January 2017
Shopify’s new R&D office in Toronto points to huge expansion ambitions
Well on its way to becoming the most influential tech company in Canada, Shopify is growing – and growing fast. The e-commerce platform company just opened its second Toronto office, Shopify…
Announcing the 10th Annual Crunchies Board Members
With a little over two weeks until the 10th Annual Crunchies Awards, it is our pleasure to announce the Crunchies Board members. This group of investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, technologists…
Russia-backed RT unblocked on Facebook, claims Dataminr also revoked access
Russian state-funded media company RT (previously Russia Today) was temporarily banned from posting content to Facebook — a move that would have prevented the organization form posting articles, photos or video to…
Dish’s Air TV set-top box is half-baked at launch
At this year’s CES, Dish introduced a 4K-ready streaming media player called Air TV, which is designed to combine Sling TV’s internet television service with over-the-air channels pulled in through…
Sign up to buy limited 2-for-1 tickets To Disrupt NY 2017
We’re giving you an unprecedented opportunity to purchase a limited supply of tickets at a special rate of two for the price of one. Only 50 pairs of tickets will…
NHTSA’s full final investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot shows 40% crash rate reduction
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its full findings following the investigation into last year’s fatal crash involving a driver’s use of Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot feature. The…
Audible’s iTunes exclusivity ends following antitrust pushback in Europe
Since 2003, Amazon-owned Audible has been the sole proprietor of audiobook on iTunes, a deal that has ruffled plenty of publishing feathers and raised some antitrust red flags around the…
Apply now for TechCrunch Include Office Hours with Betaworks in New York
TechCrunch Include Office Hours are back and will take place in New York on January 25th from 3-5 p.m. Betaworks partner Matt Hartman will be hosting private feedback sessions for startups. For…
Deliveroo begins UK trial of subscription service for restaurant food delivery
Restaurant food delivery company Deliveroo has begun trialing a subscription service in the U.K. — presumably targeted at its most frequent and loyal customers.
Twitter doesn’t have quite as many white employees as it did last year
But there are still a lot. Twitter just released its first diversity report since hiring Jeffrey Siminoff, the former director of worldwide inclusion and diversity at Apple, in December 2015. Overall,…
U.S. traffic safety agency to close Tesla Autopilot investigation without recall request
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will close the investigation it began six months ago into a driver death that occurred while using Tesla’s Autopilot highway semi-autonomous driving…
Report: $12BN invested in European startups last year, but fewer $30M+ deals
Investment in European startups held up last year despite fears of a slowdown, with some $12 billion invested during the year, according to an annual report compiled by French investment…
SeatGeek’s new Pano feature gives ticketbuyers a 360-degree view of the stadium
SeatGeek is launching a new way to give ticketbuyers a better sense of exactly what they’ll see from a given seat. The new feature, called Pano, offers a 360-degree view…
Oracle boosts cloud offering with Apiary API management tool acquisition
Oracle acquired API management startup Apiary today for an undisclosed amount. Apiary, which launched in 2011 and has raised a modest $8.5 million, helps companies manage APIs, which is an…
Yext, the company that helps businesses make sure that their location data appears correctly in search results, is announcing that Jim Steele will be joining the company full-time as president…
Watch a bad-ass X-23 out-claw Wolverine in the latest trailer for Logan
Logan, the third instalment in the Wolverine series, is set to premiere on March 3, and there’s a new trailer to check out. The movie has looked, in previous teasers,…
Disney launches its own adult coloring book app
Adult coloring book apps are all the rage, and now Disney’s getting in on that action, too. The company has today released its own take on the genre with the launch…
Alibaba is now the official cloud services provider of the Olympics
Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Alibaba and the International Olympic Committee announced that Alibaba will become the official “Cloud Services” provider for the Olympics. The deal will last…
AI software is figuring out how to best humans at designing new AI software
Who programs the programmers? Soon enough, it might not be people behind the development of advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence tech, but other AI. MIT looks at the most…
Founders, don’t trust your venture capitalists… or should you?
When should you trust a venture capitalist, and when should you prepare for battle?
Developers have long tried (and mostly failed) to give users a social media platform that centers around music. Apps like DubSmash and Musical.ly have risen above the rest, but a…
Security startup CryptoMove fragments data and moves it around to keep it secure
CryptoMove, a new security startup emerging from stealth today, has a different view of data security. Instead of simply encrypting, monitoring or recording it; the early-stage startup breaks the data…
It’s pitchin’ time! In preparation for Disrupt New York in May I’m going to hold a few pitching workshops in New York for you all. We’ll listen to and critique…
Fujifilm debuts its GFX 50S digital medium format camera, the X100F and more
Fujifilm has revealed release dates for a trio of new cameras in its classically inspired retro digital lineup, as well as new lenses and other accessories. The news today from…
Samsung finally starts updating its devices with Android 7.0 Nougat, with more arriving soon
Back in November, Samsung announced preliminary plans to start testing Android 7.0 on its latest devices. For the second year in a row, the company was mostly testing the waters…
LinkedIn debuts new desktop version with ‘chatbots’, new search and more
After a short preview in September last year, and the small matter of getting acquired for $26.2 billion by Microsoft, today LinkedIn — the social network for the professional world with close…
Panasonic wants to expand Tesla partnership to sensors for self-driving
Panasonic is hoping that it can get even closer to partner Tesla, after the relationship between the two has proven so fruitful in the realm of electric vehicle batteries. The…
DigiLens grabs $22 million from Sony, Foxconn as it looks to print next-gen AR displays
The hype behind augmented reality tech has been giving a lot of display manufacturers the motivation to rethink how modern displays work. Current optics technologies being used by HoloLens, Vuzix and Magic Leap…
A fun little side project-cum-startup from two of the founders of Soundwave, the social music company acquired by Spotify, wants to turn patents into art. Launching today, Retro Patents lets…
The Davos delusion
The Davos Delusion Davos leaders are gathering this week to change the world. Again. “We are faced by a world which is increasingly schizophrenic. Our world is rapidly changing and…
