Government websites just took a serious step toward robust security. Today, the Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council announced that all new executive branch domains moving forward will use HTTPS, the secure, encrypted alternative to HTTP. The change is expected to go into effect in spring of this year. Since 2015, the government has been working to migrate all of its sites and… Read More
Wix, the website building platform with more than 98 million users globally, is making another acquisition to build out the tools that it offers to businesses and individuals that use its platform to build and maintain websites and mobile apps. Today the company is announcing that it has acquired Flok, which makes CRM solutions such as loyalty cards and chat services and rewards programs,… Read More
Snap Inc.’s quest to earn enough money to IPO sees it flip-flopping after pledging not to use “creepy” ad targeting. Snap will now allow advertisers to use Oracle’s Data Cloud (formerly Datalogix) third-party data about what users buy offline to target ads on Snapchat, according to The Wall Street Journal. Snap tells TechCrunch that this rolled out over the last few… Read More
Shortly after downloading the Tandem app I’m trying to explain the finer points of using the English auxiliary verb ‘will’ in a messaging chat with Juan, 35, from the Dominican Republic… Read More
MakePrintable, a new 3D printing site, does what it says on the tin. The service will take a 3D model – maybe one you scanned in or something you made – and modify it based on the type of printer, the material, the desired print orientation, and plate positions. It fixes rough spots, thin prints, and generally makes things printable. Founded by Muhannad Taslaq and Baha Abunojaim… Read More
Waymo’s Pacifica minivans with self-driving tech on board are set to hit city streets for testing by the end of this month, but Conan O’Brien got an “exclusive” look at early test clips from the origins of the former Google autonomous driving project. Basically the takeaway is there’s clearly an urgent need for large mammal detection sensors, but take a look and… Read More
My 2017 predictions for the fintech industry spell out a future of continued scale and disruption, coming off the heels of what ended up being a pretty unpredictable year in 2016. In spite of that, by my count, I got 75% of my 2016 predictions right. Will I have the same level of success this year? Time will tell.
While we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, 2017… Read More
With Android Wear 2.0 due next month (with most outlets pegging a not too distant release date of February 2), we’re in a bit of a post-CES wearable holding pattern at the moment. The delay of Google’s wearable operating system was largely seen as a contributing factor in the declining smartwatch space, but certainly not the sole driver. In a recent interview with Swiss paper… Read More
After dipping his toes in government work last year, Google Search guru Matt Cutts is now stepping away from Google in a more permanent way. Cutts, who has wrestled spam and SEO at Google since 2000, joined the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) in mid-2016 for a role that he expected to last three months. After extending his stay by three more, Cutts, now the USDS director of engineering, will… Read More
Peter Thiel being suddenly cast into the center of U.S. politics in 2016 isn’t something that either Thiel or his longtime friend and colleague Ajay Royan could have anticipated in 2014, when they founded Mithril Capital Management. But it doesn’t change much for the low-flying, 12-person firm, which is based in San Francisco but makes outsize bets on companies that are… Read More
Slowly but surely, huge entertainment companies are throwing major resources into virtual reality plays.
Fox took part in Within‘s $12.5 million Series A in June, and now the group’s newly formed “immersive, next generation entertainment” arm, FoxNext, will be partnering with the VR studio headed by the innovative filmmaker Chris Milk to begin crafting custom… Read More
Keenon Werling would be the first to agree that conversational AI is regularly overhyped. So instead of taking the traditional approach and gloating about a glitzy new deeper learning algorithm to pitch his new venture Eloquent Labs, Werling instead opted to differentiate by optimizing something far more low-tech, people. The startup’s special sauce is embracing a mix of AI,… Read More
Tesla’s Model S P100D can already match the still unreleased Faraday Future FF91’s top 0 to 60 mph time, and that’s using a stock car with software available to any driver right now. The Ludicrous+ software Easter Egg update pushed out by the automaker late last year has resulted in a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.389 seconds, a hair faster than Tesla’s own claims about… Read More
Solaria Labs, Liberty Mutual Insurance’s tech incubator, has created an API developer portal to bring together public data and “proprietary insurance information” to help users find potentially safer routes — and help them assess damage when that doesn’t work out. The AI in the API gives users repair estimates post-crash. “The AI Auto Damage Estimator… Read More
Brazil is the most populous country in South America, as well as its largest market. Internet penetration and use are high — Brazil trails only the US in total Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users — and the country has more mobile devices than human inhabitants. Brazil is uniquely positioned to capitalize on regional markets and is artificially devoid of international competition. Read More
Well on its way to becoming the most influential tech company in Canada, Shopify is growing – and growing fast. The e-commerce platform company just opened its second Toronto office, Shopify R&D located in the city’s downtown, a short walk from its primary headquarters in the commerce capital of the country. Toronto Mayor John Tory attended the opening, hailing the city as… Read More
With a little over two weeks until the 10th Annual Crunchies Awards, it is our pleasure to announce the Crunchies Board members. This group of investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, technologists and TechCrunch writers and editors are charged with the exciting and challenging job of choosing the winners for each Crunchies award category.
The official Crunchies ballot was sent to board… Read More
Russian state-funded media company RT (previously Russia Today) was temporarily banned from posting content to Facebook — a move that would have prevented the organization form posting articles, photos or video to the social network until Saturday, the day after Trump’s inauguration. However, Facebook says now that it has lifted the ban, and will look into the reasons behind… Read More
At this year’s CES, Dish introduced a 4K-ready streaming media player called Air TV, which is designed to combine Sling TV’s internet television service with over-the-air channels pulled in through your digital antenna, along with Netflix. The promise of the box, then, is one of an integrated experience – where all your favorite cable channels from Sling are accessible… Read More
We’re giving you an unprecedented opportunity to purchase a limited supply of tickets at a special rate of two for the price of one. Only 50 pairs of tickets will be released on January 27 to those who sign up. To take advantage of these limited-supply tickets, sign up at our website here. After you sign up, you’ll get an email with a link to purchase, so don’t miss out! Read More
