It’s only been a few days since CES closed its doors, but there are still plenty of new gadgets to be had. Some companies, after all, would rather not launch their products into the noise that is the world’s largest consumer electronics show. Seattle-based Wyze is one of these. The company made its name by
HBO Max is raising the price of its ad-free monthly subscription in the U.S. from $14.99 to $15.99 plus applicable taxes, effective immediately for new subscribers. The change marks the first time that HBO Max has increased the price of its service since launching in May 2020. “Existing subscribers who are currently paying $14.99/month will
Stripe, a richly valued payments startup, has cut its internal valuation yet again, according to sources familiar with the manner. It is now valued, internally, at $63 billion. The cut, first reported by The Information, puts Stripe’s internal per-share price at $24.71, down 40% since peaking. The 11% cut comes after an internal valuation cut
Africa, bucking global trends, raised more VC dollars in 2022 than 2021. But its unicorn list stayed stagnant Tage Kene-Okafor 8 hours The African tech scene was met with fanfare in 2021: Venture capital investments in the region totaled between $4 billion and $5 billion and produced five unicorns. In my piece detailing this progress,
There’s long existed a divide in the world of computer hacking between those who are taking a malicious approach to crack a system, and those who are using the same techniques to understand the system’s vulnerabilities, help fix them and at the same time fight against the malicious actors. Today, Hack The Box, one of
After years of denials and loathing, Apple may finally be getting around to bringing touchscreens to MacBooks. According to Bloomberg, Apple is actively working on this project and may break away from its long-standing approach of designing a traditional desktop system without a touchscreen. Apple could launch MacBooks with touchscreens by 2025 as a part
Kakao Entertainment announced today it has raised $966 million (1.2 trillion won) in financing from sovereign wealth funds, such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore-based PWARP Investment. The entertainment subsidiary of South Korean internet giant Kakao operates storytelling platforms (web novels and webtoons), music streaming, K-pop artists management, and other media (movie
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Hello from a very rain-drenched, the Cure-themed, semi-goth-and-sad Silicon Valley (Haje) and a lovely, sunny and warm day (Christine). It’s hard to imagine one from the other, and so here we are,
Launch startup ABL Space Systems’ first orbital launch attempt ended in failure Tuesday after all nine engines on the RS1 rocket’s first stage shut down simultaneously. The rocket subsequently hit the launch pad and was destroyed on impact. The rocket took off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska’s Kodiak Island at around 6:27 PM
The Inflation Reduction Act has clearly kickstarted investment in U.S. clean energy manufacturing. Last year, automakers and battery manufacturers announced that they’d spend tens of billions of dollars to ramp up EV production in the U.S. Now it’s solar’s turn. Today, Korean solar manufacturer Hanwha Qcells announced that it’ll spend $2.5 billion to build a
Privacy watchers keen to dig into the regulatory reasoning underpinning two major decisions against Meta earlier this month — which struck down Facebook and Instagram’s claim of contractual necessity as a valid legal basis to run behavioral advertising on users in the European Union — can now sift through the detail after the complainant, privacy
This was the CES of putting things on my face. I spent time with the Magic Leap 2, Meta Quest Pro, Vive XR Elite and PSVR2 over the course of a few days. All of those products fit in the same bucket, more or less. And then there’s the Dyson Zone, a product that, quite
It may have been a weird feeling to watch Golden Globe Awards live on television this year. Last year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that hosts the ceremony, was criticized for lacking diversity, so NBC announced it wouldn’t broadcast the awards show and the event’s winners were live-tweeted instead. The HFPA claims it’s
BMW AG CEO Oliver Zipse’s CES keynote last night introduced the German carmaker’s push into AI and a re-envisioning of dashboard displays with augmented reality. ——– Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg Technology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrM7B7SL_g1edFOnmj-SDKg Watch the latest full episodes of “Bloomberg Technology” with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow here: https://tinyurl.com/ycyevxda Get the latest in tech from
Abby Miller Levy Contributor Last year was when we all got the wake-up call about longevity. From major reports published on the impact of longevity by the National Academy of Medicine and McKinsey to every leading newspaper, public discourse highlighted how our global healthcare, financial and housing infrastructure was failing to serve a rapidly growing
About 25% of the startups on Secfi’s platform cut their valuations last year Frederik Mijnhardt 9 hours Frederik Mijnhardt Contributor Frederik Mijnhardt is the CEO of Secfi, an equity planning, stock option financing and wealth management platform for startup executives and employees. More posts by this contributor How investors can still get strong returns from
Bad news for Google in Germany — where the antitrust watchdog has issued a preliminary statement of objections over its data processing terms and said it’s currently planning to require the tech giant to provide users with more choice over what it does with their information. The Bundeskartellamt, or Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has been investigating
Samsung announced today that it’s holding the next Galaxy Unpacked event on February 1 at 10.30 AM PT/1.30 PM ET. The company will expectedly announce the S23 series of phones at its first in-person event in three years. The South Korean tech giant is hosting this event in San Fransico with a “Get ready to
Netflix will continue its foray into livestreaming with a new multi-year partnership with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. Beginning in 2024, the award ceremony will be broadcast live on the streamer, becoming the first major film and television awards show to air on Netflix. As part of the new deal, Netflix will stream this
You don’t need to be an economist to appreciate the myriad forces placing downward pressure on startups today. Setting aside the legions of investors keeping their powder dry, is your yearly revenue growing faster than the inflation rate? What percentage of your sales team has experience working during a downturn? Amidst the angst, there’s some
The crypto venture capital industry has become more selective thanks to the general market downturn and wavering trust caused by a slew of scandals and market disruptions, but investors at major firms are still writing checks in the space. Amid market volatility, decentralized finance, or DeFi, is an area that continues to be in focus
There are some mega-trends playing out across developed-world workforces that startups are picking up on. There’s the digitisation of healthcare, the ‘platforming’ of employee services, and the macro effects of older employees, combined with the cost of living crisis for new parents. Founded in London in 2018, Peppy offer services around menopause, fertility, pregnancy and
AR/VR/MX took center stage at CES 2023. Automotive trends got a lot of love, as well, as did robotics and the metaverse. Heck, even pee-related gadgets had their moment to shine last week in Vegas. Another trend, however, was ever-present, if decidedly more understanded. The last few years have been a roller coaster for the
A live-action series based on the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons is coming to Paramount+. The pilot of the show was written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who wrote films like “Dodgeball” and “Red Notice.” The series will be co-produced by Hasbro’s eOne and Paramount Pictures, which are also working together on the upcoming
Investment giant Fidelity announced today that it has acquired Shoobx, a venture-backed fintech startup, for an undisclosed amount. Jason Furtado and Stephan Richter founded Boston-based Shoobx in 2013, according to Crunchbase. The pair went on to raise a known $10 million in funding for the company with investors such as Austin-based Scout Ventures and Steve
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Haje is still dazed from spending a week deep in the bowels of Las Vegas for CES 2023 but is grateful to be back in the Daily Crunch saddle. Let’s see what’s
Activity in the self-driving car industry, frenetic for years, has somewhat stalled in more recent times, but a handful of the most promising companies are continuing to see their businesses grow and attract investment in the process. In one of the more recent developments, Oxbotica, a startup out of England that develops software to power
Here’s something that seems all but a guarantee: The way we purchase expensive electronics is going to change. Years after the U.S. began moving away from the carrier-based model of phone purchases, it seems as though we’re heading toward another sort of subscription model in the form of hardware as a service. Even with that
Xfinity announced today that customers using the Xfinity Stream app can now use Apple AirPlay to stream and share content directly to Apple TV 4K and other AirPlay-supported devices, such as Samsung smart TVs, LG, Sony, Vizio, and smart speakers like Bose and Sonos. AirPlay functionality is important for a pay TV streaming app, so
Sep.19 — Four space tourists safely ended their trailblazing trip to orbit Saturday with a splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the ocean just before sunset, not far from where their chartered flight began three days earlier. The all-amateur crew on the Inspiration4 mission was the first to