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Netflix’s ‘Shuffle Play’ feature will roll out to all users worldwide this year Jan 20, 2021

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Netflix is always in search of a better way to instantly connect users to something to watch, instead of having them waste time unsuccessfully scrolling through all the available programming options. Now, the company says a recent test focused on solving this problem, Shuffle Play, has proven popular enough to roll out to all users […]

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India asks WhatsApp to withdraw new privacy policy, expresses ‘grave concerns’ Jan 19, 2021

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India has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the planned change to its privacy policy, posing a new headache to Facebook-owned service that identifies the South Asian nation as its biggest market by users. In an email to WhatsApp head Will Cathcart, the nation’s IT ministry said WhatsApp’s planned update to its data-sharing policy raised “grave concerns […]

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Calling Bucharest VCs: Be featured in The Great TechCrunch Survey of European VC Jan 19, 2021

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TechCrunch is embarking on a major project to survey the venture capital investors of Europe, and their cities. Our survey of VCs in Bucharest and Romania will capture how the country is faring, and what changes are being wrought amongst investors by the coronavirus pandemic. We’d like to know how Romania’s startup scene is […]

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Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee sent back to prison in bribery case Jan 18, 2021

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Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee is back in prison following a retrial of his 2017 conviction in a bribery case that helped lead to the downfall of former South Korean president Park Guen-hye. The Seoul High Court sentenced Lee to 30 months on Monday. Lee was originally convicted of bribery in 2017 and […]

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Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro are a solid AirPods alternative Jan 18, 2021

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I suspect it will be a while before I get excited over wireless earbuds. It’s not for a lack of trying on the part of manufacturers. In fact, quite the contrary. The category actually matured quite quickly, compared to various other verticals in the consumer electronics space. The truth is, most major hardware makers have […]

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Amazon’s newest product lets companies build their own Alexa assistant Jan 15, 2021

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Amazon is selling access to the underlying technology stack of Alexa to let companies — starting with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — build their own intelligent assistants with unique voices, skills and wake words. The new Alexa Custom Assistant product, which was announced Friday, can coexist and cooperate with the Alexa assistant. Theoretically, this means an […]

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Samsung answers Apple with the $199 Galaxy Buds Pro Jan 15, 2021

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Even before the leaks, we all saw the Galaxy Buds Pro coming. It was a given that the company was planning to deliver its own take on Apple’s AirPods Pro, with improved sound quality and active noise canceling. The real secret weapon here, however, may be the price. This morning’s S21 announcement found Samsung dropping […]

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At least one of Samsung’s new robots is definitely coming out (hint: it’s the vacuum) Jan 14, 2021

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For the last couple of years, Samsung’s CES press conferences have featured a parade of futuristic home robots. They’re are smart, dexterous and impressive (and reasonably adorable). But home robots are hard. Like, really, really hard. There’s a reason the robotic vacuum continues to be one real viable home robot nearly 20 years after the […]

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Checkout.com raises $450 million and reaches $15 billion valuation Jan 14, 2021

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Payments company Checkout.com is raising once again. The company has closed a $450 million Series C round with Tiger Global Management leading the round — Greenoaks Capital and all existing investors are also participating. If you’re not familiar with the company, Checkout.com wants to build a one-stop shop for all things related to payments, such […]

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Rollables are the new foldables Jan 13, 2021

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Smartphone sales are bad — and have been for a couple of years now. Certainly this ongoing pandemic hasn’t helped. All the talk about how 5G and new form factors were going to cause a kind of bounce-back all fell by the wayside, as people put a pause on unnecessary luxuries. Samsung is the only […]

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