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Daily Crunch: We review the Pixel 4
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Pixel 4 review: Google ups its camera game
Brian Heater was impressed by the improvements in Google’s latest smartphone, including camera upgrades and the Recorder app.
However, he also argued that the Pixel 4 doesn’t exactly address what Google wants the Pixel to be, moving forward, especially after the Pixel 3a it was confirmed that consumers were looking for something cheaper.
2. NordVPN confirms it was hacked
The admission comes after rumors that the company had been breached, and what first emerged was that NordVPN had left an expired internal private key exposed, potentially allowing anyone to spin out their own servers imitating NordVPN.
3. Netflix to raise $2 billion in debt to fund more content spending
Despite a relatively strong earnings report last week, Netflix isn’t out of the woods just yet. Disney+ and Apple+ launch next month, and there’s more competition on the way.
4. Commercetools raises $145M from Insight for Shopify-style e-commerce APIs for large enterprises
The funding comes at the same time as commercetools is getting spun out by REWE, a German retail and tourist services giant that acquired the startup in 2015.
The Pro 7, which is going on sale today, is a competent upgrade that gives Surface Pro users exactly what they want — even if it sticks to a tried and tested formula.
6. IPOs are the beginning, not the end
At Disrupt SF, PagerDuty’s Jennifer Tejada argued that an IPO “is part of the beginning of a long journey for a durable company that you want to build a legacy around.” (Extra Crunch membership required.)
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
The Equity team talks to Greylock’s Sarah Guo about the future of software-as-a-service products, while Original Content has a review of “El Camino,” the new “Breaking Bad” movie on Netflix.
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Daily Crunch: Apple pulls Hong Kong app
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
Less than a day after Apple was criticized by Chinese state media for allowing HKmap in the App Store, the crowdsourced map app said it had been delisted.
This is Apple’s second reversal on the issue, which it explained with a statement claiming it learned that the app “has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong.”
2. Grammarly raises $90M at over $1B+ valuation for its AI-based grammar and writing tools
Grammarly provides a toolkit used today by 20 million people to correct their written grammar, suggest better ways to write things and moderate their tone depending on who will be doing the reading.
3. Okta wants to make every user a security ally
Okta is giving end users information about suspicious activity involving their login, while letting them share information with the company’s security apparatus.
4. Waymo to customers: ‘Completely driverless Waymo cars are on the way’
Waymo’s existing programs all use a human safety driver behind the wheel. Now the Alphabet-owned company is getting ready for completely driverless rides.
5. Calm and Room made a $4,000 branded ‘meditation booth’
From the looks of it, the Calm Booth by Room is little more than a standard Room booth, with frosted glass, softer lighting and “a soothing misty forest interior.” But it’s a pretty smart partnership between two white-hot startups.
6. Creators of modern rechargeable batteries share Nobel prize
The prize this year honors M. Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino, all of whom contributed to the development of what is today the most common form of portable power.
7. Silicon Valley’s competing philosophies on tech ethics with The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz
Marantz has in recent years trained his attention on the tech world and its contribution to social unrest in the United States and beyond. And he has just published a new book, “Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation.” (Extra Crunch membership required.)
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Daily Crunch: China pressures Apple
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app
Apple’s decision to greenlight an app called HKmaps, which is being used by pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong to crowdsource information about street closures and police presence, is attracting the ire of the Chinese government.
Specifically, an article in Chinese state mouthpiece China Daily attacks the iPhone maker for reversing an earlier decision not to allow the app to be listed on the iOS App Store.
2. What the hell is up with this Essential device?
Essential CEO Andy Rubin tweeted photos of what he called a “radically different formfactor” — basically, it’s a long, skinny phone.
3. Uber’s newest feature alerts drivers that pets will be joining the ride
With Uber Pet, riders will pay a “small surcharge” for the privilege of taking their pets with them. And drivers will have the option of avoiding trips with non-service animals by opting out of Uber Pet trips.
4. Twitter admits it used two-factor phone numbers and emails for serving targeted ads
Twitter finds itself in the same boat as Facebook, which last year was caught using phone numbers and email addresses — given to Facebook to secure users’ accounts — for targeted advertising.
5. Google’s Grasshopper coding class for beginners comes to the desktop
A larger screen and access to a keyboard makes learning to code on the desktop significantly easier than on mobile. For example, in the desktop app Google is able to put columns for the instructions, the code editor and the results next to each other.
6. Amazon, Walmart confront India’s slowing economy as holiday season growth stalls
Even India’s biggest festive season, featuring blinding marketing blitzkrieg and heavy discounts from Amazon India and Walmart’s Flipkart, has failed to escape the pains of a slowing economy.
7. With $15M round and 100K tablets sold, reMarkable CEO wants to make tech ‘more human’
The reMarkable tablet is a strange device in this era of ultra-smart gadgets, with a black and white screen meant for reading, writing and sketching — and nothing more. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
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Daily Crunch: Render wins the Startup Battlefield
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt SF 2019 is… Render
In the beginning, there were 20 startups. After three days of fierce competition, we now have a Battlefield champion.
That winner is Render, which has created a managed cloud platform to serve as an alternative to traditional cloud providers such as AWS, Azure and GCP. And the runner-up is OmniVis, which aims to make cholera detection as quick, simple and cheap as a pregnancy test.
2. Next Insurance raises $250M from Munich Re, becomes a unicorn
Next Insurance sells insurance products to small businesses. And Germany-based Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurers, was the sole investor in its new round.
3. Roku to launch low-cost versions of its soundbar and subwoofer under Walmart’s onn brand
In September, Roku debuted the Smart Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer, both at $180 each. The Walmart onn-branded Smart Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer, meanwhile, will only cost $129 each.
4. No one could prevent another ‘WannaCry-style’ attack, says DHS official
Jeanette Manfra, the assistant director for cybersecurity for Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said at Disrupt SF that the 2017 WannaCry cyberattack was uniquely challenging because it spread so quickly: “I don’t know that we could ever prevent something like that.”
5. NASA shares 3D Moon data for CG artists and creators
The data set includes not just imagery but depth data, making it simple to build an incredibly detailed 3D map of the Moon.
6. As Sinai Ventures returns first fund, partner Jordan Fudge talks new LA focus
Fudge and co-founder Eric Reiner are centralizing the Sinai Ventures team in Los Angeles for its next fund — a bet on the rising momentum of the local startup ecosystem and their vision to be the city’s leading Series A and B firm. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
We’ve got a new episode of Equity recorded at Disrupt, with Alex and Kate discussing why San Francisco remains a startup hub. (And keep an eye out later today for a bonus episode of Original Content.)
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Daily Crunch: Automattic raises $300M
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Automattic raises $300 million at $3 billion valuation from Salesforce Ventures
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce and soon Tumblr, has raised new funding at a $3 billion post-money valuation. And the entire $300 million round comes from one investor — Salesforce Ventures.
“What we want to do is to become the operating system for the open web,” said founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg. “We want every website, whether it’s e-commerce or anything to be powered by WordPress.”
2. Roku unveils a new streaming player lineup, plus Roku OS 9.2 launch
The company is announcing updated versions of both its entry-level and high-end players. It’s also introducing a new version of the Roku Express exclusively for Walmart, and a Streaming Stick that will be exclusively sold at Best Buy.
3. Airbnb says it will go public next year
The company is part of a big unicorn herd that emerged roughly a decade ago (a herd that includes Uber, Lyft, The We Company and Postmates), and is one of the latest to declare its public market plans.
4. Nintendo Switch Lite review
Brian Heater says that if he was choosing between the Switch and the Switch Lite, he’d go for the Lite — but he’d grit his teeth a bit at the idea of sacrificing a couple hours of battery life in the process.
5. Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph on the company’s earliest days, the streaming wars and moving on
Randolph also shared why it took him 16 years to tell his story about what has become one of the most impactful companies in the history of television. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
6. Google completes controversial takeover of DeepMind Health
The personnel move had been delayed as trusts associated with the National Health Service considered whether to shift their existing DeepMind contracts to Google. (Ultimately, they did shift to Google.)
7. Stephen Curry Brings SC30 Inc. to Disrupt SF
When Golden State Warriors point guard and two-time MVP Stephen Curry isn’t playing basketball, he’s working with his business partner and former college basketball teammate Bryant Barr. Together, Barr and Curry run SC30 Inc., which manages Curry’s investment, media, philanthropy and brand partnership interests.
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Daily Crunch: The iPhone 11 goes to Disneyland
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Review: The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 do Disneyland after dark
Matthew Panzarino continues his tradition of testing out the latest iPhones at Disneyland. This time, he was particularly interested in how well the iPhone 11’s Night Mode works. His verdict: It compares extremely well to other low-light cameras, with exposure and color rendition that’s best-in-class.
But if you’re planning to upgrade, should you get the Pro, or the regular ol’ iPhone 11? Apparently the Pro is really there to address edge cases — the best video and photo options, a better dark mode experience, a brighter screen.
2. Under pressure, The We Company now only says it expects to go public ‘by the end of the year’
A new note from WeWork’s parent company all but confirms that it is indeed delaying its IPO roadshow, which had been expected to commence this week.
3. Amazon launches Amazon Music HD with lossless audio streaming
Amazon has a new, high-quality streaming tier of its music service called Amazon Music HD. It’s priced at $12.99 per month for Prime members, and you can add it to your existing Amazon Music subscription for an additional $5 each month.
4. Will Smith and Ang Lee are coming to Disrupt SF
They’ll be joining us to discuss their upcoming film “Gemini Man,” which features “jaw-dropping effects” from Weta Digital. The effects allow Smith to play both an assassin named Henry Brogan and a younger clone who’s been sent to kill his older counterpart.
Stallman said he has resigned from his position as a visiting scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab after describing a victim of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as “entirely willing” in emails sent to a department list.
6. I hope Apple Arcade makes room for weird, cool shit
Apple Arcade seems purpose-built to make room in the market for beautiful, sad, weird, moving, slow, clever and heartfelt.
7. What startup CSOs can learn from three enterprise security experts
How do you keep your startup secure? That’s one of the big questions we explored at TC Sessions: Enterprise earlier this month — and if you weren’t there, we’ve got a write-up of the main takeaways. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
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Daily Crunch: Salesforce launches vertical clouds
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Salesforce doubles down on verticals, launches Manufacturing and Consumer Goods Clouds
Salesforce unveiled two new business units today as part of its strategy to build specialized solutions for specific industries.
For example, with its Manufacturing Cloud, Salesforce says it has built a way for sales agreements to link up with a company’s ERP and forecasting software, allowing for improved demand prediction.
2. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 combines creative flexibility with great design
Darrell Etherington says the new Galaxy Tab S6 (with pricing starting at $649.99) expands the definition of what a tablet can be.
3. Facebook rolls out new video tools, plus Instagram and IGTV scheduling feature
The highlights include better ways to prep for and simulcast live broadcasts, ways to take better advantage of Watch Party events, new metrics to track video performance and a much-anticipated option to schedule Instagram/IGTV content for up to six months in advance.
4. Hear how to build a billion-dollar SaaS company at TechCrunch Disrupt
This year we’ll welcome three people to the Extra Crunch stage who know first-hand what it takes to join the billion-dollar club: Battery Ventures partner Neeraj Agrawal, HelloSign COO Whitney Bouck and Harness CEO Jyoti Bansal.
5. Beekeeper raises $45M Series B to become the ‘Slack for non-desk employees’
Beekeeper has built a mobile-first communications platform for employers who need to communicate with blue-collar and service-oriented workers.
6. How to get people to open your emails
We tackle the obvious stuff that can help with low open rates, as well as bigger challenges: Let’s say 60% of your audience opens your email — how can you get the remaining 40% to open and read it too? (Extra Crunch membership required.)
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
The Equity team has some thoughts on the latest WeWork drama, and how it shows that valuations are essentially meaningless. And on Original Content, we review the Netflix documentary series “The Family.”
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Daily Crunch: Apple unveils new iPhones
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Here’s everything Apple announced today at the iPhone 11 event
The biggest announcement was a new lineup of iPhones, including the iPhone 11, with a new dual-camera system, as well as two iPhone Pro models with three cameras each. Cameras galore!
In addition, the company announced new iPads and Apple Watches, as well as pricing and launch dates for Apple Arcade (launching September 19) and Apple TV+ (November 1).
2. California passes landmark bill that requires Uber and Lyft to treat their drivers as employees
The bill says that if a contractor’s work is part of a company’s regular business, then they must be designated as employees. And thus, these workers will get access to more protections such as minimum wage, the right to unionize and overtime.
3. Peloton plots $1.2B Nasdaq IPO
In an amended S-1 filing released Tuesday afternoon, the developer of internet-connected stationary bikes and treadmills announced a proposed price range of $26 to $29 per share, allowing the company to raise as much as $1.2 billion in its public offering.
4. Uber lays off 435 people across engineering and product teams
Speaking of Uber, the company laid off about 8% of the workforce, with 170 people leaving the product team and 265 people leaving the engineering team.
5. Mozilla launches a VPN, brings back the Firefox Test Pilot program
The Test Pilot program allows users to try out new features before they are ready for mainstream usage.
6. Aerospace Corp CEO Steve Isakowitz to talk how to raise non-dilutive capital at Disrupt SF
Aerospace Corp is not that widely known outside space circles, but its 59-year-old R&D legacy is remarkable. The nonprofit works with the U.S. Air Force and other government space programs to identify emerging technologies from the commercial sector that could apply to future space programs.
7. What the iPhone 11 says about Apple’s present — and future
Let’s wrap this up with some thoughts on what yesterday’s announcements mean for Apple’s strategy — particularly the company’s growing focus on content and services, and its new thinking on how to position the iPhone. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
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Daily Crunch: Facebook Dating comes to the US
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Facebook Dating launches in the US, adds Instagram integration
The integration means users will be able to add their Instagram accounts to their dating profiles and add Instagram followers to their “Secret Crush” lists.
If you’re wondering how this stacks up against other dating apps, the Secret Crush feature seems particularly interesting: While you won’t see your Facebook friends among your regular dating matches, you can list them as a crush that will only be revealed if the feeling is mutual.
At six pounds, the Sonos Move is best positioned as augmenting a home setup. It’s a compelling device for barbecuing in the backyard, or taking out to the garage.
3. Federal judge rules that the ‘terrorist watchlist’ database violates US citizens’ rights
A federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush has ruled that the “terrorist watchlist” database compiled by federal agencies violates the rights of American citizens who are on it.
4. Google launches an open-source version of its differential privacy library
That means developers will be able to take this library and build their own tools that can work with aggregate data, without revealing personally identifiable information either inside or outside their companies.
5. A huge database of Facebook users’ phone numbers found online
The exposed server contained more than 419 million records over several databases on users across geographies, including 133 million records on users based in the United States.
6. Why Walmart’s Flipkart is betting heavily on Hindi
Flipkart’s major bet on Hindi — a language spoken by more than 500 million people in India — illustrates a growing push from local and international companies as they adapt their services and business models to go beyond India’s urban areas. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
7. Ashton Kutcher, Ann Miura-Ko and Mamoon Hamid are coming to Disrupt!
Specifically: They’re going to be judging the finals at the Startup Battlefield, hosted by yours truly.
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Daily Crunch: Apple will unveil the next iPhone on Sept 10
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Apple will unveil the next iPhone September 10
Apple has sent out invites confirming rumors that its next major press event will happen on September 10. The event is expected to focus on the iPhone 11, unveiling three different models — the standard 11, as well as two Pro options.
If this happens, it would mark a subtle-but-significant shift in the way Apple structures its phone lineup. With a lower-priced flagship replacing the budget XR, the company could appeal to consumers who’ve been turned off by the rising prices for higher-end options.
2. Uber and Lyft are putting $60M toward keeping drivers independent contractors
In the event that California’s Assembly Bill 5 passes — forcing Uber and Lyft to make their drivers W-2 employees — each company is putting in $30 million to fund a 2020 ballot initiative that would enable them to keep their drivers as independent contractors.
3. Google lets David Drummond do the talking
Anyone wondering if Alphabet might reprimand its chief legal officer David Drummond for a long-ago extramarital affair with a former subordinate (which recently resurfaced in a much-discussed blog post), the answer seems to be . . . not right now.
Image via Getty Images / vladwel
Most new TVs come with a bunch of random junk turned on by default; things like motion smoothing that makes epic movies look like soap operas, or noise reduction that can wash out details and make an actor’s skin look cyborg-y. With Filmmaker Mode, you’ll be able to push a button and all that crap gets turned off.
5. Nike Huaraches get updated for the smartphone age
Slowly but surely, Nike has made its self-lacing motor technology more accessible. The next step: Bringing the tech to its Huarache line next month.
6. What is Andela, the Africa tech talent accelerator?
To put it succinctly, Andela is a startup — backed by $180 million in venture capital — that trains and connects African software developers to global companies for a fee. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
Benioff is coming to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco to discuss how to build a highly successful business while giving back to the community.
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