Thursday, May 2, 2019

Facebook shows off an aspirational redesign

THE DAILY CRUNCH
THURSDAY, MAY 2 2019 By Anthony Ha

Facebook unveils a big redesign, Uber allows you to buy transit tickets in-app and Spotify launches voice-enabled ads. Here's your Daily Crunch for May 2, 2019.

1. Facebook pivots to what it wishes it was

Facebook is rolling out what could be called an aspirational redesign known as FB5. Rather than polishing what Facebook was, it's designed to spotlight what the company wants to be.

"This is the biggest change we've made to the Facebook app and site in five years," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company's F8 developer conference.

2. Uber now lets you buy transit tickets in Denver

Uber, which is days away from going public, has added in-app ticketing to its transit offering in Denver. This comes a few months after Uber first launched transit integration in the city.

3. Spotify launches voice-enabled ads on mobile devices in a limited US test

The ads will encourage the listener to speak a verbal command in order to take action on the ad's content. Initially, the audio ads will direct listeners to a branded Spotify playlist or a podcast.

4. A 30-mph e-bike to compete with cars in cities? Investors just bet $20 million on it

Bond Mobility is a three-year-old startup that says its "high-performance" dockless electric bikes will leave e-scooters in the dust.

5. Google now lets you auto-delete your app activity, location and web history

Google says you can now auto-delete your location history and web and app activity by setting a time limit for how long Google can save this data.

6. Acast launches Acast Access to make paywalled podcasts available on any player

With Acast Access, publishers should be able to create versions of their podcasts that are only available to subscribers, but are still accessible from any app.

7. Nine lessons on how Niantic reached a $4B valuation

Greg Kumparak has been taking readers on a deep dive into the Niantic story, and now he's highlighting the key themes he found in his reporting. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Friday, April 26, 2019

Facebook faces new privacy investigations

THE DAILY CRUNCH
FRIDAY, APRIL 26 2019 By Anthony Ha

Facebook faces a flurry of privacy investigations, Sinemia shuts down in the U.S. and Slack is going public. Here's your Daily Crunch for April 26, 2019.

1. Facebook hit with three privacy investigations in a single day

First came a probe by the Irish data protection authority looking into the breach of "hundreds of millions" of Facebook and Instagram user passwords that were stored in plaintext on its servers. Then, Canadian authorities confirmed that the beleaguered social networking giant broke its strict privacy laws.

Lastly, and slightly closer to home, Facebook was hit by its third investigation — this time by New York attorney general Letitia James.

2. Movie subscription service Sinemia is ending US operations

Over the past few months, Sinemia has gone from promising MoviePass competitor to the source of frustration for moviegoers across the country.

3. Slack files to go public, reports $138.9M in losses on revenue of $400.6M

The company attributes these losses to its decision "to invest in growing our business to capitalize on our market opportunity," and notes that they're shrinking as a percentage of revenue.

4. Walmart unveils an AI-powered store of the future, now open to the public

Walmart unveiled a new test grounds for emerging technologies, including AI-enabled cameras and interactive displays. This "store of the future" operates out of a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Levittown, New York.

5. Grocery delivery startup Honestbee is running out of money and trying to sell

The company has held early conversations with a number of suitors in Asia, including ride-hailing giants Grab and Go-Jek, over the potential acquisition of part, or all, of its business.

6. Amazon is prepping a high-fidelity TIDAL competitor

That's according to Music Business Worldwide, which also accurately reported the recent launch of a free, ad-supported Amazon Music service for Echo device owners.

7. Zwift CEO Eric Min on fitness-gaming and bringing esports into the Olympics

The five-year-old startup has raised more than $170 million as a pioneer of fitness-gaming ― physical sport carried out in a virtual world. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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