TechCrunch·5yFacebook changes its corporate branding to Meta – TechCrunch
After 17 years of being called Facebook, the social networking parent company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus has a new name. Facebook’s corporate entity is now Meta. Facebook had been laying the groundwork for this change for months, seemingly in an effort to move its core branding further from the negative headlines surrounding its most popular product.
TechCrunch·5yMicrosoft launches Google Wave – TechCrunch
Microsoft is bringing back Google Wave, the doomed real-time messaging and collaboration platform Google launched in 2009 and prematurely shuttered in 2010. Microsoft Wave Loop is a new app — and concept — that takes the Fluid framework, which provides developers with flexible components to mix and match.
TechCrunch·5yHacker leaks Twitch source code and creator payout data – TechCrunch
Leaker claims to have taken Twitch source code, creator payouts and other data. Twitch confirmed the breach in a tweet on Wednesday. The data contains payouts for each Twitch user, some of which reach into the six-figures. The leak could also represent a security risk, since it now allows practically anyone to search for security vulnerabilities.
TechCrunch·5yMusk: The Tesla Bot is coming – TechCrunch
Tesla is developing a 5’8” Tesla Bot, with a prototype expected sometime next year. It’ll weigh 125 pounds and have a walking gait of 5 miles per hour, and its face will be a screen that displays important information. Musk is imagining this as replacing much of the human drudge work that currently occupies so many people's lives.
TechCrunch·4yWTF is .xyz? – TechCrunch
.xyz is one of the top five top-level domains (TLDs) in the world by traffic, according to the company’s own DNS data. It was created to “provide users around the world competition and choice when it comes to their domain name,” and is “the first truly generic domain extension with no inherent meaning,’ CEO Daniel Negari said.
TechCrunch·5yD-ID launches ‘Speaking Portrait,’ a way to turn photos into custom, photo-realistic videos – TechCrunch
D-ID debuts Speaking Portraits at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021. The app turns still photographs into ultra-realistic video. There's no training required for basic functionality. D-ID's tech powered the sensational MyHeritage app that turned classic family photos into lifelike moving videos.
TechCrunch·5ySpaceX’s Starship prototype flies to 32,000 feet and sticks the landing in third flight test
SpaceX has launched SN10 — the tenth iteration of its current prototype series of Starship. It flew to a height of roughly 10 km, or 32,000 feet, before performing a maneuver to re-orient itself for a friction-assisted landing descent. Unlike the last two Starship prototypes to fly this high, however, the roughly six-minute flight did not end in a fireball.
TechCrunch·5yGlassdoor: Best tech companies to work for in 2021
Glassdoor just released its annual ranking of the best companies to work for in 2021. We broke out the top 10 tech companies from the list of large businesses (1,000+ employees) as well as from the small to medium-sized business list. For the large business list, the rankings are based on employee feedback from companies with more than 1,000 employees.
TechCrunch·5yElon Musk goes live on Clubhouse, but with the room full, fans stream audio on YouTube
Elon Musk made his first-ever in-person live interview last night. He was speaking at a Clubhouse event in Silicon Valley. More than 5,000 people were in the room. He talked about space travel, colonies on Mars, crypto, AI and Covid-19 vaccines.
TechCrunch·5yElon Musk dunks on Facebook and recommends Signal in wake of U.S. Capitol insurrection attempt
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to criticize Facebook's new privacy policy. He also suggested that people instead use Signal, an encrypted messaging client. Musk has a long history of opposing the use of Facebook, including the original #deletefacebook campaign following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.
TechCrunch·5yElon Musk reveals the Tesla Model S Plaid – TechCrunch
Tesla held the long-awaited, and once rescheduled, “delivery event” for its ultra-fast Model S Plaid. The electric vehicle company will begin with 25 deliveries on Friday evening, expanding to several hundred cars per week in the next quarter. The four-door electric sedan goes from 0 to 60 in 1.99 seconds.
TechCrunch·5yXiaomi teases over-the-air wireless charging, but it’s not coming to its devices this year
Xiaomi unveils “Mi Air Charge Technology,” which it says can deliver 5W power to multiple devices “within a radius of several metres” The company said it has self-developed an isolated charging pile that has five phase interference antennas built-in. Xiaomi, which has previously introduced 80W and 120W wireless charging tech, won't be deploying this new system to consumer products this year.