Category: Tech news

 Google dancers have been in a tizzy recently after the company announced that secure websites will be ranked higher in listings, a move that has made a million SEO salespeople instant experts in SSL (and improved the general security of the web.) CloudFlare, a company that launched at Disrupt, has one-upped them all, however, by offering free and easy encryption to all of their… Read More

 Cowboy Ventures, the early-stage investment firm led by Aileen Lee, is in the midst of raising its second fund. According to an SEC filing, the firm is seeking to raise $55 million — which is up from the $40 million it sought the first time around. Read More

 In the fast-emerging space of equity crowdfunding, Silicon Valley insiders are pretty familiar with players like AngelList. But there’s actually a startup crowdfunding site out of Israel with a veteran team that has a good deal of momentum as well. OurCrowd, which is run by serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jon Medved, has put at least $70 million to work in roughly 50 companies… Read More

 Microsoft, in an effort to bring MSN back to mainstream prominence, is shifting its Bing-labeled Windows Phone and Windows apps under that brand’s aegis. You are forgiven if you forgot that MSN is still a thing, or that a number of Windows Phone and Windows apps that have little to do with search are in fact still branded under the Bing name. MSN may be on this side of risible in the… Read More

 Mere months after raising $50 million in financing, we’re hearing from multiple sources that the mobile and online shopping startup Wish is galloping towards “unicorn” status with talks to raise roughly $100 million at a valuation of around $1 billion. Apparently, people like to shop on their mobile devices. Just to refresh your memory, the San Francisco-based Wish was… Read More

 From #BendGate and Beats Music to South Park, here are the top stories from 9/20 to 9/26: 1. #BendGate dominated the tech headlines this week. For those unfamiliar with the “saga,” several reports suggested that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will bend when left in a pocket for a prolonged period of time. The iPhone 6 Plus in particular garnered the most attention. The iPhone 6 and 6… Read More

 Being easily excited by newfangled gadetry, I waited with glee for Apple to announce the iPhone 6. However, it was not without trepidation. In spite of my eagerness for a new device, I feared the new iPhone would be significantly larger than the previous iterations and for good reason: I’m a delicate 5’2″. Electronics are greatly exaggerated against my slight frame.
Upon… Read More

 Hello from TechCrunch SF HQ, where we just wrapped another episode of CrunchWeek, our weekly pandemic covering the latest in technology news. The inane, the excellent, and the execrable are our usual fare. Ello exploded from zero to one, Apple managed to bend, and break, and the burn rate of many startups was judged as less than winsome. This week Kyle Russell and myself were joined by a… Read More

 ToyTalk, the makers of kids entertainment applications for iPad, has just released its first paid application with the launch of a character-driven touch and play app called SpeakaLegend. But the team may have even bigger news on the way in the form of licensing deals for its speech recognition tech with some of the best-known children’s brands, we hear. This startup is a fascinating… Read More

 What’s the value of talent today in Silicon Valley? This year, a startup with revenues of $10 million wanted to find a new chief executive following its Series B raise and offered $450,000 in compensation (5% of revenues). Another startup, quickly growing and approaching an IPO, did a search for a CEO to lead it onto the public markets. In addition to a hefty compensation package, the… Read More

 Gillmor Gang – Robert Scoble, Doc Searls, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor. LIVE recording session today at 1:00pm Pacific Time. Read More

 Microsoft today disclosed data concerning global government request for its users’ data, and information about their accounts in the first half of 2014. The total number of requests, and the number of accounts impacted were similar to the six month period that concluded 2013.
In total, between January and June of this year, 34,494 requests were sent to Microsoft, impacting 58,562 accounts. Read More

 Today in devices that use stepper motors to make beautiful music we present to you this Arduino-powered, Raspberry-Pi containing music box that uses simple stepper motors to grind out merry tunes and a pair of servos to supply a percussion backup.
The box, created by Jeremy Weatherford, is surprisingly simple. The Raspberry Pi contains the music and activates the stepper motors at the right time. Read More

 HotelTonight is moving beyond the same-day hotel bookings that it’s known for.
TechCrunch’s Jordan Crook reported earlier this week that this move was in the works, but HotelTonight is confirming the news, and the updated apps offering hotel booking up to seven days in advance are scheduled to go live … now. Read More

 As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the iPhone’s launch has brought with it a series of backlashes. It was discovered that Apple’s larger iPhone, the 6 Plus, may bend under direct, persistent pressure over a prolonged period of time. Turns out, it wasn’t a huge deal. However, a bug in iOS 8.0.1 that killed wireless connectivity and TouchID kind of was a… Read More