Category: Tech news

 Twenty years ago only one out of 10 people in Mexico had a telephone of any kind. Today, more than 100 million people have cell phones and, more amazingly, more than 70 percent of those are smartphones. To keep up the torrid growth, scrappy competitors are offering smartphones for every budget and plans that let users choose right from their handsets which services they want and how much they… Read More

 Tesla announced today that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into a recent fatal crash of a Model S with the company’s Autopilot feature activated. The accident took place on May 7th in a small West Florida town called Williston. The Florida Highway Patrol is also conducting its own investigation of the accident, according to a public… Read More

 After nearly 30 years of dutiful serve to New York City’s Apple community, Manhattan-based retailer Tekserve will be closing its doors for the last time later this summer. It’s yet another sign of the times for a computer market that has shifted dramatically since Apple took computer selling into its own slick and well-lit hands back in 2001. “This is a cultural… Read More

 On Tuesday, June 28, Volkswagen finally announced an agreement with US federal regulators (including the FTC), private plaintiffs in the United States, and 44 states to settle its TDI diesel case to the tune of about $15 billion. In case you need a refresher, in fall of 2015, researchers discovered that VW had engineered the software governing its TDI diesel engines to behave differently… Read More

 Figuratively, of course. The companies are at it again, and this time it’s not only bothersome to the businesses themselves, but to the end consumer. Going to the next level in an ongoing spat over Apple’s subscription rules, it would appear that Apple has rejected Spotify’s latest update to its app in late May, citing business model issues. Shortly before that, Spotify… Read More

 With the Juno mission set to arrive at Jupiter on the Fourth of July, NASA did what any reasonable space agency would to celebrate the momentous occasion, teaming with Apple to release a short film and enlisting artists like Weezer and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor to celebrate.
A short film, Visions of Harmony, has been released through iTunes, featuring some stunning visuals and… Read More

 The TechCrunch Summer Party is a thing of tradition and we hope you can make it out this year. Like in years past we’ll gather on the spacious grounds of August Capital in Menlo Park and enjoy an evening of cocktails and the spirit of entrepreneurship. Tickets are very limited and released on a rolling basis. It’s $85 to attend and $1000 to exhibit your startup at a demo table.… Read More

 500 Startups, known for its work as a startup accelerator, now hopes to incubate its own ideas in-house and spin them off into new companies. Called 500 Labs, it’s a new attempt at finding interesting ideas that might turn out to be good investments. 500 Startups essentially brings in developers and entrepreneurs in residence, giving them the resources to play around with ideas until… Read More

 Google is bringing long awaited multi-stop directions to mobile with its new summer update. Travelers can now hit as many tourist traps as they want on their cross country treks. Just like in the web version, users can swiftly rearrange the order of stops. Android users will get the feature first, followed by iOS in the near future. The summer update caps off an active week for Maps.… Read More

 There is a lot of noise in the privacy space, says serial entrepreneur and Digi.me founder Julian Ranger. And cutting through that noise is one of the big challenges he reckons stands in the way of his current startup. But the concept behind Digi.me is so intriguing that you really have to hope the team manages to make themselves heard. Today the UK startup is announcing a £4.2… Read More

 As companies like Apple, Google and PayPal continue to home in on virtual wallets for consumers who dream of using phones or watches to pay for everything in person without fumbling around for a plastic card or cash; a startup called Index is focusing on how to make the experience better and more connected for the brick-and-mortar retailers selling to them. After opening for business in… Read More

 A good Furby doesn’t die, it just runs out of batteries. And maybe, if you’re lucky, it evolves every few years or so. Back in 2012, Hasbro brought the cuddly little iconic monster back from the toy grave with an electronic update. A few years on, the company is back with yet another major refresh to the line, aimed at an even more tech savvy consumer. Heck, it’s right there… Read More

 When people participate in events like the AIDS Walk San Francisco, which raises money for Bay Area organizations fighting the AIDS epidemic, you often see people post on Facebook that they’re looking for donations. Today, Facebook is rolling out the ability for everyday people to fundraise on behalf of non-profit organizations. This user-focused tool is an extension of a feature… Read More

 The second edition of Amazon’s annual Prime Day is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12, the company announced today. Amazon Prime subscribers who live in one of the eligible countries will have access to what Amazon describes as “more than 100,000 deals across nearly all departments and categories.” Eligible countries are the U.S., UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France,… Read More

 Buy organic groceries online, at an affordable price. That’s the mantra of Los Angeles-based Thrive Market, which has raised a significant $111 million Series B funding round, led by Invus. Thrive, which competes with similar online grocery services like Vitacost, believes there is a significant market opportunity to make natural foods more accessible to consumers and they’ve… Read More