TechCrunch Industry News

Latest Episodes:

Disney+ launches discounted annual subscriptions for European users Feb 25, 2020

Show notes

Disney is offering a discount on its new streaming service for select European markets ahead of its March 24th launch, the company announced on Monday. Customers who pre-order Disney+ before March 23rd will get £10 or €10 a full year’s subscription, bringing the cost down to around £49.99 or €59.99 per year (~$64 USD). The service initially debuts in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rallyhood exposed a decade of users’ private data Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Rallyhood says it’s “private and secure.” But for some time, it wasn’t. The social network designed to helping groups communicate and coordinate left one of its cloud storage buckets open and exposed. The bucket, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), was not protected with a password, allowing anyone who knew the easily-guessable web address access to a decade’s worth of user files.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter adds a button so you can thread your shower thoughts Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Hold that tweet — and add another one. Twitter is adding a new feature for mobile users to make it easier to link dispersed ‘shower thoughts’ together — and another thingstyleee. Per 9to5Mac, the feature — which Twitter tweeted about yesterday — is slowly rolling out to its iOS app. (At the time of writing we spotted it in Europe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gaming-focused investment firm Bitkraft closes in on at least $140 million for its second fund Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

Esports, video games and the innovations that enable them now occupy a central space in the cultural and commercial fabric of the tech world. For the investment firm Bitkraft Esports Ventures, the surge in interest means a vast opportunity to invest in the businesses that continue to reshape entertainment and develop technologies which have implications far beyond consoles and controllers. Increasingly, investors are willing to come along for the ride.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One year later, the future of foldables remains uncertain Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

Yesterday, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Flip Z sold out online. What, precisely, that means, is hard to say, of course, without specific numbers from the company. But it’s probably enough to make the company bullish about its latest wade into the foldable waters, in the wake of last year’s Fold — let’s just say “troubles.” Response to the device has been positive.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CBS All Access to gain content from Nick, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures & more Feb 20, 2020

Show notes

CBS All Access, the streaming service now owned by ViacomCBS following the merger, is expanding. Announced today as part of the company’s otherwise underwhelming Q4 earnings, the plan is to launch a new “broad pay” streaming service that will include CBS All Access content along with other ViacomCBS assets in film and TV to complement the company’s existing free streaming service Pluto TV and premium network Showtime.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Netflix acquires Adam McKay’s asteroid comedy ‘Don’t Look Up’, Jennifer Lawrence will star Feb 20, 2020

Show notes

Netflix announced today that it has acquired “Don’t Look Up,” a comedy written and directed by Adam McKay, with Jennifer Lawrence attached to star. The story sounds like a funhouse reflection of one of today’s other headlines, focusing on two “low-level astronomers” who try to warn the world about the dangers of an asteroid that’s approaching Earth.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ring slightly overhauls security and privacy, but it’s still not enough Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

Security camera maker Ring is updating its service to improve account security and give more control when it comes to privacy. Once again, this is yet another update that makes the overall experience slightly better but the Amazon-owned company is still not doing enough to protect its users. First, Ring is reversing its stance when it comes to two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication is now mandatory — you can’t even opt out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black haircare startup Naza Beauty just raised $1 million from Alexis Ohanian’s Initialized Capital Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

As we all saw in Oscar-winning short film Hair Love, black hair is beautiful but it’s also notoriously difficult to manage. One of the first hair memories Naza founder and CEO Natanya Montgomery has is of her mom brushing her hair into three afro puffs on the top of her head. When she was seven, she started coming to terms with the state of her hair, and that’s when her mom took her to the salon for the first time.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google confirms it again removed alleged spying tool ToTok from Google Play Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

In December, The New York Times reported a popular messaging app called ToTok was actually a spying tool used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to track users’ conversations, location, and social connections. The app was removed from the Google Play store in December, while Google investigated, then reinstated in early January. Google now confirms the app has again been removed, but this time declined to comment as to why.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected