Breaking Technology News
Google’s smart speaker got a little smarter this week, with the addition of a multitasking feature. The new capability makes it possible for the device to accomplish two different missions at the same time. It was rolled out with little fanfare and first noted by CNET. We’ve since confirmed the
The Ganker robot and the GEIO battle bot from GJS Robot are fast, powerful and fun. Controlled by an app on your phone, you see what they see and fight other …
There are now two Dianes running the show at Google Cloud. The company announced that Diane Bryant has been hired as the COO of the division. She joins Diane Greene, who came on board as Senior VP of Google Cloud in November 2015. Greene appeared to be excited about the
Google Assistant is about to get a bit more home-savvy. The voice assistant will be gaining local discovery skills that will help you locate home services nearby. The company specifically detailed that Assistant would be gaining insights to help users locate “nearby services like an electrician, plumber, house cleaner and
Facebook has been under fire for its practices and policies that enable advertisers to exclude “multicultural affinity” groups from the audiences they reach via the social network. Now, in light of a ProPublica investigation and pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus, Facebook says it’s committed to taking a closer look
The team behind Verst is joining Dropbox, in an acquisition that marks the end of the Verst publishing platform. The startup actually started life as DWNLD, a platform that transformed websites into mobile apps. It raised a $12 million Series A led by Grelock Partners before shifting focus to Verst,
Google might fold Nest back into the Google, well, fold. The company is considering integrating Nest, which is a separate company under mutual parent Alphabet at the moment, back into Google’s hardware business. The re-integration, first reported by Wall Street Journal, is a move that Google is considering as a
GM and Cruise have articulated more specifically when they want to put their self-driving service on the roads, at today’s investor call for the company from San Francisco. GM said that they can make it happen within two years, with a fleet ready to go to work by 2019 based
Last month, Microsoft announced its intentions to bring its Edge Browser to iOS and Android, as it works to broaden its reach on third-party mobile devices. After being made available in preview form for roughly a month, the app officially hits iOS and Android’s respective app stores starting today. The
H2O.AI started almost six years ago with a mission to simplify and democratize artificial intelligence. Today the company announced a $40M Series C round. Nvidia and Wells Fargo led the round with participation from New York Life, Crane Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Transamerica Ventures. Today’s investment brings the
If you’ve stopped paying attention to LG in the last couple of years, you’ll learn everything you need to know from the first paragraph of its latest press release that highlights a “sweeping realignment to better address the challenges ahead.” The company’s in a tough spot. It makes good and
Amazon is soon to announce Alexa for Business, and WeWork is one of the first partners to have hopped on the platform. WeWork’s vision is to use technology to help businesses make the most out of their physical space, all while customizing that space to each individual’s personal needs. The
Farmers Business Network has raised $110 million in new venture funding to support a business that may sound boring to some Silicon Valley technologists but which appears to have addressed a unmet need: it’s a social network for farmers that invites them to share their data, pool their know-how, and
Instagram announced this morning that it now has 25 million active business profiles, up from 15 million in July. The company throws out a lot of different statistics (back in September it said it had 800 million monthly active users, 500 million daily active users and 2 million advertisers), but
Destiny 2 fans will know that you get your own virtual assistant of source in the game world – Ghost, who sort of floats around and guides you. The new Alexa skill for Destiny 2 allows you to ask Ghost to do a number of things for you, including provide
Video advertising company Innovid has acquired another advertising startup, Taykey. We’ve written about Taykey as a tool that companies can use to target their ads based on the topics that their desired audience is interested in. Innovid says that by combining Taykey’s analysis with its own data about video engagement,
A company that is seizing the opportunity to provide predictive analytics to the industrial world — regardless of whether a business has made the (often costly) transition to internet-of-things “smart” systems — is today announcing that it has raised a significant round of growth funding to double down on the
Fractyl Labs, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based startup developing treatments for diabetes, has raised $44 million in Series D financing from a slew of VC firms, including GV, True Ventures, the IDO Fund, General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, Domain Associates, Mithril Capital Management, Emergent Medical Partners, L.P., and Deerfield Management Company, L.P.
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on TechNode, an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China. This week saw TechCrunch land in Shanghai for yet another great event. While Shenzhen — the site of our previous China show — might be the hardware capital, Shanghai has a potent mix of
A $200 accessory offers spot EKG readings to notice possible atrial fibrillation. Subscribe to CNET: http://cnet.co/2heRhep Check out our playlists: …
Google’s newest app for emerging markets is a service that helps control data usage on a smartphone and get more for your top-up credit. Datally, which is available for Android devices worldwide from today, applies granular control to enable a user to monitor use of data on their phone and
The Food and Drug Administration has just cleared AliveCor’s Kardiaband EKG reader as the first medical device accessory for the Apple Watch. Europe has been able to use a version of the Kardiaband for Apple Watch for some time now but, thanks to the new FDA approval, the device can
Arianna Huffington wants you to work smarter, not harder. She believes a corporate mentality that rewards burning the midnight oil is actually reducing productivity, by causing burnout. Lack of sleep could be costing the U.S. economy $411 billion per year, it turns out. So last year, the HuffPost founder and
The interface is evolving. What has long been dominated by screens of all shapes and sizes is now being encroached upon by the voice. And while many companies are building voice interfaces — Apple with Siri, Google with Assistant, and Microsoft with Cortana — none are quite as dominant as