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UK shrinks timetable for telcos to stop installing 5G kit from Huawei The UK government has squeezed the timetable for domestic telcos to stop installing 5G kit from Chinese suppliers, per the BBC, which reports that the deadline for installation of kit from so-called ‘high risk’ vendors is now September. It had already announced a ban on telcos buying kit from Huawei et al by the end […]
HungryPanda raises $70M for a food delivery app aimed at overseas Chinese consumers Food delivery apps have been a big deal this year both for consumers stuck at home and unable (or unwilling) to go to restaurants or grocery stores, and for investors who are eyeing the opportunity to back rising stars to help them grow. Today came the latest development in that story: HungryPanda, which makes a […]
Gartner: Q3 smartphone sales down 5.7% to 366M, slicing Covid-19 declines in Q1, Q2 We are now into the all-important holiday sales period, and new numbers from Gartner point to some recovery underway for the smartphone market as vendors roll out a raft of new 5G handsets. Q3 smartphone figures from the analysts published today showed that smartphone unit sales were 366 million units, a decline of 5.7% globally […]
The Trump administration will add SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, to its defense blacklist: report SMIC, one of largest chip makers in the world, is among several companies that the Department of Defense plans to designate as being owned or controlled by the Chinese military, reports Reuters. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, set to go into effect on January 11, that would bar U.S. investors […]
Primer, the fintech helping merchants consolidate the payments stack, raises 14M Series A Primer, the U.K. fintech that wants to help merchants consolidate their payments stack and easily support new payment methods in the future, has raised 14 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel, who I understand were quite proactive in persuading Primer to take the VC firm’s money. The young company wasn’t […]
Gillmor Gang: Electrical Banana Thanks I’m giving for the start of the first big online season. Yes, the pandemic has put in place a gigantic move to the digital for our immediate and accelerated future. We all know how this plays out in the required state of things pre-vaccine. But there’s an undercurrent not so hidden there of a […]
Firstminute Capital launches second $111M fund, featuring a who’s-who of founders as LPs London HQ’d Firstminute Capital has announced its second early-stage venture fund of $111m (87m). Founded and cornerstoned in 2016 by Brent Hoberman CBE (best known as co-founder of lastminute.com and MADE.com), together with Spencer Crawley (formerly of Goldman Sachs), this new fund comes after the first fund of $100M, giving Firstminute $211M assets under management, […]
This Week in Apps: Snapchat clones TikTok, India bans 43 Chinese apps, more data on App Store commission changes Welcome back to This Week inApps, theTechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications, and the overall app economy. The app industry is as hot as ever, witha record 204 billion downloads and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019. People nowspend three hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, […]
The Supreme Court will hear its first big CFAA case The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a case that could lead to sweeping changes to America’s controversial computer hacking laws — and affecting how millions use their computers and access online services. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was signed into federal law in 1986 and predates the modern internet as we […]
What to make of Stripe’s possible $100B valuation This is The TechCrunch Exchange, a newsletter that goes out on Saturdays,based on the column of the same name. You can sign up for the emailhere. Welcome to a special Thanksgiving edition of The Exchange. Today we will be brief. But not silent, as there is much to talk about. Up top, The Exchange noodled […]
How Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile worked without becoming the joke In the past decade, celebrity interest and investment in tech companies has significantly increased. But not all celebrity investments are created equally. Some investors, like Ashton Kutcher, have prioritized the VC pursuits. Some have invested casually without getting overly involved. Others have used their considerable platforms to market their portfolio to varying degrees of success. […]
Original Content podcast: Just don’t watch Netflix’s ‘Holidate’ with your parents You might think that a new Netflix film called “Holidate” offers holiday-themed romance that’s perfect for a family watch party. You’d be wrong. The film stars Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey as a pair of strangers who agree (in classic romantic comedy style) to keep each other company on holidays. And while the movie can’t […]
Black Friday online shopping comes in $9B, $3.6B on smartphones Black Friday — the day that launched 1,000 other shopping holidays — may have lost its place as the “start” of the Christmas shopping season by now (it gets bigger and earlier with each passing year). But the day after Thanksgiving still pulls in a crowd of buyers looking for a bargainand remains a major […]
Tony Hsieh, iconic Las Vegas tech entrepreneur, dies aged 46 Tony Hsieh, the former head of Zappos who catapulted the shoe company into the big leagues with a sale to Amazon and then used the proceeds of his success in a huge project kickstarting regeneration of a run-down part of Las Vegas, Nevada, with tech and wider business investments, has died at the age of […]
Facebook’s Libra could launch in January According to a report from the Financial Times, Facebook-backed cryptocurrency Libra could launch in January. More interestingly, the Libra Association, the consortium created by Facebook, could scale back its ambitions once again. When it was first unveiled, the Libra cryptocurrency was supposed to be a brand new currency tied to a basket of fiat currencies […]