Friday, March 2, 2018

Instagram calling features unearthed. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH
FRIDAY, MARCH 2 2018 By Darrell Etherington

Instagram could be a calling platform soon, too. Plus, Snap is building not just one new version of Spectacles, but two. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for March 2, 2018.

1. Instagram might add video and voice calling

Instagram has at least thought about adding voice and video calling to its app, as revealed by elements hidden in the app's code. The dormant icons could be used in a future release, and might be an addition to the existing Instagram messaging features.

It's a textbook move for Facebook on the messenger product front, and could make a lot of sense as Instagram becomes more a generational successor to FB and less a totally different kind of product.

2. Snap is working on two new versions of Spectacles

Just because Snap only sold <200K pairs of Spectacles doesn't mean it's binning the whole project: New reports claim two new versions are coming, including a minor refresh later this year and a two-camera version in 2019. But will anyone care?

3. Toyota has an advanced tech company for its advanced tech company

Toyota: I heard you like advanced automated driving research and technology so I put an advanced automated driving research and technology company in your advanced automated driving research and technology company.

4. Angry Birds maker's bad times roll on

Those furious birds are no Mickey Mouse, it turns out. Rovio's closing its London studio, and more fallout is likely to follow.

5. Travis Kalanick joins medical startup board

Uber founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick has joined the board of medical startup Karao, a health tech company that he's advised and angel invested in, founded by his friend. Kalanick hasn't really made any moves of this kind since he got the boot from his ride hailing company.

6. Meanwhile, another Uber founder created a cryptocurrency

Uber cofounder Garrett Camp meanwhile has created a cryptocurrency called Eco to be used for daily payments and transactions globally. There's no ICO so that seems less shady than most, but creating a cryptocurrency designees for frequent, volume use is still a big challenge.

7. Alibaba rival posts first profitable quarter since going public

JD.com isn't as huge as Alibaba, but it's very big, and now it's also profitable for the first time since its IPO almost four years ago.

Get more stories at techcrunch.com 

Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard:

SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD
Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month
Facebook   Twitter   Youtube   Instagram   Flipboard
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 AOL Inc. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   Terms of Service
                                                           

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Meet the VC fund backing the Bluesky ecosystem

Plus, we round up Hollywood's most notable angel investors ...