Flying cars have been a sci-fi promise for decades, and we’re hearing that they may be a reality soon. Maybe. But are consumers really waiting with bated breath for a flying car? Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan’s Sustainable Worldwide Transportation group surveyed 508 Americans to find out what people think of this sci-fi dream becoming reality. Read More
Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of the legal battle between Google and Uber over driverless-car technology, has suffered a setback. Levandowski has broadly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. However, an appeals court has denied his request to extend his Fifth Amendment rights so broadly that Uber could redact documents on Levandowski’s behalf. Read More
Physical tracking in shops has been a global trend since at least 2013. Using a cell phone’s location data and video monitoring, retailers have been tracking customers’ movements through stores in an effort to regain some of the ground lost to the online retail experience. At least, that’s the argument from stores. And now fast food restaurants are picking up the rallying cry. Read More
Tech is uniting against Trump. From 127 tech firms teaming up against Trump’s immigration ban, to Google employees’ massive walkout in response to the immigration ban, to Lyft’s $3 million donation to the ACLU, tech has taken up the language of protest and spoken loud and clear. However, as the tech community’s voice grows louder, it must be strategic in how it directs… Read More
Google and Intertrust today announced the launch of PatentShield, a new program that aims to help defend startups from patent litigation — in return for a stake in those companies. The basic idea here is to give startups that join the program ownership of a selection of patents from Google’s and Intertrust’s portfolio that they can then use as a deterrent against… Read More
YouTube Kids, the application offering a filtered version of YouTube that’s more kid-friendly, is now natively available on the big screen for the first time, Google announced today. Previously a mobile-only application, YouTube Kids will now be offered on a range of smart TVs, including those from LG, Samsung and Sony. Read More
Uber is making its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) plans more concrete, via new partnerships announced today during its Elevate conference focused on the VTOL industry. The partnerships are with established aeronautics and emerging VTOL players, and will focus on two markets initially, including Dallas and Dubai. Read More
As Uber continues to work through its many layers of turmoil as a business, its smaller rivals are seizing the moment and consolidating to double down on their own ambitions in transportation-on-demand. Multiple sources tell TechCrunch that Gett — the taxi-hailing service backed by $300 million from Volkswagen — is acquiring Juno — one of the latest upstarts on the… Read More
Cows are generally not top of mind among those who call the animal pen, South of Market, San Francisco, home. But BovControl, a Brazilian startup building data analytics tools to support livestock operations, is working to close the gap between technologists and ranchers. Host of the Internet of Cows hackathon, in partnership with Google Launchpad and The Silicon Valley Forum, the… Read More
When it comes to finding someone to take care of your kids or your aging parent, the on-demand aspect of services that some businesses offer is not really a selling point. The most important element is trust and the peace of mind that you’re hiring a qualified person to take care of some of the most important people in your life. Onēva enables employers to offer elder, infant and… Read More
A Montreal-based AI startup called Lyrebird has taken the wraps off a voice imitation algorithm that the team says can not only mimic the speech of a real person but shift its emotional cadence — and do all this with just a tiny snippet of real world audio. Read More
The Nasdaq composite just passed 6000 for the first time, hitting an all-time intraday high in the process. Over the past 12 months the composite is up nearly 32%. The majority of this strong performance can be attributed to five technology stocks that have also been surging – Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet account for about 40% of the composite’s gains in 2017.… Read More
Oscar Health, a startup rethinking health insurance for the digital age, is rolling out a new product for small businesses called Oscar for Business. The rollout comes as Oscar struggles with its original bet on individual insurance through the Affordable Care Act, a move which vaulted the company, now valued at $2.7 billion, to initial success. Oscar was the only startup that had the approval… Read More
Desktop Metal revealed pricing and other details for its 3D printers today which can make objects out of hundreds of different alloys including steel, aluminum, titanium and copper. In terms of quality, the parts produced by Desktop Metal systems compare to injection-molded items, says the startup’s CEO and cofounder Ric Fulop.
While metal 3D printers have been around for decades… Read More
Apple announced this morning a new initiative aimed at offering an expanded and more in-depth series of programs and training sessions in its stores, under the branding “Today at Apple.” The company is adding dozens of educational sessions starting next month to all 495 stores worldwide, which will go beyond teaching users the basics of using Apple hardware and software,… Read More
Are you ready for this, San Francisco? TechCrunch is thrilled to announce that we are coming back to the Bay Area for Disrupt SF 2017. Mark your calendars — Disrupt SF 2017 takes place September 18-20 at Pier 48, and it’s going to be an impressive show. With the announcement, we’re also once again giving a select few the opportunity to buy deeply discounted tickets to… Read More
When a guy like Greg Mark emails it pays to reply. Mark, who is the eccentric and excitable founder of Markforged, a 3D printer systems that spits out ready-made carbon fiber and metal products, is always good for a glimpse into the future. This week he pinged me with a quick message: “We’re putting metal in the microwave.” And boy is he ever. His current system prints metal… Read More
Over the last several years Talkdesk has offered a way for businesses to get a cloud-based call center up and running. Today the company is launching AppConnect, a place where customers can connect with other vendors that provide services adjacent to its offerings. As a result, it can round out the products and services needed to efficiently run a call center. Read More
Box has been in the process of enhancing its developer platform, and today it announced a new pricing plan designed to provide developers with more cost certainty than the old pricing approach.
“We’ve been in the market for 18 months and there has been a tremendous amount of traction, but pricing was still complicated,” Jeetu Patel, CSO and SVP of Box Platform told TechCrunch. Read More
Uber’s Elevate summit, which brings together experts in the vertical take-off and landing industry, is happening in Dallas, Texas starting today and continuing through tomorrow. The conference includes a number of sessions, with participation from experts from some of the largest aeronautics companies in the world, as well as regulators and leading academics. Basically, if… Read More
