In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing number of so-called “intelligent” digital assistants being introduced on various devices. Although the technology behind these applications keeps getting better, there’s still a tendency for people to be disappointed by their capabilities — the expectation of “intelligence” is not being met. Read More
Uber employees have flocked to an anonymous workplace app called Blind as a sort of catharsis since ex-Uber engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti posted about being propositioned and discriminated against while working for the company, according to Blind’s founder Alex Shin.
Rigetti’s explosive post went viral late Sunday night, leading to more than double an increase of Uber employees… Read More
If you thought the BlackBerry Mercury had a bit of a codename vibe to it, you weren’t wrong. Today at Mobile World Congress, TCL officially took the wraps of its first true BlackBerry handset, now going by the admittedly less sleek KeyOne (pronounced “key one,”) name. Though I suppose when your company is attempting to plant its flag firmly in the world of enterprise, sexy… Read More
As America’s cities continue to grow, they face mind-boggling challenges: worsening traffic, increasing pollution, expensive housing, aging infrastructure and strained services. These challenges can only be solved by harnessing the power of big data, machine learning and other technology. Read More
The Gillmor Gang — Michael Arrington, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, Frank Radice, and Steve Gillmor. Recorded live Friday, February 24, 2017. Plus the latest G3 with Elisa Camahort Page, Francine Hardaway, Mary Hodder, and Tina Chase Gillmor.
@stevegillmor, @arrington, @kevinmarks, @kteare, @fradice
Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor
May I see your passport please. Read More
TCL, the company that now makes BlackBerry phones, is holding a press conference at MWC in Barcelona. The conference starts at 7 PM CET (6 PM GMT, 1 PM EST, 10 AM PST).
We already got a sneak peek at the device during CES back in January. And it’s everything BlackBerry fans love — yes, I’m mostly talking about the physical keyboard.
You can check it out live via… Read More
Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti’s story of sexual harassment and HR complicity at the company has drawn a lot of attention from the outside world as many relate to her frustrations and the broader systemic culture of sexism that manifests itself across the tech industry. In the days since Rigetti published her account, decisions have been made both inside and outside of… Read More
It’s safe to say that Veeva is not a household name, but 10 years ago this month the company launched the first of a set of enterprise tools, like content management and CRM, designed for the unique requirements of the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. You have to remember, this was a fairly revolutionary notion a decade ago when very few companies were running enterprise… Read More
Waymo is suing Otto and Uber for allegedly stealing its trade secrets, Layer gets more funding and acquires Cola, a major Cloudflare bug leaked sensitive data from customers’ websites and Elon Musk addresses unionization concerns at Tesla. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Cloudflare revealed yesterday that a bug in its code caused sensitive data to leak from some of the major websites that use its performance enhancement and security services. Uber, Fitbit, OkCupid and 1Password are among Cloudflare’s millions of clients, and it’s possible that personal data such as authentication tokens and cookies leaked from many client websites during the… Read More
You can add the cult classic Super Smash Bros Melee to the list of games soon to be dominated by AIs. Research at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has produced a computer player superior to the drones you can already fight in the game. It’s good enough that it held its own against globally-ranked players. Read More
This past weekend, something kind of incredible happened; basketball aficionados from across the globe were able to don high-tech goggles to live-stream stereoscopic virtual reality of a highly paid athlete receiving a bounce pass from a custom-designed drone to perform a highly technical slam dunk.
This is the NBA in 2017.
New technologies have always played a major role in how sports… Read More
After the success of the Startup Battlefield Scholarship Fund at Disrupt SF and Disrupt London, we are pleased to announce that we will once again be offering scholarships to Startup Battlefield companies at Disrupt NY 2017, taking place May 15-17. Startup Battlefield is TechCrunch Disrupt’s startup competition that takes place three times a year. Applications to participate in… Read More
Uber is under attack once again today as the Twittersphere quickly concluded it was behind a smear campaign against a former engineer for the company, Susan Fowler Rigetti, who dropped a scathing blog post earlier this week detailing sexual harassment claims while working at Uber over the course of a year. But Uber swears it isn’t them. Rigetti took to Twitter this morning to post… Read More
Entrepreneurs who pitch on ABC’s Shark Tank typically make packaged goods and apparel. Occasionally, the high tech breaks through. XCraft, the company behind the PhoneDrone Ethos, scored a rare investment from all of the judges on the ABC show last spring, for example. And tonight, drones are once again flying “in the Tank” as DARTdrones seeks funding to build… Read More
Technology has always been a critical force deeply intertwined with the evolution of cities. The development of smart cities builds upon this strong historical foundation with a digital foundation that allows cities to function more efficiently, be more responsive to community members and ultimately create better, more equitable urban environments where people thrive. Read More
Want to attend Disrupt NY 2017 but missed the early bird ticket deadline? You’re in luck! We’re giving you a few extra days to get your hands on deeply-discounted extra early-bird Disrupt tickets, so you now have until Friday, March 3 to purchase. Extra early-bird tickets will set you back just $1,795 apiece, a full $1,200 off what they’ll cost at the door. You can get… Read More
When Apple decided to strip its flagship phones of the headphone jack, certain people were angry. Those relying on the headphone jack for non-music things were grumpy, but so were those of us who had recently dropped hundreds of dollars on new, high-end headphones. Jack — a Kickstarter campaign in its final hours — offers reprieve to both groups. Read More
Tech companies are preparing to go to bat for transgender rights when the Supreme Court takes on the issue next month. As Axios reports, led by Apple, a number of prominent companies will file a court brief arguing in favor of the 17-year-old lead plaintiff, transgender Virginia high school student Gavin Grimm.
Other companies that will reportedly sign on include Microsoft, Salesforce, IBM… Read More
Michael Sayman was just 17 when Facebook hired him, but he’d already built 5 apps. Now 7 years after his first launch, the Facebook product manager has just released Show and Tell, which turns selfies and visual communication into a game. You’re given an emotion to act out, you send the video to friends and they try to guess what you’re feeling. “I made 4 Snaps about… Read More
