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Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Daily Crunch - SpaceX's first astronaut launch is a 'go'

Tuesday, May 26, 2020 • By Anthony Ha

SpaceX is giving astronauts a lift to the International Space Station, a new jailbreak can unlock any iPhone and a startup raises $250 million to reduce food waste.

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 26, 2020.

NASA and SpaceX confirm SpaceX's first ever astronaut launch is a 'go'

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft are now set to fly with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken onboard, making a trip to the International Space Station. Both the agency and SpaceX announced yesterday that they have officially passed the final flight readiness review, meaning everything is now a 'go' for launch.

The only remaining major hurdle is the weather, which is currently looking only around 40% favorable for a launch attempt on schedule for Wednesday, May 27 at 4:33 PM EDT.

NASA and SpaceX confirm SpaceX's first ever astronaut launch is a 'go' image

Uncover the shifting fraud landscape in 2020

Hackers release a new jailbreak that unlocks every iPhone

Details of the vulnerability that the hackers used to build the jailbreak aren't known, but it's not expected to last forever. Just as jailbreakers work to find a way in, Apple works fast to patch the flaws and close the jailbreak.

Preventing food waste nets Apeel $250 million from Singapore's government, Oprah and Katy Perry

Over the past eight years, Apeel Sciences has grown from a humble startup launched with a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation to a giant, globe-spanning company. What's drawn these financiers and the fabulously famous to invest is the technology that Apeel has developed that promises to keep food fresh for longer periods on store shelves.

Image Credits: Valeriya Tikhonova / Getty Images

China set to launch Mars probe and rover mission in July

China's space program will launch a Mars mission in July, according to its current plans. This will include deploying an orbital probe to study the red planet, and a robotic, remotely controlled rover for surface exploration.

Steve Case and Clara Sieg on how the COVID-19 crisis differs from the dot-com bust

Case is the former CEO of AOL turned VC, while Clara Sieg is a Stanford-educated VC heading up Revolution's Silicon Valley office. Throughout an hour-long chat with Extra Crunch, they touched on numerous subjects, including how diverse founders can take advantage during this downturn and how remote work may lead to growth outside Silicon Valley. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

Bluecore raises $50M for its first-party, AI-based marketing automation tools

Bluecore is a marketing technology firm that uses data gained from direct marketing like email, social media and site activity, combining that data with machine learning to make better predictions about who might want to buy what.

This week's TechCrunch podcasts

The latest full-length episode of Equity discusses the new social app Clubhouse, while the morning headline roundup looks at a bunch of remote work fundings. Over at Original Content, we review Netflix’s interactive “Kimmy Schmidt” special.

(Our embeddable podcast player seems to be having issues this morning, but you should still be able to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your player of choice.)

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Friday, May 22, 2020

Daily Crunch - Facebook embraces remote work

Friday, May 22, 2020 • By Anthony Ha

Facebook takes more steps to support and expand a remote workforce, IBM announces layoffs and TechCrunch’s big annual conference is going virtual. (I know, I know — I have mixed feelings about it, too.)

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 22, 2020.

Facebook makes big remote work moves with plan for new hubs in Dallas, Denver and Atlanta

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg estimated that over the course of the next decade, half of the company could be working fully remotely. As the next step toward that goal, Facebook will be setting up new company hubs in Denver, Dallas and Atlanta.

For Menlo Park employees looking for greener pastures, there's one sizable catch. Starting on January 1 of next year, the company will localize all salaries, which means scaling compensation to the local cost of living.

Facebook makes big remote work moves with plan for new hubs in Dallas, Denver and Atlanta image

Image Credits: Christopher Morin/IP3 / Getty Images

What VCs can do to make the most of Q2

IBM confirms layoffs are happening, but won't provide details

IBM isn’t sharing details, but analyst Patrick Moorhead said. "I'm hearing it's a balancing act between business units. IBM is moving as many resources as it can to the cloud.”

TechCrunch Disrupt 2020 is going virtual

As you can imagine, this is largely due to the impact that the coronavirus has had on the world. But it also gives us a chance to make our event even more accessible to more people than ever before, and Disrupt will now stretch over five days — September 14-18.

Netflix to start cancelling inactive customers' subscriptions

Netflix said it will ask customers who have not watched anything in a year or more if they want to maintain their subscription. If it doesn’t hear back, it will cancel their membership.

API startups are so hot right now

Alex Wilhelm looks at FalconX, Treasury Prime, Spruce, Daily.co, Skyflow and Evervault — all API-focused startups that are experiencing some early success. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

Image Credits: Juana Mari Moya / Getty Images (Image has been modified)

Magic Leap has apparently raised another $350 million, in spite of itself

Magic Leap has reportedly received a $350 million lifeline, a month after slashing 1,000 jobs and dropping its consumer business. Noted by Business Insider and confirmed by The Information, CEO Rony Abovitz sent a note to staff announcing the funding, courtesy of unnamed current and new investors.

Cake brings a Swedish take on e-motorcycle design to the US

The Stockholm-based mobility startup's debut, the Kalk OR, is a 150-pound, battery-powered two-wheeler engineered for agile off-road riding and available in a street-legal version.

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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Daily Crunch - Twitter tests limiting replies

Thursday, May 21, 2020 • By Anthony Ha

Twitter is giving users tools to avoid abusive or annoying replies, MakeSpace raises $55 million and Sphero gets a new CEO and a new spinoff.

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 21, 2020.

Twitter is testing a feature that limits who can reply to your tweets

Users can pick from one of three options: Everyone, People You Follow and Only People You Mention. If you opt for either of the latter, the reply function will be greyed out for all who don't fit the description. They can view, like and retweet the thing, but they won't be able to reply directly to the sender.

After all, one of Twitter's greatest benefits and downsides is its openness relative to platforms like Facebook. Anyone and everyone can reply directly to a tweet — and that's not always ideal for the sender.

Twitter is testing a feature that limits who can reply to your tweets image

Uncover the shifting fraud landscape in 2020

On-demand storage startup MakeSpace picks up another $55M

On-demand storage startups have sprung up all over the world, hopeful that their new take on an antiquated, fragmented and valuable market would lead to big returns in a brave, new, Uberified world. But the industry has seen a lot of ups and downs, with various startups merging, closing, transferring and trying to pivot in the process. That's left a consolidated space with fewer — hopefully better capitalized and better organized — competitors remaining.

Sphero appoints new CEO, spins off robotics startup for first responders

While still a robotics company at its heart, the underwhelmingly named Company Six will create robotic systems designed for first responders and other humans whose work requires them to put themselves in harm's way — allowing its parent company to continue its focus on education-related products.