Author: TechBrunch

Apple released the third developer beta of iOS 18 on Monday, and while the update doesn't bring any big new features like Apple Intelligence, it does have some design changes, most notably the new UI for the flashlight. The company has already introduced a new way to control the True Tone flashlight on the iPhone 14 Pro and 15 models. Unlike the previous on/off and four-level brightness controls, the new controls included variable brightness and a way to adjust the width of the beam. The first beta controls were just vertical and horizontal lines, which took some time for users…

A startup called DreamFlare AI emerged from stealth on Tuesday with the goal of helping content creators create and monetize short-form, AI-generated content. The company, co-founded by ex-Googler Josh Liss and documentary filmmaker Rob Bralbar, doesn't manufacture or sell its own AI technology for video production. Rather, it envisions it as a kind of studio where creators work with professional storytellers to make videos using third-party AI tools such as Runway, Midjourney and ElevenLabs. The videos are then distributed through a subscription-based online service. Creators will earn revenue through subscriptions, advertising revenue shares and several other options. DreamFlare will offer…

Nala, a remittance startup that is expanding its portfolio through a new B2B payments platform, has raised $40 million in capital in an unusual deal that marks one of Africa's largest Series A deals. The oversubscribed round was led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Acrew Capital, with participation from existing investors including DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo and NYCA Partners. A number of angel investors also contributed, including fintech founders Chime's Ryan King and Robinhood's Vlad Tenev. Nala founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandez told TechCrunch that the new capital infusion, which follows a $10 million seed round in…

Solo founder Cat Jones decided to launch a travel business around the time the pandemic hit Europe in March 2020. Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and her curated package tour business, Byway, is announcing the closing of an oversubscribed Series A round of funding of £5.04 million (about $6.4 million at current exchange rates). Jones is a firm believer that slower, more sustainable travel — skipping planes and travelling by land (and sea) by train, bus and ferry, with the selling point being that vacationers can avoid crowds and enjoy the scenery in secluded places — is thriving.…

Poe, Quora's subscription-based cross-platform aggregator that aggregates AI-powered chatbots such as Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's GPT-4o, has launched a feature called Previews that allows users to create interactive apps directly by chatting with the chatbot. Preview allows Poe users to build data visualizations, games, and even drum machines by typing things like, “Analyze the information in this report and turn it into an easy-to-understand, interactive presentation that's easy to understand.” The app can be built with multiple chatbots (such as Meta's Llama 3 and GPT-4o), and can pull information from uploaded files, including videos, and share them with anyone via…

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are hard at work on a new venture, Thrive AI Health, which aims to build AI-powered assistant technology that promotes healthier lifestyles. Thrive AI Health, which is backed by Huffington's mental wellness company Thrive Global and OpenAI Startup Fund, an early-stage venture fund with close ties to OpenAI, aims to build an “AI health coach” that can offer personalized advice on sleep, nutrition, fitness, stress management and connection, according to a press release issued on Monday. DeCarlos Love, who previously led fitness and health experiences at Google subsidiary Fitbit, primarily…

“The labor essential to data work, such as moderation and annotation, is systematically hidden from those who profit from the fruits of that labor. A new project shines a spotlight on the lived experiences of data workers around the world, showing firsthand the costs and opportunities of doing tech work overseas.” Much of the boring, thankless, and psychologically damaging work is outsourced to poor countries, where workers are happy to take on jobs for a fraction of the wages in the U.S. or Europe. This labor market puts it in the ranks of “boring, dirty, and dangerous” jobs, such as…

Generative AI businesses aside, the past few years have been relatively tough for venture capitalists, with very few startups being able to raise capital at prices above their previous valuations. Now, nearly two years after the venture recession began in early 2022, some investors, like IVP general partner Tom Rabelo, say the worst of the downturn is over and surviving startups should shift from cash preservation mode to investing in growth. These aren't totally empty words: Valuations for all companies except the seed stage fell in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to PitchBook data. But in the first…

Apple has removed several VPN apps from its Russian App Store at the request of the Russian government's communications watchdog, according to VPN makers. Last week, Russian news agency Interfax reported that Apple had removed 25 VPN apps from its Russian App Store at the request of Roskomnadzor, the government agency that regulates the internet, including that accessible to Russian citizens. The internet in Russia is tightly controlled and censored, so Russian online users often turn to VPNs to get around restrictions and access blocked content. On Monday, two VPN services, Le VPN and Red Shield VPN, told TechCrunch that…

Samsung Unpacked 2024 kicks off at 6am PST/9am EST on Wednesday. Why so early for our friends on the West Coast? The Galaxy device showcase is taking place in Paris this year, with a local start time of 1pm CET. Luckily for us, Paris is also hosting the Summer Olympics in about two weeks, and one of the big sponsors of the event is Samsung. If past examples are any indication (and they always are with these kinds of products), foldables will be the focus of Samsung's event. The company has stuck to a six-monthly flagship release cycle for the…