TechCrunch Industry News

Hey everyone. Thank you for welcoming me into you inbox yet again. I got some awesome responses to the #DeleteLinkedIn newsletter last week, a few dozen emails (some of them angry) and plenty of tweets. Looking forward to chatting with some of you soon. On that note, I’m currently in China for a TechCrunch event that we’re having in Shenzhen and will be taking some time offline to travel a bit so I won’t be arriving in your inboxes the next two weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AT&T is being punished at last for its shady claims of plans with “unlimited data” but were in reality nothing of the kind: The company has agreed to a $60 million settlement with the FTC, which has pursued the case for years. Some 3.5 million affected customers can expect partial refunds — little more than pocket money, but it’s something. The complaint was filed almost exactly five years ago, after customer complaints from previous years had piled up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neo4j, a popular graph database, is available as an open source product for anyone to download and use. Its enterprise product aimed at larger organizations is growing fast, but the company recognized there was a big market in between those two extremes, and today it introduced a new managed cloud service called Aura. They wanted something in the product family for smaller companies, says Emil Eifrem, CEO and co-founder at Neo4j . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber will become an ad platform, selling space inside its Eats app to restaurants hoping to lure in more food delivery orders. A recent Uber job listing spotted by TechCrunch seeks an Uber Eats Ads Lead “to lead the team and efforts responsible for creating a new ads business that enables eaters to discover new foods and restaurants to grow their customer base. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, has faced a lot of controversy over the role that Groups plays on the platform — both for Groups’ role in spreading spam, misinformation or worse; and for the fact that it can be very hard (actually impossible) to control when you are added except by blocking a specific contact altogether. Now, it seems that the company is finally starting to make some moves to change this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rumors are true. A week after word surfaced that Google planned to buy Fitbit, the companies have confirmed the purchase in a blog post authored by Google device SVP, Rick Osterloh. The match could ultimately prove beneficial for both parties. Google has struggled to make much of a dent in the wearables category, leading the software giant to purchase a large chunk of IP from watchmaker, Fossil for $40 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone. Thank you for welcoming me into you inbox yet again. Last week, I talked about SoftBank’s big embarrassment and how it could impact venture capital. If you’re reading this on the TechCrunch site, you can get this in your inbox here, and follow my tweets here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon, Microsoft and Google are often referred to as the Big 3 in the cloud infrastructure market, and if you had any doubt about the growth potential of the cloud, take a look at this quarter’s eye-popping revenue numbers from these three companies, which reached almost $22 billion this earnings’s season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Shelby GT500 is a beast on the track. It’s not a surprise. After a day driving around Las Vegas, I found something that surprised me: The GT500 is as comfortable on the road as it is on the track. The Shelby GT500 is an icon of motoring. The name implies a simple formula of stuffing a lot of power into a modest body. I’m pleased to report Ford stuck to the proven method for the 2020 GT500. A 5.2L supercharged engine provides 670 HP in this coupe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An accidental sweep of the App Store removed more than 20 million ratings from the most popular apps — including from well-known brands like Google, Microsoft, Starbucks, Hulu, Nike and others — as well as from smaller developers. The issue began on October 23, 2019 and wasn’t resolved until yesterday, October 29. Apple hasn’t yet explained how such a sizable and impactful change to app ratings occurred. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“These $250 earbuds are nice.” That’s the first thing I wrote to a co-worker after unboxing and trying on the new AirPods. After wearing them around the New York City streets, the subway and into a couple of cafes, that pithy review stands. Here are a few more words: They’re super comfortable. I’ve used a lot of different Bluetooth earbuds. It’s a weird perk of my job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google brings its ‘.new’ domains to the rest of the web, including to Spotify, Microsoft & others A year ago, Google rolled out “.new” links that worked like shortcuts to instantly create new Google documents. For example, you could type “doc.new” (without the quotes) to create a new Google Doc or “sheet.new” to create a new spreadsheet. Today, Google announced it’s bringing the .new shortcuts to the rest of the web. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does quantum computing really exist? It’s fitting that for decades this field has been haunted by the fundamental uncertainty of whether it would, eventually, prove to be a wild goose chase. But Google has collapsed this nagging superposition with research not just demonstrating what’s called “quantum supremacy,” but more importantly showing that this also is only the very beginning of what quantum computers will eventually be capable of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft posted quarterly results today that were well ahead of analysts’ expectations, but Azure’s growth rate continues to decline as it competes with AWS. The company’s revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year rose 14% year-over-year to $33.1 billion. Net income increased 21% to $10.7 billion, or $1.38 per share. Revenue from Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes segment, which includes its Office products and LinkedIn, grew 13% to $11.1 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Slack has grown in popularity, one of the company’s key differentiators has been the ability to integrate with other enterprise tools, but as customers use Slack as a central work hub, it has created its own set of problems. In particular, users have trouble understanding what apps they have access to and how to make best use of them. Slack announced several ways to ease those issues at its Spec developer conference today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’ve been tearing my gadgets apart for as long as I can remember. Consoles, phones, printers, whatever — I’ve always needed to see what makes it all work. Sometimes they even work when I put them back together. As soon as Google announced that the new Pixel 4 had friggin’ radar built in for detecting hand gestures, I needed to see under the hood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just 6% of US adults on Twitter account for 73% of political tweets…and they disapprove of Trump A small number of prolific U.S. Twitter users create the majority of tweets, and that extends to Twitter discussions around politics, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center out today. Building on an earlier study which discovered that 10% of users created 80% of tweets from U.S. adults, the organization today says that just 6% of U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scoot, owned by Bird, has just unveiled what it’s calling the Scoot Moped. At first glance, it appears to be Bird’s two-seater vehicle. In June, Bird unveiled the Cruiser, which can seat up to two people and be pedal-assist or just have a peg, depending on the market. While the Scoot Moped is meant for one person, the design and engineering of the Scoot Moped were based on the Bird Cruiser, according to Scoot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thousands of ransomware victims may finally get some long-awaited relief. New Zealand-based security company Emsisoft has built a set of decryption tools for Stop, a family of ransomware that includes Djvu and Puma, which they say could help victims recover some of their files. Stop is believed to be the most active ransomware in the world, accounting for more than half of all ransomware infections, according to figures from ID-Ransomware, a free site that helps identify infections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This morning, the Justice Department announced that it had brought charges against the administrator and hundreds of users of the “world’s largest” child sexual exploitation marketplace on the dark web. For me, it marked the end of a story I’ve wanted to write for two years. In November 2017, I was working for CBS as the security editor at ZDNet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Volvo Cars introduced Wednesday the XC40 Recharge, an all-electric vehicle that CTO Henrik Green described as “a car of firsts and a car of the future.” The XC40 Recharge is hardly the first electric vehicle on the market. But for Volvo the XC40 is a “car of firsts.” This is the company’s first all-electric vehicle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chromebook has been a marked hit for Google — well, for Google’s hardware partners, at least. Low cost devices have flooded the market, with a stranglehold on the educational category in particular. Google’s own first party offerings, on the other hand, have been a bit more curious. Devices like the Pixelbook and Pixel Slate have pushed the $1,000 price point in an attempt to demonstrate Chrome OS’s viability in a more premium tier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beats this morning announced that it will be bringing its excellent noise-cancellation technology to its Solo line of on-ear headphones. The Solo Pro are the official followup to the Solo 3, a branding shift that’s in line with its other technologies. The noise canceling is the same introduced with the Studio over-ear line, way back in 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Adobe expanded its product lineup and cloud-based services in recent years, its core Creative Cloud app, the desktop app you use to download the rest of the Creative Cloud apps, started to feel a bit limited. Today, the company is introducing a completely redesigned Creative Cloud app that better integrates your Creative Cloud Libraries and offers deeper search and asset management features. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Avoid pressing hard on the screen. Tap lightly to keep it safe. Your Galaxy Fold isn’t water or dust resistant. Don’t allow any liquids or foreign objects to enter it. Don’t attach anything to the main screen, such as a screen protector. So begins your journey. It’s the story of one of the most fascinating product releases in recent memory. It’s also the story of the most polarizing product I’ve ever reviewed…twice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Global app revenue continues to climb, thanks to the growth in mobile gaming and the subscription economy. In the third quarter of 2019, consumer revenue grew 22.9% year-over-year from $17.9 billion to reach an estimated $21.9 billion across both the App Store and Google Play worldwide, according to new data from Sensor Tower. Notably, the App Store continues to account for the large majority of this revenue, the report found, making up 65% of total spending compared with just 35% on Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julie Yoo has joined Andreessen Horowitz as its newest general partner. She will make investments out of the venture capital firm’s bio fund, which closed on $450 million in 2017. Yoo spent the last eight years as a co-founder and chief product officer of Kyruus, a venture-backed healthcare provider matching tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if Instagram could automatically tell your Close Friends you’re (home), (working), (on the move), or (chilling and might want to hang out)? That’s the idea behind Instagram’s new companion app Threads, a Close Friends-only messaging experience that opens to the camera with shortcuts for instantly sending specific people photos and videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Becoming a venture capitalist is notoriously difficult. One part timing, one part experience, another part network. Rarely can someone provide succinct instructions on how to break into the field of private market investing or how to create your own VC fund. Onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco, established VCs Theresia Gouw, the founder of a new firm called aCrew Capital, and Floodgate co-founder Ann Miura-Ko explained what they see as two distinct paths to the top of VC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rumors for this morning’s Microsoft event are one-for-one. The first piece of hardware shown off this morning in New York is the latest version of the company’s very good Surface Laptop — arguably the strongest entry in the line. We're pleased to bring you the new Surface Laptop 3 from #MicrosoftEvent pic.twitter.com/Y7lH94NbQK — Microsoft Surface (@surface) October 2, 2019 As per earlier leaks, the Surface Laptop 3 arrives in 13.5 and 15 inch versions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kitty Hawk reveals its secret project, Heaviside The aviation startup has been working on the quiet electric aircraft for two years Sebastian Thrun is waving a device in his hand with an excited, almost gleeful expression on his face as he trots from a makeshift aircraft hangar toward the secret project that Kitty Hawk Corp. has been working on for nearly two years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In spite of everything else leaking out at this morning’s Surface event, Microsoft was still able to save one big surprise for the end. The company’s getting back into phones. Not only that, it’s introducing a foldable. Though, as with the Neo, the Duo doesn’t actually have a foldable display like the Galaxy Fold. Instead, it’s two connected displays, more akin to the ZTE Axon M. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DoorDash has confirmed a data breach. The food delivery company said in a blog post Thursday that 4.9 million customers, delivery workers and merchants had their information stolen by hackers. The breach happened at some point before May 4, 2019, the company said, but added that customers who joined after April 5, 2018 are not affected by the breach. It’s not clear why it took four months for DoorDash to publicly reveal the breach. A spokesperson for DoorDash did not immediatley comment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Samsung’s new rebooted Galaxy arrives this week with one job: it just needs to not break. I’d already spent thousands of words breaking down the ins and outs of the product the first time around. This round, on the other hand, was more about making sure everything worked. Back in April, I was among the reviewers whose device worked perfectly well. I toted the original Fold around the Bay Area without a problem, much to the amusement of curious co-workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is, surely, the moment some loyal fans have waited for. And understandably so. The Galaxy Fold is, by all measures, an exciting phone. It’s the sort of bold brashness that has helped Samsung set itself apart from the competition. Many of us laughed at the Galaxy Note, too, and yet here we are, with larger phones across the board. Five months after originally planned, the Galaxy Fold goes on sale today in the U.S. The handset has had its share of set backs, of course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In way, these new wireless controllers from 8BitDo kind of defeat the purpose of the Switch Lite. So, why do I kind of want them? Honestly, I’m pretty enamored with the new, more portable version of Nintendo’s wildly successful console. As I noted in a recent review, it’s exactly the take on the Switch I was looking for as a TV-less frequent traveler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verizon this week announced that it’s finally begun to flip the switch on its 5G network in parts of New York City, along with Panama City and Boise. That brings the wireless carrier’s (disclosure: also TechCrunch’s parent) totally number up to 13 cities with a taste of the next ten network. Here in NYC, 5G will touch three of the five boroughs (my home base of Queens, sadly, is not among them). Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn are, not surprisingly, the first focus of coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon’s new Echo Dot With Clock is a new Echo Dot that has a clock Today’s deluge of Amazon hardware kicked off with a new addition to the Echo Dot line, the Echo Dot With Clock. That’s it. That’s the name. It is, as advertised, an Echo dot with a digital alarm clock built into the front, next to the speaker grille. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple has just released iOS 13.1. This updated brings everything new in iOS 13 in case you haven’t updated yet, as well as many bug fixes. I would recommend updating to iOS 13.1 to get a more stable phone. But that’s not all. iPadOS and tvOS are finally making the jump to version 13 with iPadOS 13.1 and tvOS 13.1 also available today. The update is currently rolling out and is available in the Settings app on your device. iOS 13. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Friday afternoon Chef CEO Barry Crist and CTO Corey Scobie sat down with TechCrunch to defend their contract with ICE after a firestorm on social media called for them to cut ties with the controversial agency. On Sunday, programmer Seth Vargo, the man who removed his open source components, which contributed to a partial shutdown of Chef’s commercial business for a time last week, responded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audio sharing is among the more delightful features arriving as part of Apple’s iOS 13 update. With it, users will be able to share songs across nearby device — a sort of 2019 version of buying a headphone splitter or handing someone your earbud. Beats pinged TechCrunch this morning to let us know that the new addition will be arriving on a number of its new headphones, in addition to AirPods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After two years of work, the wrapper comes off the giant glass cube this week, as Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship opens to the public this Friday. The big reveal coincides with the company’s latest releases, including new iPhones and an Apple Watch — an appropriately grandiose homecoming for new gear. This morning, the company offered a sneak preview to select media, ourselves included. Apple pulled back the curtain as a handful of curious onlookers stood by on the sidewalk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This young litigation finance startup just secured $100 million to chase cases it thinks will win If you haven’t heard much about litigation finance, that may change soon. The practice dates back decades, though it’s been picking up momentum since 2006, when Credit Suisse Securities founded a litigation risk strategies unit that it later spun off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fans of sci-fi and fringe tech may already be familiar with the idea of the “space elevator,” which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like — and totally impossible with today’s technology. But a pair of scientists think they’ve found an alternative: a Moon elevator. And it’s slightly less insane… technically. The idea of the space elevator, first explored in detail by Arthur C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After being courted by seemingly every major entertainment and streaming company, Bad Robot has signed an exclusive deal with WarnerMedia. While the production company — led by Star Wars director J.J. Abrams and his wife/co-CEO Katie McGrath — was already working with Warner Bros. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, Apple has unveiled a new set of phones, including the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. These new devices are powered by a new chip, sport new cameras and are available in a variety of finishes and sizes. So without any further ado, let’s get into some of the details. iPhone 11 Design The iPhone 11 sports an anondized aluminum and glass design, which Apple claims is the toughest ever smartphone glass. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google to pay $549 million fine and $510 million in back taxes in France After years of back and forth with tax authorities in France, Google has settled a fiscal fraud probe, as the financial prosecutor’s office told Reuters and AFP. Overall, Google will pay a $549 million fine as well as $510 million in back taxes (€500 million and €465 million respectively). This is a settlement, which means that French authorities are dropping charges against Google in France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Volkswagen ID.3 that debuted ahead of the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt looks like a compact hatchback. And it is. But inside customers might feel like they’re sitting in a bigger car, thanks to how engineers and designers took advantage of the electric architecture. Without having to contend with an internal combustion engine, there was more room to play around with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How long have you been using your current smartphone? The answer for an increasing number of consumers is years, plural. After all, why upgrade every year when next year’s model is almost exactly the same as the device you’re holding in your hand? Dutch social enterprise Fairphone sees this as an opportunity to sell sustainability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joichi Ito, the embattled director of the M.I.T. Media Lab, has stepped down according to a statement by MIT’s president, L. Rafael Reif. The news was first reported byThe New York Times, which had received a copy of an email sent by Ito to university provost Martin A. Schmidt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices