GadgetFreak

Spotify’s success with its year-end review known as Wrapped , designed for social sharing, may be pushing the company toward building more social experiences directly into its mobile app. The company for many months has been testing different iterations of a “friends activity” tab on its mobile app, and investors have now taken notice. During the streamer’s Q4 earnings call earlier today, the company was asked to clarify some details about its social plans. Though Spotify CEO Daniel Ek declined to comment on the specific feature the investor asked about, he didn’t shoot down the idea of Spotify becoming a more social platform. Instead, he replied that social could become “a meaningful driver of creating an even stickier and more engaging experience” for the company. The exec was answering an investor question about Spotify’s recent tests of a “Friends tab” which appears in the app’s bottom navigation bar for some subset of Spotify’s users. Though only an experiment at present, the te

Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority Over two years have passed since the first Apple silicon-powered Macs hit the market. You’ll find the latest chip, dubbed M2, in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air as well as the Mac Mini. As we’ve come to expect by now, it delivers great performance and battery life without the thermal issues we’ve seen from Intel-based Macs in the past. But how does the latest M2 stack up vs the M1, Apple’s previous-gen Mac chip? Let’s break it down. Apple M1 vs M2: Specs   Apple M1 Apple M2 CPU Cores 8 cores 8 cores GPU Cores 8 Default 8, configurable with 10 Transistor count 16 billion 20 billion RAM capacity Up to 16GB Up to 24GB Memory bandwidth 68.25GB/s 100GB/s Apple M1 vs M2: CPU performance from Android Authority https://ift.tt/HNhC0ua via IFTTT

Lauren Feiner / CNBC : A look at US cases that may define the bounds of free speech online, including Gonzalez v. Google, Twitter v. Taamneh, and a fight over CA's kid safety law   —  - The U.S. justice system, including the Supreme Court, will consider cases that will help determine the bounds of free expression on the internet. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/9rzDvKW via IFTTT

Meta is starting to test closed spaces called “members-only worlds” in Horizon Worlds, its social VR experience. The company has begun a limited alpha test to give creators the ability to grow and moderate their own communities. Meta has selected a small group of creators to build and obtain feedback about members-only worlds. In a blog post , Meta explained that creators can hand-select members and offer them exclusive experiences. During the alpha test, each members-only world can have up to 150 world members and 25 concurrent visitors at any given time. With members-only worlds, creators can launch a dedicated space to do things like host a book club, gather a gaming group, organize a support group or just hang out with friends and family without having to worry about uninvited guests. Image Credits: Meta “Every community develops its own norms, etiquette, and social rules over time as it fosters a unique culture,” Meta explained in its blog post. “To enable that, we’ll provid

Robert Iafolla / Bloomberg : A National Labor Relations Board judge rules Amazon violated US federal labor laws as part of its efforts to resist unionization at two New York City facilities   —  Amazon.com Inc. violated federal labor law as part of its efforts to resist unionization at two facilities in New York City, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/8MqVmrY via IFTTT

Female-focused telehealth startup, Teal Health , is popping up today to announce an $8.8 million seed round with a roster of heavy hitting investors on board — including (Serena Williams’) Serena Ventures, ( Chelsea Clinton’s) Metrodora Ventures, and (Laurene Powell Jobs’) Emerson Collective. The February 2020-founded San Francisco-based startup’s first product will be a service that supports women to collect their own sample for cervical cancer screening in the comfort of their own home. It wants to tackle the problem of women not getting screened — either because the traditional route of going to a doctor’s surgery for a pap smear (using a speculum ) is uncomfortable or inconvenient or both. Teal has developed a novel device for women to self collect a sample to mail off for lab analysis. Its websites refers to this device as a “collection wand” — and we gather there’s a sponge involved — but details of what exactly it looks like and how it will function remain under wraps as the

Welcome back to  Equity , the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. I’m back, I’m drinking an iced Americano maybe because I miss Alex, maybe because I just feel different today, and I’m ready to start our week together. Here’s what I got into on today’s Equity Monday: Big tech: Marqeta’s nine-figure acquisition of a two-year-old fintech , and which bucket of deals I think it falls into – complete with a comparison of this deal and a hypothetical McDonald’s acquisition. Plus, Stripe’s whole 12-month timeline thing and my edit for your incoming thought pieces.  Big idea: My latest Startups Weekly column is all about the latecomer advantage . I talk about the idea, and its nuance, in the context of building startup rivals. Big innovation: We end with a look at Atomos, which landed $16 million to tug vehicles through space , and a bright spot of an analysis, coming from the TC+ world, on Black Web3 founders.  As always

Joseph Cox / VICE : ElevenLabs found an uptick in “voice cloning misuse cases” during its recent beta; Motherboard finds deepfake voices of Emma Watson, Joe Rogan, others on 4chan   —  4chan members used ElevenLabs to make deepfake voices of Emma Watson, Joe Rogan, and others saying racist, transphobic, and violent things. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Mkm6iH8 via IFTTT

I have wanted a robot pet at least since Sony introduced the original Aibo in 1999 – probably earlier, but Aibo made it seem tangible. Since the, there’s been a steady stream of attempts at making robot pets a reality that matches what we often see in futuristic science fiction – including a recent Aibo reboot, Pleo the animatronic pet dinosaur, Furby, Jibo, Anki’s Cosmo and many more. Loona the Petbot threw its hat into the ring via Kickstarter late last year, and based on some very impressive demo videos, this looked like the actual achievement of a Pixar character come to life. Loona is actually shipping out to some of its earliest backers, with April set as the timeframe for current orders made via Indiegogo, and KEYI, the company behind it, was demoing the adorable little bot at CES earlier this month. The company also sent a Loona my way at the time, and I’ve been testing/developing a deep emotional bond with this bundle of electronics and ABS plastic ever since. The basics A

After eight months, Netflix’s Kids Mystery Box feature has officially rolled out to Android devices today. Android users worldwide can now discover new children’s shows and TV characters by clicking on the “Mystery Box” in the “Favorites Row” at the top of the Netflix homepage. The company today updated its previous announcement post from May, stating, “This feature is now available on Android devices for all global members.” The Mystery Box feature works similarly to a shuffle button and gives kids and their caregivers the ability to find new content in a more playful way. The content in the mystery box changes daily, ranging from shows and characters like Ada Twist, Iggy and Rosie from “Ada Twist, Scientist” to dinosaurs from “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.” Netflix has a decent slate of kids’ shows and films, including popular titles like “Cocomelon,” “Gabby’s Dollhouse” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,” which was just nominated for the 2023 Oscars . The streaming servic

Bloomberg : Sources: Twitter made its first interest payment under Elon Musk to a group of seven banks; the payment was due around January 27 and estimated to be ~$300M   —  Twitter Inc. made its first interest payment under Elon Musk, according to people with knowledge of the matter … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3ojsdNh via IFTTT

Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority Oppo may deliver three versions of the Find X6 next month. The three versions could consist of two Pro models and a base model. One of the Pro models will get a one-inch camera sensor. The news may be swirling around the Galaxy S23 right now, but Samsung won’t be the only manufacturer making headlines this week. A recent leak may have revealed details on Oppo’s next flagship phones. It appears that sometime next month, three versions of the Oppo Find X6 will go official, according to a leak found on Weibo . User fenibook, posted screenshots of three different models that include two Pro versions and a vanilla version. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/5rTV8om via IFTTT

Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority Cricket Wireless is the no-contract subsidiary of AT&T , offering customers a way to get affordable smartphones with cheap prepaid plans. While many of Cricket’s smartphones are already priced pretty reasonably, some special Cricket deals stand out right now. We’ve compiled the best Cricket deals in this post, but please note that various terms and conditions apply. Cricket mainly offers savings on phones when you join the carrier, although they have occasional price drops on plans. To learn more about what Cricket offers in terms of plans, check out our Cricket Wireless buyer’s guide . from Android Authority https://ift.tt/khHUrz5 via IFTTT

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced today that the social network is launching its text update Notes feature across Europe and Japan. Notes are short posts of up to 60 characters that include just text and emojis, and appear above your profile photo. Prior to this expansion, Notes was already accessible everywhere Instagram is available beyond Europe and Japan since the feature’s initial roll out in December . Users can post Notes by navigating to the top of their inbox, then selecting the followers they follow back or others from their existing “Close Friends” list. They can then type out the note itself, after which it will appear at the top of friends’ inboxes for 24 hours. If a user responds to a Note, the reply will arrive as a DM. Notes Launch Worldwide Notes are now available in Europe and Japan. Check it out and let me know what you think! pic.twitter.com/MSSjQZVIuZ — Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 30, 2023 In a video posted to his social accounts, Mosseri ex

Founded by two insurance industry veterans, Eazy Digital wants to give small insurance companies in Southeast Asia the same advantage as their larger competitors. Its SaaS platform lets insurers digitize many parts of their operations, enabling them to scale up more efficiently. The Bangkok-based startup announced today it has raised $850,000 in an oversubscribed seed round led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Seedstars International Ventures, Wing Vasiksiri and Sasin Bangkok Venture Club. Eazy Digital was founded last year by Haprem Doowa and Maethavee Sukul. Doowa was previously co-founder and CEO of Frank Insurance, an online digital broker in Thailand that was acquired by Bolttech in 2021. Sukul was head of operations at Frank, Bolttech Insurance Broker and digital health insurance broker Benix. Eazy Digital co-founder Haprem Doowa Doowa told TechCrunch that while working together at Frank, he and Sukul “both realized that the insurance industry was plagued wi

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg : Source: Baidu is planning to launch an AI chatbot similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT in March 2023, initially embedded into its main search services   —  Baidu Inc. is planning to roll out an artificial intelligence chatbot service similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to a person familiar with the matter … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/neCADob via IFTTT

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch : Analysis: US Black Web3 founders raised $60M in 2022, up from $16M in 2021; total money raised by US Web3 startups in 2022 fell to $11.9B from $16.5B in 2021   —  Startups in the space are more bullish than ever  —  Much hope remains after the crypto winter almost froze the sector … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/nbhfOId via IFTTT

TechCrunch : Court records since 2011 show how police in some US states used digital data, like text messages, search history, and emails, in abortion-related prosecutions   —  In late April, police in Nebraska received a tip saying 17-year-old Celeste Burgess had given birth to a stillborn baby and buried the body. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/RJZfcrp via IFTTT

Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority When the Nothing Phone 1 landed in the middle of 2022, US buyers were disappointed to hear that it would not come to the United States. A lack of carrier partnerships and a lack of proven marketability were likely the primary reasons behind this move. However, just because the phone isn’t sold here doesn’t mean you can’t use the Nothing Phone 1 in the US. You just can’t buy one and have it shipped to a US address. This slightly changed at the beginning of 2023. Nothing opened up a new paid beta program for US buyers. For $299, you get a Nothing Phone 1 and early access to a beta version of Nothing OS 1.5, based on Android 13 . This program ends on June 30, 2023, but beta testers can keep the phone permanently. Nothing makes it clear that certain things won’t work properly, but the core experience should be OK. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/4MJVLrz via IFTTT

Options are somewhat limited if you’re after flagship hardware in a compact form factor. Although Apple and Samsung offer smaller entry-level models for those who want a phone that will more comfortably fit in their pocket, they’re perhaps not the most unique compact phones . Enter 2022’s Asus Zenfone 9, a little phone with a 5.9-inch display that tries its best not to scrimp on flagship specifications. Despite a few hardware omissions, we quite liked most of what we found during our Zenfone 9 review testing. Its design, performance, and additional software gestures earned the handset a solid four out of five. But what’s the phone like to use six months after it was first revealed and over four months after it hit the market? Is it still worth buying? Let’s find out. from Android Authority https://ift.tt/N8ltmux via IFTTT

David Ingram / NBC News : San Francisco asked California regulators to halt or scale back the expansion of Cruise and Waymo, after repeated incidents with stopped and idle robotaxis   —  SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is trying to slow the expansion of robotaxis after repeated incidents in which cars without drivers stopped … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/6bYrXRx via IFTTT

Financial Times : Meme-stock mania companies, including GameStop and AMC Entertainment, have raised $4.7B since the hype began in January 2021, but failed to boost performance   —  Cash bonanza enabled by retail investors fails to boost beneficiaries' performance  —  Companies at the centre of the meme-stock mania … from Techmeme http://www.techmeme.com/230128/p10#a230128p10 via IFTTT

Julia Angwin / The Markup : Q&A with Princeton CS professor Arvind Narayanan on why he calls ChatGPT a “bullshit generator”, his worries over its boom, developing his AI taxonomy, and more   —  Hello, friends,  —  If you have been reading all the hype about the latest artificial intelligence chatbot … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/8mcbYpR via IFTTT

Hey, party people, it’s Kyle, continuing to step in for Greg to write Week in Review as he spends time with his newborn. Dunno about y’all, but it’s been a week . I’m dead tired and thankful it’s over. But because the news never sleeps, I’m rallying with the help of a fourth cup of coffee. Wish me luck. I’ve talked your ears off about it at this point, but I’m under contractual obligation (not really, but still) to mention TechCrunch’s upcoming Early Stage 2023 event in Boston on April 20. The one-day summit on startups will include advice and takeaways from top experts, plus opportunities to meet fellow founders and share your own entrepreneurial experiences. Don’t miss it. On the subject of travel, it’s not too early to start thinking about this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which will take place in late September in San Francisco. Tickets aren’t available just yet, but they will be in the near-ish future. Sign up here for updates. With the call to actions out of the way (phe