Google unveils the Pixel 3, Pitch comes out of stealth to take on Powerpoint and Instagram announces an AI-approach to combat bullying. Here's your Daily Crunch for October 9, 2018 1. The Google Pixel 3 is official (thanks, Verizon) Just minutes ahead of Google's Pixel event, Verizon (TechCrunch's parent company) went ahead and confirmed the new phone on its website. Contrary to some earlier renders, the third version of Google's Android flagship (spotted by 9 to 5 Google) does boast a sizable notch up top, in keeping with earlier images of the larger XL. 2. Pitch, from the founders of Wunderlist, raises $19M to take on Powerpoint in presentations Microsoft's Powerpoint today has over 1 billion installs, 500 million users, and some 95 percent market share. But that doesn't make it the most loved. Now, a new startup out of Berlin called Pitch is emerging from stealth with plans to challenge it, by making what CEO and co-founder Christian Reber describes as "a presentation tool for the Slack generation." 3. Instagram now uses machine learning to detect bullying within photos Instagram announced a new set of AI-powered anti-cyberbullying tools today that could help make the platform more tolerable for humans. The company will use machine learning to scan photos posted to the app to detect bullying and send the post to Instagram's community moderators for review. 4. Google will not bid for the Pentagon's $10B cloud computing contract, citing its "AI Principles" In a statement to Bloomberg a Google spokesperson stated, "We are not bidding on the JEDI contract because first, we couldn't be assured that it would align with our AI Principles. And second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications," adding that Google is still "working to support the U.S. government with our cloud in many ways." 5. Facebook, are you kidding? Facebook is making a video camera. The company wants you to take it home, gaze into its single roving-yet-unblinking camera and speak private thoughts to your loved ones. But after a recent data breach that exposed 50 million user accounts, people should be looking for ways to use Facebook for less - not more. 6. Here's Google's Echo Show competitor, the Home Hub The device looks like an Android tablet mounted on top of a speaker — which ought to address the backward firing sound, which is one of the largest design flaws of the recently introduced Echo Show 2. The speaker fabric comes in a number of different colors, in keeping with the rest of the Pixel/Home products, including the new Aqua. 7. Looking back at Google+ After a major data leak (and coverup) that exposed almost half a million users' personal information, Google+ is officially shutting down. On top of this, Google announced that 90% of Google+ sessions are less than five seconds long. But things weren't always like this. Google+ was once heralded as a serious attempt to topple Facebook's stranglehold on social networking. Here's a look back at Google+ |
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