TechCrunch

The importance of science fiction to entrepreneurship

There are three types of science fiction (in my view): crap, serialized crap and hard-science science fiction. The last type contains a wealth of visions of the future, many of which we enjoy today, and is referenced in the names of, or has influenced, many tech startups and world-class …

Why an unhackable mobile phone is a complete marketing myth

The mobile security market is taking flight due to high-profile hackings, but is there such a thing as an unhackable phone? Especially one that costs as much as $14,000?<p>Consider this: The smartphone in your pocket is 10 times more powerful than the fastest multi-million dollar supercomputers of …

Samsung addresses concerns over Galaxy Note 7 replacement issues

Samsung’s media arm continues code red damage control in the wake of the latest report surrounding a faulty Galaxy Note 7. The incident, which occurred on a Southwest flight earlier this week, further complicates the matters for several reasons beyond the already troubling fact that it played out …

The method in Salesforce’s M&A madness

Salesforce has been on a shopping spree this year, spending in the neighborhood of $5-6 billion on 10 companies. That’s why it was interesting to hear company president, vice chairman and COO, Keith Block talk about what they look for in an acquisition target at a press conference at Dreamforce …

How blockchain can change the music industry

Since the 1999 launch of Napster’s music-sharing platform, the music industry has been in near-constant turmoil, its timeline marked with dipping revenues, lack of transparency, piracy problems and feuds over the fair distribution of dividends.<p>Music companies hate streaming services. Streaming …

E2E or GTFO

Oh, Yahoo. We’re not just mad at you. We’re also really, really disappointed. First it took you two years to figure out that you were hacked by a nation-state. Then you allowed another nation-state — the US government — to scan all of your user’s emails … using a buggy Linux kernel module … without …

Government’s refusal to recognize the rise of independent contractors is hurting the economy

The workforce of the 21st century has been changing for years. Government, only recently perceiving the movement from a traditional workforce to an independent contractor model, is stifling innovation and hurting workers in the process.<p>From Boston to Seattle, we are seeing a myriad of impulsive …

Verizon wants $1 billion discount on Yahoo deal

<b>Today’s Stories</b><p>Report: Verizon wants $1 billion discount after Yahoo privacy concerns<br>• Facebook launches standalone “Events” discovery and calendar app<br>• Poland builds a solar-powered bike path that glows a ghostly blue<br>• Carriers are offering replacements for Note 7 replacements in wake of latest …

Online food delivery still presents a $210B market opportunity

I wrote last year about the broad, secular shift to online food ordering, and the significant capital inflows into the space that we were seeing. Fast-forward a year, and we’re now looking at a very different funding environment. According to research firm CB Insights, international inflows of …

Google shuts down Panoramio

Panoramio, the location-centric photo sharing service Google acquired in 2007, will show its last image on November 4. For the longest time, Google used Panoramio to augment its Google Maps and Google Earth services with crowdsourced imagery. Now that the company has integrated photo uploads into …

GitHub is raising a secondary round

We’re hearing from several sources that a secondary financing round is in the works for GitHub, following its last $250 million financing round that valued it at $2 billion in July last year. However, there’s a little bit of interesting chatter beyond that they’re raising a secondary for potential …

Verizon wants $1 billion discount on Yahoo deal | Crunch Report

Bumble bans mirror selfies and other dumb photos from users’ profiles

There are certain kinds of photos users of dating apps tend to loathe, and the suggestive mirror selfie tends to be at the top of that list, somewhere near photos of guys holding a fish and gym selfies. That’s why today, the dating app Bumble has taken action to ban selfies of users posing in their …

Determining the worth of your SaaS company

An entrepreneur recently asked me “What are SaaS companies ‘going for’ these days?” I said, “Well, it depends on a number of factors, but 5 times annual run-rate revenue is average.” His response was pure disbelief. “What? You have to be kidding me! Last time I checked they were going for 10 times …

Google researchers aim to prevent AIs from discriminating

Garbage in, garbage out — that’s always been a rule of computing, and machine learning systems are no exception. These elementary AIs only know what we tell them, and if that data carries a bias of any kind, so too will the system trained on it. Google is looking to avoid such awkward and …

Netflix’s theater deal is a small step for subscriber growth and a big leap toward an Oscar

Yesterday, Netflix announced a new theater distribution deal with iPic Entertainment, a theater chain with 15 locations throughout the country.<p>The deal will put 10 Netflix original films (a substantial portion of Netflix’s original films this year) in iPic’s New York and Los Angeles theaters. …

Snapchat launches post-roll ads, Story Playlist that loads favorites in bulk

Snapchat is fighting back against Instagram Stories, which rocketed to 100 million daily users by spotlighting the cloned feature atop the feed. To make Snapchat more “friends first”, it’s moving friends’ Stories above Discover where they used to be to make sure you don’t miss people you care about.<p>…

Mophie’s charging case is a no-brainer for wireless earbud owners

Being synonymous with a particular product category is a mixed blessing. Mophie is undoubtedly the best known name in the battery case business, but the company has been keen to distance itself from the space a bit – or at the very least, let it be known that it’s got more to offer the world.<p>Mophie …

U.S. officially attributes DNC hack to Russia

The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed today what cybersecurity companies have asserted since emails from Democratic National Committee employees leaked online over the summer — state-sponsored Russian hackers are responsible for the …

New Lab is a new home for hardware startups in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard

New Lab, which co-founder David Belt described as “a collaborative workspace” for companies in fields like robotics and artificial intelligence, officially opened last month.<p>The facility is located in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, in a building that was once used to housed assemble ships. Belt said he …

Wheego and Valeo get California road driverless testing permits

Self-driving car testing in California is becoming a badge of progress for companies working in the space. Only 17 companies in total have the honor, including two just added to the list: Wheego Electric Cars, and Valeo North America.<p>The Wall Street Journal reports that both these new companies now …

Weekly Roundup: Snapchat’s IPO agenda, Google’s new hardware and RIP Meerkat

This week, Google revealed new hardware, Facebook outlined its plans for the company’s future in VR and we paid our respects to Meerkat. Sick and tired of searching for this post? I don’t blame you. You can receive it in your inbox on Saturdays if that’s more your style.<p><b>1.</b> Google held its annual …

Maserati is targeting 2020 for a production EV

The electric vehicle bandwagon has long left the station thanks to Tesla, but Maserati still wants to get on board. The high-end carmaker might be behind the curve when it comes to announcing its electric vehicle plans, but it’s looking like the Fiat-Chrysler-owned company will manage to ship a …

Facebook launches standalone “Events” discovery and calendar app

650 million people use Facebook Events — 100 million every day — but it’s a smaller sect of hardcore extroverts who discover these parties and meetups, then invite everyone else. Now Facebook is giving its most outgoing users a dedicated app for browsing and searching for stuff going on nearby. And …

Check I’m Here raises a million for its student engagement platform

Check I’m Here, a platform that helps colleges and universities track student engagement with campus activities, has raised a million in a Series A round of funding to continue to grow its service. Now live at over 80 institutions and reaching 400,000 students across 30 states and 3 countries, …

It takes more than a village

Where there is wireless connectivity, there is a way to improve lives. That’s why countless mobile-for-development programs designed to address health, education and economic issues have been flooding Africa. Presently hailed as the “mobile continent,” Africa has generated $150 billion through the …

Carriers are offering replacements for Note 7 replacements in wake of latest incident

Exploding phones are really bad PR. But when one of the post-recall replacement reportedly starts to spontaneously smoke inside a customer’s pocket on a plane, you’ve got a veritable code red disaster on your hands. In light of that most recent story, customers are becoming understandably wary …

Rinspeed’s Oasis self-driving car concept is living space on wheels

Self-driving cars of the future won’t need to be configured on the inside the way they are now, since things like steering columns won’t be required. Electric drive trains will also help maximize available interior space, so it makes sense that cars will look dramatically different inside and out …

Microsoft will introduce a new Surface device on October 26

On the 26th day of the 10th month of the year, Microsoft will be showcasing some big Windows 10 news at an event in New York City. The company just sent out invites, and while they don’t reveal a heck of a lot about what’s going down (just a lot of backwards text), we hear that the company will be …

Poland builds a solar-powered bike path that glows a ghostly blue

When its government isn’t cracking down on the reproductive rights of women, Poland can do some cool stuff. To wit: this cool bike path in a town called Pruszków. The path is made of a light-emitting material that charges in the sun and can glow for up to 10 hours in the dark, bathing cyclists in a …