Activision Blizzard workers will stage a walkout after ‘abhorrent’ response to harassment suit

One of the world's biggest video game companies is reeling after a state discrimination and sexual harassment suit kicked off a firestorm of controversy within the company. California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard last week, alleging that the company f

Extra Crunch roundup: RapidSOS EC-1, how to prep for an M&A exit, inside Genki Forest

According to one estimate, Americans call 911 about 240 million times every year. Sending emergency services to the right location sounds straightforward, but each 911 call is routed through one of thousands of call centers known as public safety answering points (PSAPs). “Every 9

Microsoft bests earnings estimates as Azure posts 51% growth; shares fall

Today after the bell, Microsoft reported its fiscal Q4 2021 earnings, the period corresponding to the second calendar quarter of this year. Microsoft posted revenues of $46.2 billion in the period, along with net income of $16.5 billion and earnings per share of $2.17. The company’s revenues

Twitter ‘acqui-hires’ the team from subscription news app, Brief

Twitter’s recent acquisition spree continues today as the company announces it has acqui-hired the team from news aggregator and summary app Brief. The startup from former Google engineers launched last year to offer a subscription-based news summary app that aimed to tackle many of the probl

Dan Olsen leads a product-market fit master class for the Startup Alley+ cohort

Yes Virginia, there are advantages to exhibiting in (the sold-out) Startup Alley at TC Disrupt 2021. Out of all the early-stage startups ready to exhibit on September 21-23, Team technewss hand-picked 50 to form the Startup Alley+ cohort. Startup Alley+ is a VIP experience designed to help founder

Same-day delivery apps need more than speed to survive post-pandemic

We have entered a whole new era of e-commerce centered on speed and convenience. Business leaders are being forced to prioritize delivery capabilities and push for more accelerated delivery services. “Fast/reliable delivery” was the most important online shopping attribute among the more than 8

BoldVoice wants to help nonnative English speakers find (and flaunt) their voices

When Anada Lakra and Ilya Usorov first moved to the United States, they struggled to find their voices. They both knew and understood English, but when it came time to speak up, their accents became a hurdle. Usorov, for example, watched his Russian-born parents struggle to advocate for themselves,

What I’ve learned after 5 years of buying common stock in startups

From day one, Pillar VC has offered to buy common stock in startups. Instead of the standard 10-page venture capital term sheet riddled with terms and conditions, our team believed that a far simpler structure where we owned the same security as the founders would align interests, increase trust, a

Monte Carlo’s Barr Moses will join us at TC Sessions: SaaS 2021

Monte Carlo’s Barr Moses joins the data panel at TC Sessions: SaaS 2021. See you there! As the clock ticks down on technewss’s upcoming SaaS-focused event, we’re excited to announce that Monte Carlo co-founder and CEO Barr Moses will join us. Specifically, the startup exec will b

Instagram now supports 60-second videos on Reels, its TikTok clone

Haven’t you heard that Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app? Today, Instagram announced that users can now upload 60-second videos on Reels, the platform’s TikTok competitor. This update also adds functionality for a captions sticker on Reels, which transcribes audio to text. Inst

Shopify allows merchants to sell NFTs directly through their storefronts

Shopify has made it possible for eligible sellers to sell NFTs (non-fungible tokens) via its platform, which opens up a whole new world for e-commerce merchants. On Monday, the NBA's Chicago Bulls launched its first-ever NFTs –– including digital artwork of NBA championship rings –– by

Google TV mobile app redesign adds new services and recommendations

Following last fall’s debut of Google TV, the new user interface for Chromecast devices, Google is today giving its Google TV companion app for Android a makeover. The updated version of the mobile app for Google TV includes an updated user interface, expanded set recommendations, and more TV

Apple News partners with NBCUniversal to share exclusive Olympics content

It’s hard to keep up with the Olympics any year, let alone when they’re taking place in a time zone that’s 13 hours ahead of you (if you’re on the U.S. East Coast). Apple News on Monday announced a collaboration with NBCUniversal (the U.S. broadcast rights holder for the Oly

Discord rolls out threads, side conversations that auto-archive

After announcing that threads were on the way earlier this year and teasing the feature on Twitter, Discord is now introducing the long-requested way to make conversations in bustling servers more comprehensible. Starting today, any server with “community” features enabled will be able