Monthly Archives: September 2022

Sky.Garden, Kenya’s Amazon-style marketplace, faces closure after funding fell through

The future of Kenya-based Sky.Garden — an Amazon-style marketplace for third-party merchants to sell electronics, home goods and more — is in the balance after the startup failed to close a round of financing, according to a memo the startup sent out to employees. An insider told TechCrunch that the startup’s co-founder and CEO, Martin Majlund, sent…

Roku will now work with Nielsen to track cross-media viewership

Today, Nielsen announced that Roku plans to enable four-screen measurement across desktop, mobile, connected TV, and traditional TV. This is the first time Roku will use the digital methodology, Nielsen One, the data measurement firm’s cross-media measurement tool, which launches in December. In the age of streaming, it’s becoming more challenging for companies to measure…

Amazon’s iRobot deal faces renewed scrutiny from Dems

A new letter penned by Senate and House Democrats accuses Amazon of “anticompetitive” practices in its bid to purchase Roomba-maker, iRobot, for $1.7 billion. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge to convince the Federal Trade Commission to reject the deal, according to a report from Axios. “Rather than compete in a fair marketplace…

Twitter is rolling out podcasts to Blue subscribers on Android

Twitter is rolling out its redesigned Spaces tab, which includes podcasts, to Twitter Blue subscribers on Android. The Android launch comes a few weeks after Blue subscribers on iOS got access to podcasts and the redesigned Spaces tab. When Twitter first announced that it was introducing podcasts to its platform, the social network said they would be…

Argo AI’s robotaxis officially available via Lyft in Austin

Ride-hailing giant Lyft and autonomous vehicle technology company Argo AI are now officially offering public robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. This is the second city in which Lyft and Argo are operating a commercial robotaxi service after Miami, which launched in December. Riders in Austin will have the option of choosing a driverless commute directly…

GM partners, invests in OneD Battery Sciences in quest for cheap, energy-dense EV batteries

General Motors and OneD Battery Sciences are teaming up on a joint research venture into building more efficient batteries for electric vehicles. The partnership will focus on using OneD’s silicon nanotechnology in GM’s Ultium battery cells to extend range, improve performance and cut costs. The automaker said Thursday that OneD’s Sinanode platform, which uses silicon…

Amazon quietly picked up a cashierless store startup to stock its Amazon Go play in India

Amazon’s steady march to bring Amazon Go-powered instant checkout stores across the U.S. and U.K. has been well-documented. Far less known is that it has also been making some moves to expand the technology in another very key market for the business: India. TechCrunch has learned that Amazon quietly picked up the founders of a…

‘Spoiler Alert’s trailer is here and you’re going to need all the tissues

Prepare yourself for all the tears, because Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies is now a film.  Directed by Michael Showalter, Spoiler Alert stars Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Ben Aldridge (Fleabag) as Michael and his real-life partner, Kit. The two are unlikely lovers who find themselves dealing with unexpected…