Darrell Etherington

Editor at Large, TechCrunch

Writer covering space, science and health tech. Formerly covering automotive and mobility tech, and previously an employee of Apple and also of Shopify.

Darrell Etherington

MIT and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) teamed up to create a new kind of structure that can “remember” its original shape, and return to that state…

MIT’s shape-shifting 3D-printed objects could improve medicine and solar-power

Self-driving cars have a tendency to become more adorable as big tech companies iterate their design, and Baidu’s new modified Chery eQ all-electric test vehicle is no exception. It resembles…

Here’s Baidu’s new all-electric self-driving test car

This year’s Paris motor show will host the unveiling of Volkswagen’s first all-electric car, according to an interview with company chairman Herbert Diess in German magazine WirstschaftWoche. The car will…

Volkswagen’s 2019 electric car said to get 300 miles on a 15-minute charge

Danish startup Spiri believes urban transportation is still massively inefficient, and it’s setting out to tackle the problem from a few different directions. First, it’s building an on-demand carpooling service,…

Spiri’s on-demand carpooling service will use custom EVs and let drivers ride free

Serendipity has long been a staple of scientific study, and a new discovery by MIT is no exception. Researchers at the school were trying to build better batteries, but instead…

MIT’s new way to make metal could significantly lower air pollutants

Best Buy has provided in-person demonstrations for Oculus Rift basically since there were real Oculus Rift headsets to demonstrate – the retailer announced back in May it would provide demos…

Best Buy bets on VR for the holidays with 500 stores demoing Oculus Rift

Halo 5: Forge, the level creation tool that lets players build their own worlds and create new game experiences for Halo 5: Guardians, has come to Windows 10 PCs. The free…

Halo 5: Forge gives PC users level creation powers on September 8

While Pokémon Go is definitely the primary benefactor of its own success, that doesn’t mean it’s hurting its competition in the mobile gaming space. New data from mobile commerce provider…

Pokémon Go is boosting competitor in-app purchase revenue, too

In January, GM did something somewhat unusual for a company founded in 1908 – it began a car sharing operation, offering customers a fleet of new vehicles on-demand, for use in…

How GM’s Maven car sharing service got to over 4.2M miles driven in 7 months

TechCrunch has a new podcast, and it’s TCBC, a show where I speak to a different writer on staff each week about their beat, the stories they’re following, and the…

Listen to the premiere of TCBC, a new podcast from TechCrunch

Tesla has a new, larger battery option for the Model S and Model X line of electric vehicles, which includes an improved Ludicrous Mode that boasts a 2.5 second 0-60…

Tesla’s new Model S P100D adds range and cranks Ludicrous Mode up a notch

PlaySation Now, the all-you-can game subscription service that provides access to classic PlayStation titles on-demand, is making its way to Windows PCs, starting now in Europe and rolling out soon in…

Sony unveils PlayStation Now for PC and wireless DualShock 4 USB adapter

Google is set to launch Daydream VR sometime “in the coming weeks,” according to Bloomberg, after laying the groundwork for its launch with the official debut of Android 7.0 this…

Google’s Daydream VR reportedly launching soon with original YouTuber content

Elon Musk is going to unveil some Tesla product news at noon PT (3 PM ET) today, and the market is liking the potential, despite the CEO not providing any…

Tesla stock surges as Elon Musk teases ‘product announcement’

Researchers at MIT’s CSAIL research lab might help future network hardware better keep pace with ever-increasing network data demands. Where typical network router hardware directing traffic in larger server farms…

MIT’s programmable routers let old network hardware learn new traffic tricks

Mobileye, a key supplier of components like image processing  and computer vision systems for automakers, announced a partnership with self-driving software and hardware provider Delphi today to be able to bring…

Mobileye and Delphi aim to bring self-driving cars to market as early as 2019

Faraday Future is driving a camouflaged version of a real upcoming production EV in LA, according to Electrek. The site reports that a candid shot of a covered-up SUV is…

This could be Faraday Future’s answer to the Tesla Model X

Amazon wants to do what it does best, selling subscriptions with a competition-beating value prop. This time around, it hopes to provide a subscription music streaming service for $4 or…

Amazon said to plan cut-rate streaming music for Echo devices

Shopify is launching its retail hardware and point-of-sale app for merchants in the UK. The reader supports tap, chip and swipe payments, letting retailers accept both contactless and traditional card-based…

Shopify launches its POS app and card reader in the UK

Twitter is rolling out night mode to users of its official iOS app, the company announced today. Night mode turns Twitter’s dark-text-on-light-background interface upside down, giving a darker look that…

Twitter for iOS gets ‘night mode’ support

The Analogue Nt mini isn’t an NES – it’s better. The third-party system created by designer Christopher Taber is a work of art in its own right, crafted from a…

The Analogue Nt mini console is a loving tribute to NES history

Researchers at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab have stepped up their game from an Ikea-like chair that can put itself together: the team built a working cell phone that’s self-building, Fast Company…

MIT built a self-assembling cell phone

Microsoft announced today that it acquired Genee, an AI-powered scheduling assistant bot that specializes in planning meetings for large groups or when organizers don’t have direct access to the calendars…

Microsoft acquires AI scheduling bot Genee for Office 365 smarts

Sony’s XAV-AX100 in-dash car stereo system might be the best way to get your hands on Android Auto or CarPlay without plunking down a fortune for a new car. The…

Sony’s new $500 in-dash receiver looks like the best value for Android Auto and CarPlay

Samsung is looking to sell its own refurbished devices in order to make money on its premium smartphones a second time around, according to Reuters. The company will introduce a…

Samsung said to sell its own refurbished smartphones in 2017

Want to sit in judgement of original content and decide its fate? Now’s your chance — Amazon’s latest slate of original TV show pilots is available for streaming, and it…

Amazon’s latest original pilots now streaming, including ‘The Tick’

The Pokémon Company, what is going on right now. How is it possible that one of the new pocketable monsters you created for Pokémon Sun/Moon is actually a pile of…

More new Pokémon revealed for Sun and Moon, and one is a pile of sand

What does the future of Cadillac look like? The Escala, the company’s new concept car, holds the answers. The Escala is on show publicly for the first time at the…

Cadillac’s new Escala concept reveals design evolution inside and out

In-vehicle infotainment systems on newer cars increasingly offer access to your favorite media and navigation apps, thanks to systems like CarPlay and Android Auto, but older cars from even just…

Hudly wants to bring your favorite apps to the car with an aftermarket HUD

Dyson’s 360 Eye robot vacuum has been a long time coming to U.S. carpets. The squat little cylinder of a bot first broke cover in September 2014, with a splashy…

Dyson’s 360 Eye robot vacuum succeeds by seeing more