Recommended review

    Apple Maps launches on the web to challenge Google Maps

    Apple announced on Wednesday that Apple Maps is now available on the web via a public beta, which means you can now access the service directly from your browser. The launch puts Apple Maps in direct competition with Google Maps, which has long been available on the web. Maps on the web is accessible in English and is compatible with Safari and Chrome on Mac and iPad, as well as Chrome and Edge on Windows PCs. Apple plans to bring support for additional languages, browsers and platforms in the future. Apple Maps on the web works like it does on…

    TikTok rolls out a new feature that lets you find songs by singing or humming them

    TikTok is looking to take on YouTube Music and Shazam with a new feature called “Sound Search,” which lets you find a sound by singing, humming or playing it. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the feature is available to some users in select regions and is not yet widely available.  Sound Search offers another way to find what you’re looking for on the app. On a platform where song-based trends change rapidly, the tool could also help you find and better understand current trends. Sound Search on TikTok is somewhat similar to YouTube Music’s song detection tool that lets…

    Without Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 beta feels like a TV show that’s waiting for the finale

    At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple divided the keynote into two parts: regular OS updates and an introduction to the company’s AI features. Apple is drawing a line between these two sections because Apple Intelligence features will become available this fall. It means that those features likely won’t be there with the 18.0 release; major iOS updates are usually timed with new iPhone releases in September. Apple Intelligence features are also not available in the developer beta, which is available now. It might be a while until we get a taste of them. That’s why the current iOS 18…

    AI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted music is ‘fair use’

    Following the recent lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against music generation startups Udio and Suno, Suno admitted in a court filing on Thursday that it did, in fact, train its AI model using copyrighted songs. But it claimed that doing so was legal under the fair-use doctrine. The RIAA filed the lawsuit against Udio and Suno on June 24, alleging that the companies trained their models using copyrighted music. While Suno’s investors have previously hinted that the startup didn’t have permission from the music labels to use the copyrighted material, it hasn’t been so directly stated as…

    Checkly tests software by mimicking the way people use it

    It’s not uncommon for developers working at companies of a certain size to have trouble keeping track of all the software dev-related tasks and bugs that need to be addressed. According to a 2024 survey by Dynatrace, 88% of tech leaders say that the complexity of their tech stacks increased in the past year and that this increased complexity has made it difficult to deliver a satisfactory customer experience. There’s no shortage of observability vendors out there offering up their products as a fix. But Hannes Lenke, the CEO and co-founder of observability and monitoring company Checkly, makes the case…

    Bing previews its answer to Google’s AI Overviews

    Microsoft this afternoon previewed its answer to Google’s AI-powered search experiences: Bing generative search. Available for only a “small percentage” of users at the moment, Bing generative search, underpinned by a combo of large and small generative AI models (mum’s the word on which models exactly), aggregates info from around the web and generates a summary in response to search queries. For example, if a user searches “What is a spaghetti western?” Bing generative search will show information about the film subgenre’s history and origin and top examples, along with links and sources that show where those details came from.…

    AI

    1

    AI and The Next Computing Platforms With Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg

    58:38
    2

    Nvidia's Jensen Huang & Meta's Mark Zuckerberg Talk AI at Siggraph: Everything in 9 Minutes

    09:03
    3

    Inside Mark Zuckerberg's AI Era | The Circuit

    24:02
    4

    Create Cinematic AI Videos with Runway Gen-3

    15:15
    5

    What Is an AI Anyway? | Mustafa Suleyman | TED

    22:02

    SECURE

    • SecurityThe Bumble app on a smartphone arranged in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023.
      Yowell
      155

      Bumble and Hinge allowed stalkers to pinpoint users’ locations down to 2 meters, researchers say

      A group of researchers said they found that vulnerabilities in the design of some dating apps, including the popular Bumble and Hinge, allowed malicious users or stalkers to pinpoint the location of their victims down to 2 meters.  In a new academic paper, researchers from the Belgian university KU Leuven detailed their findings when they analyzed 15 popular dating apps. Of those, Badoo, Bumble, Grindr, happn, Hinge and Hily all had the same vulnerability that could have helped a malicious user identify the near-exact location of another user, according to the researchers. While neither of those apps share exact locations…

      Read More »
    • SecurityPaper Craft of a Cracked Yellow Padlock in a Group of Secure Ones on Purple Background Front View, Data Security Concept.
      Yowell
      93

      Lineaje raises $20M to help organizations combat software supply chain threats

      The software supply chain faces threats from all sides. A 2024 report by the Ponemon Institute found that over half of organizations have experienced a software supply chain attack, with 54% having experienced one within the past year. Supply chain attacks typically target services from third-party vendors or open source software that make up a company’s tech stack, and they can financially devastate an organization. According to a Juniper Research study, supply chain cyberattacks could cost the global economy almost $81 billion in lost revenue and damages by 2026. The White House has indicated a commitment to addressing the broader…

      Read More »
    • SecurityThe Wiz logo on a smartphone arranged in
      Yowell
      91

      It took some serious nerve for Wiz to walk away from Google’s $23B offer

      Google had good news and bad news last week. The good news was that the cloud division — including Google Workplace software as a service and Google Cloud infrastructure services — generated $10 billion for the quarter for the first time. That had to take the sting out of losing out on its second potential $20+ billion acquisition in less than a month. The first failed acquisition was the long-rumored deal to buy Boston-based CRM and marketing software company HubSpot. We never got a price on that, but the company’s market cap is in the $30 billion range, so you…

      Read More »
    • SecurityAn Opened Prescription Medicine Bottle Among Many Other Sealed Bottles on Yellow Background High Angle View.
      Yowell
      94

      HealthEquity data breach affects 4.3M people

      HealthEquity is notifying 4.3 million people following a March data breach that affects their personal and protected health information. In its data breach notice, filed with Maine’s attorney general, the Utah-based healthcare benefits administrator said that although the compromised data varies by person, it largely consists of sign-up information for accounts and information about benefits that the company administers. HealthEquity said the data may include customer names, addresses, phone numbers, their Social Security number, information about the person’s employer and the person’s dependent (if any), and some payment card information.  HealthEquity provides employees at companies across the United States access…

      Read More »

    Apple

    1

    WWDC 2024 — June 10 | Apple

    01:43:37
    2

    Apple Intelligence in 5 minutes

    04:25
    3

    18 things from WWDC24 | Apple

    02:51
    4

    Apple Intelligence | Privacy

    04:06
    5

    Apple Event - May 7

    38:32
    6

    Apple Event - October 30

    30:32

    Apps

    All articles

    Block Title

    • Securityrender of a data breach with computer folders over blue, green and purple spilling data squares
      Yowell
      42

      Data breach exposes US spyware maker behind Windows, Mac, Android and Chromebook malware

      A little-known spyware maker based in Minnesota has been hacked, TechCrunch has learned, revealing thousands of devices around the world under its stealthy remote surveillance. A person with knowledge of the breach provided TechCrunch with a cache of files taken from the company’s servers containing detailed device activity logs from the phones, tablets, and computers that Spytech monitors, with some of the files dated as recently as early June.  TechCrunch verified the data as authentic in part by analyzing some of the exfiltrated device activity logs that pertain to the company’s chief executive, who installed the spyware on one of…

    • AppleApple Vision Pro debuts immersive content
      Yowell
      69

      Apple Vision Pro debuts immersive content featuring NBA players, The Weeknd and more

      Apple on Thursday announced its upcoming lineup of immersive video content for the Vision Pro. The list includes behind-the-scenes footage of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, an immersive performance by The Weeknd, new series, films, concerts and more. The headset launched in February with more than 150 3D movies and immersive titles. Apple is adding new content, starting with “Boundless,” which premieres tonight. The series allows viewers to experience adventures around the world, such as taking a hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia, Turkey, and seeing how surfers ride waves in the Arctic Circle.  Apple teased other upcoming content in…

    • SecurityPiramal Group, an Indian conglomerate that operates across sectors including pharma, financial services and real estate
      Yowell
      53

      Hacker claims theft of Piramal Group’s employee data

      A hacker claims to be selling data relating to thousands of current and former employees of the Indian conglomerate Piramal Group, a multinational company that operates across pharma, financial services and real estate. Piramal rebuffed claims that its systems were breached and said the information came from a third party. In a listing on a known cybercrime forum last week seen by TechCrunch, the pseudonymous threat actor published a small portion of the allegedly stolen Piramal data for an undisclosed amount. The data sample included full names and email addresses. The allegedly stolen data could be a boon for cybercriminals…

    • AIThe Google Inc. logo
      Yowell
      119

      Google releases new ‘open’ AI models with a focus on safety

      Google has released a trio of new, “open” generative AI models that it’s calling “safer,” “smaller” and “more transparent” than most — a bold claim, to be sure. They’re additions to Google’s Gemma 2 family of generative models, which debuted back in May. The new models, Gemma 2 2B, ShieldGemma and Gemma Scope, are designed for slightly different applications and use cases, but share in common a safety bent. Google’s Gemma series of models are different from its Gemini models in that Google doesn’t make the source code available for Gemini, which is used by Google’s own products as well…

    • AppleWWDC24 Apple Intelligence presentation
      Yowell
      34

      What is Apple Intelligence, when is it coming and who will get it?

      After months of speculation, Apple Intelligence took center stage at WWDC 2024 in June. The platform was announced in the wake of a torrent of generative AI news from companies like Google and Open AI, causing concern that the famously tight-lipped tech giant had missed the boat on the latest tech craze. Contrary to such speculation, however, Apple had a team in place, working on what proved to be a very Apple approach to artificial intelligence. There was still pizzazz amid the demos — Apple always loves to put on a show — but Apple Intelligence is ultimately a very…

    • SecurityBlue screen of death on display at the Amtrak South Station ticket area, due to the CrowdStrike outage.
      Yowell
      98

      CrowdStrike offers a $10 apology gift card to say sorry for outage

      CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that crashed millions of computers with a botched update all over the world last week, is offering its partners a $10 Uber Eats gift card as an apology, according to several people who say they received the gift card, as well as a source who also received one. On Tuesday, a source told TechCrunch that they received an email from CrowdStrike offering them the gift card because the company recognizes “the additional work that the July 19 incident has caused.”  “And for that, we send our heartfelt thanks and apologies for the inconvenience,” the email read,…

    • AppleL-R: Space Black MacBook Pro, Space Gray Touchbar MacBook Pro
      Yowell
      37

      Kandji raises another $100M for Apple device management as valuation rises to $850M

      At a time when many startups have struggled to raise money and keep their heads above water, Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has been an exception. Founded in 2019, it has raced through its funding rounds like a precocious child, raising over $188 million along the way. Today it added to that total with another $100 million from General Catalyst, half of which is additional equity and half is a debt instrument. Today’s raise brings the company’s total funding to over $288 million, including the debt. It also raised its valuation from its last round in 2021 from $800…

    • SecurityBinary code in blue with little yellow locks in between to illustrate data protection.
      Yowell
      46

      Dazz snaps up $50M for AI-based, automated cloud security remediation

      Cybersecurity has become a white-hot topic in the world of technology. Not only are data breaches continuing unabated, but also security companies themselves are very much in the spotlight as a result. One of the fastest-growing, Wiz, was the object of a now-abandoned $23 billion acquisition offer from Google. Now another cybersecurity startup, coincidentally closely associated with Wiz, has raised a significant round of funding. Dazz, which focuses on vulnerability remediation for enterprises that use cloud services, has raised $50 million in equity funding. The startup is not disclosing its valuation, but sources close to the company say the figure…

    • AIHuman And Artificial Intelligence Cooperating Concept
      Yowell
      69

      Copyright Office tells Congress: ‘Urgent need’ to outlaw AI-powered impersonation

      The U.S. Copyright Office has issued the first part of a report on how AI may affect its domain, and its first recommendation out of the gate is: we need a new law right away to define and combat AI-powered impersonation. “It has become clear that the distribution of unauthorized digital replicas poses a serious threat not only in the entertainment and political arenas but also for private citizens,” said the agency’s director Shira Perlmutter in a statement accompanying the report. “We believe there is an urgent need for effective nationwide protection against the harms that can be caused to…

    • Apple
      Yowell
      58

      With the latest iOS 18 developer beta, Apple makes flashlight UI more fun

      Apple initially added a new flashlight UI in iOS 18’s third developer beta, and with iOS 18 now available in public beta, you can try one of the most underrated additions to your iPhone right now. The company had already introduced a new way to control True Tone Flashlights on iPhone 14 Pro and 15 Pro models. Unlike the previous controls of on/off and four levels of brightness, the new controls include variable brightness and a way to adjust the width of the beam. The controls in the first beta just had vertical and horizontal lines to represent them, and…

    • SecurityA tram in Katedralna Square at night, Lviv, western Ukraine.
      Yowell
      69

      Hackers shut down heating in Ukrainian city with malware, researchers say

      For two days in mid-January, some Ukrainians in the city of Lviv had to live without central heating and suffer freezing temperatures because of a cyberattack against a municipal energy company, security researchers and Ukrainian authorities have since concluded.  On Tuesday, the cybersecurity company Dragos published a report with details about a new malware dubbed FrostyGoop, which the company says is designed to target industrial control systems — in this particular case, specifically against a type of heating system controller.  Dragos researchers wrote in their report that they first detected the malware in April. At that point, Dragos did not…

    • AIChatGPT welcome screen
      Yowell
      58

      ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

      ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies. That growth has propelled OpenAI itself into becoming one of the most-hyped companies in recent memory. And its latest partnership with Apple for its upcoming generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, has given the company another significant bump in the AI race. 2024 also saw the release of GPT-4o, OpenAI’s new flagship omni…

    • AppleApple app store icon
      Yowell
      53

      iOS 18 could ‘sherlock’ $400M in app revenue

      Apple’s practice of leveraging ideas from its third-party developer community to become new iOS and Mac features and apps has a hefty price tag, a new report indicates. Ahead of its fall release, you can download the public beta for iOS 18 right now to get a firsthand look at Apple’s changes, which may affect apps that today have an estimated $393 million in revenue and have been downloaded roughly 58 million times over the past year, according to an analysis by app intelligence firm Appfigures. Every June at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the iPhone maker teases the upcoming releases…

    • SecurityWiz Founders
      Yowell
      44

      Wiz walks away from Google’s $23B acquisition offer: Read the CEO’s note to employees

      Cybersecurity startup Wiz has turned down a $23 billion acquisition offer from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, according to a source familiar with discussions. Despite the offer representing a substantial premium over its last private valuation of $12 billion, Wiz’s management team with the support of investors has opted to remain independent, the person said. Wiz’s CEO, Assaf Rappaport, sent an email to Wiz’s 1,200 employees around the world, writing that, “Saying no to such humbling offers is tough, but with our exceptional team, I feel confident in making that choice.” New York-based Wiz was founded in 2020 by four former…

    • AppleApple scheduled send
      Yowell
      85

      At last, Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts

      The biggest updates coming to Apple’s iMessage and its Messages app in iOS 18 aren’t its AI emoji, Genmoji, or even the ability to send texts via satellite. It’s the ability to finally, finally schedule messages to send at a later date and time, as well as support for RCS, the next-gen messaging standard and replacement for SMS that will make texting with Android folks much less painful. These updates are now available in iOS 18’s public beta, which just opened up this week. Though buried amid a slate of AI announcements and other user interface tweaks at WWDC 2024,…

    • SecurityDigital security padlock with encrypted binary code on abstract circuit board.
      Yowell
      136

      Linx emerges from stealth with $33M to lock down the new security perimeter: Identity

      Identity management is one of the most common fulcrums around which security breaches have pivoted in the last several years. One of the main reasons it has become the gift that keeps on giving to malicious hackers is that it’s a nightmare for organizations to track. A security startup founded in Tel Aviv called Linx has been quietly building technology using AI and analytics to address this, and today, on the back of picking up customers in stealth mode, it’s coming out into the open with $33 million in funding to take on the challenge of identity management more aggressively.…

    • AIBig Data concept picture with ones and zeros going off into infinity.
      Yowell
      125

      This Week in AI: Companies are growing skeptical of AI’s ROI

      Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. This week in AI, Gartner released a report suggesting that around a third of generative AI projects in the enterprise will be abandoned after the proof-of-concept phase by year-end 2025. The reasons are many — poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, escalating infrastructure costs and so on. But one of the biggest barriers to generative AI adoption is the unclear business value, per the report. Embracing generative AI organization-wide comes with significant costs, ranging from $5 million to a whopping $20 million, estimates Gartner. A simple coding assistant has an upfront cost…

    • Security
      Yowell
      40

      CIA AI director Lakshmi Raman claims the agency is taking a ‘thoughtful approach’ to AI

      As a part of TechCrunch’s ongoing Women in AI series, which seeks to give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch interviewed Lakshmi Raman, the director of AI at the CIA. We talked about her path to director as well as the CIA’s use of AI, and the balance that needs to be struck between embracing new tech while deploying it responsibly. Raman has been in intelligence for a long time. She joined the CIA in 2002 as a software developer after earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and…

    • AI
      Yowell
      82

      Neura shows off humanoid robot 4NE-1

      German robotics manufacturer Neura this week released video of a humanoid robot, called 4NE-1, performing a variety of activities, like ironing and moving boxes. The promotional video arrives as Nvidia is showcasing a slew of new tools for humanoids at the Siggraph conference in Colorado. Neura is one of a baker’s dozen of firms that were given early access to Nvidia’s humanoid development and deployment tools. The list also includes 1X, Boston Dynamics, ByteDance Research, Field AI, Figure, Fourier, Galbot, LimX Dynamics, Mentee, RobotEra and Skild AI. Some, including 1X, Figure and Boston Dynamics, have been among the most prominent…

    • SecurityWiz, Alphabet, venture exits, startups
      Yowell
      82

      Unpacking how Alphabet’s rumored Wiz acquisition could affect VC

      Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. TechCrunch’s sources heard similar and added that deal discussions could last into next week. If this deal does end up getting done, it would be Alphabet’s largest acquisition yet. It would also be a massive exit for a startup at a time when exits, M&A specifically, aren’t rebounding as much as many had predicted heading into 2024. If the deal does get completed, it could affect venture and startups in multiple ways, some more obvious…

    Back to top button