Author: TechBrunch
Flight tracking site FlightAware blames a “configuration error” for exposing a trove of personal information, including some of its customers' Social Security numbers. The company, which describes itself as the largest flight data aggregator, said in a notice on its website that it identified an unspecified error on July 25 and that names, email addresses and other information users provided to the company was exposed. According to FlightAware, the exposed data includes “billing addresses, shipping addresses, IP addresses, social media accounts, phone numbers, dates of birth, the last four digits of credit card numbers, aircraft ownership information, industry, job title,…
A surprising number of “iPad kids,” or Generation Alpha 7- to 9-year-olds, are using X (formerly Twitter), according to a report on kids' app usage in the U.S. released Monday by parental control software maker Qustodio. The company found that more than 30 percent of kids in this group have an X account, and 44 percent already have their own tablet to access apps and games. X doesn't seem to have much content that would attract younger users — the platform tends to feature politics and breaking news, and has had its fair share of misinformation under Elon Musk's rule…
Apple Podcasts can now be streamed from the web: Apple announced on Monday that the Apple Podcasts app is now available on all major web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari) in more than 170 countries. The new dedicated web experience is intended to make podcasts easily accessible to anyone with a web browser on any device. Web listening has been available for some time, but to listen to an episode, users had to search for the show in a search engine and visit the show's Apple Podcasts preview page. Now, Apple Podcasts on the web has launched a new…
The Epic Games Store was already available on PC and Mac, but has now been released for Android users worldwide and iOS users in Europe. This could be the start of a wider change in how apps are distributed on iPhones in particular, which could see phones offering different app stores in the future. This has been something of a crusade for Epic, which lost an antitrust lawsuit against Apple last year but has had success in other ways. So, the Epic Games Store is now available on iOS thanks to a new law in the European Union called the…
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Popular iPad design app Procreate is opposed to generative AI and has vowed not to introduce generative AI features into its products. The company said on its website that while machine learning is a “compelling technology with many benefits,” the current direction of generative AI isn't a good fit for its platform. Procreate says it's not pursuing technologies that threaten human creativity, even if it could make the company “appear to be at risk of being left behind.” Procreate CEO James Kuda issued an even stronger statement of opposition to the technology in a video posted to X on Monday.…
ElevenLabs, a startup that develops AI-powered tools for creating and editing synthetic speech, is making its Reader app available globally, with support for 32 languages. The app, which was first released in the US, UK and Canada in June, allows users to upload text content such as articles, PDF documents and e-books and listen to them in a variety of languages and audios. Reader currently supports languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Italian, Tamil and Swedish. ElevenLabs, which became a unicorn earlier this year after raising $80 million from Andreessen Horowitz and other investors, offers…
Chipmaker AMD, which is closing in on Nvidia, today announced a major acquisition to bolster its position as an “ecosystem” partner for companies building large-scale AI businesses: It will buy ZT Systems, a provider of computing design and infrastructure for AI, cloud and general-purpose computing, for $4.9 billion. The deal is a combination of cash and stock and includes a contingent payment of up to $400 million if certain performance criteria are met. The plan would combine AMD's computing infrastructure design business with ZT Systems, and AMD said it was exploring the sale of ZT Systems' data center infrastructure manufacturing…
Amazon is considering moving its payments services in India into a standalone app, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, as the e-commerce giant looks to expand acceptance of Amazon Pay in the country. Amazon Pay is currently integrated into the company's flagship e-commerce app in India, allowing users to send money to individuals and merchants, pay bills, buy insurance and travel tickets, invest in mutual funds and digital gold, purchase travel tickets, and more. The U.S. tech giant has been considering separating its payment services from its e-commerce app for about a year and plans to move forward…
Emerging economies face trade deficits, with demand for dollars, which account for the majority of global trade, exceeding supply. This imbalance raises costs and slows trade. In Africa, the problem is exacerbated by a lack of technology solutions to serve the liquidity needs of large corporations and multinationals, with many cross-border payment platforms opting to develop consumer-facing products. Waza, a Y Combinator-backed payments and liquidity platform, has emerged from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. The startup claims to make it easier for African businesses and traders to manage and pay suppliers globally. The company says it is targeting…