Zuckerberg was forced to leave his signature gray t-shirt at home today and suit up for court. The Facebook CEO was called to the stand in a Dallas courtroom today to testify in an explosive $2 billion lawsuit which claims that Oculus Inc. (which FB acquired in March of 2014) was built upon technology stolen from Zenimax Media. The lawsuit is structured around dissecting the help… Read More
Microsoft today announced that it has acquired Simplygon, a company that develops 3D-optimization solutions for game developers and other industries that need to visualize 3D data. Simplygon’s SDK is used by many major game development studios and the company recently expanded into the AR/VR market, too. Given Microsoft’s push into AR with its Hololens project and VR with… Read More
The Juicero is a neat device that, for many, has become a symbol of Silicon Valley excesses. The $700 product promised a Keurig-like experience designed to bring juicing to the kitchen (not that home juicing has ever really been that out of reach in the first place) with a proprietary system that relies on its own subscription service. This week, the company’s offering a welcome price… Read More
Just in time before the 2017 presidential election in France, the current French government wanted to announce one last thing to foster French startups. The French Tech Visa is a new program for foreign tech talent. It’s an easier way to get a four-year visa for you and your family. France’s Minister of State for Digital Affairs Axelle Lemaire teased some information about this… Read More
As the fitness wearables market continues to climb, Lumo Bodytech, a startup making wearables focused on things like running and posture, has decided to further business revenue by licensing its platform. Lumo, valued at $41 million according to Pitchbook, now plans to open up its proprietary tech stack — including software, algorithms, applications, and hardware — to third… Read More
London-based startup Juro, which is applying machine learning to help businesses speed up authoring and management of their sales contracts, has closed a $750,000 (£615k) seed round, with investors including Point Nine Capital and Seedcamp. Read More
Jake Paul grew up online. The 19-year-old current Disney star has turned a millions-strong following among millennials on social media channels like Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and YouTube into a mini-empire of TV deals and endorsements, and now has his sights set on entrepreneurial domination. Leveraging his legions of followers (and those of famous friends like Cameron Dallas), Paul has… Read More
Google Drive is having some major issues today. Sometime around 8am PT this morning, the storage service that forms the basis of most of Google’s online productivity suite (though not Gmail) started slowing down and many users (at least in the U.S.) are seeing now only seeing Google’s version of the spinning beach ball instead of their files. Because Drive is at the core of so… Read More
Artificial intelligence is swiftly becoming a commodity thanks to the rise of AI-as-a-Service offerings from Amazon and IBM. Today, Neurala is joining this list thanks to a $14 million Series A led by Pelion Ventures. The team is looking to put AI in the hands of toy makers, drone enthusiasts and IoT engineers alike. Neurala’s real value-proposition is its ability to execute… Read More
As first announced back in October, Twitter is about to shut down its looping video app and social network, Vine. The company had originally implied it would pull the Vine app from the app stores, but later said it would transition it to a new, low-maintenance app called Vine Camera instead. Ahead of this, Vine’s website and app were updated to allow you to export your Vines for… Read More
It’s 2017, and that means TechCrunch will bring TechCrunch Disrupt and Startup Battlefield to New York in a few short months — May 15-17 to be exact. This year the event will be back in Manhattan, at Pier 36 on the Lower East Side. Similar waterfront location to last year’s event in Red Hook, but in Manhattan, with easy access by car and public transportation. Already know… Read More
Fresh on the heels of introducing new TV models at CES, and touting its 13 percent share of the smart TV market, Roku today is rolling out a revamped mobile application aimed at making it easier to access its most popular features, including search and the remote control, while also introducing a new way to find things to watch. The company has long offered a handy companion app that works… Read More
CES 2017 wasn’t the year of the smart mirror – but it was hard to ignore the things lurking about around the edges of the show. The phenomenon has been around for a while now, mostly as concept or Arduino-driven DIY projects, but manufacturers have clearly seen the rise of the smart home as an opportunity to really push the concept toward mainstream acceptance. Introduced at the… Read More
With a pitch for its users to just let go of the things they no longer need, the online used goods marketplace letgo has managed to grab on to $175 million in new financing.
Since its launch in 2015, the would-be craigslist killer has raised at least $325 million to tackle the U.S. market.
It’s been growing a blistering clip, to over $20 billion in gross merchandise value sold on the… Read More
It’s SIHH in Switzerland and that means all of the biggest and weirdest manufacturers are releasing their biggest and weirdest watches. Our favorite so far? This wild HM7 Aquapod, a watch that looks like it once attacked James Cameron while he was burbling around down in the Mariana Trench. Before we get to the bad news lets just revel in the majesty of this thing. It’s a… Read More
Fabletics, the workout clothing startup co-founded by Oscar-nominated mega star Kate Hudson, is launching an online workout platform for those who adhere to that fit and fabulous lifestyle. The online workouts are part of Fabletics’ extended community perks and will consist of new, high-profile workout partners each month from top studios such as Physique 57, Body by Simone and The… Read More
The app industry is continuing to grow, according to a new year-end analysis from app intelligence firm App Annie, out today, which found that app downloads, time spent in apps and revenue grew across the board over the course of 2016. Worldwide downloads were up 15 percent year-over-year, time spent in apps was up 25 percent, and the revenue paid to developers increased by 40… Read More
Sengled is the latest manufacturer to jump into the smart bulb space and their products, while a bit behind the curve, are clever and – most important – cheap. Their smartest smart bulbs are $10 cheaper than the arguably top-of-the-line Philips LIFX bulbs and they also offer the Pulse, a pair of bulbs containing an LED light source and JBL Bluetooth speakers for about $100.… Read More
Measure may not be building the ultimate flying camera, or drones that drop burritos at your door. But the Washington D.C.-based startup has raised $15 million in Series B funding to fly drones as a service for other businesses that want to do things like conduct inspections, capture videos, or gather other insights from on high. Measure CEO and cofounder Brandon Torres Declet said,… Read More
Selling a suite of online and mobile services for wealth managers and individual investors, Starburst Labs, a new New York-based startup has landed $6.25 million in its first institutional round of financing. A relatively new entrant into the market, Starburst Labs began working on its first product in 2013 and is targeting the independent wealth managers and armchair investors that account for… Read More
