TechCrunch

Jason Kilar on founding Vessel and the wonderful world of customer service

Jason Kilar’s interest in customer service was sparked by a visit to Disney World when he was 10 years old. The wonder he felt as he walked underneath the train station and out onto Main Street stays with him to this day.<p>It was a turning-point for him, even at that young age. Eventually, Kilar …

Uber Ordered to Stop Self-Driving Pilot in SF

<b>Today’s Stories</b><p>Uber stops San Francisco self-driving pilot as DMV revoked registrations<br>• Watch how far Tesla’s Gigafactory has come in new drone footage<br>• Volkswagen teases a self-driving EV concept with retractable steering wheel<br>• Tesla update caps Autopilot at posted speed limit on undivided roads<p><b>Credits</b><p>…

Doug mirrors his laptop screen to his Roku | 12 Days of Doug #4

Twitter overcharged video advertisers, issues refunds

Now it’s Twitter copying Facebook…but in the worst way. Following several embarrassing disclosures of inaccurate metrics by Facebook, today Business Insider’s Alex Heath broke news that Twitter overcharged some advertisers. Between November 7th and December 12th, a source tells BI that video ad …

Uber explains why it looks like its app is still tracking your location, long after drop-off

Uber responded today to reports that its app continues to check users’ locations even when they hadn’t used the ride-hailing service for days or weeks. The company explained that the issue is being caused by the iOS operating system itself, not direct tracking by its app.<p>Many users had realized …

Facebook kills off exact location sharing in Nearby Friends, adds “Wave”

Nearby Friends didn’t turn into the Foursquare-killer it could have been, but Facebook is still trying to help people meet up in person…with a few changes. Facebook has removed the precise location sharing feature from Nearby Friends, which now only lets you opt-in to broadcasting your approximate …

Uber Ordered to Stop Self-Driving Pilot in SF | Crunch Report

Autonomous cars seen as smarter than human drivers

PwC released the results of its latest survey on the future of automotive technology, and it seems Americans are coming around to the idea of autonomous cars, ride hailing and car sharing. So much so that 66 percent of respondents said they think autonomous cars are probably smarter than the …

In 2017, Airbnb needs to grow into your full-fledged travel bookings hub

Airbnb can find you a well-appointed place to crash during your next big trip, but it’d really prefer to hang out every step of the way. To that end, in 2017, we can expect Airbnb to expand its horizons considerably, moving well beyond the vacation rentals that it’s remained synonymous with since …

Uber lawsuit alleges employees were misled on equity compensation

An Uber employee has filed a lawsuit accusing the company of misleading employees about their equity compensation. Uber “devised a fraudulent scheme to recruit highly sought software engineers,” according to the case.<p>The lawsuit claims that Uber promised a more tax favorable type of options at the …

Tesla tops 2016 Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey

Tesla has claimed the top spot in the annual Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey, which polls subscribers about their cars and their feelings towards the brands that make them. 91 percent of Tesla owners polled would buy another Tesla vehicle in the future, the survey found.<p>Consumer Reports’ …

How technology is merging with the human body

The gulf between “human” and “machine” is closing. Machine learning has enabled virtual reality to feel more “real” than ever before, and AI’s replication of processes that were once confined to the human brain is ever-improving. Both are bringing technology into ever-closer proximity with the …

The top 7 trends in the auto industry for 2017

1/7<p>Auto suppliers discover sizzling blockchain<p>A super-hot technology now getting intense attention in the tech space is blockchain; the first auto suppliers will begin using it in 2017.<p>In the automotive business, where the supply chain — with all its potential for counterfeit parts and related …

Signal for Android update ducks censorship, adds stickers and doodles

As mainstream interest in online privacy expands, Signal wants to grow along with it. This week, the app added two features, one a serious response to international censorship and the other a light, fluffy feature set meant to make the app even more user friendly for those who might be new to this …

Google hits the reset button

For eight years, Google always held its biggest event of the year, its I/O developer conference, in San Francisco. This year, however, it moved it out (and outdoors) to an amphitheater in Mountain View, right next to its campus. Looking back, that move now feels symbolic. In many ways, 2016 was a …

Uber deploying self-driving cars from San Francisco pilot in Arizona instead

Uber will be rolling out its third-generation self-driving test vehicles, which are sensor-lated Volvo XC90 SUVs, in Arizona following their loss of registration in California. An Uber spokesperson tells TechCrunch that the cars actually left for Arizona by truck on Tuesday morning, and that they …

ClusterHQ, an early player in the container ecosystem, calls it quits

ClusterHQ, an early player in the container DevOps ecosystem, today announced that it is shutting down operations immediately.<p>“Unfortunately, it’s often the pioneers who end up with arrows in their backs. And sometimes, archery injuries are self-inflicted,” the company’s CEO Mark Davis writes in a …

Twitter didn’t fix itself in 2016 and Wall Street isn’t happy

Layoffs, a borked acquisition and continued tepid user growth defined Twitter in 2016. And these are all things that make Twitter’s future uncertain, which we know Wall Street does not like.<p>Jack Dorsey’s one-year tenure as CEO was more or less defined by a continue decline in its stock price and, …

Pokémon Go arrives on the Apple Watch

Following an erroneous report claiming that Niantic’s plans to bring Pokémon Go to the Apple Watch were canceled, the company today put those rumors to rest with more than a mere statement: it has now launched the Apple Watch version of its popular game. The new smartwatch app lets you more easily …

LG takes the fun out of CES by announcing five phones ahead of time

That’s one way avoid the CES scrum – just go ahead and start making all of your announcements before the show even starts. LG will likely still have a few other tricks up its sleeve at Vegas in a few weeks, but the company picked Christmas week to start unloading its show announcements, including a …

Android Wear 2.0 debuts on two partner flagship smartwatches in early 2017

Google will debut two “flagship smartwatches” running Android Wear 2.0 in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new report from <i>The Verge</i>, citing information direct from Android Wear product manager Jeff Chang. The two new watches won’t be Pixel devices, as some have speculated, but will sainted …

This bed with built-in subwoofer, TV, lamp and power outlets may be your last purchase, ever

Furlenco’s new “Pod” might just be the most outrageous product hitting the market this holiday season. The Bangalore, India based furniture rental startup has always had a penchant for targeting the millennial subset, but this is something else entirely — because as any 20-something knows, adding a …

Facebook banned a social justice activist for commenting on racism

Facebook has censored content from social justice activist and co-founder of Safety Pin Box Leslie Mac, and banned her from the social network for 24 hours.<p>“I can’t comment, I can’t post anything. I can’t like anything. I can’t do anything on Facebook,” Mac told TechCrunch. “But my page hasn’t been …

Watch how far Tesla’s Gigafactory has come in new drone footage

Tesla’s first Gigafactory officially opened on July 29 of this year, but it’s far from finished – only three of the planned total 21 Gigafactory “blocks” were ready to go then, and Tesla has been busy building more of those blocks since, with a target final physical footprint that will dwarf all …

Xplenty raises another $4 million to help you integrate all your data

The internet has changed a lot over the last two decades, but many companies are still using legacy technologies to extract, transform and load their data into warehouses. One new entrant, Xplenty, is hoping that its fresh approach, prioritizing cloud services, will provide a solid foothold in the …

Pana’s travel companion app goes free, can automatically check you into flights

Pana, a travel companion that organizes your plans and sends personalized trip alerts, is now making its app free to challenge rivals like TripIt, Google Trips and others. First launched two years ago, Pana had previously focused on its paid subscription service for individuals and companies …

AWS catapulted Amazon into a breakout 2016 on Wall Street

You could argue that 2016 was the breakout year for Amazon’s cloud computing service, AWS — and Wall Street knows that an even bigger wave is coming next year.<p>Amazon’s retail business continues to grow, and chug along, and gobble up share from offline commerce and other companies desperately trying …

Tesla update caps Autopilot at posted speed limit on undivided roads

Tesla is pushing out an update that will cap the max speed of Autopilot at the posted speed limit while using Autosteer, which controls the wheel while maintaining the car’s lane when engaged, TechCrunch has confirmed. The cap applies on undivided roads, and replaces previous functionality that …

One barrier to diversity in tech is a culture of genius

It’s no secret that the tech industry struggles with diversity. While there are a number of factors limiting progress (things like explicit and unconscious bias, flawed processes and systems and homogeneous cultures), one that’s often overlooked is the industry’s fixed mindset — its belief that …

TCL will be launching new Blackberry handsets soon

TCL isn’t wasting any time getting into the BlackBerry business. A week ago today, the Acatel manufacturer announced that it was officially becoming the major global partner for BlackBerry (excluding India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia – some of the company’s top markets) and now it’s …