Sources: SoftBank has taken a $4B stake in Nvidia, representing an equity holding of 4.9%, which is just under the amount requiring a regulatory disclosure
Stake represents 4.9 percent of total outstanding shares — Holding seen moving into SoftBank's $93 Billion Vision Fund
Microsoft says its Xbox Game Pass streaming service will launch on June 1 for $9.99/month, offering 100+ Xbox One and 360 games
Today Microsoft revealed that its new Xbox One game subscription service will be available on June 1st. Called Game Pass, the service was first announced back in February …
Apple launches free Swift app development curriculum on iBooks, which will be offered by six community colleges this fall
Apple has today announced that is launching a new app development curriculum designed to teach students how to start using Swift to create fully functional iPhone apps.
Intel to offer Thunderbolt 3 protocol specification to chipmakers royalty free starting next year and integrate Thunderbolt into its CPUs
Nearly two years ago, Intel gave a major boost to Thunderbolt, its zippy hardware interface, by embracing USB-C, the do-it-all port that will eventually eat the world.
Samsung's new Gear 360 camera goes on sale in the US on May 25 for $229, available in-store and online
Samsung has finally confirmed pricing and U.S. availability for its refreshed Gear 360 camera. — The second generation device will go on sale on May 25 in-store and online through Samsung …
Google to begin using credit and debit card transaction data to show that online ads prompt consumers to buy in physical stores, details privacy-preserving tech
what you buy at stores in person Inquirer : Google is tallying your ad-clicks to your physical shopping BBC : Google plans to track credit card spending PYMNTS.com : Google Using Card Data To Track Wh...
Collaboration platform Smartsheet raises $52M Series F led by existing investor Insight Venture Partners at a $800M valuation
Cloud-based communication and collaboration platforms are the name of the game today in enterprise software, and now one of the still-independent leaders in that space …
Google Attribution, a free tool for examining marketing strategies and customer purchases, goes live in beta
At Google's Marketing Next conference, the company is announcing a new beta for Google Attribution, a free tool for examining the role that different marketing strategies play in customer purchasing d...
Blockstack releases developer edition of blockchain-powered browser, plans to introduce tokens later this year
Blockchain startup Blockstack has released a decentralized browser aimed at making apps more easily accessible. — In a way, the release is a kind of Netscape for the decentralized internet …
IKEA says its Trådfri smart lights will be compatible with Apple's HomeKit, Amazon Echo, and Google Home by autumn
Coming this summer and fall — Ikea's low-cost TRÅDFRI smart lights first announced in Europe last year, will soon get voice control for owners of Google Home, Apple HomeKit, and Amazon Alexa devices...
LinkedIn, HPE, and others launch Open19 Foundation, a nonprofit to support open and customizable datacenter designs
The Open19 Foundation, whose founding members also include GE Digital, Vapor IO and Flex, will support open hardware and open software projects.
Warsaw-based medical booking platform DocPlanner raises €15M Series D led by ENERN Investments
Health tech startup, DocPlanner has raised €15 million in a Series D round to further grow its SaaS healthcare booking platform. — The fresh round of funding was led by ENERN Investments …
1Password adds Travel Mode feature that lets users easily wipe passwords from the app before departing and then restore them upon arrival
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge :
Google's AlphaGo beats world's top Go player, China's Ke Jie; China reportedly blocked livestreams of the match, despite enormous interest within the country
Paul Mozur / New York Times :
Amazon takes on Etsy's wedding market with launch of new shop, an offshoot of Handmade at Amazon, featuring tens of thousands of handcrafted items on US site
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
FCC releases proposal for rollback of Title II net neutrality rules, with initial comments due July 17 and reply comments due August 16
here's how to comment Harper Neidig / The Hill : FCC opens public comment period for net neutrality See also Mediagazer
Uber underpaid NYC drivers for past 2.5 years, is refunding them the difference plus interest, which may cost the firm upwards of $45M
Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal :
Apple's head of worldwide HR, Denise Young Smith, to become VP for Inclusion and Diversity, reporting to Tim Cook; CFO Luca Maestri to temporarily fill HR role
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac :
Global distributed ledger consortium R3 raises $107M to develop blockchain-like tech for banks from 40+ investors including Intel, HSBC, BoA Merrill Lynch
The global banking blockchain consortium led … Financial Review : CBA, Westpac back R3 blockchain capital raising Philip Stafford / Financial Times : Blockchain consortium raises record $100m Lynsey B...
Chaos Computer Club hackers say they have defeated Samsung Galaxy S8's iris recognition system using a photo of victim's iris
Biometrics on smartphones … Ian Morris / Forbes : Samsung Galaxy S8 Iris Scanner Hacked In Three Simple Steps Corbin Davenport / Android Police : Members of the Chaos Computer Club have cracked the Ga...
Huawei unveils the Matebook E, an update to the original Matebook, a more powerful 13" flagship X model, and 15" D model, all expected to ship this summer
Not Smartphones
Facebook debuts new group features for Live, including Live With, letting users stream side-by-side, and Live Chat with Friends private chatrooms
or their own video stream Jared Peters / TalkAndroid.com : Facebook doubles down on live video with two new features Aaron Mamiit / Tech Times : Facebook Live Now Offers Private Chat With Friends, Joi...
Target reaches $18.5M multi-state settlement over 2013 data breach, agrees to separate cardholder data from rest of network, implement two-factor authentication
Nicole Hong / Wall Street Journal :
LeEco says it's laying off 325 employees, or 70% of its US business' workforce, due to a lack of funding
Roger Cheng / CNET :
Facebook is testing a new product, Audience Direct, which it says helps publishers target ads with 90% accuracy; early partners include ESPN
‘Audience Direct’ will streamline buying process that has been labor-intensive — Facebook FB -.11% is testing a new tool designed …
Google debuts Family Group feature to easily share calendars, photos, notes, Google Play Family Library, Play Music, and YouTube TV among up to 6 people
Abner Li / 9to5Google :
Sources: Unity raising $400M at ~$2.8B valuation, led by Silver Lake; revenue expected to be up 40% YoY to $300M this year, with gross-profit margin of ~90%
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal :
Amazon expands Amazon Channels to UK, Germany, taking aim at pay-TV users
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Twitter debuts promoted Direct Message Cards, which show up like Promoted Tweets and encourage users to begin conversations with brands and their chatbots
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
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Zoho CRM Plus in 2025: A year of thoughtful CX improvements
2025 marked 11 years of building a customer experience platform designed to support organizations as customer expectations, channels …
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.