The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures”
Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original …
iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 beta code shows Apple is working on adding push notifications for web-based apps to Safari
iOS 15.4 beta has finally added icon support in the manifest, Web Push, AR, and VR experiments. — Twitter @firt About Newsletter — About 8 min reading time
Source: the FTC, not the DOJ, will oversee the US antitrust review of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition and will focus on potential harm to rivals
The U.S. antitrust review of Microsoft Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. will be handled by the Federal Trade Commission …
Discord starts letting US PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 users link their PSN accounts and display game activity; support for more countries is coming soon
Support will roll out first to US users, though. — PlayStation owners will able to connect their accounts to Discord starting today …
Docs: Tesla will issue an OTA update to its FSD software that let vehicles roll through stop signs without coming to a halt, affecting around 54,000 vehicles
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.
India proposes a 30% tax on income from the transfer of crypto, NFTs, and other digital assets and will launch a digital rupee in the next financial year
India on Tuesday proposed launching digital rupee in within a year and a 30% tax on income from transfer of virtual digital assets …
Sony Interactive Entertainment announces it is buying Bungie, which makes Destiny and other games, for $3.6B; Bungie will become an independent subsidiary
Destiny studio will remain multiplatform, able “to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play”
Google begins rolling out iMessage reactions for Android's Messages app in beta, appearing next to message bubbles; some emoji reactions are not quite identical
As we spotted in November and following the latest push for RCS support on iPhone earlier this month, Google Messages is starting …
Nonprofit suicide chat service Crisis Text Line ends its data sharing relationship with for-profit spinoff Loris.ai and asks the company to delete existing data
The nonprofit mental-health hotline Crisis Text Line ended its data-sharing relationship with a for-profit spinoff Monday …
Global tablet shipments grew 3.2% YoY to 168.8M in 2021; Apple had 34.2% market share, Samsung had 18.3%, Lenovo had 10.5%, Amazon had 9.5%, and Huawei had 5.7%
Worldwide tablet shipments reached 46 million units during the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q21), posting a decline for the second time since the pandemic began in 2020.
Silvergate Bank acquires the Diem Association's tech and other assets by issuing $132M in stock and paying $50M in cash and aims to debut a stablecoin in 2022
The Diem Association is shutting down. — Silvergate Bank confirmed Monday that it's purchasing the technology and other assets from Diem …
Ryan Breslow, co-founder of one-click checkout startup Bolt, steps down as CEO and becomes executive chairman, after his tweets bashing YC and Stripe went viral
Ryan Breslow, who founded the “one-click” checkout tech company Bolt as a Stanford student and dropped out of college to build it …
Taiwan-based GlobalWafers' proposed €4.35B takeover of German chip supplier Siltronic falls apart as Germany's government misses the approval deadline
Germany's economy ministry said it could not complete its review of a planned sale of chip supplier Siltronic to Taiwanese rival GlobalWafers …
Meta rolls out updated 3D avatars across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram Stories in the US, Canada, and Mexico
It's a step toward the company's concept of the metaverse — Facebook parent company Meta is introducing 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages and updating …
Report: crypto-based sports fan platform Iqoniq, which partnered with Spain's LaLiga and others, has entered liquidation; Iqoniq raised €100M in July 2020
Fan engagement platform Iqoniq has gone into liquidation, leaving multiple sporting organisations potentially out of pocket. Source: The Times .
Indian politician Rahul Gandhi writes to Twitter's CEO alleging it has been unwittingly complicit in a government campaign to limit new followers to his account
Politician writes to Twitter CEO to complain about curbs he blames on India's government, highlighting how New Delhi polices U.S. social media companies
Analysis: Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple donated at least $1.2M to four US foreign policy think tanks in 2019-2020, up from $625,000 in 2017-18
Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple battle Washington's move towards stricter regulation using anti-China lobbying
As Tumblr CEO Jeff D'Onofrio quietly departs and the company merges with Automattic, a look at its future plans and enormous impact on the modern social web
The CEO of Tumblr—a social platform that was once worth more than $1 billion, and in its time was among the internet's most popular …
Joe Rogan posts a video to Instagram defending booking contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and says he may book more “experts”
Lots of audio platform-related news over the past week. Shruti Shekar / Android Central : Spotify's ‘misinformation honeymoon’ is over, the whip has been cracked Tweets: Joe Rogan / @joerogan : My tho...
Solana Labs launches Solana Pay, a payments protocol to let merchants accept payments directly from customers in USDC, SOL, or other Solana-based tokens
Quick Take — Solana Labs has released a payments protocol for digital commerce. — The protocol, called Solana Pay …
Finnish startup MariaDB raises a $104M Series D and plans for an IPO on the NYSE via a SPAC merger
Finland's MariaDB has closed a $104 million Series D private placement round and announced its intention to become a publicly-traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange via a merger … Source: Busine...
Island, a secure web browser for businesses, emerges from stealth with ~$100M from Sequoia, Insight, and others; sources say it was recently valued at ~$500M
A startup building a secure web browser for businesses is coming out of stealth mode after raising about $100 million across …
Metronome, which helps SaaS companies charge on a usage basis using its APIs, raises a $30M Series A led by a16z
As more software companies shift to more flexible pricing models based on consumption, many are choosing to charge customers on a per-use, or usage, basis.
Chargebee, which helps businesses manage billing, subscriptions, revenue, and compliance, raises $250M at a $3.5B valuation led by Tiger Global and Sequoia
Enterprise software startup Chargebee has raised $250 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion, in a funding round lead by Tiger Global …
Research: blockchain-based virtual real estate sales hit $501M in 2021 across Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium; sales in January 2022 were $85M
- Sales of real estate in the metaverse topped $500 million last year and could double this year, according to investors and analytics firms.
A look at China's rapid adoption of AI in health care, driven in part by the availability of high-quality data, as concerns remain over privacy and security
Concerns remain over privacy and security of mountain of healthcare data — A live-stream video of a 76-year-old woman pottering about her kitchen plays on Li Hong's phone. Tweets: @pstasiatech Tweet...
Antenna: Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, and others struggle to retain US subscribers who joined to watch a hit show; some subscribers only stay for a few months
Wall Street Journal :
Lunchbox, which offers restaurants tools for ordering, managing apps, and other tech, raises a $50M Series B led by Coatue after a $20M Series A in October 2020
It's not a secret that the restaurant industry was a late adopter of technology, a move that unfortunately left many restaurants unprepared …
Metafy, a marketplace for video game coaching, raises a $25M Series A led by Tiger Global and Seven Seven Six, following a $8.65M seed in 2021
Metafy, a startup that operates a marketplace for video game coaching, announced this morning that it has closed a $25 million Series A. Tiger Global …
Dublin-based Wayflyer, which uses data to help finance e-commerce merchants, raises a $150M Series B at a $1.6B valuation led by DST and QED
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Meta will shut down Express Wi-Fi later this year; the program launched in 2016 to extend public Wi-Fi access by partnering with ISPs and MNOs in 30+ countries
Canadian startup RenoRun, an e-commerce service for construction and building materials, raises a $142M Series B led by Tiger Global and Sozo
Josh Scott / BetaKit :
Doc: the US is pressing EU officials to revise the Digital Markets Act to focus less on US tech giants and ensure it covers tech companies from outside the US
Phantom, a Solana wallet similar to Ethereum's MetaMask, raises a $109M Series B at a $1.2B valuation, debuts an iOS app, and promises Ethereum support in 2022
Pinterest adds an augmented reality tool for furniture to its mobile app, letting users see how 20K products from retail partners would look in their homes
Ann-Marie Alcántara / Wall Street Journal :
CB Insights: in 2021, NYC-based crypto startups raised $6.5B, or 46% of all US funding for crypto-focused companies, followed by Silicon Valley with $3.9B
Akayla Gardner / Bloomberg :
GWI, an enterprise audience insights service, raises a $180M Series B led by Permira at an $850M valuation
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE :
European on-demand scooter service Dott adds a $70M extension to its $85M Series B from April 2021 led by abrdn and Sofina
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
Chicago-based Loadsmart, which uses AI to boost efficiency in logistics operations, raises a $200M Series D at a $1.3B valuation led by SoftBank's LatAm Fund
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
Inspectorio, a SaaS provider that helps companies with supply chain quality control, compliance, and tracking, raises a $50M Series B led by Insight Partners
Rebecca Szkutak / Forbes : Tweets: @forbes_mena_ , @rebecca_szkutak , and @forbes Tweets: @forbes_mena_ : Startup Inspectorio has raised $50 million as it looks to bring the legacy industry online an...
Chilean startup Betterfly, a digital insurance service for employers, raises a $125M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Glade Brook Capital
Carolina Millan / Bloomberg :
Riyadh-based Retailo, which aims to digitize mom-and-pop stores in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the UAE, raises a $36M Series A led by Graphene Ventures
Faseeh Mangi / Bloomberg :
Sources: Cybereason, which offers endpoint detection and response services, has confidentially filed for a US IPO that could value it at more than $5B
Edtech startup Scaler, which offers upskilling courses like data science and ML to working professionals in India, raises a $55M Series B at a $710M valuation
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Deepnote, which offers a collaborative data science platform on top of Jupyter-based notebooks, raises a $20M Series A co-led by Index Ventures and Accel
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch : Tweets: @theromit Tweets: Romit Mehta / @theromit : Wow, excited about where Deepnote goes. Lots to improve and add value around Jupyter especially around shared not...
Sources: Byju's is talking to at least three SPACs, aims to unveil IPO plans with one of them in three to four weeks, and is exploring a $750M-$1B pre-IPO round
Education publisher Pearson acquires Credly, which helps businesses issue digital credentials to certify workers' skills, for $140M; Credly has 2,000+ customers
Jonathan Greig / ZDNet :
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.
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.