28 Feb 2018

Amazon launches its Prime Music service in India

 Amazon has quietly launched its Prime Music service in India today. The retailer brought its Prime service to India some 18 months ago, but at the time it was lacking the free music and video streaming services. Amazon added the Prime Video months later, but it has taken some time for the music service to be deemed ready for the market. Medianama — where we first read of today’s… Read More
28 Feb 2018

India-based music streaming service Gaana raises $115M led by Tencent

 Chinese internet giant Tencent is continuing to put its money in India and in music streaming services after it agreed to lead a $115 million investment in India’s Gaana. Gaana is a music streaming service that was started by Times Media, the company behind the Times of India newspaper and tech incubator Times Internet among other things, seven years ago. Gaana didn’t reveal its… Read More
28 Feb 2018

Global tech firms and investors are reshaping Latin America’s startup environment

 Latin America is emerging as the new battleground for the global tech giants, and some of Silicon Valley and Asia’s biggest investors—from Sequoia Capital to SoftBank—are taking notice. International investment in Latin American startups has more than doubled since 2013, with 25 new investors entering the region in 2017 alone, including SoftBank, Didi Chuxing and… Read More
28 Feb 2018

New, new, new TechCrunch

 In the beginning, there was TechCrunch. Then there was new TechCrunch. And, if you’ve been reading TechCrunch for the last five years or so, you’re used to seeing new, new TechCrunch. Our last redesign, launched in 2013, was conceived when iOS was still Skeuomorphic and responsive web design was forward thinking. It’s served us well, but the internet never stands still and… Read More
27 Feb 2018

Warrantless surveillance law proves it’s time to take privacy into our own hands

privacy please The warrantless surveillance law gained attention in 2013 when Edward Snowden leaked that the NSA was using it to spy on Americans’ text messages, phone calls, emails and internet activity — all legally, and without warrants. That bill has been passed by the U.S. Senate for another six years and has been signed into law by President Trump. Naturally, this has caused quite the uproar. Read More
27 Feb 2018

Square’s bets beyond a register brought in $253M last year as it posts a largely positive fourth quarter

 Square posted a largely successful fourth quarter that showed continuing growth with its Cash App — with users spending around $90 million on its Cash card in December, putting it on a potentially $1 billion run rate. That would offer another significant avenue for Square to snap up additional customers as it looks to chip away at the alternatives available for directly sending cash… Read More
27 Feb 2018

Sonos One’s Alexa support comes to Canada

 Sonos One users in Canada can now join their peers south of the border in yelling requests at their connected speakers – a free update issued today enables Amazon Alexa on the Sonos One. The One launched with Alexa support in the U.S., but while the speaker has been available to Canadian buyers since late last year, Alexa voice commands are new with the update. That means Canadians will… Read More
27 Feb 2018

Amazon is buying smart doorbell maker Ring

 With Nest’s first smart video doorbell right around the corner, Amazon is busy buying up the competition. After acquiring Blink just two months ago, Amazon is now acquiring Ring, makers of the self-titled Ring doorbell (plus a bunch of other security gear, like solar security cameras, floodlight cams, and an in-home alarm system). Geekwire broke the rumor this afternoon, and we’ve… Read More
27 Feb 2018

Amazon is buying smart doorbell maker Ring

 With Nest’s first smart video doorbell right around the corner, Amazon is busy buying up the competition. After acquiring Blink just two months ago, Amazon is now acquiring Ring, makers of the self-titled Ring doorbell (plus a bunch of other security gear, like solar security cameras, floodlight cams, and an in-home alarm system). Geekwire broke the rumor this afternoon, and we’ve… Read More