Oct 28th
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The Latest
Media & Entertainment
This Week in Apps: Google Play gets new rules, Apple launches app marketing tools, EU looks to rein in tech giants
8:16 am PDT • October 3, 2020
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the TechCrunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is…
Controversial former Uber exec Emil Michael has registered plans for a $250M SPAC
11:18 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, are all the rage right now, and people are emerging from all corners to raise them. Among the latest entrants — and someone who…
AI
Google research lets sign language switch ‘active speaker’ in video calls
5:31 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
An aspect of video calls that many of us take for granted is the way they can switch between feeds to highlight whoever’s speaking. Great — if speaking is how…
The next big tech hearing is scheduled for October 28
4:46 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
A day after the Senate Commerce Committee moved forward with plans to subpoena the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google, it looks like some of the most powerful leaders in…
Media & Entertainment
Twitter will make users remove tweets hoping Trump dies of COVID-19
4:35 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 result has made Twitter a busy place in the past 24 hours, including some tweets that have publicly wished — some subtly and others more…
Featured Article
2 Kindred Capital partners discuss the firm’s focus and equitable venture model
Kindred Capital, the London-based VC that backs early-stage founders in Europe and Israel, recently closed its second seed fund at £81 million. Out if its first fund raised in 2018, the firm has backed 29 companies. They include Five, which is building software for autonomous vehicles; Paddle, SaaS for software e-commerce; Pollen, a peer-to-peer marketplace…
3:36 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
Media & Entertainment
Daily Crunch: Twitter confronts image-cropping concerns
3:19 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
Twitter addresses questions of bias in its image-cropping algorithms, we take a look at Mario Kart Live and the stock market takes a hit after President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. This…
Startups
Index Ventures’ Nina Achadjian and Sarah Cannon: ‘There’s basically an infinite bid’ for growth-stage startups
3:10 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
The venture world is swimming in capital these days, and the flood doesn’t appear to be abating. That’s changing the game for venture capitalists and their firms, which transformed from…
Media & Entertainment
Twitter is building ‘Birdwatch,’ a system to fight misinformation by adding more context to tweets
2:09 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
Twitter is developing a new product called “Birdwatch,” which the company confirms is an attempt at addressing misinformation across its platform by providing more context for tweets, in the form…
Daydream, Google’s mobile-focused virtual reality platform, is losing official support from Google, Android Police reports. The company confirmed that it will no longer be updating the Daydream software, with the…
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Security
A security flaw in Grindr let anyone easily hijack user accounts
1:22 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
Grindr, one of the world’s largest dating and social networking apps for gay, bi, trans, and queer people, has fixed a security vulnerability that allowed anyone to hijack and take…
Transportation
Uber sells $500M stake in its freight business as the ride-hailing giant works to conserve cash
1:20 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
One year ago, Uber’s business model could be categorized as an “all of the above approach,” a strategy to generate revenue from all forms of transportation, including ride-hailing, micromobility, logistics…
Human Capital: Coinbase and Clubhouse aside, Ethel’s Club founder wants to take us ‘Somewhere Good’
1:00 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
Welcome back to Human Capital, a weekly digest about diversity, inclusion and the human labor that powers tech. This week, we’re looking at a number of topics because a lot…
Startups
Singapore’s GIC and TPG to invest over $1 billion in Reliance Retail
12:50 pm PDT • October 2, 2020
GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, will invest $752 million in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, and TPG will invest $250 million in the Indian firm, they all said Saturday midnight (local time).…
Neobanks have created a new tech stack, completely changing the services, products and speed at which they are delivered, and creating more fluidity in payments and currencies.
Plaid, the company building a universal banking API that lets you connect an app or service with a bank account, has updated Plaid Link. Plaid Link is the interface you…
AI
Writer pens a $5M seed round for its AI style guide that flags bias and tone
10:59 am PDT • October 2, 2020
Anyone who writes online or in a word processor has likely gotten used to the inevitable squiggly line denoting a misspelled word or clumsy phrase. But what if you use…
Crypto
Propy, a blockchain-verified platform for selling houses, raises funding from Tim Draper
10:51 am PDT • October 2, 2020
For several years, blockchain technology has been touted as a way to verify the sale of property. Any kind of property. And so entrepreneurs busily began the process of trying…
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is adding a new way to withdraw funds from your Coinbase account. If you’ve added a compatible debit card to your account, you can transfer USD, EUR…
AI
Kaleido’s Unscreen is dead simple drag-and-drop background removal for video
9:09 am PDT • October 2, 2020
Removing the background of a video you’ve shot can be a real pain if you don’t have the kind of tools and setup used by professionals — and even then…
