Twilio launches an app for frontline workers, a free 1:1 video toolkit and a new IoT platform

Twilio is hosting its annual Signal conference today and as usual, the company is using the event to launch a host of new products and features. For the most part, especially if you’re a web or mobile developer, these are not groundbreaking new features. The core Twilio services, after all, h

Dfinity’s valuation soars to $9.5Bn after revealing its governance system and token economics

We've been tracking one of the few genuinely interesting stories to come out of the blockchain world, ever since Dfinity raised $102M from Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital for a decentralised 'Internet Computer' to rival AWS in August last year. It later revealed more this past

Twitch launches a rights-cleared music catalog for streamers, Soundtrack by Twitch

Twitch today is introducing a new tool, Soundtrack by Twitch, that will allows it creators to add licensed music within their streams. The feature, which has been in development over the past year, is meant to not only make it easier to find rights-cleared music, but also to address the ongoing iss

Serious injuries at Amazon fulfillment centers topped 14,000, despite the company’s safety claims

As Amazon‘s biggest shopping day of the year approaches, a new report reveals that the company’s investments in automation and safety have not stemmed surging numbers of serious injuries in the company’s warehouses and fulfillment centers. Even as Amazon spends tens of millions on

With a Warby Parker playbook, SISU raises funding from Greycroft to face off against cosmetic clinics

With so many people getting botox and filler treatments to their faces these days (or are they, during the pandemic?), it's probably no wonder that venture capital has decided to look at the space. In the same way that the small and scattered market of spectacle/optometrist shops were disrupted

Starlink puts towns devastated by wildfires online for disaster relief workers

SpaceX’s Starlink has showed its utility in connecting far-flung locations to the internet quickly and relatively simply in Washington, where like much of the west coast wildfires have caused enormous damage to rural areas. A couple small towns in the state have received Starlink connections

Greylock and MLT are trying to diversify tech’s wealth cycle

Greylock Partners has teamed up with Management Leadership for Tomorrow to address issues of diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. “Our view is this has to be a comprehensive approach,” MLT Founder and CEO John Rice told technewss. “This is not just a coding program

D-Wave launches its 5,000+ qubit Advantage system

D-Wave today announced the launch of its new Advantage quantum computers. These new systems, with over 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity, are now available in the company’s Leap cloud computing platform. That’s up from about 2,000 qubits in the previous system, which featured s

Gillmor Gang: Over 2 U

The pandemic shook up our (and virtually every other) video news production process as Zoom became the focus of our daily lives; slowly but surely we've altered the production process to reflect Zoom's easy onboarding and semi-casual approach to virtualized meetings and conversations.

Google to better enforce Play Store in-app purchase policies, ease use of third-party app stores

Under threat of regulation, Google announced today it’s updating its Google Play billing policies to better clarify which types of transactions will be subject to Google’s commissions on in-app purchases. While the more detailed language doesn’t actually change the earlier policy&

GV bets on young team behind high school social app HAGS

As high schools pivot to hybrid models and students see less in-person face time with friends, the current social app sphere seems to be missing a way to build deeper bonds with classmates. HAGS is building a social network designed around high school networks and they’ve picked up some fresh

NASA commissions report to show its economic impact: $64B and 312K jobs

Perhaps anticipating budget pushback from the federal government, NASA has released its first-ever agency-wide economic report, documenting the agency’s impact on the nation’s jobs and cash flow. Everyone knew NASA was impactful, but now we know exactly how impactful it is, some $64 bil

Human Capital: Moving away from ‘master/slave’ terminology

TGIF, am I right? Welcome back to Human Capital, where we explore some of the latest news in labor, diversity and inclusion in tech. This week, we’re looking at the use of “master/slave” terminology in computer programming and the current state of gig workers in California.

European Commission to appeal decision that reversed Apple’s $15B State Aid tax bill in Ireland

It’s not over until it’s over for Apple and its ongoing tax headache in Europe. Today the European Commission announced that it plans to appeal the July 2020 ruling that overturned the original $15 billion fine that it leveled against Apple and Ireland over State Aid and taxes, as it be