The Latest
Media & Entertainment
Postmates laid off all its city managers yesterday
6:08 am PDT • August 31, 2017
While one on-demand delivery startup expands this week, another is contracting a bit. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Postmates has let go of all of its city managers, as it centralizes…
This former CIA analyst has signed big deals — and $40 million in new funding — for his internet monitoring startup
6:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Tim Junio knew as a high school student that he wanted to join the CIA. He even wrote as much in his college application to Johns Hopkins University, where he…
Startups
Podcast-focused media company HowStuffWorks spins out with $15M in new funding
6:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
HowStuffWorks has changed owners more than once in the past few years. Discovery sold the company to Blucora in 2014, and Blucora, in turn, sold it to digital advertising company System1…
Media & Entertainment
Google brings stickers and Bitmoji support to its Gboard for Android
6:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Gboard for Android is getting support for stickers for all those times you just can’t find the right GIF. Words, after all, can’t always express how we really feel.
Media & Entertainment
You can now pre-order a brand new, working Street Fighter II SNES cartridge
5:52 am PDT • August 31, 2017
If you still have a functional SNES console, or one of the myriad third-party devices that plays actual SNES cartridges, you probably want to rush out and pre-order this limited…
Media & Entertainment
Salesforce, IBM deepen partnership with new app integrations
5:45 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Salesforce and IBM are joining forces again as they attempt to deepen their alliance. The partnership began last March when they agreed to sell each other’s artificial intelligence products, Watson and…
Hardware
Ricoh’s new Theta V 360 camera offers 4K, spatial audio and more
5:30 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Ricoh has revealed a brand new version of its Theta 360-degree camera: The Theta V, which upgrades the video capture quality to 4K resolution, adds live streaming support, and immersive…
Transportation
SpaceX runs its Tesla-powered pusher at 220 mph on Hyperloop test track
5:29 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Elon Musk apparently felt left out when student teams competed to achieve top speed on the SpaceX Hyperloop test track last weekend, because he decided to run the SpaceX pusher…
Same-day delivery startup Deliv expands to 1,400 cities, rivalling Amazon’s Prime Now
4:28 am PDT • August 31, 2017
As Amazon continues to expand its retail muscle beyond its own e-commerce portal, there’s been some activity among startups and businesses hoping to develop systems that can help others compete…
Hardware
Sony’s Xperia XZ1 will ship with Android Oreo and a camera that doubles as a 3D scanner
4:15 am PDT • August 31, 2017
It’s hard to shake the feeling that Sony’s Xperia line exists primarily as a method for getting its camera technology out in the world. It’s not that they’re not solid…
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Privacy
Building health AIs should be UK ambition, says strategy review
4:04 am PDT • August 31, 2017
A wide-ranging, UK government-commissioned industrial strategy review of the life sciences sector, conducted by Oxford University’s Sir John Bell, has underlined the value locked up in publicly-funded data held by…
Media & Entertainment
Garmin debuts three new wearables and a mobile payment solution
4:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Garmin has three new wearable devices it’s debuting at IFA 2017, including the vivosport GPS-enabled activity tracker, the vivomove HR hybrid touchscreen smartwatch and the vivoactive 3, a smartwatch with…
Transportation
Magna’s new MAX4 self-driving platform offers autonomy up to Level 4
3:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Top tier 1 automotive industry supplier Magna has introduced a new functional autonomous driving platform concept it’s showing off to automaker customers, which it says can work with any vehicle…
Uber’s Asian rival Grab loses its head of engineering
1:18 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Grab may be in the process of raising a huge $2.5 billion investment round, with SoftBank, Didi and Toyota confirmed as participants, but Uber’s Southeast Asia-based rival has lost its head…
Olympus makes extremely good mirrorless cameras. I’ve been using a first-generation OM-D for a number of years now, and I know a couple of TechCrunch staff members who swear by…
Hardware
Logitech’s latest keyboard, The Craft, adds a smart knob called The Crown
12:02 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Smart knobs have a short and not very illustrious history, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t cool. That, at least, appears to be the thinking at Logitech, which has just…
Privacy
Libratone update will add Amazon Alexa voice control to its speakers
12:00 am PDT • August 31, 2017
Libratone, a Danish maker of snazzy high end wireless speakers, has announced its existing Zipp and Zipp Mini speakers will get support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant via a free…
LG’s V30 is a solid, camera-focused flagship
12:00 AM PDT • August 31, 2017
Recorded on August 30, 2017. The V30 goes a way to push smartphone imagery even beyond what many of its competitors have done in the…
LG gets a fraction of the love of heavier hitters like Samsung and Apple, but it’s not for lack of trying. The company makes good — and in many cases…
Startups
Pium’s smart diffuser wants to design a new user experience for your nose
10:49 pm PDT • August 30, 2017
When Google Home was unveiled, many people immediately noted the smart speaker’s striking resemblance to a home fragrance diffuser. Now there’s a smart home fragrance diffuser that looks like a…
