Uber encounters a data double-bind. It's The Daily Crunch

THE DAILY CRUNCH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 2016 By Darrell Etherington The Daily Crunch 11/29/16 Uber wants more location data, Amazon wants to mess up a good thing with screens, and Intel has new friends in the autonomous car race. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for November 29, 2016. And if you've always wanted cable but not the box and subscription, this could be your moment. 1. Uber's looking for more data Uber's app now asks for access to a user's data at all times in the background, not just while a person is using the app. The company says that it needs the added data to improve its pick-ups and drop-off points, which is probably part of its larger effort to own its own map stack. This is actually probably an issue with the way Apple does location permission – it's a total binary, you either get data while the app is in use or continuously in the background, but nothing in between. Uber probably only needs data for a few minutes after a user leaves the app, to help them correctly pinpoint location post-trip, but it's all or nothing. 2. Amazon's next Echo could sport a screen I maintain that the reason Echo and Alexa work so well is because Amazon didn't put a screen on its smart speakers, but that assumption will be tested if these reports of a forthcoming Echo speaker with a 7-inch screen designed for kitchen use prove true. Definitely better for recipes, though. SPONSORED CONTENT: Worldpay Join our webinar on December 7 where our expert panel will be looking at key markets we see digital companies operating in outside of their home countries, how to setup in those markets the right way to maximize payment authorization rates and reduce cost, and how to use payment data to derive those answers. Register for the webinar now to attend live or get it later on-demand. Learn More… 3. Uber adds web-based bookings for India Apps aren't the standard way of working on mobile everywhere. Uber now has bookings via web for its India users, which is a great option for lower-cost devices that either don't have the storage or aren't up-to-date enough to support installation of apps. 4. Intel joins team Mobileye/Delphi Mobileye and Delphi want to make it easy for automakers to purchase self-driving car systems like any other component, and now chipmaker Intel is on board with those plans, too. It's a strong team, but this space is far from settled. 5. Zenefits will have to pay $7M for its licensing shortcuts The time has come for Zenefits to pay the piper for its insurance broker license shortcuts in California, and the cost is set at $7 million in penalties. This looks like the largest fine to date in its settlements with various states, but the good news is that the company only has to pay half the amount provided it keeps up good behavior in terms of licensing and regulatory requirements. 6. Theranos is getting sued by more investors If Theranos continues to exist beyond next year, it'll probably be via pure force of will on founder Elizabeth Holmes' part. This latest suit is also looking to become a class action. 7. AT&T finally goes live and over-the-top with DirecTV Now A $35 monthly streaming service for cord-cutters from a major traditional TV service provider? It happened. The end of the world i nigh. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: UI Engineer, Growth Engineering at New Relic (San Francisco, CA, United States) Social Media Manager at Northeastern University (Boston, MA, United States) Front End Developer at Geocaching (Seattle, WA, United States) Backend Generalist Engineer @ Shift at The Sourcery (San Francisco, CA, United States) Full Stack Web Engineer @ Shift at The Sourcery (San Francisco, CA, United States) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2016 AOL Inc. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   Terms of Service

                                                           

CNN tries to buy millennial cred. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28 2016 By Darrell Etherington The Daily Crunch 11/28/16 Can you buy an entire audience cohort? That question and more in The Daily Crunch for November 28, 2016. 1. CNN tries to buy the YouTuber generation Well okay maybe not the WHOLE generation but they did acquire Beme, which I'm guessing was probably just what it took to actually acquire co-founder Casey Neistat. Neistat's done well with YouTube audiences via his daily vlog and other projects, and CNN badly wants to be relevant to YouTube's audience. The problem is that CNN has tried acquisitions as a path to digital relevance in the past, but to no great effect. Neistat also missed the mark once already with Beme (it was never going to succeed on its own), so it seems unlikely that pairing that vision up with an old media institution is going to light any fires. 2. Uber's app no longer works in China Good luck getting around in China, U.S. visitors – as of today the Uber app used by the rest of the world no longer works in China. It's part of the transition of Uber's China business to Didi Chuxing, but Didi's saying an international version of its own Uber apps will come sometime in the future. SPONSORED CONTENT: Withings Black Friday through Cyber Monday, Withings is offering up to 70% off their range of connected devices. From stylish activity tracking watches and advanced Wi-Fi- scales, to a smart temporal thermometer and home camera with air quality sensors — now's the time to score exceptional deals that are good for your wallet and good for your health. Learn More… 3. Black Friday rockets to new record Black Friday was big for online shopping – the biggest year yet, in fact. And mobile earned around a third of the total spent online, which is gigantic. A few more years of this and local news outlets will have no stampedes at Walmart to film on the day itself. 4. Who watches the Watch Dogs, though? Watch Dogs kind of sucked as a game, but Watch Dogs 2 is great! Sequels do sometimes surpass their predecessors, and the San Francisco/Silicon Valley setting of Watch Dogs 2, along with its willingness to actually be funny, make it great. 5. Japan's $173 million bet on supercomputing You get what you pay for, and Japan wants to buy itself a spot back atop the world's supercomputing powers with a new 130 petaflop computer with a $173 million price tag. That's a little over $1 million per petaflop, I'm not sure how that fits in with standard currency conversion rates. 6. Samsung considers split Samsung's investors are looking for a potential split of the company into two separate entities. The smartphone and electronics giant may well propose that among options it's considering to raise shareholder value in an announcement to investors tomorrow. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: CRM Berater (m/f) at eGym GmbH (München, Deutschland) C++ Developer - Qt Product Development (m/f) at eGym GmbH (München, Deutschland) Full Stack Engineer at FactorChain at The Sourcery (Los Altos, CA, United States) UI Engineering @ FactorChain at The Sourcery (Los Altos, CA, United States) Senior Backend Engineer @ MeetMe at The Sourcery (San Francisco, CA, United States) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2016 AOL Inc. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   Terms of Service