Sarah Perez
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Capsule raises $2 million for its collaborative video platform aimed at brands
Capsule, a video Q&A platform aimed at brands, emerged last year in direct response to the challenges companies were facing in terms of reaching consumers during the pandemic. Now, the business ha
Thimble teaches kids STEM skills with robotics kits combined with live Zoom classes
Parents with kids stuck learning at home during the pandemic have had to look for alternative activities to promote the hands-on learning experiences kids are missing out on due to attending class vir
Samsung unveils its newest Tile competitor, the Galaxy SmartTag
Alongside its other CES announcements, at Samsung’s Unpacked event today the company introduced its new Galaxy SmartTag Bluetooth locator, a lost item beacon for Samsung owners and a competitor
Zocdoc founder returns with Shadow, an app that finds lost dogs
Every year, around 10 million pets go missing in the U.S., and millions of those end up in shelters where they aren’t always reunited with their owners, due to their lack of identification or a
TikTok update will change privacy settings and defaults for users under 18
TikTok announced today it’s making changes to its app to make the experience safer for younger users. The company will now set the accounts for users ages 13 to 15 to private by default, as well
App stores saw record 218 billion downloads in 2020, consumer spend of $143 billion
Mobile adoption continued to grow in 2020, in part due to the market forces of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to App Annie’s annual “State of Mobile” industry report, mobile app do
Study finds around one-third of Americans regularly get their news from Facebook
Around a third of Americans regularly get their news from Facebook, according to the latest study from Pew Research Center, whose surveys aim to better understand the current media landscape in the U.
Facebook revamps ‘Access Your Information’ tool to better break down, explain data usage
Facebook today is rolling out an update to its Access Your Information tool with the goal of making the tool easier to both use and navigate, as well as better explain how and why that data is used. T
Walmart partners with smart box maker HomeValet for grocery delivery pilot
Walmart announced today it will soon begin to pilot a new solution that could eventually allow the retailer to deliver groceries to customers’ homes 24 hours per day. The company is partnering w
PopSockets announces its MagSafe-compatible iPhone 12 accessories
In October, TechCrunch broke the news that PopSockets was developing its own line of MagSafe-compatible products that will support the new wireless charging capabilities of the iPhone 12 devices. Toda
Facebook says it will remove references to ‘stop the steal’ across its platform
In the wake of last week’s violence at the U.S. Capitol, Facebook today announced it will be taking additional steps to remove content referencing the phrase “stop the steal” on its
Following riots, alternative social apps and private messengers top the app stores
Alternative social media apps, including MeWe, CloutHub and other privacy-focused rivals to big tech, are topping the app stores following Trump’s ban from mainstream social platforms like Faceb
Hulu discounts its on-demand service to $1.99 per month for students
Looking to gain traction with a younger user base, Hulu this morning announced it’s dropping the price of its on-demand streaming service to $1.99 per month for students over 18 who are attendin
Apple suspends Parler from App Store
Apple confirmed that it has suspended the conservative social media app Parler from the App Store, shortly after Google banned it from Google Play. The app, which became a home to Trump supporters and
This Week in Apps: Social apps react to riots, Parler gets booted, FTC threatens regulation
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry is as hot as ever, with a
TikTok bans videos of Trump inciting mob, blocks #stormthecapital and other hashtags
For obvious reasons, Trump doesn’t have a TikTok account. But the president’s speeches that helped incite the mob who yesterday stormed the U.S. Capitol will have no home on TikTok’s
FTC settles with mobile ad company Tapjoy over deceptive practices
Mobile advertising company Tapjoy has settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over allegations that it was misleading consumers about the in-app rewards they could earn in mobile games. Accordi
Former Disney and Discovery execs to launch Struum, a ‘ClassPass for streaming services’
Former Disney and Discovery execs are teaming up to launch a new streaming service called Struum, arriving in the spring, that aims to take the ClassPass model and apply it to the streaming landscape.
TikTok rolls out its first lidar-powered AR effect
Snapchat was among the first apps to leverage the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR Scanner for AR, but now TikTok has followed suit. The social video app confirmed today it has launched its first-ever lida
Twitter acqui-hires creative agency Ueno to help design new products
Twitter this morning announced it’s bringing the full-service creative agency Ueno in-house to work alongside Twitter’s own design and research teams. The move, an acqui-hire of sorts, is