Technology

CommonGround raises $25M for immersive video avatar technology that doesn’t rely on VR gear

November 30, 2022

The trials and tribulations that a giant company like Meta (née Facebook) has been facing in overcoming skepticism, creating user interest (let alone revenue) and building quality experiences for its all-in metaverse vision highlights just how much work lies ahead for any company working in mixed reality. Today, a startup in that bigger ecosystem, which […]

CommonGround raises $25M for immersive video avatar technology that doesn’t rely on VR gear by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon Kindle Scribe review

November 30, 2022

The Kindle turned 15 this month. It’s been a strange ride for Amazon’s first hardware device. CEO Andy Jassy gave the e-reader a rare bit of love in last year’s shareholder letter, noting: Our first foray into devices was the Kindle, released in 2007. It was not the most sophisticated industrial design (it was creamy […]

Amazon Kindle Scribe review by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: Twitter’s toxicity, and what China’s protestors want

November 30, 2022
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Elon Musk has created a toxic mess for the LGBTQ+ community. I would know. By Scott Wiener, a California state senator who represents San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. A mere day…

Bitcoin ‘rarely’ used for legal transactions, on ‘road to irrelevance’, say European Central Bank officials

November 30, 2022

European Central Bank officials alleged on Wednesday that bitcoin is “rarely used for legal transactions,” is fuelled by speculation and the recent erosion in its value indicates that it is on the “road to irrelevance,” in a series of stringent criticism (bereft of strong data points) of the cryptocurrency industry as they urged regulators to […]

Bitcoin ‘rarely’ used for legal transactions, on ‘road to irrelevance’, say European Central Bank officials by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

What Shanghai protesters want and fear

November 30, 2022
China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. The past week has meant many sleepless nights for people in China, and for people like me who are intently watching from afar.  You may have seen that nearly three years after the pandemic started,…

Elon Musk has created a toxic mess for the LGBTQ+ community. I would know.

November 30, 2022
A mere day after Elon Musk reactivated Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account, she tweeted that I’m a “communist groomer,” presumably because I’m a gay Jewish Democratic elected official from San Francisco.  Greene’s tweet also promoted her proposed federal law to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and to make it effectively impossible for adult…

Gogoro to pilot battery swapping and Smartscooters in Philippines next year

November 30, 2022

Gogoro, the Taiwanese company that’s commercializing battery swapping ecosystems for electric scooters, is targeting the Philippines as its next market. The startup said Tuesday it has partnered with Filipino conglomerate Ayala Corporation, telecomms provider Globe and corporate venture builder 917Ventures to launch a B2B battery swapping pilot in Manila in the first quarter of 2023. […]

Gogoro to pilot battery swapping and Smartscooters in Philippines next year by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Sequoia India backs Prismforce that helps IT companies build better talent supply chain

November 30, 2022

Prismforce, an India-U.S. startup that provides IT and tech services companies with tools to build better talent supply chain, has raised $13.6 million in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital India. IT providers spend a large part of their variable costs on hiring skilled employees. But finding those employees from the ever-growing talent […]

Sequoia India backs Prismforce that helps IT companies build better talent supply chain by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Austin-based ICON awarded $57.2 million NASA contract for lunar construction tech

November 29, 2022

ICON, a construction tech company that’s raised more than $400 million in funding, has landed a new contract from NASA to develop new systems to build on the moon and Mars. The $57.2 million contract is a continuation of a previous Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) dual-use contract with the U.S. Air Force, which was […]

Austin-based ICON awarded $57.2 million NASA contract for lunar construction tech by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch