveils its own game-streaming platform

Amazon announces a new game service and plenty of hardware upgrades, tech companies team up against app stores and United Airlines tests a program for rapid COVID-19 testing. This is your Daily Crunch for September 24, 2020.

The big story: Amazon unveils its own game-streaming platform

Amazon’s competitor to Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud is called Luna, and it’s available starting today at an early access price of $5.99 per month. Subscribers will be able to play games across PC, Mac and iOS, with more than 50 games in the library.

The company made the announcement at a virtual press event, where it also revealed a redesigned Echo line (with spherical speakers and swiveling screens), the latest Ring security camera and a new, lower-cost Fire TV Stick Lite.

You can also check out our full roundup of Amazon’s announcements.

The tech giants

App makers band together to fight for App Store changes with new ‘Coalition for App Fairness’ — Thirteen app publishers, including Epic Games, Deezer, Basecamp, Tile, Spotify and others, launched a coalition formalizing their efforts to force app store providers to change their policies or face regulation.

LinkedIn launches Stories, plus Zoom, BlueJeans and Teams video integrations as part of wider redesign — LinkedIn has built its business around recruitment, so this redesign pushes engagement in other ways as it waits for the job economy to pick up.

Facebook gives more details about its efforts against hate speech before Myanmar’s general election — This includes adding Burmese language warning screens to flag information rated false by third-party fact-checkers.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Why isn’t Robinhood a verb yet? — The latest episode of Equity discusses a giant funding round for Robinhood.

Twitter-backed Indian social network ShareChat raises $40 million — Following TikTok’s ban in India, scores of startups have launched short-video apps, but ShareChat has clearly established dominance.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek pledges $1Bn of his wealth to back deeptech startups from Europe — Ek pointed to machine learning, biotechnology, materials sciences and energy as the sectors he’d like to invest in.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

3 founders on why they pursued alternative startup ownership structures — At Disrupt, we heard about alternative approaches to ensuring that VCs and early founders aren’t the only ones who benefit from startup success.

Coinbase UX teardown: 5 fails and how to fix them — Many of these lessons, including the need to avoid the “Get Started” trap, can be applied to other digital products.

As tech stocks dip, is insurtech startup Root targeting an IPO? — Alex Wilhelm writes that Root’s debut could clarify Lemonade’s IPO and valuation.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

United Airlines is making COVID-19 tests available to passengers, powered in part by Color — United is embarking on a new pilot project to see if easy access to COVID-19 testing immediately prior to a flight can help ease freedom of mobility.

Announcing the final agenda for TC Sessions: Mobility 2020 — TechCrunch reporters and editors will interview some of the top leaders in transportation.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/24/daily-crunch-amazon-game-streaming/

Daily Crunch: Shopify confirms data breach

Shopify blames “rogue” employees for a data breach, Google Maps adds COVID-19 data and China pushes back against the TikTok deal. This is your Daily Crunch for September 23, 2020.

The big story: Shopify confirms data breach

The e-commerce platform blamed two “rogue members” of its support team, alleging that they stole customer data from “less than 200 merchants.” Shopify said it has fired the employees in question and referred the matter to the FBI.

In a blog post, the company said the affected data includes names, postal addresses and order details, but not “complete payment card numbers or other sensitive personal or financial information.” The company also said that there’s no evidence that the data has been utilized.

A merchant shared with TechCrunch a copy of their notification from Shopify, which said that the last four digits of customers’ payment cards had also been taken.

The tech giants

Amazon removes the $500 Prime Bike, says it has nothing to do with the Peloton knock-off — Echelon Fitness said it developed the Prime Bike “in collaboration with Amazon,” but Amazon is saying that isn’t the case.

Google Maps gets a COVID-19 layer — Google Maps users will be able to see a color-coded map indicating the number of cases per 100,000 people.

Top 20 iOS homescreen customization apps reach 5.7M installs after iOS 14 release — The three most-downloaded apps (Widgetsmith, Color Widgets and Photo Widget) account for 95% of these 5.7 million downloads.

Startups, funding and venture capital

China says it won’t approve TikTok sale, calls it ‘extortion’ — An editorial in the official English-language newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party said China has no reason to approve the “dirty” and “unfair” deal.

Zoom’s earliest investors are betting millions on a better Zoom for schools — ClassEDU is a new startup from former Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen aiming to answer the question: What if someone created a Zoom experience that was designed, not just marketed, for classrooms?

Endel raises $5M to create personalized ‘sound environments’ that improve productivity and sleep — I tried it out myself, listening to Endel’s mix of soothing music and white noise as I worked.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Fundraising lessons from David Rogier of MasterClass — Rogier says entrepreneurs should try to raise funds before launching.

Scaling to $100 million ARR: 3 founders share their insights — For this Disrupt panel, Alex Wilhelm spoke to Egnyte CEO Vineet Jain, Kaltura president Michal Tsur and GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij.

Dear Sophie: Possible to still get through I-751 and citizenship after divorce? — Another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Data breach at New York Sports Clubs owner exposed customer data — Town Sports International, the parent company of New York Sports Clubs and Christi’s Fitness gyms, is mopping up after a security lapse exposed customer data.

Curly the curling robot throws stones like a pro — Researchers designed Curly to be a robot that can observe the real world and act accordingly in a precise and strategic manner.

TC Sessions Mobility 2020 kicks off in two weeks — Speakers include Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel and Celina Mikolajczak, vice president of battery technology for Panasonic Energy of North America.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/23/daily-crunch-data-breach/

Daily Crunch: Twitter tightens security ahead of election

Twitter takes preemptive steps to avoid election-related hacks, we check out the new Apple Watches and Facebook launches new business tools. This is your Daily Crunch for September 17, 2020.

The big story: Twitter tightens security ahead of election

Twitter said today that “high-profile, election-related” accounts in the United States will be receiving notifications telling them they’re required to adopt strong passwords. The company will also be enabling password reset protections for those accounts, and encouraging them to adopt two-factor authentication.

And on top of the steps that it’s requiring candidates to take, Twitter also said it’s adopting additional “proactive internal security safeguards,” such as more sophisticated alerts.

This comes after Twitter was hacked in July, resulting in many high-profile accounts tweeting out a cryptocurrency scam. The company probably wants to avoid an election-related repeat.

The tech giants

A closer look at the new Apple Watches — This isn’t our full review, but rather Brian Heater’s first impressions of the Series 6 and SE.

Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, an app for managing business accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger — The app offers combined access to a business’s key updates and priorities across Facebook and Instagram.

Amazon makes Alexa Routines shareable — In the U.S., Alexa users will be able to visit the Routines section in the Alexa app, then click on the routine they want to share and grab a shareable URL.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Connected fitness startup Tonal raises another $110 million — It’s a pretty massive round for the strength training company, especially as the space has become increasingly crowded in recent years.

Amazon’s first five climate fund investments include Tesla co-founder JB Straubel’s startup Redwood Materials — Redwood Materials is a recycling startup aiming to create a circular supply chain.

With Goat Capital, Justin Kan and Robin Chan want to keep founding alongside the right teams — Goat Capital is a hybrid incubator, as opposed to a pure seed investment firm.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra asks 6 VCs how to raise funding when the sky is falling — Deal velocity has gone up!

Startup founders must overcome information overload — Entrepreneurs share their tips for weighing advice and data.

Does early-stage health tech need more ‘patient’ capital? — Steve O’Hear interviews Dr. Fiona Pathiraja of early-stage health tech fund Crista Galli Ventures.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Jennifer Doudna sees CRISPR gene-editing tech as a Swiss Army knife for COVID-19 and beyond — Doudna is one of the pioneers of the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR, and she discussed its potential at Disrupt.

Hulu tests its co-viewing feature ‘Watch Party’ with ad-supported viewers — Hulu Watch Party was initially only available for subscribers on the service’s ad-free tier.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/17/daily-crunch-twitter-tightens-security-ahead-of-election/

Daily Crunch: Facebook launches a college-only network

Facebook returns to its college roots, Alexa gets a printing feature and we take a deep dive into Unity’s business. This is your Daily Crunch for September 10, 2020.

The big story: Facebook launches a college-only network

If you’re old and decrepit like me, you remember when Facebook was only for college students and required a college email address to join. Well, it seems everything old is new again, because the company is piloting a new feature called Facebook Campus … which is only for college students and requires a college email address to join.

Facebook’s Charmaine Hung argued that the product is particularly relevant now: “With COVID-19, we see that many students aren’t returning to campus in the fall. Now, classes are being held online and students are trying to react to this new normal of what it’s like to connect to clubs and organizations that you care about, when you’re not together.”

Of course, this could also be a way for Facebook to try to stay relevant to a younger demographic, before they move on to other apps.

The tech giants

Amazon launches Alexa Print, a way to print lists, recipes, games and educational content using your voice — The feature works with any second-generation Echo device or newer, as well as a range of printers.

Google says it’s eliminating Autocomplete suggestions that target candidates or voting — The company says that it will now remove any Autocomplete predictions that seem to endorse or oppose a candidate or a political party, or that make a claim about voting or the electoral process.

Microsoft Surface Duo review — Brian Heater calls it a beautiful, expensive work in progress.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Orchard real estate platform raises $69 million Series C led by Revolution Growth — Orchard (formerly Perch) launched in 2017 with a mission to digitize the entire experience of buying and selling a home.

How Unity built a gaming engine for the future — Eric Peckham offers an in-depth look at the company’s financials as it prepares to go public.

India’s Zomato raises $100M from Tiger Global, says it is planning to file for IPO next year — In an email to employees, CEO Deepinder Goyal said the food delivery startup has about $250 million cash in the bank, with several more “big name” investors preparing to join the current round.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Use ‘productive paranoia’ to build cybersecurity culture at your startup — We asked Casey Ellis, founder, chairman and chief technology officer at Bugcrowd, to share his ideas for how startups can improve their security posture.

What’s driving API-powered startups forward in 2020? — It’s not hard to find startups with API-based delivery models that are doing well this year.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Announcing the Startup Battlefield companies at TechCrunch Disrupt 2020 — This is our most competitive batch to date.

$3 million Breakthrough Prize goes to scientist designing molecules to fight COVID-19 — David Baker’s work over the last 20 years has helped validate the idea that computers can help us understand and create complex molecules like proteins.

Recorded music revenue is up on streaming growth, as physical sales plummet — With vastly more people stuck inside seeking novel methods of entertainment, paid subscriptions are up 24% year-over-year.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/10/daily-crunch-facebook-campus/

Daily Crunch: Netflix sets some content free

Netflix tests a free promotional offering, Amazon’s drone delivery gets trial flight approval from the FAA and Neuralink shows off its human-brain tech. This is your Daily Crunch for August 31, 2020.

The big story: Netflix sets some content free

Netflix has taken some of its best-known Originals out from behind the paywall.

The company has already been testing out making select titles free in certain markets, and today it expanded that test across the globe, with a library of Netflix content, including “Stranger Things,” “Bird Box,” “When They See Us” and “Our Planet” now available free to non-subscribers (only the first episode, in the case of series). A skippable 30-second ad for Netflix plays before you watch.

“We’re looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience,” the company said in a statement.

The tech giants

Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery fleet gains FAA approval for trial commercial flights — While this doesn’t mean that Amazon can immediately start operating a consumer drone delivery service, it does represent a significant step toward that goal.

Apple will now allow developers stuck in App Store jail to push bug fixes to their apps — Developers currently in standoffs with Apple’s app review team still won’t be able to submit updates with new features or content updates, however.

Google launches Google Kids Space, a ‘kids mode’ feature for Android, initially on Lenovo tablets — The feature will launch first on the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD Gen 2, but Google aims to bring Kids Space to more devices in time.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Elon Musk demonstrates Neuralink’s tech live using pigs with surgically implanted brain-monitoring devices — The company’s technology is meant to serve as a new kind of interface between the human brain and computing devices.

There’s a growing movement where startup founders look to exit to community — This is a collaborative working project led by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Media Enterprise Design Lab and Zebras Unite, exploring ways to help startups transition from investor-owned to community ownership.

On the matter of who was really behind @VCBrags — This is really the only post you need on the weekend’s Twitter kerfuffle.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

In a post-NDA world, does transparency help founders identify conflicts of interest? — Today, everyone is a fintech investor and no one signs NDAs, which puts founders in a difficult position.

What pandemic? Inside Boston’s scorching VC summer — Boston-area startups raised more private capital during summer 2020 than they did in summer 2019.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Original Content podcast: Netflix’s ‘High Score’ is a selective tour through video game history — For older gamers, the series provides some pleasant jolts of nostalgia.

Some of the brightest minds in Europe are joining us at Disrupt — A roundup of all the speakers we’ve got lined up in sessions specially timed for European attendees.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/31/daily-crunch-netflix-sets-some-content-free/

Amazon relaunches Twitch Prime as Prime Gaming

Amazon Prime is highlighting its offerings for gamers today with the launch of a service called Prime Gaming.

This is a new version of Twitch Prime, a service that Amazon launched four years ago tied to the popular game streaming service that it acquired in 2014.

In both its old and new incarnations, Twitch Prime/Prime Gaming offers free games, game content like weapons and skins, and a free Twitch channel subscription, all as part of a standard Prime membership. In today’s announcement, the company said Prime Gaming includes “more new content for more games than ever before, plus more free games, and a monthly Twitch channel subscription.”

Esports expert Rod Breslau tweeted earlier today that this rebrandign was in the works.

Prime Gaming currently offers in-game content for Grand Theft Auto Online, Red Dead Online, Apex Legends, EA Sports FIFA 20, League of Legends and more than 20 other PC, console and mobile games. It also includes a free collection of PC games every month — this month the collection of 20-plus free games features SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Metal Slug 2 and Treachery in Teatdown City.

“Prime members already get the best of TV, movies, and music, and now we’re expanding our entertainment offerings to include the best of gaming,” said Prime Gaming GM Larry Plotnick in a statement. “We’re giving customers new content that makes playing their favorite games on every platform even better. So no matter what kind of games you love, and no matter where you play them, they’ll be even better with Prime Gaming.”

Amazon Prime Video finally launches user profiles to all customers worldwide

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/10/amazon-prime-gaming/

Federal judge approves ending consent decrees that prevented movie studios from owning theaters

A federal judge has approved the Department of Justice’s efforts to end the Paramount Consent Decrees — 70-year-old court orders that prevented movie studios from engaging in a variety of anticompetitive behaviors, including ownership of movie theaters.

U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres cited the rise of streaming services like Netflix as one of the reasons for her decision:

Motion picture distributors that are not subject to the Decrees have entered the market since the 1940s — most significantly, The Walt Disney Company, the leading movie distributor in 2018 with about $3 billion in domestic box office revenues … Other motion picture distributors not subject to the Decrees include Lionsgate (20 films released in 2018), Focus Features (13 films), Roadside Attractions (12 films), and STX Entertainment (10 films). …None of the internet streaming companies — Netflix, Amazon, Apple and others — that produce and distribute movies are subject to the Decrees. Thus, the remaining Defendants are subject to legal constraints that do not apply to their competitors.

It’s not clear whether this decision will have any impact on the big streaming services. Torres acknowledged the argument that even when the decrees did not apply to a given studio, they “serve as a yardstick of acceptable behavior, exerting a normative effect on industry actors who are not parties to them.”

But it’s hard to imagine anyone in 2020 thinking it’s a good idea to seriously get into the theatrical business. Domestic attendance was on the decline, even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced most theaters to close.

Netflix and Amazon have shown some interest in owning theaters before this. Amazon was reportedly in the running to acquire in the Landmark theater chain a couple years ago, and rumors that it might acquire AMC sent the theater chain’s stock shooting up earlier this year — but no acquisition has been announced, and in the meantime AMC appears to have stabilized its finances.

Netflix, meanwhile, signed a long-term lease for New York City’s Paris Theatre last year, and it may also have been interested in the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. However, these seem less like the first steps in a broader theatrical strategy and more like one-off deals designed to give the streamer access to locations that it can use for fancy premieres and other screenings.

The real impact of the ruling may be in other areas, like the elimination (after a two-year sunset period) of restrictions on block booking and circuit dealing. Without those restrictions, studios could potentially require theaters that want access to a lucrative franchise title to screen their less popular films as well.

Netflix leases New York’s Paris Theatre

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/07/goodbye-paramount-consent-decrees/

Daily Crunch: Tech CEOs face Congress

U.S. tech giants face antitrust scrutiny, Spotify has a mixed quarter and at-home fitness startup Tempo raises funding. This is your Daily Crunch for July 29, 2020.

The big story: Tech CEOs face Congress

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai all appeared remotely this afternoon before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee.

Different representatives seemed to focused on very different issues: Republicans repeatedly returned to the question of whether the large tech platforms are suppressing conservative viewpoints, while Democrats seemed more concerned about potentially anticompetitive behavior.

For example, citing newly revealed emails sent by Zuckerberg to other Facebook executives, Rep. Jerry Nadler declared, “Facebook saw Instagram as a powerful threat that could siphon business away from Facebook so rather than compete with it, Facebook bought it.” And Rep. Val Demings (like Nadler, a Democrat) suggested that Google was responsible for “effectively destroying anonymity on the internet.”

The tech giants

Spotify users are streaming again, but ad revenues still suffer due to COVID crisis — In its latest earnings report, Spotify said it grew its active monthly users by 29%, reaching 299 million.

Google One now offers free phone backups up to 15GB on Android and iOS — Google One is Google’s subscription program for buying additional storage and live support, and it’s getting an update.

Samsung reportedly considering a Google deal that would deprioritize Bixby — That’s according to Reuters.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Mirror competitor Tempo raises a $60M Series B — The news comes almost exactly a month after Mirror, one of the San Francisco-based company’s chief competitors, was acquired by fitness brand Lululemon for $500 million.

Remitly raises $85M at a $1.5B valuation, says money transfer business has surged — CEO Matt Oppenheimer told us that customer growth has increased by 200% compared to a year ago.

LA’s consumer goods rental service, Joymode, sells to the NYC retail investment firm, XRC Labs — Joymode’s founder Joe Fernandez will continue on as an advisor to the startup as it moves to pivot its business to focus on retail partnerships.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

How to time your Series A fundraise — At our Early Stage event last week, Emergence Capital’s Jake Saper said that finding the right time to fundraise requires a micro- and macro-level strategy.

Investment in AI startups slips to three-year low — A new report from CB Insights shows historically strong but declining investing rates for AI startups.

Where is voice tech going? — One of the biggest stories in emerging technology is the growth of different types of voice assistants.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Walmart launches its own voice assistant, ‘Ask Sam,’ initially for employee use — The tool allows Walmart employees to look up prices, access store maps, find products, view sales information, check email and more.

The Hummer EV is shaping up to be GM’s electric answer to the Ford Bronco and Tesla Cybertruck — GM just released its first look at the vehicle, which was announced pre-COVID, at the Super Bowl.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/29/daily-crunch-antitrust-hearing/