Even the world’s second largest smartphone market isn’t immune to Covid-19. Smartphone shipments in India fell 48% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, the most drastic drop one of the rare growing markets has seen in a decade, research firm Canalys reported Friday evening. About 17.3 million smartphone units
Month: July 2020
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Podcasts are becoming big business — in part because of how well they can attract and keep audiences at a time when so many other media formats are finding it hard to pin down that elusive metric of engagement. Now a podcast host who has built out a popular series around the world of startup
A Twitter hack hits the platform’s most famous users, Netflix gets a co-CEO and Revel’s mopeds are coming to San Francisco. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 16, 2020. The big story: High-profile Twitter accounts hacked in crypto scam This was a crazy one: The Twitter accounts of Apple, Elon Musk, Joe Biden and many,
The U.S. App Store’s downloads have surpassed China’s downloads for the first time since 2014. According to data from Sensor Tower’s Q2 2020 report, out today, the U.S. App Store saw 27.4% year-over-year growth in the quarter, compared to the 2.1% growth for the China App Store. During the quarter, the U.S. App Store generated
We’re comparing the iPhone 11 Pro, Pixel 4, OnePlus 8 Pro and Galaxy S20 Ultra to find the best phone camera for taking selfies and selfie videos. 0:52 Selfies …
When Salesforce launched Force.com in 2007, it was the culmination of years of work to bring together a way to customize Salesforce and eventually to build applications on top of the platform. By using a set of Salesforce services, companies could take advantage of work that SFDC had already done, speeding up building time and
As part of its effort to steel its platform against threats to the 2020 election, Facebook will try surfacing accurate voting info in a new place — on politicians’ own posts. Starting today, Facebook posts by federal elected officials and candidates — including presidential candidates — will be accompanied by an info label prompting anyone
Tiffany Ou is the General Manager, Americas at a href=”https://www.nativex.com/”>Nativex, where she leads go-to-market strategies for leading game and app developers. TikTok is a rising star in the social media category. Since its launch three years ago, the company has secured 800 million active users worldwide. That makes TikTok ninth in terms of social network
Third-party sellers are the dominant driver of sales on Amazon’s marketplace, accounting for 58% of its total and growing. We know that the pandemic, ironically, has been good for Amazon, which has reported net sales in Q1, up by 26% year-over-year, given that much of the world has reverted to ordering online. However, the payment
The potential for the Internet of Things to lead to distortion in market competition is troubling European Union lawmakers who have today kicked off a sectoral inquiry. They’re aiming to gather data from hundreds of companies operating in the smart home and connected device space — via some 400 questionnaires, sent to companies big and
Google’s latest experiment is a video shopping platform designed to introduce consumers to new products in under 90 seconds. The company today is launching Shoploop, a project from Google’s internal R&D division, Area 120, where it tests out new ideas with a public user base. Shoploop’s founder, Lax Poojary, had previously worked on online trip
Instagram confirmed it’s preparing to soon launch its TikTok competitor, known as Reels, in the U.S. The company expects to bring the new video feature — which is designed specifically for short-form, creative content — to its platform in early August, according to a spokesperson. The U.S. launch comes shortly after Reels’ arrival in India
Nextdoor is launching a new feature called Sell for Good, allowing users to sell items on the neighborhood-focused social network and donate the proceeds to local nonprofits. CEO Sarah Friar said that since the pandemic started, conversations about donations have increased 7x on Nextdoor . “Communities are hurting,” Friar said. “People are looking to go
Puppet, the Portland, Oregon-based infrastructure automation company, announced a $40 million debt round today from BlackRock Investments. CEO Yvonne Wassenaar says the company sees this debt round as part of a longer term relationship with BlackRock . “What’s interesting, and I think part of the reason why we decided to go with BlackRock, is that
Australian-based hardware startup Espresso Displays has taken a category with a lot of relatively unremarkable, but functional entrants, and added features, as well as design and quality improvements to set itself apart from the crowd. The Espresso Display offers a portable form factor for easy packing, magnetic mounting, single cable operation via USB-C with a
Qumulo, a Seattle storage startup helping companies store vast amounts of data, announced a $125 million Series E investment today on a $1.2 billion valuation. BlackRock led the round with help from Highland Capital Partners, Madrona Venture Group, Kleiner Perkins and new investor Amity Ventures. The company reports it has now raised $351 million. CEO
Meet Waldo, a new product that wants to make mobile testing both faster and easier. The New York-based startup lets you record tests in your browser by interacting with your app like you’d normally do. Every time you compile a new build, Waldo runs the same tests you previously recorded on multiple software and hardware
Insta360 uses “AI” to help you edit your 360 videos. As someone who’s spent a few years struggling with 360 footage, this piqued my interest. I got my hands on …
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact us in ways that stretch well beyond our physical health, and one side effect of that in the tech world has been a surge of attention for apps that address mental health and help with mindfulness. According to a recent report from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the
The future of transportation is in flux, and that continues to provide opportunities for tech companies to build solutions to provide new ways for us to get from A to B. In the latest development, a startup out of the U.K. called Drover that provides access to flexible car subscriptions for private users — longer
Google is launching a major update to its G Suite productivity tools today that will see a deep integration of Gmail, Chat, Meet and Rooms on the web and on mobile, as well as other tools like Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Slides. This integration will become available in the G Suite early adopter program, with
“Helping navigate the elusiveness of product market fit” is how Sanjiv Sanghavi, the co-founder of ClassPass and itinerant startup executive, describes his roles at different companies. From ClassPass through Knotel, Sanghavi has shepherded several businesses to growth and over a billion dollars in valuations; now he’s looking to bring that branding and marketing savvy to
A new gadget called the OpenCV AI Kit, or OAK, looks to replicate the success of Raspberry Pi and other minimal computing solutions, but for the growing fields of computer vision and 3D perception. Its new multi-camera PCBs pack a lot of capability into a small, open-source unit and are now seeking funding on Kickstarter.
Karma Automotive has raised a $100 million lifeline from outside investors, as reported by Bloomberg, with the struggling electric vehicle maker’s fortunes likely buoyed by the current market optimism on other EV companies, including Tesla. Karma is the reincarnated version of Fisker Automotive, which previously faced bankruptcy before being acquired by Wanxiang Group in 2014.
Tesla’s 2014 acquisition of SolarCity turned the electric vehicle manufacturer into the undisputed largest player in residential solar, but that lead has steadily eroded as its major competitor, Sunrun, surged ahead with more aggressive plans. Now with the $3.2 billion acquisition of the residential solar installation company Vivint Solar, Sunrun looks to solidify its place
Replenysh has been kicking since 2016, but up til now, the Orange County, California startup hasn’t done much press. That changes today, as the company announces that it has raised a $2 million seed round with the fairly lofty goal of transforming recycling in the U.S. A press release outlining Replenysh’s plans offers up plenty