Year: 2018

 In the latest of a recent spate of bugs plaguing Google’s most recent hardware offerings, a number of Home and Chromecast users have been reporting issues around their devices’ WiFi connectivity this week. Google has since acknowledged the issue on its support page, noting that “In certain situations, a bug in the Cast software on Android phones may incorrectly send a… Read More

 The Last Mile, a coding program that first launched inside California’s San Quentin State Prison, has expanded to its first out-of-state prison. Yesterday, The Last Mile announced its plans to launch at the Indiana Women’s Prison with support from Governor Eric J. Holcomb. “We had a desire to go outside of California this year,” The Last Mile co-founder Chris Redlitz… Read More

 Apple has landed its first half-hour comedy series, according to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter out this afternoon. The series, which will be exec produced by and star SNL vet Kristen Wiig, hails from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. This is the third project from Hello Sunshine that Apple has now picked up to aid in its streaming TV ambitions. Others include a Jennifer… Read More

 Instagram now lets some users slap background-less GIFs sourced from Giphy onto their Instagram Stories. Rolling out for wider testing with a Giphy-branded design, the new GIF sticker engine could further differentiate Instagram Stories from Snapchat, which has yet to embrace the animation trend. It appears that Giphy has worked with Instagram to create a special search engine for a library… Read More

 COMPAS, a piece of software commonly used in the justice system to predict which offenders will find themselves behind bars again, is no better than soliciting random people on Mechanical Turk to determine the same thing, a new study has found. Oh, and they’re both racially biased. Read More

 Twitch today announced its co-founder Kevin Lin will be stepping down from the COO role at the company, amid a series of new executive hires. Lin will continue to work at Twitch in a newly developed, and still unnamed, role leading “Culture, Strategy & Innovation” which reports directly to Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Replacing Lin as COO is former Pandora COO Sara Clemens, who… Read More

 Amazon announced its intentions to launch the Echo down under during its big AWS Re:Invent show back in November. Details were pretty light on the offering at the time, but now the company’s back with specifics around, a few weeks ahead of availability. The new Echo, Echo Plus and the Echo Dot are currently up for pre-order and will be launching in in Australia early next month, priced… Read More

 Apple is about to give the U.S. economy a huge boost in the form of a $350 billion five-year investment. As part of that, it will commit $55 billion this year alone and plans on adding 20,000 new jobs over that time frame. Following in the footsteps of Amazon, it also plans to add a new campus somewhere in the U.S. this year. There is a lot of news here. Read More

 A few weeks back, Apple added “Give me the news” to Siri’s repertoire of tricks in the the latest beta version of iOS. The feature comes as the company is readying its smart assistant for the imminent arrival of the HomePod, the company’s first smart assistant-driven device. The feature is now out of beta here in the States and the U.K. Asking Siri for the news will… Read More

 If you’re based in the SF Bay Area, you’re likely familiar with the annual party we host with August Capital every summer. After 12 years, that event still sells out fast and gathers top investors and founders in Silicon Valley for an evening of networking and fun.  In keeping with that spirit, TechCrunch will be hosting our 1st Annual Winter Party in San Francisco and add a… Read More