Friday, February 8, 2019

Bezos accuses National Enquirer of blackmail

THE DAILY CRUNCH
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 2019 By Anthony Ha

Jeff Bezos levels serious accusations against the National Enquirer, Apple says app developers must disclose or remove screen recording code and Spotify takes aim at ad blockers. Here's your Daily Crunch for February 8, 2019.

1. Jeff Bezos accuses National Enquirer of blackmailing him — and publishes the details himself

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says he is being blackmailed with nude selfies by AMI, owner of the National Enquirer, over claims the publisher has acted as a political operative. In a Medium post, Bezos described the process by which he has been targeted by AMI.

AMI, meanwhile, says it was engaging in "good faith negotiations."

2. Apple tells app developers to disclose or remove screen recording code

This follows an investigation by TechCrunch that revealed major companies, like Expedia, Hollister and Hotels.com, were using a third-party analytics tool to record every tap and swipe inside the app.

3. Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

In an email to users, the streaming music and podcast platform said its new user guidelines "mak[e] it clear that all types of ad blockers, bots and fraudulent streaming activities are not permitted." Accounts that use ad blockers in Spotify face immediate suspension or termination under the new rules, which go into effect on March 1.

4. T-Mobile plans to offer à la carte media subscriptions, but no TV 'skinny bundle'

The mobile operator's strategy will focus on helping customers pick and choose which paid TV subscriptions they want to access — a move that very much sounds like T-Mobile is going the "Amazon Channels" route with its mobile streaming plans.

5. Woody Allen just sued Amazon for $68 million

Woody Allen filed a $68 million suit with the Southern District of New York over a four-picture deal with Amazon. The suit arrives as Allen's latest film, "A Rainy Day in New York," has been set in limbo, months after completion.

6. Sprint calls AT&T's 5G E label 'false advertising' in new lawsuit

AT&T's adoption of the "5G Evolution" label has already been controversial among industry followers and fellow carriers alike for watering down the meaning of next-gen connectivity — and now Sprint is looking to do something about it.

7. Subscription startup Scroll acquires news aggregator Nuzzel

Tony Haile, who previously led analytics company Chartbeat, is trying to rethink the business model for news at his new startup, Scroll. Now he's adding aggregation and curation to the mix with the acquisition of Nuzzel.

Get more stories at techcrunch.com 

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Thursday, February 7, 2019

Instacart CEO apologizes

THE DAILY CRUNCH
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 2019 By Anthony Ha

Instacart responds to tipping criticism, Match grows its dating empire and a German regulator limits Facebook's data practices.

1. Instacart CEO apologizes for tipping debacle

On the heels of a recently filed class-action lawsuit over wages and tips, as well as drivers and shoppers speaking out about Instacart's alleged practices of subsidizing wages with tips, Instacart is taking steps to ensure tips are counted separately from what Instacart pays shoppers.

"While our intention was to increase the guaranteed payment for small orders, we understand that the inclusion of tips as a part of this guarantee was misguided," said CEO Apoorva Mehta in a blog post. "We apologize for taking this approach."

[caption id="attachment_1387221" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Instacart's Apoorva Metha[/caption]

2. Match Group fully acquires relationship-focused app Hinge

Last year, Match Group acquired a 51 percent stake in the relationship-focused dating app Hinge, in order to diversify its portfolio of dating apps led by Tinder. The company has now confirmed that it fully bought out Hinge in the past quarter.

3. German antitrust office limits Facebook's data-gathering

A lengthy antitrust probe into how Facebook gathers data on users has resulted in Germany's competition watchdog banning the social network giant from combining data on users across its own suite of social platforms without their consent.

4. Twitter Q4 beats on sales of $909M and EPS of $0.33, but MAUs slump to just 321M

Twitter's achilles heel remains user growth.

5. Amazon, Sequoia invest in self-driving car startup Aurora

Aurora, the buzzy startup founded by early pioneers of self-driving car technology who led programs at Google, Tesla, and Uber, has raised more than $530 million in a Series B round led by Sequoia, a round that also includes "significant investment" from Amazon and T. Rowe Price Associates.

6. Why Spotify is betting big on podcasting

In an interview with TechCrunch, Spotify's Chief R&D Officer Gustav Söderström admits that the company wasn't doing a particularly good job serving up podcasting content: "The user experience was really poor."

7. Skype can now blur the background during video calls

The Microsoft-owned service's latest addition is a screen-blurring feature designed to obscure your messy room or any other background details that you'd rather not display to the other party on the line.

Get more stories at techcrunch.com 

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