Tesla’s energy unit is working with GE’s Current to install solar systems on 50 Home Depot locations in the U.S. The installation is part of a plan on Home Depot’s part to move more of its stores to clean power, with a goal of generating 135 megawatts of clean energy from its locations by 2020,
End-to-end encrypted email provider ProtonMail has added official support for payment in Bitcoin. In a blog about the addition, it notes: “Starting from version 3.11 of ProtonMail it is now possible to pay for premium ProtonMail secure email account using Bitcoin.” The e2e email service had already offered unofficial support for users wanting to pay
Part of YC’s Summer ’17 class, Fat Lama wants to be a rental marketplace for anything. Launched late last year in London, the startup has gained early traction among professionals needing short-term rentals of creative gear – like drones, cameras or DJ equipment. But the platform is also filled with weirder goods – like a
Want those snazzy neon green and pink Switch controllers you’ve been coveting? In the U.S. and Canada, you’ll have to head to Walmart to pick up the Splatoon 2 Switch console bundle – at least initially. The bundle, announced today by Nintendo, will include Neon Pink and Neon Green right and left Switch controllers, as
Bay Area startup Ripcord just scored a $40 million Series B, following its successful launch earlier this year. By all accounts, the company has apparently hit the ground running with its decidedly unsexy goal of using robots to digitize paper records for large corporations and organizations. According to CEO Alex Fielding, Ripcord already has a
In June, Microsoft introduced a completely revamped version of its Skype app, designed with a heavier focus on media-sharing, and other social expression tools, like emoji, reactions, and even a Snapchat-like stories feature. Now that new experience is rolling out to desktop users, but in a more limited fashion, Microsoft announced this morning. The new
The Essential Phone has arrived, a bit later than originally announced. The first smartphone from the new company founded by Android creator Andy Rubin is now available to order, via Essential’s own site, Best Buy, and Sprint. The phone is still listed as a pre-order in all three spots, with shipping information to be conveyed
CoreOS today announced the general availability of Microsoft Azure support for its Kubernetes-based Tectonic container management platform. It previously only fully supported container deployments on bare metal servers and AWS. Beta support for Azure launched in March and with this new release, Tectonic now offers hybrid support for multi-cloud deployments across its three supported platforms.
Alibaba has continued its push into Southeast Asia after it led a $1.1 billion investment in Tokopedia, an e-commerce firm based in Indonesia. A valuation for the deal was not announced, but the companies did say that Alibaba has become a minority shareholder. Tokopedia, which was founded in 2009, operates a marketplace that allows small
Codacy, a startup based in Lisbon, Portugal that offers what it calls an “automated code review platform,” has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding. EQT Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Faber, Caixa Capital, Join Capital, and Seedcamp. Launched in 2014, Codacy says it has been used by hundreds of companies,
Rebooting the venerable Nokia smartphone brand has not been a rush job for HMD Global, the Foxconn-backed company set up for the purpose of licensing the Nokia name to try to revive the brand’s fortunes on smartphones. But after starting with basic and mid-tier smartphones, it’s finally outted a flagship Android handset, called the Nokia
Digi.me and Personal, two companies that broadly play in the personal data space by offering apps to securely store and share various data about yourself, are announcing a merger. Terms of deal remain undisclosed, although I’m told that the combined entity will operate under the Digi.me brand and give the company a 60-person headcount who
China is about to take net neutrality to the next level after a group of influential tech companies that includes Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Didi Chuxing and JD.com agreed to invest nearly $12 billion into state-run mobile operator China Unicom. China Unicom is the country’s second largest operator with 269 million mobile customers, which makes it
Content warning: This post contains racial slurs, homophobic language and very graphic depictions of racism and violence. If you were just paying attention to press releases, this week it’d be easy to believe that tech companies are winning the war on hate. Responding to the violence in Charlottesville, Mark Zuckerberg solemnly reflected that there is
The past week has been a tough one for lovers of freedom. Slippery slopes have been slid down and a side of the human mind that once remained in shadow has reared its head. Charlottesville is just the first step down a dark road. In real life, on the public square, our support of freedom
Read CNET’s Best Laptops of 2017 list – http://cnet.co/2wRQSTY Apple’s least-expensive Mac laptop got a minor tweak for 2017, but is showing its age.
As 3D printers grow smarter and continue to embed themselves in manufacturing and product creation processes, they are exposed to online malefactors just like every other device and network. Security researchers suggest a way to prevent hackers from sabotaging the outputs of 3D printers: listen very, very carefully. Now, you’re forgiven if someone hacking a
Seattle seems like an unlikely venue for a duel between bike-sharing companies: it’s rainy, hilly, its residents can’t drive and another bike-share program recently went belly up publicly and ignominiously. But Ofo, one of several Chinese giants in the space, is the third company to launch in the city in a month. It’s the company’s
Genetic health screening startup Color Genomics is in the final stages of allocations for an $80 million Series C financing round, TechCrunch has confirmed with the company. Axios first spotted Color had raised $52 million so far in a recent SEC filing. The company has since told TechCrunch it will soon be closing on $80
The idea of using technology to replicate the simplicity and versatility of paper is an enduring one, but no device has nailed it just yet. That may change with the reMarkable, a unique and ambitious tablet that aims to do what paper does, but better. And four years after the concept was first proposed (although
Google is launching a new feature for Google Maps for Android and mobile search today: question and answers. I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise when I tell you that this feature allows you to ask questions about a place and answer other users’ inquiries and indeed, it’s that straightforward. Starting now, when you
ARKit is one of the biggest changes in iOS 11. Under the hood, Apple is about to transform the iPhone into a very capable augmented reality device. Felix Lapalme has been looking at assets in the Maps app package to find out if the company is going to leverage augmented reality for turn-by-turn directions. On
Remember back in May, when Google announced plans to let people make free phone calls through the Google Home? That feature is rolling out starting today (alas, only for folks in U.S./Canada). Say something like, “OK Google, call the nearest sandwich shop,” and it’ll connect the dots and help you get your grub. Or, if
Apple is set to spend $1billion on programming, Google helps you avoid allergic attacks and one venture capital firm that is looking to diversify tech. Apple TV …
Pinterest is adding a new feature today that allows users to pinch a photo to zoom in and out on various Pins, matching a feature that’s available on a lot of other services, like Instagram. Pinterest is trying to be a central hub of high-quality photos and videos centered around ideas and products, but this
In the latest update to its messaging app, Line has added a livestreaming feature, called Chat Live, which can be used in group or multi-person chats of up to 200 people. The company suggests a variety of uses for the live video feature — such as chatting with friends while livestreaming a sporting event or
Microsoft announced a new product in its Azure line-up in preview today that will make it easier for developers to build event-based applications. The Azure Event Grid makes events (like uploading a picture or video, clicking a button, updating a database, etc.) first-class Azure objects. Event Grid complements Azure Functions and Azure Logic Apps, Microsoft’s
Roughly 1 in 30 Facebook users tells someone Happy Birthday each day, showing Facebook’s first major emergent behavior is still going strong. Now Facebook is equipping the 45 million people sending birthday wishes each day with some new features. Now instead of just posting a soulless “HBD” or “Happy Birthday!” on someone’s wall with no
The events that unfolded this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia have sparked reactions from all corners of the internet. But one Twitter user, former President Barack Obama, had a response that resonated with millions. Last night, this tweet from Obama became the most-liked tweet on the platform ever, with more than 3 million likes at the
Analyst Gartner is projecting that worldwide spending on IT security products and services will grow seven per cent, year over year, to reach a total of $86.4 billion in 2017 — suggesting opportunities for security startups to tap into rising demand for specialist b2b services. Within the infrastructure protection segment, the analyst is forecasting fast