Technology news

Twitter removed a tweet from Rudy Giuliani on Friday that contained several pieces of misinformation related to coronavirus.
The tweet, which quoted another tweet from right-wing personality Charlie Kirk, falsely claimed that the drug hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat lupus, arthritis, and malaria, has "a 100% effective rate treating COVID-19." This is not true: Despite Donald Trump's enthusiasm for the drug, there is still only anecdotal evidence that it can effectively treat coronavir

As of this week, Charli D'Amelio has the TikTok account with the most followers. So she's the one you want teaching you TikTok dances.
According to a YouTube video uploaded on Friday, Charli gave Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp a dance lesson before they both started social distancing earlier this month. (Responsible!)
In the clip, the two run through a few TikTok dances (including "Supalonely"), and while Noah is probably not headed to the Hype House anytime soon, he gives them all his best e

TechCrunch is out hunting for bright spots in the startup world as we all come to grips with the pandemic — particularly where checks are actually being written despite everything.
D2C is back to the future
First up this week, we surveyed top direct-to-consumer investors, and they seemed pretty optimistic despite the struggles of some sector leaders. Here’s Lightspeed Venture Partners Nicole Quinn, for example, on investor activity versus current opportunity:
I would argue it is too

Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Rent the Runway Rent the Runway, a popular clothing rental brand, laid off its entire retail staff via Zoom yesterday. The company, which primarily operates online, has brick and mortar locations in California, New York, Chicago, and Washington DC. All stores are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the company is not sure when or if they will be able to reopen.
During a Zoom meeting with retail staff, a company executive said the busine

Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York will postpone its April 28th presidential primary election until June 23rd, as the Empire State deals with the largest coronavirus outbreak in the US, the New York Times reports.“I don’t think it’s wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location to vote, a lot of people touching one doorknob, a lot of people touching one pen,” Cuomo said during a news conference Saturday. New York’s pr

Comet Atlas is racing toward the inner solar system, and it could become the brightest comet seen in the night sky in over two decades. The comet, discovered by an observatory designed to protect Earth from asteroids, may even be visible during the day just two months from now. Also known as C/2019 Y4, this comet was discovered by astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii in December 2019. At the time, the comet was exceedingly dim — but the comet

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all.
The app industry saw a record 204 billion downloads and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019, according to App Annie’s “State of Mobile” annual report. People are now spending 3 hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, rivaling TV. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big busines

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Video conferencing app Zoom updated its iOS app Friday to remove code that sent user data to Facebook, Motherboard reports. The update follows Motherboard’s analysis of the app, which showed it was sending data to Facebook such as a user’s time zone and city, when a user opened the app, and details about the user’s device, even if the user didn’t have a Facebook account. The extent of the data

Abbott’s ID NOW system.| Abbott A new COVID-19 test from the medical device company Abbott can return positive results infive minutes — and it can be run in a doctor’s office. The test was approved for emergency use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration last night.
The test uses Abbott’s small, portable ID NOW platform, and doesn’t have to be sent to a central lab for analysis. Instead, it can be done directly in an emergency room or urgent care

Netflix’s“Tiger King” is a docuseries focusing on the man who calls himself Joe Exotic — owner of a private park full of tigers and other big cats. We learn in the opening minutes of the first episode that he’s been accused of hiring a contract killer to murder an animal rights activist.
A documentary that was solely about Joe would be pretty memorable on its own, but he’s surrounded by characters who are nearly as colorful, including the operators of several

A bit of stress is a normal part of our daily lives, which can even be good for us. Overcoming stressful events can make us more resilient. But when the stress is severe or chronic – for example caused by the breakdown of a marriage or partnership, death in the family or bullying – it needs to be dealt with immediately. That’s because repeated stress can have a huge impact on our brain, putting us at risk of a number of physical and psychological problems. Repeated stress is a

Image: OneWeb Space exploration firm OneWeb has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, GeekWire reports, leaving uncertainty about the 74 satellites it has in orbit and its plans to provide high-speed internet from space.
In a news release, OneWeb said it plans to use the bankruptcy proceedings to pursue a sale of the company. “While the company was close to obtaining financing, the process did not progress because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread o

The relationship between the United Kingdom and Australia is not usually a flashpoint in international relations. After all, the two allies share a common language, ancestry, and monarch. So what caused a dustup recently that saw a senior Australian parliamentarian rebuke the British foreign secretary, and for a group of Australian MPs to then cancel a trip to London in protest?
The answer is fears over Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant at the center of the 5G next-generation wireless debate.&nb

One of the best ways to improve as a designer is to study the greats. There’s no doubt that Candy Crush is one of the best selling mobile games of all time, but how does its UX hold up? Consistency Consistency is one of the best ways to get your users comfortable with your product. If they know what to expect from screen to screen it will cut down on confusion. Candy Crush is consistent in its style. Sticking with a bright, playful tone that can be seen across the fonts, sound effects, an

There’s a new COVID-19 test from healthcare technology maker Abbott that looks to be the fastest yet in terms of producing results, and that can do so on the spot right at point-of-care, without requiring a round trip to a lab. This test for the novel coronavirus causing the current global pandemic has received emergency clearance for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,and will begin production next week, with output of 50,000 per day possible starting next week.
The new Abb

StockX, the high-flying resale marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of sneakers, streetwear, handbags and other collectible items, has seen its fortune rise along with the $6 billion global sneaker resale market, which is part of the broader $100 billion sneaker category. In fact, the company, which was assigned a billion-dollar-plus valuation last year, says $1 billion worth of merchandise was sold through its platform last year.
The big question is whether StockX can maintain its momen

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images Google has banned the Infowars Android app from the Google Play store, the company confirmed to Wired on Friday. Google also confirmed the app’s removal to The Verge, and we couldn’t find the Infowars app in a search on the Play Store this evening.The app was apparently removed because of a video posted by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that, according to Wired, “disputed the need for social distancing, shelter in place, and qu

According to a report by CNBC, Slack is working on a method of letting you call people using Microsoft Teams. You know, its biggest competitor. “We’re working on Teams integrations for calling features,” said Slack CEO Stuart Butterfield during a call with RBC analyst Alex Zurkin on Thursday, according to CNBC. There’s no word on when such a feature would arrive, but Slack already integrates plenty of Microsoft services such as Outlook and OneDrive. Things have come a lo

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Lyft is now referring drivers on its platform to jobs at Amazon in a partnership between the two companies designed to alleviate financial hardships from a massive drop in ride-hailing usage, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Lyft notified drivers of the program on Friday via email and said it’s encouraging them to apply to roles in Amazon warehouses and as part of the e-commerce company’s grocery and package deliveries platforms. Unlike U

YouTube creators are performing everyday tasks or taking on crafts and activities that people can do at home because everyone is stuck indoors right now. The genre has boomed as a result of social distancing.
Daily views of videos with “#withme” in the title have increased by 600 percent since March 15th compared to the rest of the year, according to YouTube. Uploads of videos fromcreators with “at home” in the title have also increased by more than 590 percent. Of those

Image: Postmates New York’s Court of Appeals has reinstated a 2015 decision determining that couriers for on-demand delivery app Postmates should be classified as employees, making them eligible for unemployment insurance at a time when the US is seeing record job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.The 2015 decision by the state’s Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board originally found that a terminated Postmates courier, Luis Vega, should be classified as an employee and therefor