Top Stories of the Day // July 31, 2018

THE DAILY CRUNCH TUESDAY, JULY 31 2018 By Anthony Ha Uber shuts down its self-driving trucks division, Nintendo has sold a whole lot of Switches and venture capital's diversity numbers remain unimpressive. 1. Uber's self-driving trucks division is dead, long live Uber self-driving cars "We believe delivering on self-driving for passenger applications first, and then bringing it to freight applications down the line, is the best path forward," the company says. The program has its origins in Uber's acquisition of Otto, a deal that ultimately pulled the company into a trade secrets lawsuit with Alphabet's self-driving tech subsidiary Waymo. 2. Nintendo got it right again Nintendo is coming off a massive quarter that saw 88 percent year-over-year growth in operating profit. The company has sold nearly 20 million Switch systems since the console's launch. Sponsored By: Spry Make some noise with Spry's new Startup Publicity Kit. Everything a startup needs to turn heads, in one simple, turnkey package. No hassle, no headaches. Just real media coverage, quality impressions, and natural SEO. All right from your phone. Learn More… 3. Venture capital's diversity disaster White people make up 70 percent of the venture capital industry, according to a recent analysis by Richard Kerby, a partner at Equal Ventures. He also found that women now make up 18 percent of the industry, compared to 11 percent in 2016. 4. Google gives Chrome the virtual reality treatment The company is bringing its Chrome browser to Daydream VR headsets. This was first announced as in the works back at Google's I/O developer conference in 2017. 5. OpenAI's robotic hand doesn't need humans to teach it human behavior Researchers at OpenAI have created a system that not only holds and manipulates objects much like a human does, but also managed to develop these behaviors on its own. 6. Samsung reports Q2 profit slowdown, says Galaxy S9 sales were lower than expected On the bright side, the Korean tech giant said its semiconductor business is doing well. 7. WhatsApp now allows group voice and video calls between up to 4 people Starting this week, WhatsApp callers can add friends by hitting the "add participant" button at the top right corner of their screen. The maximum number of participants is four, and WhatsApp said the calls are end-to-end encrypted. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Senior software engineer (C++) at Sticker Mule (Anywhere) System Administrator at Modus (New York, New York, United States) Tech Lead - Java at N26 (New York, NY, USA) Senior Software Engineer at N26 (New York, NY, USA) IT Engineer II - Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at City of Mesa (Mesa, AZ, USA) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved.   TechCrunch is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25th 2018 we will be introducing a new unified Oath Terms of Service and Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More.

                                                           

Tech News Flash

---

Tech News Flash: Tuesday -- July 31, 2018

TechNewsWorld -- All Tech - All The Time
http://www.TechNewsWorld.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Televerde's Michelle Cirocco: Tech Enables Trust
AI and the Future of Your Job
The Transportation Revolution: Much More Than Self-Driving Cars
Lenovo Smart Display Shows Loads of Potential
Earrings With Earphones and a Smartphone Bonanza

Message From Our Sponsor
Study: Online Retail Sites "Embarrassingly Slow"
A new report titled, "2018 eCommerce Performance: The Stakes Are
Increasing, But Are Retailers Falling Behind?" evaluates 80 major retail
websites on page speed performance as well as shopper experience.
Learn more: https://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=10133/report

Today's Story Highlights

Televerde's Michelle Cirocco: Tech Enables Trust
"Everybody's using technologies like artificial intelligence, predictive
analytics, marketing automation tools, search engine marketing and lead
analytics tools," said Michelle Cirocco, head of global marketing for
Televerde. "We're using all these tools and technologies to identify who
we should communicate with, and we use them to set the stage for our
marketing and demand-generation efforts."
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85434.html

AI and the Future of Your Job
I just finished The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and
the Future of Humanity , and it was one hell of a read. A lot of us are
concerned about the coming of robots that arguably will be substantially
smarter and more capable than we are. This book likely will make some
feel a tad more comfortable about the future, but others will have to
brace for change.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85471.html

The Transportation Revolution: Much More Than Self-Driving Cars
The autonomous car has thrown the automotive industry -- an industry
that is notoriously slow to change -- into the forefront of technology.
The autonomous car has become a technology catalyst because it requires
innovation in many areas, ranging from processor and sensor technology
to AI. The industry's focus initially has been on consumers because they
represent the billion-dollar pot of gold.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85474.html

Lenovo Smart Display Shows Loads of Potential
Lenovo's Smart Display with Google Assistant has hit the market. There
are two versions of the device, 8-inch and 10-inch, both with full HD
screens, and priced at $200 and $250 respectively. "The cost is
significantly below an iPad mini and it offers far more functionality
than just a digital picture frame or a Bluetooth speaker," said Alan
Lepofsky, principal analyst at Constellation Research.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85473.html

Earrings With Earphones and a Smartphone Bonanza
Swings Bluetooth Earrings with built-in earphones showcase a practical,
clever idea for people with pierced ears. Swings certainly could fix the
problem of losing Apple's expensive AirPods to the ether or having to
root around in one's pockets or purse to find one's tangled-up headset.
You can expect five hours of listening time out of the Swings on a
single charge.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/85468.html

News Alerts From ECT News Network
Get the day's top business and technology news delivered
to your inbox as stories break. Sign up today -- it's free!
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=2202/News_Alerts

INSTA-LEADS From ECT News Network
Access 30 million B2B purchasing decision makers. Learn more:
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=8734/INSTA-LEADS

How to Advertise in This Newsletter
To advertise in this newsletter or elsewhere on ECT News Network,
please call our sales department toll-free at (877) 328-5500, or view
our online media kit at
http://www.ectnews.com/advertising/

Subscribing and Unsubscribing
You are receiving the Tech News Flash in response to your request
on the TechNewsWorld Web site for our daily newsletter. If you wish
to make changes to your newsletter subscription, or if you wish to
receive other free newsletters from the ECT News Network, please click
here: Newsletter Management Wizard

If this e-mail was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe to
this FREE newsletter, please use our newsletter sign-up wizard:
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/newsletter_registration.pl/

Feedback
We welcome your feedback. Contact us online at
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/contact_form.pl?to=editorial

Follow Us

Copyright 2018 ECT News Network, Inc.
16133 Ventura Blvd., Suite 700, Encino, CA 91436
All Rights Reserved.

Editor's Pick: How to Plan Your E-Commerce and SEO Migration

How to Plan Your E-Commerce and SEO Migration

Sara Hicks Jul 30, 2018 10:59 AM PT

So you've just migrated your e-commerce platform. A few weeks into the launch, you discover something shocking: Despite performing technical due diligence, hiring the best development agency, and spending a fortune on the migration, your traffic and Google rankings have dropped significantly. If this sounds familiar, you'll want to keep reading for a summary of 12 critical tasks to be implemented. [More...]

More Picks:

AI and the Future of Your Job I just finished The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity, and it was one hell of a read. A lot of us are concerned about the coming of robots that arguably will be substantially smarter and more capable than we are. This book likely will make some feel a tad more comfortable about the future, but others will have to brace for change. [More...]

The Transportation Revolution: Much More Than Self-Driving Cars The autonomous car has thrown the automotive industry -- an industry that is notoriously slow to change -- into the forefront of technology. The autonomous car has become a technology catalyst because it requires innovation in many areas, ranging from processor and sensor technology to AI. The industry's focus initially has been on consumers because they represent the billion-dollar pot of gold. [More...]

Follow Us

This Editor's Pick alert is a premium service provided to ECT News Network newsletter subscribers. If you wish to make changes to your subscription settings, please click to manage your account.

Copyright 2018 ECT News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
ECT News Network, Inc. 16133 Ventura Blvd., Suite 700, Encino, CA 91436

Twitter tries to be less toxic. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH MONDAY, JULY 30 2018 By Anthony Ha Twitter selects researchers to investigate its "conversational health," leaked photos may show new iPhones and John Oliver takes on Facebook. Here's your Daily Crunch for July 30, 2018. 1. Twitter turns to academics to improve conversational health on the platform In March, Twitter called for proposals from researchers around how they might measure and improve conversational health on the platform. Now the company has chosen two research teams to focus on two different issues — echo chambers and intergroup conflict. It sounds like this is all pretty far removed from leading to concrete changes on Twitter itself, but at least the company is working with outside researchers to try to understand the issues at stake. 2. This is what the next iPhone could look like Most likely, the devices in the leaked photos aren't actual iPhones. Instead, they're dummy units created by manufacturers based on leaked design schematics — but these units usually look just like the real thing. Sponsored By: Divvy Divvy raises $35m Series B to eliminate expense reports Divvy, the proactive expense management platform that eliminates expense reports and gives managers control and visibility over company spending, recently announced a $35m Series B. Divvy is free to use and offers decision makers $100 to take a demo. Learn More… 3. John Oliver makes an honest Facebook ad "Seriously you guys, we were making so much money off of you, you don't even understand." 4. Grover raises €37M Series A to offer latest tech products as a subscription The startup has also been trialling a B2B product called Startups get Grover. Apparently there was demand from startups that want, for example, to subscribe for access to MacBooks for their new employees. 5. Tesla is making a $1500 … surfboard? Tesla says, "The Limited Edition Tesla Surfboard features a mix of the same high-quality matte and gloss finishes used on all our cars." I mean, sure? But it looks like they're already sold out. 6. This is the leaked DJI Mavic 2 drone Just like the original, it's a small, foldable drone. This time around, there will be two different versions, the Zoom and the Pro, though both will reportedly have the ability to fly at 45mph with a range of five miles. 7. A podcast is a song in your heart Last week's episode of Equity looked at Facebook's falling stock price, while your hosts at TechCrunch Mixtape (previously known as CTRL-T) took a ride in a self-driving car. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Tech Lead - Java at N26 (New York, NY, USA) Senior Software Engineer at N26 (New York, NY, USA) IT Engineer II - Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at City of Mesa (Mesa, AZ, USA) Senior DevOps Engineer at Elinvar (Berlijn, Duitsland) FPGA Designer/Concepteur de FPGA at Haivision Network Video (Montreal, QC, Canada) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved.   TechCrunch is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25th 2018 we will be introducing a new unified Oath Terms of Service and Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More.