Category: Tech news

 Google announced late last year that it would shut down Map Maker, its older, online tool that allowed anyone to contribute updates to Google Maps. The service, which had been around since 2008, let users correct or fill in missing map content – like place details, roads, business information and more. This was especially useful in helping establish maps in emerging markets, where… Read More

 Google is launching a new certification program for mobile site developers today. The exam covers everything from the basics of why mobile sites matter to how to improve mobile site speed, effective mobile UX design and more advanced topics like progressive web apps. As Google notes, passing the exam is meant to show that you have “a demonstrated ability to build and optimize… Read More

 In preparation for Disrupt New York and our upcoming TC Sessions series on Robotics Matt Burns and I will be heading to Pittsburgh to talk to some startups. We have some good news! We’ve found a space. We will meet at the Shop on April 11 at 7pm, a new place near bakery square. Please RSVP ASAP. We also need lots and lots of startups, preferably in hardware. Startups will have two minutes… Read More

 Netflix added support for offline viewing on iOS and Android late last year, and today it’s bringing the same feature to Windows 10, with the exception of Windows 10 mobile devices. Arriving now in the updated Windows 10 application, a subset of the Netflix catalog can be downloaded to your PC or tablet computer in order to be viewed when a network connection is not available. Read More

 Founders Factory, the corporate accelerator vehicle set up by Brent Hoberman’s Founder’s Forum umbrella, has today announced the first two startups selected for their AI accelerator programme in conjunction with CSC Group. The idea is to co-create two new AI businesses within the incubator programme every year, for five years. Terms were not disclosed. CSC Group invested in… Read More

 TechCrunch Sessions: Justice is going down on June 6 at the Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco and we have a jam-packed agenda featuring some of the best and brightest people working on diversity, inclusion and equity in tech, criminal justice reform and social justice. Read More

Twitter stops counting @ replies, Dropbox takes a $600 million credit line, Audi acquires Silvercar and Toyota drives deeper into AI research. All this on Crunch Report. Read More

 Ghost in the Shell is one of the best-looking science fiction films in years. Yet, despite how much I enjoyed it, it’s hard not to see it as something of a missed opportunity. Read More

 Uber executive and Otto co-founder Anthony Levandowski is asserting his Fifth Amendment rights in regard to a lawsuit filed by Waymo against Uber, which accuses the company and Levandowski of stealing technology related to autonomous vehicles from the Google self-driving car project prior to his departure. Read More

 The startup bug has hit the world of biotechnology, and the latest victim is a business that is building a “super glue,” coincidentally, for bug-combating vaccines. SpyBiotech — a startup spun out of Oxford University that has developed a way to bond antigens to viruses and other particles to make vaccines — has announced £4 million ($5 million) in funding. Read More

 SpaceX has completed the other key ingredient of its historic flight today, recovering its Falcon 9 rocket via its floating drone barge. This is a huge accomplishment because it already did this once before — with the same rocket, on the same barge, when it landed last year following a successful launch during a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Read More

 Meal kit makers Blue Apron may be preparing to file for a 2017 IPO, according to Reuters. The report says that the food startup has hired bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to this end. The whole thing has stirred up quite the conversation over here at TechCrunch, and we’ve been arguing amongst ourselves about the likelihood that the Blue Apron IPO happens soon, or… Read More

 SpaceX has succeeded in re-launching one of its Falcon 9 rockets for the first time ever, an undertaking that saw the first-ever reflight of an entire orbital class rocket — by anyone. The achievement is a key ingredient in SpaceX’s long-term business plan for making rocket launches more affordable and accessible to corporate and government customers. Read More

 Archaeological records show humans have been making alcohol since at least 7000 BC. We figured out wine more than 6,000 years ago. By the time the ancient Egyptians entered the scene, brewers were making at least 17 types of beer. Nonetheless, it appears we are not done innovating: Booze-related startups continued to rack up funding in the past year. Read More

 SpaceX is launching a Falcon 9 rocket at 6:27 PM EDT (3:27 PM PDT) today, provided all goes to plan. The company has launched many Falcon 9 rockets in the past, but this time is a bit different – the rocket in this case has already been launched once before, and will now carry a payload for commercial client SES for its second go-around. You can watch the whole thing unfold above… Read More