January 2017
Seoul-based startup AIM has closed $1.6 million in seed funding to bring its artificial intelligence-powered app for financial investments to market in Korea, and potentially other parts of Asia. The fintech company has…
Samsung teases new tablet launching at Mobile World Congress
Samsung isn’t launching its upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone at Mobile World Congress, but it looks like the Korean firm will unveil a new tablet at the Barcelona show. Today,…
Crunch Report | ACLU Enrolls in Y Combinator
We are joined by the CEO of Product Hunt, which was just acquired by AngelList, the ACLU enrolls in Y Combinator, Daimler builds a self-driving car for Uber and top…
Using tech to fix the criminal justice system
Criminal justice reform at the federal level is kind of up in the air, but local jurisdictions around the country are continuing to step up to ensure that we move…
Google’s bug bounty program pays out $3 million, mostly for Android and Chrome exploits
If you’re willing to hunt for flaws within its vast array of software and services, Google’s happy to pay up. Over the course of its 2016 Vulnerability Rewards Program, the company paid out…
Sequoia Capital has quietly announced a leadership change-up, with partner Jim Goetz taking a step back
Prominent venture firm Sequoia Capital has famously handled well its transitions from one powerful team of investors to the next. Founder Don Valentine handed the reins over to Doug Leone…
Sheryl Sandberg joins the immigration ban statement canoe
Several tech leaders spoke out against President Trump’s executive order to ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries over the weekend. Today, Sheryl Sandberg leaned into that now rather large group with…
Origami-inspired radiator from NASA could change shape to warm or cool tiny satellites
The devices we’re sending into space are getting smaller and lighter, which means there’s less room for bulky and static components. Flexibility and compactness are coming into vogue, and this…
Raising a $32M Series A, Knock seeks to stand out with new model for selling homes
Online real estate service Knock is finishing up a $32 million Series A round led by RRE Ventures. The new company, founded by former Trulia executives, promises to handle the details of home sales in…
Why Piaggio built Gita, a cargo-carrying robot, to follow in your footsteps
Piaggio, the Italian company that makes Vespa scooters and Moto Guzzi motorcycles, revealed its newest development this week: a personal delivery device or “cargo robot,” called the Gita. The robot…
LG’s 5K MacBook Pro monitor is reportedly having issues with Wi-Fi routers
When you shell out around $1,000 for a monitor, it ought to ship with a minimal set of expectations. Like, say, being able to use the thing within arm’s reach…
Apple Services have a huge quarter as App Store sees ‘record activity’
Apple just released its first quarterly earnings report of the new year, and the company was quick to share that it was a banner quarter for the company’s Services segment which topped…
Apple breaks iPhone sales record with 78.3 million units sold in the holiday quarter
With another big holiday quarter behind it, Apple saw revenues from its flagship iPhone product rise to $54.4 billion, up from $51.6 billion a year earlier. That revenue growth came as Apple reported units…
Apple shares up 3% after company beats earnings expectations
Apple’s latest quarter surpassed earnings expectations, sending the stock up about 3% in initial after-hours trading. Its fiscal first quarter of 2017 saw record earnings of $3.36 per share, well above…
When CNN picked up Casey Neistat’s Beme back in November of last year, it announced that the social video sharing app would go the way of the dodo by the…
Apple’s services are buoying its return to growth as its iPhone engine stalls
It looks like Apple’s big bet on building an array of services like iCloud, Apple Music and the App Store is starting to be the big business the company hoped…
Trump will announce his Supreme Court nominee tonight on Facebook Live
Following a chaotic, divisive first week, President Trump is set to announce his pick for the Supreme Court tonight. Not one for tradition, the White House will broadcast the nomination…
Silicon Valley is making plans to move foreign-born workers to Canada
For many U.S. startups and their foreign-born employees, a kind of back-up plan may be starting to sound like a good idea right about now. Yesterday, White House press secretary…
Comcast launches its Xfinity TV app into beta on Roku
Comcast’s Xfinity TV application launched into beta today on Roku, offering both live and on-demand programming, including local broadcast stations as well as public access and government channels. It also lets customers…
Coin will shut down its product services at the end of February
This was all inevitable, of course. Fitbit has made its plans for Coin clear since it bought the mobile payment company back in May of last year. At the time,…
Actualizing the Internet of Things all starts with wireless
While it seems “smart” everything is in full swing, the full realization of the Internet of Things is in essence still on standby mode. Homes are smarter than ever and…
Zoopla to buy house price valuer Hometrack for £120M to beef up its data services
UK property listings site Zoopla is splashing out £120 million in cash (~$150M) on a big purchase of its own — announcing its intention today to acquire real estate analytics…
Tact brings intelligent sales assistant to new Slack enterprise edition
Tact, the AI-driven sales tool that uses software smarts to simplify sales tasks, today announced integration with the newly announced Slack enterprise product, Slack Enterprise Grid. Tact, which currently has…
Facebook changes feed to promote posts that aren’t fake, sensational, or spam
Facebook is prioritizing “authentic” content in News Feed with a ranking algorithm change that detects and promotes content “that people consider genuine, and not misleading, sensational, or spammy.” It’s also…
Chevrolet ends production of the Spark EV now that the Bolt EV is out
Chevrolet is putting its electrified bets on the Bolt EV, as the company announced today that it’s ending production of the Spark EV, the compact car with a relatively meager 82…
Google open-sources Chrome for iOS
Google today announced that the code for Chrome for iOS is now part of its Chromium open source project. On iOS, Chrome has to use Apple’s WebKit rendering engine instead…
Elaine Chao is officially the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao received the confirmation of the full Senate on Tuesday. That’s the last hurdle for Chao, who now becomes the head of…
French Government to promote gender equality in the tech ecosystem
The French Government announced a new initiative today in order to promote gender equality in the tech ecosystem in France with the help of 15 organizations. Like in many other…
Slack takes aim at the corporate sector with Enterprise Grid, adds bots from SAP
Slack, the business app that lets teams of users communicate, share files from other services, and work on them with each other, has taken off like wildfire since launching three years…
President Trump cancelled the signing of an executive order on cybersecurity without explanation, per pool reports. Trump had been expected to sign the order today to commission a review of…
