Square is changing its name to Block, effective December 10, and renaming Square Crypto to Spiral, as its business shifts toward technologies like blockchain
- Payments giant Square will change its corporate name to Block, effective Dec. 10. — The move comes as Square expands beyond …
Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, a 5nm chip with 5G and Wi-Fi 6, promising up to 85% better CPU and up to 60% faster GPU performance compared to Gen 2
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge :
In its end-of-year threat report, Meta says it took down several global disinformation networks, including anti-vaccine groups and groups linked to state actors
The takedowns described in the company's latest threat report demonstrate how the cat-and-mouse game between Facebook and bad actors is escalating
Apple announces the best apps and games of 2021, across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, and the most downloaded apps of the year
Apple today released its anticipated annual list of the best apps and games of the year across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
DOJ charges an ex-employee of IoT manufacturer Ubiquiti with data theft and for attempting to extort his employer while posing as a whistleblower and a hacker
Nickolas Sharp, a former employee of networking device maker Ubiquiti, was arrested and charged today with data theft and attempting …
Investigation finds US predictive policing tool PredPol, used countrywide, often perpetuates biases, directing police to poor, Black, and Latino neighborhoods
Plainfield, N.J. Plainfield, N.J. Los Angeles — Orange County, Fla.
Sources: Apple, which cut its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by up to 10M units, tells suppliers that it may not make up the shortfall in 2022
Apple Inc., suffering from a global supply crunch, is now confronting a different problem: slowing demand.
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform for Android gaming devices, partners with Razer on a handheld dev kit with a 6.65" 120Hz OLED display
Snapdragon's G3x is Qualcomm's fantastically exciting bid to embrace the gaming market — a brand new reach for the manufacturer …
Meta expands the number of eligible regulatory licenses for running crypto ads on Facebook and Instagram from three to 27
- Facebook on Wednesday announced its decision to reverse long-standing policy that prevented most cryptocurrency companies from running ads on its services.
AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who left Google last year, launches Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research, focusing on the responsible use of AI
The researcher, who says Google fired her a year ago, wants to ask questions about responsible use of artificial intelligence. … APPLICATION
DeFi protocol BadgerDAO is investigating as researchers say $120M was stolen from users after its front end was compromised
Quick Take — DeFi protocol BadgerDAO was exploited earlier today for $120 million. — It appears that its front end was compromised and users were tricked into making unwanted transactions.
The CFPB's rule that lets debt collectors send texts, emails, and private social media messages to debtors, and requires opt-out instructions, goes into effect
Federal regulators have given debt collectors the okay to pursue debtors via email, text messages and social media sites
Federal judge blocks a Texas law that limits large social media platforms' ability to moderate content, saying it violates the platforms' First Amendment rights
‘Social media platforms have a First Amendment right to moderate,’ wrote the judge — A federal judge has blocked a Texas law …
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, with improved camera and AI processing and up to 20% better performance and 30% better power efficiency over Snapdragon 888
Sources: Instacart is planning to launch a 15-minute-or-less grocery delivery pilot for US customers, from existing partner stores
For Instacart, the leading U.S. grocery delivery company, being fast may not be fast enough. — The $39 billion-valuation startup is planning to launch …
In a filing in the Epic lawsuit, Apple indicates it intends to collect commission regardless of whether developers use IAP or a competing payments platform
Although the appeal of the Apple-Epic lawsuit is ongoing, Apple is currently subject to the judge's decision and will have to allow app developers …
Facebook makes 2FA mandatory for high-risk accounts, an expansion of Facebook Protect, which covers 1.5M accounts and will be in 50 countries by the end of 2021
Facebook, a recently added subsidiary of Meta, said it will make two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatory for high-risk accounts likely …
100 Thieves, which manages professional esports teams and around 15 video game streamers, raises a $60M Series C at a $460M valuation
During the 2017 NBA Finals, Matt Haag flew to Oakland, Calif., to meet with Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Meta partners with UK-based Revenge Porn Helpline to help people prevent intimate images from appearing online by uploading them to StopNCII.org
Facebook's parent company, Meta, has worked with the U.K.-based nonprofit Revenge Porn Helpline to build a tool that lets people prevent …
Grab begins trading on the Nasdaq after a record SPAC merger valuing it at $40B and raising $4.5B, the largest US listing by a Southeast Asian company
Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, makes its market debut on Thursday after a record $40 billion merger …
Uber adds ride booking via WhatsApp in Lucknow, India, a first for Uber and an expansion of WhatsApp's capabilities in the country
- Integration is a global-first for Uber, company says — Users can book a ride with a message on the chat program — Uber Technologies Inc …
Five major education publishers sue Shopify for $500M+ for failing to remove listings and stores that sell pirated textbooks and other content
Textbook pirates are selling stolen learning materials on the platform, according to a lawsuit — Five major publishers have sued Shopify …
Meta will no longer block searches nor remove praise of Kyle Rittenhouse on Facebook and Instagram, after designating him a shooter in a “mass murder” in 2020
James Clayton / BBC :
UN report: 2.9B people, or 37% of the world's population, have never used the internet, while internet users rose from 4.1B in 2019 to 4.9B in 2021
But the pandemic has fueled a rapid surge of worldwide internet users. — Alerts — Nearly two-thirds of the world's population …
Planned Parenthood Los Angeles says a hacker gained access to its network in October, compromising the information of ~400,000 patients including clinical data
Washington Post :
Microsoft announces Teams Essentials, a standalone version of Teams for SMBs with a simplified UI, focus on meetings, and no Office apps for $4 per user/month
Tom Warren / The Verge :
Research: Amazon revenue from third-party sellers will reach $121B in 2021, up from $60B in 2019, as seller fees reach 34%, up from 30% in 2018 and 19% in 2014
Mendel, which offers corporate spend management software for companies in Latin America, raises a $15M Series A and $20M in debt
Mendel, a corporate spend management solution for enterprises in Latin America, announced today that it has secured $35 million in debt and equity. Tweets: @bayareawriter Tweets: Mary Ann Azevedo / @b...
Indian food delivery service Swiggy will invest $700M in its express delivery business Instamart, currently available in 18 cities
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
A look at Particle, founded by an ex-Christie's exec and others, which plans to split Banksy's Love Is in the Air into 10,000 pieces to be sold as NFTs
LinkedIn adds Hindi support in India after initially supporting only English, which is spoken by less than 20% of India's 1.3B people
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Reddit announces real-time features, including live upvote, downvote, comment, and viewer counts, a typing indicator, and notifications for top-level comments
Mexico City-based buy now, pay later service and online consumer lender Kueski raises $102M in equity and $100M in debt, bringing its total funding to $300M+
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch :
Congress will hold a hearing with CEOs from Coinbase, Circle, FTX, Bitfury, Paxos, and Stellar on December 8 to discuss digital assets and the future of finance
Turner Wright / Cointelegraph :
In an internal Slack message, Marc Benioff says Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor will continue to report to him
The Facebook Papers offer glimpses into how users perceive Meta's ad products, like the impact of its reaction emojis, and the concerns raised by employees
Jokr, a rapid grocery delivery service in the US and Latin America, raises a $260M Series B at a $1.2B valuation, five months after raising a $170M Series A
Christine Hall / TechCrunch : Tweets: @brianmcc and @kevinroose Tweets: Brian McCullough / @brianmcc : I literally say on the show today, this space seems to be endless right now in terms of capacity...
Sources: as SenseTime prepares for an IPO, its plan to create the world's first “AI casino” in Genting Singapore is delayed due to technical issues
Artificial intelligence leader SenseTime has run into problems with flagship Singapore project Tweets: @primroseriordan Tweets: Primrose Riordan / @primroseriordan : Exclusive: Chinese AI powerhouse S...
Smartling, which offers automated cloud-based translation tools, raises $160M led by Battery Ventures, bringing its total funding to over $220M
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
AWS announces SageMaker Studio Lab, a free version of SageMaker in public preview to help customers with little experience build, train, and deploy ML models
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet :
A look at China's extensive tech investments in Africa, including undersea cables, data centers, and fintech apps, as part of its “Digital Silk Road” initiative
from e-commerce, smart cities, and fintech apps to big data, internet of things, smartphones, and undersea cables — is a growing point of concern https://restofworld.org/... Peter Guest / @peterguest ...
TikTok adds monetization tools for creators, including Stripe-powered Tips and Video Gifts, starting in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain
Twitter bans sharing private images and videos without consent, with exceptions for newsworthiness and public figures, and will remove content that users report
Sources: Weibo and its shareholder Sina plan to price its Hong Kong second listing at HK$272.80 (~$35), seeking to raise around HK$3B ($385M)
Pei Li / Bloomberg :
Shiftsmart, a labor marketplace that matches workers with shifts, raises a $95M Series B led by D1 Capital, bringing its total funding to $117M
Christine Hall / TechCrunch :
Canadian video platform Rumble, popular with right-wing users, will go public via SPAC at a $2.1B valuation and expects to raise around $400M
Radhika Anilkumar / Reuters : Tweets: @danprimack See also Mediagazer Tweets: Dan Primack / @danprimack : YouTube alternative Rumble, backed by Peter Thiel and J.D. Vance, is going public https://www...
Goalsetter, which offers a financial literacy education app for kids, raises a $15M Series A led by Seae Ventures
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch :
Sounding Board, which operates a marketplace that connects employees with leadership coaches, raises a $30M Series B led by Jazz Venture Partners
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch :
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.