Niantic buys gameplay recording app Lowkey to improve its in-game social experience

Niantic has acquired another company to help build out its augmented reality platforms. The company has announced that it’s acquiring the team behind Lowkey, an app you can use to easily capture and share gameplay moments. While you can use any screen capture application — or even your phon

Goalsetter raises $15 million to go B2B with children’s financial literacy app

Goalsetter, a financial education platform for kiddos, has announced the close of a $15 million Series A financing round. The funding was led by Seae Ventures, with participation from Fiserv, Mass Mutual Catalyst Fund, Citizens Financial Group, Astia Fund, NBA stars Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony

TikTok adds creator monetization features, including tips and video gifts

TikTok is today introducing new ways for its creators to make money from their content. While already, the short-form video platform allowed creators to accept virtual gifts from fans during TikTok LIVE videos, a set of new features will allow creators to accept payments and gifts when they’r

Spotify’s Wrapped 2021 arrives with artist video messages, Blend and even a game

Spotify’s anticipated year-end retrospective, Spotify Wrapped, is rolling out today to consumers, artists and podcast creators. The experience offers Spotify users a look back at their year on Spotify, highlighting listening trends across both music and podcasts. Artists and creators, meanwhi

Twitch’s newest moderation tool spots accounts trying to get around channel bans

Twitch introduced a new way for streamers to fight accounts that evade channel-level bans Tuesday. The automated tool is called “Suspicious User Detection” and can spot users trying to get around bans, giving anyone moderating a Twitch channel more recourse for dealing with potentially

Cyber Week online spending down 1.4% to $33.9 billion as U.S. consumers shopped earlier this year

Consumer awareness of supply chain shortages and even earlier deals may have contributed to a slight decline in U.S. e-commerce sales during Cyber Week — the kickoff to the holiday shopping season that runs from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Last year, U.S. consumers spent a record $

Twitter expands safety policy, bans posting images of people without their consent

Twitter updated its private information safety policy this morning to ban sharing images or videos of private individuals without their consent. The platform already banned users from sharing others’ personal information without permission, like their address or location, identity documents,

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will talk Section 230 reform with Congress this week

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will go before Congress again this week, this time offering her unique perspective on the company’s moderation and policy failures as they relate to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the key legal shield that protects online platforms from li

Balance and Pokémon UNITE top Google Play’s ‘Best of 2021’ Awards

Google today announced the winners of its “Best of 2021” app awards, which highlight both the company’s and users’ picks for the best apps and games from the past year. This year, Google is expanding its awards lineup to include apps and games on tablets, Wear OS and Google

Particular Audience takes in $7.5M to give retailers way to take on Amazon

Being in control of customer data is one of the ways retailers, like Amazon, Spotify and Netflix, are able to tap into consumer behavior and create customized experiences whenever a user logs in. Those are some of the reasons Amazon, in particular, is poised to grab 50% of the U.S. e-commerce marke

Digital regulation must empower people to make the internet better

As COVID-19 spread rapidly across the world in 2020, people everywhere were hungry for reliable information. A global network of volunteers rose to the challenge, consolidating information from scientists, journalists and medical professionals, and making it accessible for everyday people. Two of t

India’s Slice becomes unicorn with $220M funding from Tiger Global, Insight Partners and Advent

Rajan Bajaj, founder of fintech Slice, chimed in on a Twitter thread early this year and wondered aloud what he needs to do to turn his startup into a unicorn before he turns 30. At just 28, the Flipkart alum has figured it out. I turned 28 few weeks back. I want @sliceit_ to become a Unicorn be

Italy fines Apple and Google for ‘aggressive’ data practices

Apple and Google have been fined €10 mlion apiece by Italy’s competition and market authority (AGCM) which has found they did not provide their users with clear enough information on commercial uses of their data — in violation of the country’s consumer code. The regulator also

Pet video marketplace Camlist eyes UK growth after raising $1.3 million pre-seed funding

Camlist, a video marketplace for pets, has raised $1.3 million in a pre-seed round, funding that the startup plans to use to develop its platform and grow its workforce — as it looks to expand its reach in the UK, its second market (after the U.A.E.), which it entered earlier this year. Unlik