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US security officials fear the Chinese-owned app could be used to collect Americans' personal data. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3hZfHEe

Even the hard-charging world of early-stage startups has its share of procrastinators, lollygaggers, slow-pokes, wafflers and last-minute decision makers. If that’s your demographic, today is your lucky day. You now have an extra week (courtesy of Saint Expeditus , the patron saint of procrastinators), to score early-bird savings to Disrupt 2020 , which takes place September 14-18. Buy your pass before the new and final deadline — August 7 at 11:59 p.m. (PT) — and save up to $300 . Who says prayers (or secular entreaties) go unanswered? Your pass opens the door to five days of Disrupt — the biggest, longest TechCrunch conference ever. Drawing thousands of attendees and hundreds of innovative early-stage startups from around the world, you won’t find a better time, place or opportunity to accelerate the speed of your business. Here are four world-class reasons to attend Disrupt 2020 . World-class speakers. Hear and engage with leading voices in tech, business and investment ac

Here they are, ranked by how much weight we put behind them:   from Startups – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2Pc5Z51

This week, the CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Alphabet and Amazon were called before the House’s Antitrust Subcommittee to defend the vast empires they’ve built. Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg faced questions about how their business practices propelled them into the market-dominant giants they are today. They lead four of the top six most valuable public companies in existence and are widely regarded as reshaping the consumer world, both within the tech industry and beyond. Watch TechCrunch reporters Taylor Hatmaker, Devin Coldewey and Alex Wilhelm discuss what happened during the hearing and what this might mean for the future of big tech. from Startups – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/31ksKcH

By BY KATE CONGER AND NATHANIEL POPPER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2Xh4uqp

By BY MIKE ISAAC AND ANA SWANSON from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3ffa42U

This week, the CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Alphabet and Amazon were called before the House’s Antitrust Subcommittee to defend the vast empires they’ve built. Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg faced questions about how their business practices propelled them into the market-dominant giants they are today. They lead four of the top six most valuable public companies in existence and are widely regarded as reshaping the consumer world, both within the tech industry and beyond. Watch TechCrunch reporters Taylor Hatmaker, Devin Coldewey and Alex Wilhelm discuss what happened during the hearing and what this might mean for the future of big tech. from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/31ksKcH

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2PckpBV

As the Internet of Things proliferates, security cameras are getting smarter. Today, these devices have machine learning capability that help the camera automatically identify what it’s looking at — for instance an animal or a human intruder? Today, Cisco announced that it’s acquired Swedish startup Modcam and making it part of its Meraki smart camera portfolio with the goal of incorporating Modcam computer vision technology into its portfolio. The companies did not reveal the purchase price, but Cisco tells us that the acquisition has closed. In a blog post announcing the deal, Cisco Meraki’s Chris Stori says Modcam is going to up Meraki’s machine learning game, while giving it some key engineering talent, as well. “In acquiring Modcam, Cisco is investing in a team of highly talented engineers who bring a wealth of expertise in machine learning, computer vision and cloud-managed cameras. Modcam has developed a solution that enables cameras to become even smarter,” he wrote.

CRISPR tech startup Mammoth Biosciences is among the companies that revealed backing from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program on Friday. Mammoth received a contract to scale up its CRISPR-based SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test in order to help address the testing shortages across the U.S. Mammoth’s CRISPR-based approach could potentially offer a significant solution to current testing bottlenecks, because it’s a very different kind of test when compared to existing methods based on PCR technology. The startup has also enlisted the help of pharma giant GSK to develop and produce a new COVID-19 testing solution , which will be a handheld, disposable test that can offer results in as little as 20 minutes, on site. While that test is still in development, the RADx funding received through this funding will be used to scale manufacturing of the company’s DETECTR platform for distribution and use in commercial laboratory settings. This will s

Behold, the Opple Watch. Many have borrowed heavily from Apple’s wearable, but few, if any, have done so as brazenly as Oppo. Sure Fitbit received some guff for the squircle hardware design of its Versa line, but it’s not useful to get too hung up on those vague similarities — there are, notably, relatively few geometrical options for hardware makers looking to move outside the traditional circle watch face. But based on the press material, the Oppo Watch is — to put it gently — a dead ringer for the best-selling smartwatch. There are some key differences, of course. The first and biggest is the fact that the device runs Wear OS, Google’s oft-neglected wearable operating system. Also of note is the “dual curved screen,” which allows the watch face to monopolize more space on the device, with a 73% screen-to-body ratio on the 45mm version and 65% on the 41mm. Those displays are 1.91 and 1.6 inches, respectively. There’s a Wi-Fi and LTE version of the larger model, and both feature G

By BY KASHMIR HILL from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2CZuNe2

News broke last night that Affirm , a well-known fintech unicorn, could approach the public markets at a valuation of $5 to $10 billion. The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news , said that Affirm could begin trading this year and that its IPO options include debuting via a special purpose acquisition company, also known as a SPAC. That Affirm is considering listing is not a surprise. The company is around eight years old  and has raised north of $1 billion , meaning it has locked up investor cash during its life as a private company. And liquidity has become an increasingly attractive possibility in 2020, when new offerings of all quality levels are enjoying strong reception from investors and traders who are hungry for equity in growing companies. The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. You can read it every morning on Extra Crunch , or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday. But $10 billion? That price tag is a multiple of what Affirm was worth last year w

Dan Miller Contributor Share on Twitter Dan is a Partner at True Search where he leads the firm's Investment Professional practice, having worked with many top VC & PE firms in their senior hiring efforts. More posts by this contributor Inside the venture capital recruiting process Like many industries with a high concentration of wealth — and the careers that help professionals accumulate it — investment firms have a severe dearth of diversity in their ranks. Regardless of whether the focus is venture capital, private equity or any other investment asset class, the firms are replete with white men. Though there have been some modest efforts of late to push for diversity, particularly in VC, these have yielded single digit percentage changes at best — and nothing at worst. Only 9% of investment decision makers in VC today are women; just 2% are Black. Some firms have made reasonable inroads on this problem with good intentions. Based on my search experienc

Will Robbins Contributor Share on Twitter Will Robbins is an early-stage investor at Contrary . More posts by this contributor Jesus, SaaS and digital tithing Voodoo Games thrives by upending conventional product design Americans are rapidly becoming less religious. Weekly church attendance is falling, congregations are getting smaller or even closing and the percentage of Americans identifying as “religiously unaffiliated” has spiked. Despite all this, now might be the perfect time for church tech companies to thrive. A combination of COVID-19-induced adoption, underrated demographic trends and pressure to innovate is setting the stage for new successes in the previously sleepy church tech space. Venture dollars are flowing in, and Silicon Valley is slowly showing serious interest in the sector. Hot new startups are finding creative growth hacks to penetrate a difficult market. Major challenges remain for companies in this space, but their odds seem better than e

It follows the failure of an NHS-branded app in England, which was trialled on the Isle of Wight. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2PeqTQJ

It’s officially now o’clock startup fans. All good things come to an end, and today’s the last day you can score an early bird pass to Disrupt 2020 . Don’t miss your chance to save up to $300 and get busy building your business at our global Disrupt event. Buy your pass before the deal — and the savings — expires at exactly 11:59 p.m. (PT) tonight. Disrupt 2020 takes place September 14-18. It’s packed with non-stop programming and gives you five full days to explore — expand your knowledge, your network, your opportunities and your business. We’ve added a new event this year: The Pitch Deck Teardown . Expert VCs and entrepreneurs will assess pitch decks submitted by registered Disrupt attendees, note red flags and offer constructive advice on how to improve this essential startup tool. We’ll hold multiple sessions over the course of Disrupt, so if you’re a registered Disrupt attendee, submit your pitch deck for consideration . That’s just one of many exciting ways attending Dis

Hello and welcome back to  Equity , TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast ( now on Twitter! ), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. We had the full team this week: Myself , Danny , and Natasha on the mics, with Chris running skipper as always. Sadly this week we had to kick off with a correction as I am 1. Dumb, and, 2. See point one. But after we got past SPAC nuances ( shoutout David Ethridge ), we had a full show of good stuff, including: Y Combinator Demo Day is going virtual , as before, and its coming iteration will also be live. The Equity crew all agree that this is the right thing to do, and probably more fun to boot. And now the founders can sweat a live event, too! What fun. Speaking of live events going digital, Disrupt is coming up. And it is going to be great. Read more here . A group of Stanford business school students are putting together and investment vehicle to invest money into themselves , which is a good idea and something that is hig

Twitter accused of double standard for censoring Trump but not Iranian leader Twitter is facing scrutiny for flagging posts by President Trump but allowing Iran's ayatollah to call for the genocide of Israel.

Google and Facebook would pay news outlets in the "world-leading" plan, the government says. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/338fYAt

Twitter says employees were tricked into handing over credentials to the cyber-attackers. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/33b04Fg

He was permanently suspended for repeatedly violating Twitter's "hateful conduct" rules. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/313EL62

Mark Persaud Contributor Share on Twitter Mark Persaud is digital product manager and practice lead at Moonshot by Pactera , a digital innovation company that leads global clients through the next era of digital products with a heavy emphasis on artificial intelligence, data and continuous software delivery. 2020 has been all but normal. For businesses and brands. For innovation. For people. The trajectory of business growth strategies, travel plans and lives have been drastically altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a global economic downturn with supply chain and market issues, and a fight for equality in the Black Lives Matter movement — amongst all that complicated lives and businesses already. One of the biggest stories in emerging technology is the growth of different types of voice assistants: Niche assistants such as Aider that provide back-office support. Branded in-house assistants such as those offered by BBC and Snapchat. White-label solutions such as H

The luxury British retailer and China's tech giant have joined forces amid growing national tensions. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3gfPZe3

Fans of the esports league say they were right to highlight Saudi Arabia's human rights record. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2Xfh6yj

Google CEO says tech giant deletes this information used by police Google now sets a time limit on data used by police for tracking suspects, the CEO said at Wednesday's congressional hearing with tech giants. 

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2BJv2cv

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the startup world, slowing some high-growth unicorns and promoting others onto the coveted list. In the earlier-stages of startup land, the same patterns of acceleration and braking can be found. TechCrunch wanted to dig more deeply into the cohort of startups that are seeing acceleration, so we put together a list of investors who have put money to work in startups building remote-work tooling and sent them a raft of questions. We wanted to better understand if SaaS fatigue is real for the startups in question, where open-space still exists in the remote-work world and how the economics of the companies compare to other software shops. And, yes, we did ask about valuations and intra-venture competition for the rounds that we keep hearing about.  Not every deal from these venture capitalists fits the remote-work mold, but they and their firms and funds are involved with enough in our view to give them good perspective about what’s going on in

Buildots , a Tel Aviv and London-based startup that is using computer vision to modernize the construction management industry, today announced that it has raised $16 million in total funding. This includes a $3 million seed round that was previously unreported and a $13 million Series A round, both led by TLV Partners. Other investors include Innogy Ventures, Tidhar Construction Group, Ziv Aviram ( co-founder of Mobileye & OrCam) , Magma Ventures head Zvika Limon , serial entrepreneurs Benny Schnaider and  Avigdor Willenz , as well as Tidhar chairman Gil Geva. The idea behind Buildots is pretty straightforward. The team is using hardhat-mounted 360-degree cameras to allow project managers at construction sites to get an overview of the state of a project and whether it remains on schedule. The company’s software creates a digital twin of the construction site, using the architectural plans and schedule as its basis, and then uses computer vision to compare what the plans s

The heads of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google faced accusations of bias and unfair competition. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3fePsrw

Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook's CEOs gave testimony, but voters will determine the outcome. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2Pb2lby

The Chinese firm has overtaken Samsung as the world's biggest smartphone vendor. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/3ge9Kme

The video sharing app launched a $200m fund for American users earlier this month. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2DjHf8d

Rep. Steube on congressional hearing with tech CEOs Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple testify; Rep. Gregory Steube shares the major takeaways from the hearing.

Arizona GOP chair accuses Twitter of limiting her account over hydroxychloroquine video Arizona Republican Party chair Dr. Kelli Ward says Twitter's actions were politically motivated.

Volopay founders Rajith Shaji and Rajesh Raikwar Small- to medium-sized companies that do a lot of international business have to deal with two big headaches: high foreign exchange fees and corporate expense tracking. Volopay , a Singapore-based financial tech startup with offices in Bangalore, wants to help by integrating prepaid multi-currency corporate cards, expense tracking and accounting tools into one free-to-use platform. Volopay is currently taking part in Y Combinator and is also part of Antler and Nium’s Bolt, two other accelerator programs. It now has about 40 clients in Singapore, mostly tech startups like Dathena, Tookitaki and Appknox, and plans to launch in Indonesia and Australia within the next six months. The company was founded last year by chief executive officer Rajith Shaji and chief technology officer Rajesh Raikwar, who met while working at MoneySmart, a financial services comparison platform. Before joining MoneySmart, Shaji also held positions at fint

By BY ADAM SATARIANO from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/39Cuth6

Google alternative Ecosia is on a mission to turn search clicks into trees. The Berlin based not-for-profit reached a major milestone earlier this month, having used ad revenue generated by users of its privacy-sensitive search engine to plant more than 100 million trees across 25 countries worldwide — targeted at biodiversity hotspots. However these good feels have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Ecosia has seen its monthly revenues slashed by half since COVID-19 arrived in Europe, with turnover falling from €2.6M in February to just €1.4M in June. It’s worried that its promise of planting a tree every 0.8 seconds is at risk. It has also suffered a knock to regional visibility as a result of boycotting an auction process that Android OS maker Google has been running throughout this year, as a response to a 2018 Commission antitrust decision that found the tech giant had violated EU competition rules in how it operates the smartphone platform — including via condition