Google introduced a refreshed Family Link app today with three tabs for highlights, controls, and location along with a central hub for notifications. The company also launched a web version of Family Link for both parents and children. The company first introduced Family Link in 2017 to allow parents to monitor and set limits on … Read more
Google is bringing a set of new kids-focused features such as parent-controlled watchlists and AI-powered suggestions to Google TV, the latest in a series of efforts from the Android-maker as it attempts to broaden the offerings of its TV operating system for family consumption. The company said it is adding these features to the kids’ … Read more
The European Commission is facing fresh calls to make good on its 2017 antitrust decision against Google Shopping by banning Google from displaying its own shopping comparison ads units in search results — boxes which Google populates with revenue-generating ads — as they argue the self-preferencing units constitute an ongoing competition abuse by the adtech … Read more
Do Kwon says charges levelled against him by the South Korean prosecutors are not legitimate and politically motivated, sharing a rare update on what has become one of the most high profile events in the crypto industry this year in the aftermath of the $40 billion wipeout of his Terra blockchain. Kwon said he has … Read more
The United Kingdom is known for many things, but rocket launches are not one of them. Spaceflight startup Orbex is part of a slew of U.K.-based companies hoping to change that by bringing vertical launch to U.K. soil for the first time. Orbex is aiming to conduct its first orbital rocket launch as early as … Read more
Kenzz, an e-commerce platform bringing shopping to the mass market in Egypt and MENA, is announcing that it has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. U.S.-based and MENA-focused venture capital firm Outliers Ventures led the round. Some of the participating investors include HOF Capital, Foundation Ventures, and Samurai Incubate. The company, founded this February by … Read more
Verlinvest, a family-backed, “evergreen”, growth fund investor, that has previously funded a few well-known consumer brands like Oatly, Vita Coco, Tony’s Chocolonely, Who Gives A Crap, Pedego, Chewy.com, Hint & others, is getting into the venture game. After putting around €50m into VC initiatives globally, it’s now embarking on being the kick-starter LP in a … Read more
Meet Revyze, a French startup that is developing a mobile app for iOS and Android at the intersection of education and social. In many ways, Revyze looks just like TikTok. But it is focused specifically on educational content for teenagers. “We talked with kids attending 30 or 35 different high schools,” co-founder Florent Sciberras told … Read more
Earlier this month, YouTube ran an experiment where it asked some free users to upgrade to a premium account to watch videos in 4K resolution. The company has now ended this test — probably because of uproar from users. In a tweet, YouTube confirmed the end of the experiment and said, “viewers should now be … Read more
The battery-electric Celestiq sedan, which starts “north of $300,000,” is tasked with more than restoring Cadillac to its former glory; it now must back executives’ bold claim to “reestablish the iconic brand as the standard of the world.” But with a price tag more than three times the average transaction price of a vehicle from … Read more
Years ago, Cadillac was associated with luxury and performance. Today, in an effort to claw its way back to the top of the luxury heap, the U.S. automaker unveiled Monday the production Cadillac Celestiq, a hand-built, bespoke behemoth fastback sedan that adheres closely to the concept it unveiled in July of this year. The vehicle, … Read more
Cadillac confirmed Monday that its forthcoming flagship Celestiq sedan will launch late next year with all of the futuristic bells and whistles befitting a bespoke EV starting “north of $300,000.” The Celestiq isn’t just a flagship for the GM luxury brand. The four-seater is slated to set the direction for the brand’s transition to a … Read more
Jane Technologies’ impressive cannabis marketplace is finally available in an app. The company today launched its first iOS app enabling users to browse the inventory of local cannabis dispensaries and make purchases within the app. Its web-based marketplace is lovely, and I’ve found it amazingly accurate, thanks to its live inventory information. I’m thrilled the company … Read more
After a rough year in the public markets, you might take today’s brilliant trading as good news. Any positive price movement is a win, right? Kinda. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 3.4% today, while other major U.S. indices jumped smaller amounts in a hall-of-fame start to the trading week. (That the markets are turning … Read more
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Greetings from the TechCrunch office! Yes, it turns out we have an office, even though we haven’t seen the inside of it for a good long stretch. We are here doing some … Read more
Hello and welcome back to Max Q. Last week was one of those weeks where your head spins with the sheer amount of news/announcements/launches in the space sector. It’s a crazy time to be alive, folks! In this issue: A busy November for… the moon! Launch companies expanding to new continents News from SpaceX, Spire … Read more
SpaceX has withdrawn its request to the Pentagon that it fund the ongoing use of Starlink internet terminals in Ukraine, CEO Elon Musk said Monday. His statement (made on Twitter – where else?) comes just hours after it was reported that the Pentagon was considering footing the bill using a fund that finances contracts for … Read more
This year was huge for the crypto developer space even though the digital asset market continues to wallow in a downturn, according to a new report by web3 developer platform Alchemy. Although the crypto market capitalization is down about 58% year to date, web3 developers are pouring into the space. The report found that developer … Read more
Some robotics challenges have immediately clear applications. Others are more focused on helping systems solve broader challenges. Teaching small robots to play soccer against one another fits firmly into the latter category. The authors of a new paper detailing the use of reinforcement learning to teach MIT’s Mini Cheetah robot to play goalie note, Soccer … Read more
Over the last week and a half, the Chinese semiconductor industry’s circumstances have taken a sharp turn for the worse. The Biden administration announced on October 7 a sweeping set of export restrictions that prevent the export of certain chips and, more important, the sale of tools using certain technologies to Chinese chipmakers. The rules … Read more
Apple is bringing its immersive surround-sound audio product to vehicles through a partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Universal Music Group, the latest example of the tech company’s push into automotive. For the first time, Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos from Apple Music will be natively integrated into the car, starting with the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, the Mercedes-Benz … Read more
Netflix announced today that it has launched “Profile Transfer,” a feature that lets a member on an existing account switch to a brand-new account without rebuilding their profile. This prevents their personal data from being erased like customized recommendations, viewing history, list of favorite shows/movies, and other settings that could be annoying to lose and … Read more
Over the summer, Joe Biden issued the “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” Included in the legislation was a push to make more affordable hearing aids available without prescription. Following a final rule from the FDA, those products are finally arriving on store shelves. A number of major U.S. drugstore chains have … Read more
Adobe Express, the company’s template-centric tool for helping anyone quickly create logos, banners, flyers, ads and more, has always long offered a free version for schools. As the company announced today — one day before its annual MAX conference — Adobe Express for Education now has over 43 million K-12 users globally. With over 43M … Read more
Tipping in the U.S. is a critical part of how the wheels turn in the service economy. One service area that’s been very overlooked, however, is the world of last-mile delivery — a service job that falls between the cracks when it comes to tipping because those who deliver products typically don’t work for the … Read more
As more streaming services explore the livestreaming space, Amazon Prime Video is branching out beyond live sports and introducing a new weekly livestreamed concert series, “Amazon Music Live.” Next Thursday, October 27, at 9 p.m. PT, Amazon will launch the series which features rapper 2 Chainz as the host and performances by artists Lil Baby, … Read more
It’s been more than 20 years since the da Vinci Surgical System received FDA clearance. Pretty incredible when you think about it. Robotic surgery and automation in general have come a long way since then, and a number of companies have entered the lucrative category, focused on all manner of different procedures. Surprisingly, robotic dental … Read more
TikTok is raising the age requirement for hosting livestreams on its platform, as well as launching adult-only livestreams, the company announced on Monday. Currently, you need to be 16 or older to host a livestream. Starting on November 23, users will have to be 18 years old in order to go live on the platform. … Read more
From one perspective, DoorDash is a bargain today. The same goes for Coinbase, UiPath, AppLovin, Oscar Health, Bumble, and Qualtrics. Indeed, if you pick nearly any 2021 technology IPO and compare its debut price to where it trades today, you will find that the market is offering yesteryear’s standouts at a massive discount. So much … Read more
Discord is refreshing its popular chat app with a handful of new features, including one that developers who build tools for the platform have wanted for a long time. The changes seek to make the community-building app a more versatile place to hang out, with new ways to customize the servers where hundreds of thousands … Read more