Snap unveils its first AR glasses, with four built-in microphones, two stereo speakers, and a touchpad, and says it will test them with some AR effects creators
The fourth-gen glasses have built-in AR displays — Snap's new Spectacles glasses are its most ambitious yet.
Twitter is rolling out its new verification program, with revamped categories that include activists and journalists, and previews upcoming changes to profiles
It also previewed potential changes coming to profiles — Twitter is relaunching its public verification program, allowing anyone to apply for a coveted blue check mark.
Snap says 5,400+ creators earned $130M in total via its Spotlight incentive program and it will stop giving away $1M per day to creators starting June 1
Kerry Flynn / CNN :
Federal Reserve Chair Powell discusses the risks of cryptocurrencies and sets a timeline for a Fed discussion paper on a possible central bank digital currency
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged the risks of cryptocurrencies in an unusual video message on Thursday that also laid …
Sources: CNA Financial, one of the largest insurance companies in the US, paid $40M in late March to regain control of its network after a ransomware attack
CNA Financial Corp., among the largest insurance companies in the U.S., paid $40 million in late March to regain control of its network …
Amazon is shutting down its standalone Prime Now app and website by the end of the year and moving the fast delivery service to the Amazon app and website
- Amazon will discontinue its standalone Prime Now app and website by the end of this year, the company announced Friday.
Snap has agreed to acquire WaveOptics, the supplier of the AR displays used in its new Spectacles glasses, for more than $500M
WaveOptics made the display in Snap's new Spectacles glasses — Snap has agreed to acquire WaveOptics, the supplier of the augmented reality displays that power …
How Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are lobbying to kill “right to repair” bills, with half of all bills in 27 US states already voted down or dismissed
Justin Millman has always fixed things. He tinkered with gadgets growing up before opening a repair shop in Westbury …
Apple implies that Epic may be serving as a stalking horse for Microsoft, seeks an adverse credibility finding for Xbox exec Lori Wright, in Wednesday's filing
- Company says 5 Epic Games witnesses have ties to Microsoft — Apple and Microsoft rivalrly has gathered steam due to trial
Sources: DeepMind sought autonomy from Google, aiming to keep its AI from being controlled by a single corporate entity, but Google nixed those plans last month
Alphabet cuts off yearslong push by founders of the artificial-intelligence company to secure more independence
Democratic Reps. Trahan and Castor introduce the Social Media DATA Act, which would force large platforms to share ad targeting data with researchers and FTC
Facebook's ad library allows researchers to see the content of ads that run on the platform and information on who those ads reach.
Apple launches an affiliate program for paid podcast subscriptions, letting users earn a one-time commission of 50% of a podcast's monthly subscription price
Apple last month unveiled its plans for paid podcast subscriptions in a newly redesigned Apple Podcasts app.
Sources: Netflix is looking to hire an executive to oversee an expansion into video games, as it considers options including an Apple Arcade-like games bundle
Netflix is looking to hire an executive to oversee an expansion into videogames, a sign it is stepping up its efforts …
Twitter will soon let US users with 1,000+ followers who've hosted three Spaces in the past 30 days apply to host Ticketed Spaces, with Twitter taking a 20% cut
After Apple and Google's cut — Twitter's getting ready for the launch of its Ticketed Spaces feature, and today …
Facebook's wav2vec Unsupervised, a way to build speech recognition systems that require no transcribed data, may bring automatic translations to more countries
Big Tech's AI machinery. The tech powers the digital assistants on our — phones, in — cars and in the — smart speakers in our homes.
US Treasury announces it will require any cryptocurrency transfers worth $10,000+ to be reported to the IRS, saying cryptocurrencies pose a tax evasion risk
Thomas Franck / CNBC :
China calls out 105 apps, including TikTok, Kuaishou, and LinkedIn, for the illegal collection and use of personal user data and gives them 15 days to fix
105 apps, including some of the country's most popular short video platforms, were put on notice by the Cyberspace Administration …
Hong Kong's FSTB says all crypto exchanges operating in HK should be licensed and can only serve professional investors, and promises to propose new regulations
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Hong Kong will have to be licenced by the city's markets regulator …
Google is opening its first ever physical retail store in New York this summer, letting users buy Pixel phones, Nest products, Fitbit devices, more
Volunteer staff of Freenode IRC, a key communication channel for FOSS developers, resign in protest over what they describe as a hostile takeover of the service
Thomas Claburn / The Register :
Apple TV 4K (2021) review: faster than competition and the new Siri Remote is very good with a power button and easy-to-use click wheel, but very expensive
but it's way too expensive Tweets: Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : Just watched a @YahooFinance review of the Apple TV 4K where the host says he wasn't really sold on the new Apple TV due to its $179 price u...
Snap says Snapchat now has 500M MAUs, reaches 90% of 13-24-year-olds in the US, UK, France, and Australia, and grew 100%+ YoY for the last 5 quarters in India
Robinhood announces IPO Access, which will let retail investors buy shares of companies at their IPO price before trading begins on public exchanges
Under the Hood ... looks cool https://blog.robinhood.com/... Kate Rooney / @kr00ney : Robinhood is giving clients access to IPO shares, a longstanding Wall Street dominion 🏦 Partnering with investment...
Luxembourg-based factory14, which consolidates Amazon Marketplace brands, comes out of stealth with $200M in funding
It doesn't feel like a week goes by at the moment that another startup doesn't emerge armed with a huge wallet of cash to pursue a strategy of consolidating …
Regional government of Inner Mongolia sets up hotline to report suspected crypto mining as China moves to curb energy emissions and fortify its central bank
Financial Times :
Mumbai-based Eruditus Group, which makes top tier university courses accessible globally, acquires SV-based iD Tech, which offers online coding camps, for $200M
The acquisition will mark the Mumbai-based entity's expansion beyond higher education into the K-12 STEM space Tweets: @sub8u Tweets: Subrahmanyam Kvj / @sub8u : Interesting to see India-based compani...
Spotify partners with Audible rival Storytel, allowing the latter's subscribers to listen to books on Spotify; Storytel has 500K titles and 1.6M subscribers
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Opera is testing its gaming-focused browser Opera GX on iOS and Android; Opera GX had 9M+ monthly active gamers across Windows and Mac as of March, up 190% YoY
S. Shah / Engadget :
Enterprise video messaging service Loom raises $130M led by a16z at a valuation of $1.53B, and says it now has 10M users across 120K businesses
Katie Roof / Bloomberg :
Cognite, which offers an IoT data platform to support digital transformation of heavy-asset companies, raises $150M Series A led by TCV at a $1.6B valuation
Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE :
A look at Euphoria, a VC-backed startup making apps for transgender people that critics say seek to replace trans community ties and echo “cisnormative” ideals
In late February, a small company called Euphoria became the day's main character in trans Twitter circles. Tweets: @crisp_red , @zeinmurib , and @entirelyamelia Tweets: Crisp Distancing / @crisp_red ...
Zhang Yiming follows other Chinese tech CEOs, including Ant's Simon Hu and Pinduoduo's Colin Huang, who quit recently amid increased scrutiny by China
Wall Street Journal :
Internal Amazon messages show that FTC pressure to act against sellers using fake-review schemes may have led to bans of sellers tied to electronics brand Mpow
about fake reviews, for example — for all sellers no matter size or location. But internal messages I viewed sure look like the ENFORCEMENT is different for different sellers. Spokesperson wouldn't re...
Austin-based Hearth, which lets contractors quote house repair projects as monthly payments, raises $23M Series B, bringing its total raised to $51M
Cassidy Ritter / Built In Austin :
Sunbit, which helps physical and e-commerce stores offer customers the option to pay in installments, raises $130M Series D at $1.1B after money valuation
Meir Orbach / CTech :
Figure, which uses blockchain tech to provide home equity loans, raises $200M at a valuation of $3.2B; Figure is founded by ex-SoFi CEO Mike Cagney
Bloomberg :
TikTok launches tools to allow creators to bulk delete comments and block users
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Jam City, a Harry Potter mobile game publisher, files to go public via SPAC at a $1.2B valuation, buys Ludia, a Canadian mobile game publisher, for $175M
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat :
Workrise, a marketplace for on-demand services and skilled labor in the energy industry formerly called RigUp, raises $300M Series E at a valuation of $2.9B
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.