Interviews with ~200 people show how Amazon's warehouse employment system, under strain before the pandemic, burned through workers and created huge confusion
Each year, hundreds of thousands of workers churn through a vast mechanism that hires and monitors, disciplines and fires.
UK's CMA says it will launch an investigation into Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems over whether their market power is harming users
Today, the UK's competition watchdog (the Competition and Markets Authority) announced an official investigation into the mobile device ecosystem, citing Apple and Google's effective duopoly.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is auctioning his original source code for the web as an NFT, the first time he would be able to raise money directly from his invention
Sotheby's sale will be first time creator has been able to raise money directly from invention — Sir Tim Berners-Lee is auctioning …
Automattic acquires Day One, a popular journaling app for Apple devices with 15M+ downloads on the Mac and iOS App Store; terms of the deal were not disclosed
Automattic is expanding its lineup of online writing platforms with its acquisition of Day One, a popular journaling app for Mac and Apple mobile devices. Source: Matt Mullenweg , The WordPress.com Bl...
Interviews with 53 people shed light on Airbnb's secretive safety team, made up of ~100 agents, some with military backgrounds, who handle emergency situations
The first-floor apartment on West 37th Street, a few blocks south of Times Square, was popular with tourists …
SCOTUS throws out a lower court ruling that had allowed 3rd-party scraping of LinkedIn users' public profiles, sending the dispute back to federal appeals court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) LinkedIn Corp another chance to try to stop rival hiQ Labs Inc …
Interviews with 30+ current and former Amazon employees detail allegations of racial bias and discrimination; many say its HR department was part of the problem
In interviews with Recode, dozens of Amazon employees detailed allegations of racial bias and discrimination on the job …
EU's top court says Facebook can't avoid potential EU-wide privacy orders from data protection authorities beyond its legal watchdog in Ireland
- EU top court rules on scope of so-called one-stop-shop system — Dispute stems from Belgian data order over Facebook cookies
Amazon brings its cashierless tech to a full-size grocery store for the first time in a new 25K square foot Amazon Fresh location in Seattle
Amazon's newest physical grocery store opening in the Seattle area this week is unique as it will feature the company's “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology.
Razer unveils Blade 14 laptop, with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, RTX 3080 GPU, and a QHD 165Hz display, starting at $1,799, says it's the smallest 14" gaming laptop
Monica Chin / The Verge :
Review of the new $150 Beats Studio Buds: comfortable design and good sound quality but poor ANC, and some AirPods features are missing like audio sharing
All 511 Apple Stores are open in some capacity today for the first time in over 17 months, according to data from Apple's website
June 15, 2021 marks the first day every single Apple Store in the world has been simultaneously open in over 75 weeks. Health and safety precautions …
Google makes Workspace and Chat available to all and adds client-side encryption for data on Workspace
nicely, this time—what a disservice Google's blog posts were to the products it was trying to launch today. This is not an effective way to communicate. https://blog.google/... https://twitter.com/......
IRL, which is building a messaging-based social network, raises $170M Series C led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, at a $1.17B valuation
Social calendar app IRL has been busy building a messaging-based social network, or what founder and CEO Abraham Shafi calls a “WeChat of the West.”
Twitter is asking for feedback on a new feature letting users “unmention” themselves as an anti-abuse tool and to help users control unwanted attentions
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch :
Andreessen Horowitz launches Future, a media property that will focus on informational and editorial content created by full-time staff and outside contributors
Today, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is officially launching its media property, called Future.
Ahead of the Biden-Putin summit, where Russian ransomware gangs are expected to be a point of tension, a look at how Russia became a “greenhouse” for hackers
Washington Post :
Analysis: Amazon's properties, including Amazon.com, WholeFoods.com, and Zappos.com, are blocking Google's new FLoC tracking system from gathering data
Amazon is blocking Google's controversial cookieless tracking and targeting method. — Most of Amazon's properties including Amazon.com … Tweets: @juokaz and @glenngabe Tweets: @juokaz : Amazon is bl...
YouTube will stop accepting ads for its masthead ad unit from certain verticals, including election and political ads, alcohol, gambling, and prescription drugs
Moving forward, politics and elections advertisers, gambling companies, and companies trying to sell alcoholic beverages or prescription drugs won't have access to it. https://twitter.com/... Sara Fis...
Sources: in 2019, major labor union Teamsters refused a ransomware demand of $2.5M, against the FBI's advice, and instead rebuilt its systems from scratch
some of it from hard copies. Records mgmt ++ Jonathan Allen / @jonallendc : When the Teamsters called the FBI to report they were being extorted for $2.5 million in a ransomware attack, the FBI told t...
Iterable, which offers AI-powered cross-channel sales and marketing tools, raises $200M Series E, giving the company a $2B post-money valuation
Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. — Iterable, a cross-channel platform for customer experiences …
Duda, which helps large businesses to build websites, raises $50M Series D led by Claridge IL, bringing its total raised to $100M
Self-expression for many consumers today comes in the form of social media and apps. But if you're a larger business, even if you can't ignore platforms like Facebook …
Thumbtack, a home improvement services marketplace, raises $275M at a $3.2B valuation led by the Qatar Investment Authority
On the heels of making an acquisition in December of home management startup Setter, Thumbtack — one of the pioneers in the home services gig economy — has raised a big round to double down on the mod...
Amazon's game streaming service Luna is opening to all Prime members starting on Prime Day, June 21 and 22; US Prime members can start a seven day trial today
James Vincent / The Verge :
US government is ratcheting up pressure on China's overseas 5G ambitions, offering financial incentives and more to countries willing to shun Huawei and ZTE
Australia-based OCR Labs, which provides identity verification and regulatory compliance services, raises $15M Series A led by Oyak Group
With the gig economy came the need for ID verification, thus startups like OnFido (raised $188.8 million) appeared, alongside several others.
App Annie and IDC: in Q1 worldwide, consumers spent $1.7B per week on mobile games, up 40% from pre-pandemic levels; 2021 mobile spend predicted to reach $120B
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat :
Sources: Shopify, Sequoia, and others recently bought ~$1B of Stripe stock from existing shareholders before Stripe's expected IPO; bids exceeded $4B
Peter Rudegeair / Wall Street Journal :
Shopify expands its one-click checkout, Shop Pay, to any merchant on Facebook or Google in the US, even if they don't use Shopify to power their online stores
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
MicroStrategy raises another ~$500M in bonds to buy more bitcoin, and bitcoin's price surged to $40K+ after Elon Musk hinted Tesla may again accept BTC payments
Jonathan Ponciano / Forbes :
A look at lip-reading AI, with development supported by Google, Sony, and Huawei, as startups begin deploying it in hospitals, public transport systems, more
First came facial recognition. Now, an early form of lip-reading AI is being deployed in hospitals, power plants, public transportation, and more. Tweets: @evanselinger , @vice , and @zenalbatross Tw...
Singapore-based automotive marketplace Carro, which uses AI-powered pricing models, raises $360M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a $1B+ valuation
and, interestingly, investment from Softbank, which has stuck to backing already-established tech companies in the region until this point Are the floodgates about to open? https://techcrunch.com/...
Netflix is hiring execs to lead consumer products, podcasts, and video games, as it seeks Disney-like franchises that stay relevant in between new seasons
and why it won't be easy. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : Some news tucked inside: > Netflix wants to make a Bridgerton clothing line. > Plans to release 400 foreign language ...
In a private email, Biden's NSC warned the EU against “protectionist” policies exclusively targeting American tech companies, ahead of Biden's visit to Brussels
Financial Times :
Elisity, a cybersecurity startup that protects networks with AI-powered monitoring and access control tools, raises $26M, following last year's $7.5M seed round
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
The Pill Club, an online birth control prescription and delivery service, raises $41.9M as an extension to its $51M Series B from Jan. 2019, led by Base 10
Every day at The Pill Club, we focus on making women's healthcare … Mallory Hackett / MobiHealthNews : Birth control-focused startup The Pill Club scores $41.9M Cromwell Schubarth / Silicon Valley Bus...
Stripe announces Stripe Identity, a self-serve tool for companies that can be used to verify identities using AI, launching in 30 countries in beta
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.