Apple exec claims the iPhone XR is actually popular

THE DAILY CRUNCH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 2018 By Anthony Ha Apple says iPhone XR sales are actually doing well, old Facebook moneymaking ideas get revealed and Amazon announces blockchain services. Here's your Daily Crunch for November 29, 2018. 1. Following report on sluggish demand, Apple VP says iPhone XR is its most popular model In the wake of a report from the WSJ last week that detailed how low demand for Apple's latest iPhones was prompting the company to cut orders for the devices, particularly the iPhone XR, an Apple VP said that the XR is actually the company's best-selling model right now. The disclosure comes from Apple VP Greg Joswiak in an interview with CNET. It's not a particularly juicy quote, only detailing that the device has "been our most popular iPhone each and every day since the day it became available." 2. Facebook staff discussed selling API access to apps in 2012-2014 Following a flopped IPO in 2012, Facebook desperately brainstormed new ways to earn money. An employee of unknown rank sent an internal email suggesting Facebook charge developers $250,000 per year for access to its platform APIs to make apps that can ask users for access to their data. Sponsored By: Radius Bank Banking For Today's Entrepreneurs, Not Yesterday's You're building a company of the future. Is your bank keeping up? Radius Bank has the tech you need to bring your business to the next stage. Apply online in minutes and get the account built for startups. Learn More… 3. Amazon gets into the blockchain with Quantum Ledger Database & Managed Blockchain Last year, Amazon dismissed the idea of getting into the blockchain with AWS — but yesterday, that changed. 4. Asana, a work management platform, nabs $50M growth round at a $1.5B valuation Asana, a service that teams and individuals use to plan and track the progress of work projects, is doubling down on its own project: to shape "the future of work," in the words of co-founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz. 5. Microsoft wins $480M military contract to outfit soldiers with HoloLens AR tech The two-year contract may result in follow-on orders of more than 100,000 headsets, according to documentation describing the bidding process. One of the contract's tag lines for the AR tech seems to be its ability to enable "25 bloodless battles before the 1st battle," suggesting that actual combat training is going to be an essential aspect of the headset capabilities. 6. Instagram is using object recognition tech to describe photos for visually impaired users The accessibility-focused update offers two options to give visually impaired users alternative text descriptions of what's happening in posts. One leverages user text input, while the other uses Facebook's object recognition tech to do the heavy lifting. 7. Lucas Di Grassi says human drivers are the real competitors for Roborace One of the world's best Formula One racecar drivers came to Disrupt Berlin to discuss his plans to build a racing league for autonomous vehicles. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Senior Software Developer at Clearstone Engineering Ltd. (Calgary, AB, Canada) Software Engineer at Virginia529 (Richmond, VA ) Full Stack Engineer at Kiva.org (San Francisco, CA, USA) Full Stack Engineer at Kiva.org (Portland, OR, USA) Senior Platform Engineer at Kiva.org (San Francisco, CA, USA) 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 Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Unsubscribe © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

                                                           

Amazon's newest service scans patient records

THE DAILY CRUNCH WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 2018 By Anthony Ha Amazon announces a new medical service, the Justice Department makes ransomware indictments and Google's Sundar Pichai will face Congress. Here's your Daily Crunch for November 28, 2018. 1. Amazon's newest service uses machine learning to extract medical data from patient records Amazon has launched a new service that uses machine learning to extract key data from patient records and can potentially help healthcare providers and researchers save money, make treatment decisions and manage clinical trials. The service joins the company's other forays into healthcare, including paying almost $1 billion to acquire online prescription service PillPack, plus a new joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase to improve employee healthcare. 2. Justice Department indicts two Iranians over SamSam ransomware attacks Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah, 27, were indicted by a federal grand jury in New Jersey on Monday on several counts of computer hacking and fraud charges. Sponsored By: Anaplan Webinar: Top trends for business planning in 2019 As 2019 unfolds, successful executives are laser-focused on accelerating business value and driving results. In this webinar, experts from Deloitte, Seagate, and IDC will share their predictions about how top companies will approach planning in 2019. Learn More… 3. Google's Sundar Pichai will face Congress next week Google may have dodged a raised right hand moment on the Hill earlier this year as top executives from Twitter and Facebook faced Congress, but the company will now have its own time in the hot seat. 4. It turns out some Google staff do believe in controversial plan to re-enter China Speaking of Google, the internal backlash to its project code-named Dragonfly has been covered pretty extensively. But there's also support inside the search giant, with a pro-Dragonfly letter that has been in circulation for a number of weeks, picking up 500 signatures in an effort to stop the project from being dropped. 5. For a small fee, entrepreneurs can now manage their own fleet of Bird e-scooters The company will provide the independent operators with scooters, which they will have free rein to brand as they please, as well as access to the company's marketplace of chargers and mechanics, in exchange for 20 percent of the cost of each ride. 6. Elon Musk's Boring Co. drops LA Westside tunnel plan Musk and co. debuted the plan to drill on L.A.'s Westside last year, but ultimately reversed course after local lawsuits looked to subject the project to a review of its potential environment impact. 7. Australian scheduling software company Deputy brings in $81M amid rapid growth After eight years of bootstrapping, Deputy sought scale — and it's now announcing the biggest Series B in Australian history. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Software Engineer at Virginia529 (Richmond, VA ) Full Stack Engineer at Kiva.org (San Francisco, CA, USA) Full Stack Engineer at Kiva.org (Portland, OR, USA) Senior Platform Engineer at Kiva.org (San Francisco, CA, USA) Senior Platform Engineer at Kiva.org (Portland, OR, USA) 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 Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Unsubscribe © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107