Google Maps now notes if a location is wheelchair accessible

google-maps-TC “Can I get in the building?” It might not be a question you find yourself asking regularly — but for the 3 million+ wheelchair users in the U.S., it’s a question that has to be considered. And starting now, it’s one that Google Maps is trying to help answer. “Wheelchair accessible entrance” will now be noted in a location’s… Read More

Yahoo shares tumble as investors fear Verizon acquisition trouble

marissa mayer Yahoo shares tumbled 6% on Thursday as investors feared that the latest Yahoo hack could spell bad news for its sale to Verizon. This is the second major hack revelation in recent months and there’s speculation that Verizon could be spooked. Some are wondering if Verizon will ask for a discount on the $4.8 billion dollar deal or scrap it altogether. TechCrunch is owned by Verizon, but we… Read More

Nintendo Switch patents tantalize gamers with possibilities of VR, touchscreen, new controllers

switch_docu Everyone is excited about the Nintendo Switch, but the company continues to be cagey about critical details like the resolution, the presence or absence of a touchscreen and so on. Well, speculation will certainly heat up with the appearance of a nearly 150-page patent application that gamers are still poring through for hidden info. Read More

The government body that oversees the security of voting systems was itself hacked

picard_riker_facepalm The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which is responsible for testing and certifying voting systems, among other things, was hacked around the time of the election, security outfit Recorded Future reports. The EAC confirmed a “potential intrusion” in a statement issued to TechCrunch. Read More

A closer look at the 3D-printed Adidas 3D Runners

adidas3d_009 The 3D Runners aren’t going to change the sneaker world. Not yet, at least. For now, the technology isn’t affordable or scalable enough for the mainstream shoe-buying public. The $333 price tag is simultaneously a nod to the technology that gave the shoes life and a reminder of its still prohibitive nature. But unlike the $700+ self-lacing Nike HyperAdapts that launched earlier… Read More

Rivvr brings wireless VR to the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive

screen-shot-2016-12-15-at-8-53-01-am Wires don’t really exist in anyone’s conception of the future. Often they’re just needed for powering devices, but in the case of high-quality VR, the headsets rely on wires to connect to high-end PCs that provide the brains. Rivvr is looking to cut the cords with its hardware solution that will provide wireless play to both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I had a chance to take… Read More

Next Entertainment wants to make it possible to live stream for a living

The MeMe app allows livestreamers to get paid with virtual goods and gifts by followers. A Taiwan-based startup called Next Entertainment has raised $25 million in an outsized Series A round of funding for apps that make it possible to live stream for a living. The company’s founder and CEO, Andy Zhong, is no stranger to tech and new media. He previously started FunPlus, a social gaming company acquired by a Chinese conglomerate, Zhongji, in 2014 for $960 million. In… Read More

Mercedes launches car-sharing service Croove

Croove app For something like a century, car makers have sold one car to one person one time and then waited for them to wear out that car and come back to the dealership for another one. Increasingly, that model is outmoded, and Mercedes-Benz is putting another nail in that model’s coffin with Croove.
The car-sharing service launched in Munich this month with a couple of twists. Croove is a… Read More

Oracle CEO Safra Catz joins Trump transition team

Safra Catz, co-chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., gestures as she speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Catz made her first remarks as Oracle co-CEO at the conference when she introduced Intel Corp. President Renee James, who also spoke. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Oracle’s chief executive Safra Catz will join President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, an Oracle spokesperson told TechCrunch. Catz was one of several top tech executives that attended a meeting with Trump, his children and his advisors yesterday at Trump Tower in New York. Catz was the most outspokenly optimistic attendee prior to the meeting, saying, “I plan to tell… Read More

Verizon is letting Samsung brick the Note 7 after all, but waiting until after the holidays

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 About a week ago, Samsung announced that it was finally ready to be done with this whole Note 7 situation, once and for all. The company issued a release stating that it would issue a software update here in the States that would effectively brick the troubled handset, rendering it inoperable when not plugged directly into a power source.
Verizon (our parent company) quickly issued its own… Read More

8Bitdo’s NES30 and Retro Receiver for NES Classic is the ideal wireless controller

8bitdo-nes-classic2 If you are one of the lucky few who either managed to get an NES Classic Edition already, or who will likely be getting one this holiday as a gift, then you’ll notice right away that the controller included is barely usable, thanks to a short cord. That’s where 8bitdo’s new NES Classic wireless control kit comes in. The included cord is so short that there’s already a… Read More

GM will begin testing and building self-driving cars in Michigan

cq5dam-web-1280-1280 GM is going to start building its next generation of self-driving vehicles at the Michigan plant where it builds its Chevrolet Bolt, the company’s CEO Mary Barra announced Thursday. It will also be testing vehicles on public roads in metro Detroit, GM said. GM is already testing self-driving vehicles using autonomous systems created by Cruise, the startup it acquired earlier this year,… Read More