TechCrunch Industry News

It’s tax season! You know what that means? It’s scamming season, too. You might have heard this story before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know Disney’s Star Wars Land (or “Galaxy’s Edge”, if we’re being formal) is opening sometime in summer 2019. But thats about as exact as anyone at Disney would get. The rumors said June. Now, it seems, so does Disney CEO Bob Iger. Iger casually dropped the June target in an interview with Barron’s (as spotted by the OC Register). You can read the full interview here, but the key bit comes in a question about the strategic impact of Galaxy’s Edge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen, everyone. It’s not every day that a new fact comes to light regarding a game that came out more than 30 years ago. And I happen to love it when retro games get broken in fabulous and entertaining ways. So the news that The Legend of Zelda for NES has a minus world like Super Mario Bros and others hit me like like a freight train. The phenomenon was discovered by Youtuber SKELUX, who starts off his video with a quick explanation of how minus worlds work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Samsung always has a huge presence at CES, but it isn’t the giant TVs and flashy next-generation gadgets that have my attention this year; it’s this simple, flexible monitor that looks like it would be right at home in any workspace. It’s called the Space Monitor, presumably because it gives you space, not because it’s meant for use in space. I don’t see why you couldn’t, though. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, what have we here? If it isn’t the Samsung Galaxy S10, courtesy of perennial smartphone outer, EVLeaks. This marks one the first good looks we’ve got at the phone, which is likely due out in a couple of months at Mobile World Congress. It’s a pretty rough photo — the icons are all blurred out and the cropping job isn’t great, likely in an effort to conceal the source. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As anyone from the Gizmondo to the Virtual Boy can tell you, it’s tough to launch a console. Of course, it’s helps when your device apparently comes pre-loaded with thousands of games from big name companies like Nintendo, Sony, Square and Bandai. It was clear the moment they were launched that Soulja Boy’s SouljaGame console and handhelds were too good to be true, in spite of his insistence that he’d struck deals with game publishers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shine, one of the many apps capitalizing on the growing self-care trend, has now brought its app used by 3 million people to Android devices. Originally launched as a simple messaging bot that doled out life advice and motivation, Shine has grown over the years to become a larger self-help platform aimed largely at the millennial crowd – and in particular, millennial women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The timing is… less than ideal. Just as the industry is recovering from a holiday-induced hangover, we’re thrust into the country’s largest consumer electronics show. The timing, of course, is not coincidental. The show is intended to offer a preview for the tech year to come. Many companies thrive on CES’s pace. It’s a five-day deluge of tech news, and, for many, it’s the largest platform they’ll get all year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Earlier this year, Netflix was seen testing a bypass of iTunes billing across dozens of markets worldwide. As 2018 draws to a close, Netflix – the App Store’s top grossing app –has ditched the ability for new users to sign up and subscribe to the streaming service within its iOS app across all global markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My parents are approaching 60. When they were young, they hung out at diners, or drove around in their cars. My generation hung out in the parking lot after school, or at the mall. My colleague John Biggs often talks of hanging out with his nerd buddies in his basement, playing games and making crank calls. Today, young people are hanging out on a virtual island plagued by an ever-closing fatal storm. It’s called Fortnite . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Think you know tech? Square off against TechCrunch editors with 2018’s year in tech quiz. TechCrunch’s 2018 Year In Tech Quiz Square off against TechCrunch’s reporters and editors in this year’s annual quiz, covering the major stories of the past twelve months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gfycat, a home for GIF-making tools and an online community, is rolling out a new way to create GIFs — it will now let you keep the sound on. With “Gfycat Sound,” as the feature is called, GIF makers will have the option to retain the audio from the video file they’re using to create their “GIF” — something Gfycat believes will be especially popular among gamers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hans Morris is a name to know in fintech, and as finance and tech sectors prepare for tougher time next year, he has some incisive thoughts to share about the kinds of companies that will succeed (or not) in a financial downturn. The managing partner of investment firm Nyca Partners, Morris also serves as the chairman of the board of Lending Club and is a director of other start-ups including AvidXchange, Boomtown, Payoneer and SigFig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Epic Games is having its own Christmas hangover. On Wednesday, a number of Fortnite players reported long queues that time out and problems logging in to Fortnite’s servers. The company is aware of the issue and tweeted that it’s investigating the cause behind the outage that some users are running into when they try to log in. We are investigating an issue causing some players to encounter a problem with game services and when attempting to log in. https://t. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UK’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, reopened its runway early this morning after a day of shutdown triggered after drones were repeatedly spotting flying nearby. Drones ground flights at UK’s second largest airport In a media statement issued at 08:00 GMT this morning, the airport said it reopened the runway at 06:00 and that a “limited number” of aircraft are now taking off and landing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WireGuard is a new VPN protocol that promises to be faster and more secure at the same time. And you can now connect to a WireGuard server on iOS thanks to the official open source app. Compared to other VPN protocols, such as OpenVPN and IPsec, it can maintain a VPN connection even if you change from one network to another. Let’s say you’re in a hotel and you’re heading to a busy conference center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One by one, European countries are slapping Uber with a penalty for the way it handled its 2016 data breach. Today, France’s data protection watchdog, the CNIL, announced it was fining Uber $460,000 (€400,000). This event was a combination of bad security with bad reaction and good timing. Back in 2016, Uber faced a data breach that affected 57 million users, including 1.4 million users in France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Knowledge base is one of the departments where Alexa has lagged Assistant. After all, it’s pretty tough to compete with Google when comes to a sheer breadth of knowledge. Wolfram Alpha is a pretty good place to start. The answer engine offers a wide cross section of curated data, with a heavy focus on math and sciences. Starting this week, U.S.-based Alexa users will get access to that information, with roll out completing over the coming weeks and months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Consumer Electronics Show, like Burning Man, is a massive event in the middle of the desert. Also like Burning Man it is populated by some of the greatest minds in technology. But, unlike Burning Man, these people are all dressed and only a few of them are on hard psychotropic drugs. Also CES is mostly inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some iPad Pros could come bent out of the box Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some iPad Pro models come slightly bent out of the box due to a manufacturing process. According to Apple, it shouldn’t impact your iPad in any way. But if you buy a new iPad Pro, please make sure that it’s not bent in case you want to exchange it within the first couple of weeks. It’s still unclear if Apple plans to repair bent iPads once you’ve passed the return window. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re reading this the year it was written, you’re almost certainly not getting it over 5G. If you’re reading this in the future, congrats, you made it. And hey, remember polar bears? 5G is the latest buzzword to send the mobile industry into a tizzy. This one’s got a particular weight to it, too, given that smartphone sales have started flagging for the first time ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TechCrunch is working on a new project to help you build a better company. We’re looking for the great service providers in the startup world: the lawyers, accountants, recruiters, human resource managers, project managers and other experts you need to help you succeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today was supposed to be a historic day with four rocket launches by four different companies. But that’s not going to happen. As of publication, three of the four rocket launches are canceled. The flights were pushed until tomorrow, setting up another and more significant historical event. If all the rockets currently scheduled launch as planned, there could be five launches within a 24 hour period. Tuesday, 8:57pm ET ULADelta IV Heavy Wednesday 5:40am ET India’sGSLV Mk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Having a package stolen off your front porch sucks. No matter what’s inside the box, it just feels… violating. Someone came into your space and took your stuff just because they could probably get away with it. And even if you go to the cops with license plates and high-res face photos, they’ll often respond with a big, apathetic shrug (particularly around Christmas when package thefts skyrocket). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Frankel Contributor David Frankel is a managing partner at Founder Collective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Colin Kroll, the 34-year-old co-founder and CEO of the HQ Trivia app, has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his apartment, TechCrunch has confirmed. A spokesman for the NYPD told us that a female called 911 for a wellness check on Kroll’s apartment and he was found dead inside at 08:00 hours today. The police department said the investigation is ongoing but added that the cause of deathis “allegedly a drug overdose”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome back toEquity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we had the regular crew back together which was good fun. Connie took point, we had Danny mic’dup in New York, and I was onsite to help the crew natter along with BubbaMurarka, a former VC and founder who now cuts checks on his own. Thematically, this was a week of mega rounds so we had little choice but to go over more than a few. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We love parties almost as much as we love startups, but we go absolutely bonkers for a hot startup-party mashup. That’s why we’re returning to host our 2nd Annual TechCrunch Winter Party in San Francisco on Friday, February 8. Even better news, party-goers — the first batch of coveted tickets to this wild winter romp are available now. Better get your tickets while you can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No one has any trouble tracking their steps today. But how can you make sure people know you’re doing it? Ostentatiously checking your phone or watch every five minutes is a pain. What if I told you there was a shoe with a step-tracking computer sticking out of it where everyone could see? It’s a Puma . It was born in 1986, and will be reborn in 2018 — briefly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week we did a deep dive on how Pokémon GO’s new (and long overdue) player-versus-player battle system would work. The only thing we didn’t know at the time was when, exactly, it would actually start rolling out. The answer: tonight. Just a few days ago, Niantic started shipping an update to the app that contained everything required for PvP, but they’d yet to actually flip the switch to turn it on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founded in 1990 by CEO Bahram Akradi, Minnesota-based Life Time used to be known as a premier health club that operated large gyms mainly in affluent suburbs in Midwestern and Southern states. Its success was memorialized in 2015 when two leading private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Capital, led a $4-billion deal to take the company private. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ah, holiday board gaming. A roaring fire. A glass of nog. And a raging debate over whether the blue guy was next to the red square or vice versa. Buying a gift for a board game fan? Just need something new to bring along to the get together? In this roundup we highlight some of what we’ve been playing lately – from the easy to the immensely complex – and give you and your family fodder for your next bout of holiday fun. Some new, some old, all great. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 years ago, anyone old enough to navigate DOS was likely playing Doom every spare minute, assuming their parents weren’t around. A quarter century after its release, the game’s legacy is unquestionable — but it could always use a few new levels. So co-creator John Romero made some. They come with a silver statue of his head impaled on a spike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s not true that everyone gets their news from Facebook and Twitter. But it is now true that more U.S. adults get their news from social media than from print newspapers. According to a new report from Pew Research Center out today, social media has for the first time surpassed newspapers as a preferred source of news for American adults. However, social media is still far behind other traditional news sources, like TV and radio, for example. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You don’t have to follow the financial technology industry or work with developers in faraway lands to know TransferWise, arguably the world’s leading peer-to-peer money-transferring startup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After last year’s stellar turn out of almost 1,000 Silicon Valley shakers and movers at our inaugural Winter Party, TechCrunch is returning with the 2nd Annual Winter Party in San Francisco on February 8. The party will feature tasty cocktails and canapés, party games and activities, plenty of photo ops, giveaways and some fun surprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is good, clean, butt-kicking fun The Switch game is fan service in the best possible sense of the term After a few days with the game, I’m no expert. Hell, I’m not even entirely sure I’m confident enough to take on all comers. I am, however, most definitely hooked. This scrappy little gaming upstart just might have a future ahead of it, after all. I admit that I’ve not played a Smash Bros. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can now once again flip the camera during FaceTime calls with just one tap With the release of iOS 12, Apple hid the button that lets you jump from front camera to rear camera (or vice versa) during a FaceTime call. Previously a one-click thing, it was suddenly shoved away into a menu as if it wasn’t something you might use a half-dozen times per call. Don’t like the change? Good news! Apple is undoing it. As of iOS 12.1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sorry folks. If you wanted to buy a ticket to Startup Battlefield Africa 2018you’re out of luck. We’re sold out. However, you could be one of the lucky few to score a free ticket to our day-long startup-pitch extravaganza in Lagos, Nigeria on 11 December. We have a limited number of tickets available, so apply for your free ticket here — before they’re all gone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AWS, once a nice little side hustle for Amazon’s eCommerce business, has grown over the years into a behemoth that’s on a $27 billion run rate, one that’s still growing at around 45 percent a year. That’s a highly successful business by any measure, but as I listened to AWS executives last week at their AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, I didn’t hear a group that was content to sit still and let the growth speak for itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lou Shipley Contributor More posts by this contributor Why The Future Of Digital Security Is Open Sirius XM’s recent all-stock $3.5-billion purchase of the music-streaming service Pandora raised a lot of eyebrows. A big question was why Sirius paid so much. Is Pandora’s music library and customer base really worth that amount? The answer is that this was a strategic move by Sirius in a battle that is far bigger than radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome back toEquity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week as TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin came to life, Kate Clark and I snagged some mics and dug through the biggest news of the week (a $50 million check), and talked through who may go public next year, and what thoseIPOs might look like. Our usual fare, if you will. (If you are missing Danny and Connie, fear not, they will be back next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before we send any planet-trotting robot to explore the landscape of Mars or Venus, we need to test it here on Earth. Two such robotic platforms being developed for future missions are undergoing testing at European Space Agency facilities: one that rolls, and one that hops. The rolling one is actually on the books to head to the Red Planet as part of the ESA’s Mars 2020 program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disrupt Berlin approaches with just a few days until things kick things off. We have an all-star lineup that only TechCrunch can assemble, and we’re expecting our largest number of attendees yet. Check out our star-packed agenda here. Here are all the deets you need to make for a stellar conference experience. Location TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin will be taking place on 29-30 November at Arena Berlin (Eichenstraße 4, 12435 Berlin). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audi is making room in its electric future for more than SUVs or crossovers. After a string of teasers, the German automaker finally unveiled the Audi e-tron GT concept, a four-door all-electric coupe that has some Porsche DNA sprinkled in and that looks a lot like the A7. Audi introduced the concept Wednesday during the press days of the LA Auto Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2018 holiday season is predicted to be a bumper year for e-commerce, helped by economic forces like lower unemployment and underlying trends like an ever-growing proportion of shoppers opting to spend their money online, and specifically on mobile devices. Thanksgiving, a day when brick-and-mortar stores tend to be closed, is a big one for online spending, and so far it’s off to a flying start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we hang out with family and friends this holiday season, it’s interesting to look back on the Bitcoin mania that we endured one Thanksgiving ago. Aunts and uncles asking about internet money as you passed the mashed potatoes while trying to explain the concept of decentralization in a way that made it seem like you knew your stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don’t panic! Life imitates art, to be sure, but hopefully the researchers in charge of the Cognitive Architecture for Space Exploration, or CASE, have taken the right lessons from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and their AI won’t kill us all and/or expose us to alien artifacts so we enter a state of cosmic nirvana. (I think that’s what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re: Pretty good at tech stuff Spending time with your family for Thanksgiving Bored because you’re reading this article right now You may not celebrate Thanksgiving where you live, but most of our readers are American. So let’s use this opportunity to review the tech setup of your family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TechCrunch has obtained an internal memo published by Facebook’s outgoing head of public policy Elliot Schrage in which he blames himself for hiring PR firm Definers. He admits to having the company push negative narratives about competitors, but says Facebook did not ask or pay Definers to publish fake news. COO Sheryl Sandberg left a comment on the memo, saying it was never Facebook’s intention to play into anti-semitic theories about George Soros. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices