Author: TechBrunch

Google Search and its Play Store app marketplace are allegedly violated the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) in accordance with preliminary findings released on Wednesday by the EU Commission executive of BLOC's flagship market contestability law, which has been under investigation for several months. DMA applies to a small number of high-tech majors that include the alphabet (Google's parent). Google's business side has been under investigation by the EU since March 2024, shortly after the administration came into effect. A confirmed violation of DMA will likely attract sanctions of up to 10% of global annual revenue, which will lead…

Robots are part of the exciting new frontier of technology, but here is the challenge. The robot relies on arrays of sensors, external signals such as GPS and Wi-Fi, and customized software to navigate the environment. Additionally, robotics often include expensive, off-the-shelf hardware solutions, including built-in software and sensors designed for specific tasks, such as relative motion estimation. These products require complex integration and are limited to specific use cases. As a result, most robots today cannot move in different locations, and only a small percentage of autonomous driving systems use AI for navigation. However, Tera AI founder and CEO…

The Pennsylvania Education Association (PSEA), a labor union representing educators across the state, says hackers have stole sensitive personal information from more than half a million members. PSEA is the largest organization for Pennsylvania educators representing current and former teachers, counselors, healthcare workers and school social workers. In a filing Tuesday with the Maine Attorney General, PSEA said it had experienced a cyberattack in July 2024. Stolen data contains highly sensitive personal information, including member government-issued identification documents, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, medical information, financial information including card numbers, and related pins and expiration dates. PSEA said that the…

The European Union has sent preliminary instructions on how Apple expects iPhone manufacturers to comply with the interoperability clauses of the Floc's Digital Markets Act (DMA). According to the committee, device manufacturers and app developers should have access to nine iOS connectivity features previously restricted to Apple's exclusive use, including peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connectivity, NFC features, and device pairing. As a result, Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches, connected TVs or other non-apple devices should work better on your iPhone. Google can use this opportunity to get Airdrop to work on Android devices. Headphone makers can support SharePlay. This is a feature that only…

AI Startup Hug Face has released a new app for iOS. This is to use only one. We'll explain it from the iPhone camera perspective, using offline, local AI. An app called HuggingSnap embraces Face's internal vision model, Smolvlm2, to analyze what your phone is seeing in real time without sending data to the cloud. When you point to the camera and ask questions or request an explanation, HuggingsNap will identify the object, explain the scene, read the text, and generally try to understand what you are seeing. Image credit: hugging your face The concept is certainly not novel. Many…

Former NSA Deputy Director George Burns is making his first venture capitalist investment for his new job at VC Incubation Studio Red Cell Partner. This is a $3 million seed deal for an open source cybersecurity startup called Hunted Labs. Burns began his entire 35-year career at Spy Agency as an engineer, travelling from flexible challenges to war zones in places like London, he said. He worked as assistant director from 2017 to 2023. Meanwhile, “The NSA was actually positioned to permeate our enemies,” he told TechCrunch. The ability to hack “really prepare you to become a better defender” said…

Mortgage rates began to rise in 2022 after hitting record lows at the start of the pandemic, and it hasn't been a big deal since. With the 30-year mortgage rates above 6.5% today (2.49% in 2020!), buying a home is not achievable for many people. One Denver-based startup can help change that. Founded in 2022, Multiply Mortgage originally gave high-tech employees access to some of the value of their stock compensation while their employers are still private. Interestingly, however, founders Michael White and Gautam Gupta observed that most employees of Square, Opendor, Durdasch and Uber alumni – use liquidity provision…

Mobile networks remain the main target of cybersecurity violations, and the persistent attacks on multiple carriers of Chinese hacking group Salt Typhoon are just the latest known examples. Mobile carrier startup capes are taking new approaches to addressing problems. It built a service that says it can provide a safer, private alternative because it doesn't collect any data about you at all. Today, Cape announces some major developments in its efforts. The Washington, D.C.-based company was founded by former head of the National Security Business of Palantia, who previously worked for the US Army Special Forces, but is releasing an…

Google announced Wednesday that children on Android phones can tap and pay in stores using Google wallets in the US, UK, Australia, Spain and Poland. Parents and parents of these countries now have access to digital payments on Android devices with supervision for their children. Kids can also use Google Wallet to access supported passes such as event tickets, library cards, gift cards, and more. Google points out that payment cards can only be added with parental consent and that they can receive emails every time a child makes a transaction. Additionally, parents can use Family Link, Google's Parental Control…

TechCrunch Sessions: AI is coming closer to us. You have the power to decide who wants to lead a dynamic breakout session. On June 5th, he scraped the speaker application to six incredible finalists to take the stage at Zellerabach Hall in Berkeley, California. Who wants to share their wisdom with 1,200 AI leaders and enthusiasts? The choice is in your hands now. You can vote for viewers' choices until 11:59pm on March 21st. However, you can only select one speaker, so please count the number of votes! Don't forget to lock your tickets now, save up to $210 and…