Technology news

What do early-stage startups Forethought, Pi and Recordgram have in common with successful tech companies like Dropbox, Mint and TripIt? They all competed in Startup Battlefield, our epic pitch competition.
If you’re ready to step up, go big and launch your startup to the world, you need to get moving. We stop accepting applications in just two days — on June 25th at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Apply to compete in the Startup Battlefield right now.
When we say, “go big” we mean

iRobot is best known for its robots used in the home, and now it’s looking to enter the classroom with a new acquisition. The company has announced that it has acquired Root Robotics, which sells a robot and platform that helps children learn how to code.Root Robotics originated as a research project at Harvard University a couple of years ago, and its Robot already looks considerably like a Roomba — it’s a small, circular device that uses two wheels to drive around on a flat s

Music software and hardware company Slate Digital has announced a new subscription service called the All Access Pass. The subscription unlocks over 60 plug-ins, online production lessons through the company’s new learning center Slate Academy, and more.
Slate Digital is known for its plug-ins that producers, mixers, and engineers use when making music, which includes everything from virtual drum kits to tube amp emulators. It also makes some hardware, including microphones and digital mix

In May, HBO scored an unexpected hit with Chernobyl, a five-part miniseries about how the world’s worst nuclear disaster unfolded. Like any dramatization of a real-world incident, it takes some liberties to make the story fit into television’s dramatic structure. That’s where the show’s companion podcast comes in: it features Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me’s Peter Sagal as he interviews series creator Craig Mazin about the production of the show, why they had to make

In the past few years, the conversation about cryptocurrency has taken on the tenor of a religious debate, with people either identifying as evangelists or skeptics, maximalists or minimalists. Tipping one side of the scale are the maximalists — people such as venture capitalist and blockchain industry influencer Tim Draper — who believe Bitcoin’s global impact will be more significant than technological developments in the Iron Age, the Renaissance, or the Industrial Revoluti

It can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend.
A level of Perchang in motion looks like a Rube Goldberg machine. You might see little soccer balls flying around the screen being blown by giant turbines, or maybe they’re hit with paddles out of a pinball machine. Playing Perchang puts you in control of that Rube Goldberg ma

There is so much to write about Libra, and so much which has already been written misses the mark, mostly, I think, because most pundits haven’t spent much time in the developing world, which is very clearly the target market here. Just look at its launch video:I’ve seen apocalyptic reactions warning of Libra ushering in a new dystopia: the alleged logic appears to be 1) Libra will immediately conquer the world 2) Libra comes from Facebook 3) Facebook is evil 4) it’s the end of

If you use a desktop computer, you know all about the joys of a full-sized keyboard. And if you’re using a laptop, you’re probably itching to get a keyboard that’s truly comfortable. Look no further, Logitech‘s funky K350 wireless keyboard is selling for just $32.38, down from $60. The keyboard features a contoured design in order to accommodate the varying length of your fingers. It also has a cushioned palm rest, so you don’t strain yourself while working or slay

As society becomes increasingly data driven, the importance of ensuring this data’s security and fidelity grows exponentially. While prevention is still the best medicine though, tracking down those who have already entered your system is also vital. This has led to the growth of digital forensics – a field of cybersecurity focused on tracking down those who have hijacked the internet for their own nefarious ends. Television shows such as CSI and NCIS have long presented a stylized

Hello, weekend readers. This is Week-in-Review where I give a heavy amount of analysis and/or rambling thoughts on one story while scouring the rest of the hundreds of stories that emerged on TechCrunch this week to surface my favorites for your reading pleasure.
Last week, I talked about how the top gaming industry franchises were proving immortal and how that could change. I mainly asked questions and I got some great answers in my email. Keep the feedback coming.
An interesting corollary to t

Four years ago, in a move designed to explore the viability of new offline sales models, Alibaba ran a little experiment. Two of its financial service offerings, Alipay digital wallet and its onboard credit scoring platform Sesame Credit, cooperated in the launch of two unmanned supermarkets. The stores, one in Beijing and one in Hangzhou, took an exploratory dip into the waters of honor-system retail. But these stores were more than a test of the model’s economic viability – they w

TL;DR: An all-inclusive two-year Private Internet Access plan is available for just £2.77 a month, saving you over £120.There are three key pillars of protection when it comes to a VPN, and if your service of choice doesn't tick off all three, you need to look elsewhere.
A VPN should provide online security, identity protection, and complete anonymity. Nowadays, most VPNs actually provide more than this, but these are the essentials. If you aren't getting this from your VPN service,

Yahoo News is reporting that a “retaliatory digital strike against an Iranian spy group” was carried out this past Thursday. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Associated Press all confirmed the report with their own sources, including the further detail that the cyber attack was approved by President Donald Trump. It was the same day that Trump called off airstrikes against Iranian targets.
The target of the attacks was an “intelligence group” that either h

This week, a young, New York-based startup called Alma raised $8 million in funding to expand its “co-practicing community of therapists, coaches, and wellness professionals,” which it first launched from a space on Madison Avenue last fall.
As CNN was first to report, the company is charging psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers and acupuncturists $165 per month to become Alma members, which comes with services like billing and scheduling and even a matchmaking servi

To prepare for the worst, the Tobe Zoo in Japan put a staff member in a lion suit.
In the event of an earthquake or some other incident that leads to lions escaping their enclosure, the zoo is prepared to handle the situation, according to a translated article from the local news agency Mainichi News Group. Using nets and an air gun (it'd be a tranquilizer gun in a real escape), the zoo held a mock lion escape Saturday with a person in a lion costume running around trying to get out. It caused q