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Daily Crunch: Google launches Live Transcribe
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. Google intros a pair of Android accessibility features for people with hearing loss
Live Transcribe is, perhaps, the more compelling of the two offerings. As its name implies, the feature transcribes audio in real time, so users with hearing loss can read text, in order to enable a live, two-way conversation.
Meanwhile, Sound Amplifier is designed to filter out ambient and unwanted noise, without boosting the volume on already loud sounds.
2. Amazon’s Audible brings Choose Your Own Adventure stories to Alexa devices
These are professionally performed, voice-controlled narratives from the publisher of the original Choose Your Own Adventure book series, ChooseCo.
3. Bird CEO on scooter startup copycats, unit economics, safety and seasonality
“2018 was about scaling,” he said. “2019 is about really focusing on the unit economics of the business.”
4. Crypto exchange Kraken acquires Crypto Facilities
This nine-figure deal is Kraken’s biggest acquisition to date. Following the deal, some Kraken users can now access both spot and futures trading.
5. Why no one really quits Google or Facebook
Danny Crichton weighs in on the latest Facebook and Google scandals. Rather depressingly, he argues that nothing will change.
6. Watch the tech-centric Super Bowl ads from Amazon, Microsoft and others
This year’s theme: Sad robots.
7. Your Monday podcast roundup
This week, Equity looks at $100 million funding rounds for everyone, Mixtape discusses allegations that Oracle underpaid minority employees and Original Content reviews the creepy Netflix series “You.”
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Daily Crunch: Facebook fallout continues
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. We dismantle Facebook’s memo defending its ‘Research’
The fallout continues following TechCrunch reporting about a Facebook app that was paying people to collect a huge swath of data from their phones. For one thing, a new memo from Facebook’s VP of production engineering and security provides more detail about exactly what data Facebook was trying to collect from teens and adults in the U.S. and India.
We also learned that like Facebook, Google was using Apple enterprise certificates to circulate a consumer-facing data collection app — leading Apple to shut down, then restore access to Google’s internal iOS apps.
2. Amazon and Flipkart pull 100,000s of products to comply with new Indian law
Amazon has been forced to pull an estimated 400,000 products in India after new regulation limiting e-commerce businesses went into force in the country. And Flipkart could pull as many as one-quarter of its products in order to comply with the rule, according to analysis from consulting firm Technopak.
3. Apple fixes FaceTime eavesdrop bug, with software update incoming
“We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week,” the company said.
4. H-1B changes will simplify application process
Danny Crichton does some table-napkin math to conclude that the changes will likely benefit advanced degree holders, while diminishing the chances for regular applicants.
5. Kleiner Perkins gets back to early-stage with its $600M 18th fund
The firm, which was recently rocked by the departure of legendary investor Mary Meeker, says it’s going “back to the future” with a focus on early-stage deals.
6. Amazon reports better than expected Q4, but lowers Q1 guidance
The online retail giant reported $72.4 billion in Q4 revenue, topping last year’s $60.45 billion and besting the analysts’ forecast of $71.92 billion. Amazon Web Services also played a key role, with a massive $2.2 billion operating income.
7. Vice Media will lay off 10 percent of its staff
Vice is the latest digital media company to announce major cuts. The goal is to allow Vice to focus on growth areas like branded content and film and TV production.
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Daily Crunch: Well Facebook, you did it again
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 is the new crapware
Well Facebook, you did it again. Fresh off its latest privacy scandal, the troubled social media giant has inked a deal with Android to pre-install its app on an undisclosed number of phones and make the software permanent. This means you won’t be able to delete Facebook from those phones. Thanks, Facebook.
2. The world’s first foldable phone is real
Chinese company Royole has beaten Samsung to the market and has been showing off a foldable phone/tablet this week at CES. While it’s not the most fluid experience, the device definitely works at adapting to your needs.
3. CES revokes award from female-founded sex tech company
Outcries of a double-standard are pouring out of CES after the Consumer Tech Association revoked an award from a company geared toward women’s sexual health.
4. Everything Google announced at CES 2019
Google went all in on the Assistant this year at CES. The company boasted that the voice-enabled AI will make its way onto a billion devices by the end of the month — up from 400 million last year. But what’s most exciting is the expanded capabilities of Google’s Assistant. Soon you’ll be able to check into flights and translate conversations on the fly with a simple “Hey Google.”
5. Rebranding WeWork won’t work
The company formerly known as WeWork has rebranded to the We Company, but its new strategy has the potential to plunge the company further into debt.
6. Despite promises to stop, US cell carriers are still selling your real-time phone location data
Last year a little-known company called LocationSmart came under fire after leaking location data from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint users to shady customers. LocationSmart quickly buckled under public scrutiny and promised to stop selling user data, but few focused on another big player in the location tracking business: Zumigo.
7. The best and worst of CES 2019
From monster displays to VR in cars, we’re breaking down the good, the bad and the ugly from CES 2019.
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