GadgetFreak

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here . Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for September 30, 2021. It’s the last day of the third quarter! Yes, that means earnings season is coming, along with a whole bunch of venture capital data — more on that in a moment — but more importantly, how the heck is it Q4? Already? From the TechCrunch side of things, cheap tickets to our Sessions: SaaS event are going away in short order . So, snap ‘em up if you are coming. I’m hosting and even doing a panel or two. See you there! – Alex 48 hours left to save $100 on passes to TC Sessions: SaaS 2021 The TechCrunch Top 3 Facebook spins own research: The only way to get Facebook to release data and research concerning its own platform that hasn’t been filtered through its PR leviathan is to have it leak. Then Facebook may release it, but with a huge dose of its own spin. This, of course, is precisely

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Axios : LinkedIn blocks the profiles of several US journalists on its Chinese platform, citing “prohibited content” without specifying what it was   —  LinkedIn blocked the profiles of several U.S. journalists from the company's China-based platform this week, citing “prohibited content.” from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3mdK4dB via IFTTT

NASA has chosen two U.S. companies to develop electric propulsion technologies for aircraft, with the aim of introducing this tech to U.S. aviation fleets by 2035. The two companies, GE Aviation and MagniX, will conduct their work over the next five years. That includes ground and flight test demonstrations, as well as collaborations with other NASA projects focused on electric propulsion, data analysis and flight test instrumentation. The awards, granted under the agency’s Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) program, have a combined value of $253 million. Of that, $179 million was awarded to GE Aviation, with MagniX receiving $74 million. “GE Aviation and MagniX will perform integrated megawatt-class powertrain system ground and flight demonstrations to validate their concepts, and project benefits for future [electrified aircraft propulsion] aircraft configurations,” NASA’s Gaudy Bezos-O’Connor, EPFD project manager explained in a statement. “These demonstrations will

Vlad Novakovski co-founded Lunchclub in 2017 as a way to improve professional networking. In 2020, the company made a large push toward videos (thanks, COVID) and eventually saw enough traction to raise a $24.2 million Series A at a valuation above $100 million. Nicole Quinn from Lightspeed Ventures lead the raise. We’re thrilled to have both on TechCrunch Live to help explain how to raise a Series A financing round. They’re sticking around the show to give feedback on pitch decks presented by selected startups. TechCrunch Live also features the TCL Pitch-off, which gives folks in the audience the chance to raise their hand and pitch their startup to our guests, who will give their live feedback. Nicole Quinn is a leader in venture capital and her portfolio is impressive, with such investments as Cameo, Zola, Goop, Calm, Haus Laboratories and others. Vlad Novakovski co-founded Lunchclub in 2017 with Scott Wu and Hayley Leibson. In 2019 the company raised a $4 million seed round le

While cruising along Interstate 8 in the Lucid Air, it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to spider graphs . Spider graphs offer a quick glimpse of how various factors like power, performance, weight and aerodynamics interact with one another. For the engineer sitting in the passenger seat, spider graphs are top of mind. Balancing the weight of battery packs with power and braking is a delicate science that when tipped too far in any one direction causes total chaos for the consumer. Add in design constraints as well as federal and legal guidelines and the bar to creating a successful brand-new vehicle from scratch seems to be an almost impossible task. The Lucid Air, a luxury electric vehicle that ranges between $77,400 and $169,000 depending on the variant, has some well-honed spider graphs. While the Air hasn’t completely knocked it out of the park on the first go, thanks to a team of automotive veterans, advanced technology and that spider graph sweet spot, the new L

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch : Forta, a security service aimed at smart contracts being spun out by blockchain cybersecurity startup OpenZeppelin, raises $23M led by a16z   —  Blockchain cybersecurity startup OpenZeppelin this morning announced a $23 million investment in Forta, a security service aimed at smart contracts. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3ouyiy6 via IFTTT

If you want to switch to a contract-free prepaid carrier in the US, Boost Mobile is one of the best options around. It has a wide range of premium and affordable smartphones available and provides many deals on devices and plans. The Sprint and T-Mobile merger has resulted in one major change for the best Boost Mobile deals — the MVNO is now part of Dish Network . In other words, Boost is going to be around for a while. We still highly recommend the carrier and feel that now is a great time to sign up, as there are plenty of solid deals to be had this month. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/2F2biRF via IFTTT

William Gallagher / AppleInsider : USB Implementers Forum issues new USB-C certified logos that show if a cable or port supports 60W or 240W, hoping to solve customer confusion   —  The group responsible for the USB-C protocol has issued new certified logos that show if a cable or port supports 60W or 240W, hoping that customers will read the labels. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3A185cK via IFTTT

Samsung’s Galaxy A12 budget smartphone is more than just an iterative update over the Galaxy A11 — with a bigger battery, another camera, and so much more on board. Value hunters will also appreciate that Samsung managed to keep its sub-$200 price tag. How well do these new upgrades fare? Let’s find out in our Samsung Galaxy A12 review. $179 .99 Samsung Galaxy A12 Buy it Now Samsung Galaxy A12 Buy it Now $179 .99 What you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy A12 from Android Authority https://ift.tt/3AZG5rd via IFTTT

The California Department of Motor Vehicles gave General Motors-backed Cruise and Alphabet-owned Waymo the green light to start charging for autonomous services offered to the public. On Thursday, Cruise received a “driverless deployment permit,” which means it can receive compensation for services provided without a safety operator in the front seat. Waymo’s “drivered deployment permit” allows the operator to also charge money while operating an AV, but with a driver in the front seat. While they can both in theory charge now for autonomous delivery services, they are still a step away from being able to charge for robotaxi services. That last hurdle will require a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), but both Waymo and Cruise declined to comment on a potential timeline for launching a commercial ride-hailing service in SF. They won’t be the only ones making a business out of their AVs on the roads in California. In December, 2020, autonomous delivery start

If you are looking for a growth marketing playbook, stop reading now, because you won’t get one from Tuff . The agency’s founder Ellen Jantsch makes it clear: There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to growth. The team at Tuff knows their stuff — and it’s precisely why they are not selling “magic” or any kind of “mysterious secret sauce.” Instead, they are betting on transparency and experimentation, and it seems to be working well: The agency was warmly recommended to TechCrunch multiple times via our growth marketing survey. (You can share your own recommendations here !) For instance, Luke Oehlerking, VP of Product and Strategy at solar company Zenernet , explained that Tuff fitted the bill for its ability to “truly move the needle with measurable results” while acting as “an extension of [Zenernet’s] own team.” This doesn’t necessarily involve offline meetings: Oehlerking and Jantsch are both based in Colorado, but Tuff’s team is fully remote, with global clients. Client work

Over the last several years, a series of startups have emerged to cut through the complexity of launching financial services by offering technology that sits on top of partner banks’ infrastructure and enables developers to spin up bank accounts, payments and card capabilities through APIs. These banking-as-a-service (BaaS) startups promise to offer fintech capabilities to other companies without them having to strike deals with partner banks, integrate with the banking core, or hire the technical or compliance personnel necessary to test or launch a new financial product. As a result, it’s never been faster or easier to launch a fintech app or add a banking component to an existing vertical SaaS business. To get a better understanding of the problem BaaS providers are trying to solve, we spoke with several founders in this space, including Unit CEO Itai Damti, Bond CEO Roy Ng, and Synctera CEO Peter Hazlehurst, among others. Cutting through the complexity of financial services In

Credit: David Imel / Android Authority Update, September 30, 2021 (03:58 PM ET): We’ve updated our Galaxy S21 FE hub with new rumors suggesting the phone could be heavily delayed — or even canceled entirely. Original article: In 2020, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (which stands for “Fan Edition”) surprised us all with how good it was. In fact, it was so good that it ended up walking away with our 2020 Best of Android Editor’s Choice award . With that kind of pedigree behind the phone, it’s no surprise that we are very excited about the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/39mcAnD via IFTTT

The USB Implementers Forum has released new USB-C logos for certified cables and chargers. The new logos should make it clear which USB-C cables support the newer 240W power charging standards. There are also new logos to help identify cables with the USB4 data delivery standards. Buying a new smartphone, tablet, or laptop is complicated enough for many people. However, it becomes even more complicated when you want to buy a new USB-C cable and charger for your device or for transferring data. Today, the USB Implementers Forum, which helps support the various USB standards, has approved packaging and product logos for the newer devices that support the most recent advances. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/3kTSuaI via IFTTT

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch : Senators grilled Facebook exec Antigone Davis at a hearing about Instagram's impact on teens and were frustrated by her reticence to answer questions directly   —  Last night, Facebook published two annotated slide decks in an attempt to contextualize the documents that the Wall Street Journal published … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3imGBrX via IFTTT

On Interstate 45 in Texas, a billboard with “Aurora” emblazoned at the top in giant white letters offers a cryptic message: “A new way to drive is on the horizon.” It’s hard to know just how many of the thousands of drivers on this stretch of road know what that means or what Aurora is; the autonomous vehicle technology company is hardly a household name even as it (along with several competitors) aims to forever change how people and packages get from Point A to Point B. But Aurora, which plans to join the public markets via a merger with a blank-check company, placed the spotlight on its products this week, inviting reporters, analysts, and partners like PACCAR, Toyota and Volvo, as well as existing and potential new investors to ride in its autonomous trucks and get a closer view of its tech. It also shared an update on its operations, including that it is beginning to map and test a new route in Texas. The so-called “Aurora Illuminated” event was held at an auspicious time for t

The NFT space has had quite the year, and while it can be difficult to separate the billions of dollars in crypto speculation from the potential infrastructure shifts, plenty of mainstream tech companies are dipping their toes into the space and signaling future interest. This time it’s TikTok’s turn. The fast-growing social media platform which just crossed 1 billion monthly users worldwide has lined up its own NFT drop, leveraging content from some of its top creators, including Lil Nas X, Grimes, Bella Poarch, Rudy Willingham and Gary Vaynerchuk. The release of one-of-one and limited edition NFTs seems to be focused on generating buzz among the existing NFT community rather than exposing users inside the app to non-fungible tokens. The company is side-stepping blockchain energy concerns by placing their NFTs on a dedicated site powered by Immutable X, a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum which says that NFTs traded using it are “100% carbon neutral.” The drop starts October 6 w

Aislinn Keely / The Block : TikTok launches Top Moments, an NFT collection featuring six “culturally significant TikTok videos” from creators including Lil Nas X   —  TikTok is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) collection that will see its top content creators partner with top NFT creators. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3CXWey4 via IFTTT

Mike Masnick / Techdirt : Facebook Files don't show that the company's execs are evil or incompetent, but highlight their hubris in believing they can still get things back under control   —  Over the last few weeks, the WSJ has run a series of posts generally called “The Facebook Files,” which have exposed a variety … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3kXVDGg via IFTTT

Clubhouse announced today that it is unveiling four new features: Clips, Replay, Universal Search, and spatial audio for Android (which already exists on iOS). All of these features will launch today, except for Replay, which will roll out in October. These additions will help expand Clubhouse’s reach by making content available even after a live conversation has ended, allowing for asynchronous engagement. Clips will allow live listeners in public rooms to snip the most recent 30 seconds of audio and share it anywhere — so, if you’re listening to a speaker who says something particularly wise (or not), you can create a clip, which generates a shareable moment with a link to join the room. These can be shared on other social media platforms. Hosts can decide whether or not they want listeners to be able to make clips in their room — if clips are turned on, users will be able to tap a scissor icon to make one. Clubhouse already acknowledges that there’s a danger in letting people sha

South Korean internet service provider SK Broadband, a subsidiary of South Korean telco company SK Telecom, has filed a counterclaim against Netflix to demand payment for the bandwidth the streaming platform has used for the last three years. This case comes in the wake of the South Korean court siding against Netflix in June in the case. Now SK Broadband is empowered to levy network usage fees on streaming platforms for consuming an excessive amount of bandwidth and causing heavy traffic on its network. “We will review the claim that SK Broadband has filed against us. In the meantime, we continue to seek open dialogue and explore ways of working with SK Broadband in order to ensure a seamless streaming experience for our shared customers,” a Netflix spokesperson told TechCrunch. The U.S. streaming giant lodged an appeal to a higher court against the court decision in July after it lost the first court case that the company filed in 2020. That case alleged that SK Broadband, which

Last night, Facebook published two annotated slide decks in an attempt to contextualize the documents that the Wall Street Journal published this month, which reported evidence that the company is aware of its negative impact on teen mental health. These documents were released in anticipation of today’s Senate hearing on the mental health harms of Facebook and Instagram. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation questioned Facebook Global Head of Security Antigone Davis over two and a half hours, but lawmakers grew frustrated with Davis’ reticence to answer their questions directly, or provide much information that hasn’t been written in Facebook blog posts rebuking the WSJ reports. “I congratulate you on a perfectly curated background,” Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn chided Davis. “It looks beautiful coming across the screen. I wish the messages that you were giving us were equally as attractive.” Davis insisted that research from Facebook and Insta