Thursday, July 27, 2017

Twitter's troubles take their toll. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH
THURSDAY, JULY 27 2017 By Darrell Etherington

Twitter is not doing so great, WhatsApp is doing amazing and Slack is raising lots more money. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for July 27, 2017.

1. Twitter tanks

Twitter's stock took a hefty hit early on after the company reported results that included stalled out monthly active user growth. The company didn't do a great job explaining why MAUs weren't climbing anymore, either.

This is not going to end well for Twitter – it tried to spin DAUs as on the rise, too, since they're down sequentially but up year-over-year, but it's hard to prove that out when Twitter isn't a consumer device company where seasonal swings like that make a lot more sense.

2. WhatsApp hits 1 billion daily active users

In rosier DAU news, Facebook's WhatsApp crossed the 1 billion mark, which is way, way, way more than Twitter could ever hope for. Apples to oranges, sort of, but WhatsApp continues to evolve along the lines of WeChat, which does a lot of what Twitter does in China.

3. Slack is raising $250 million

Slack is raising a huge round at a $5 billion valuation, TC learned, with SoftBank, Accel and other existing investors already in. That's a lot of value placed on internal comms, but who doesn't use it at this point let's be honest.

4. Ford brings its Chariot micro-transit model to New York

Ford acquisition Chariot is expanding to New York City, and this will help the company see how its commuter and transit crowdsourced shuttle service operates in a market with round-the-clock demand. This could be a make or break point for this mobility experiment.

5. Samsung manages record quarter

Despite leadership turmoil, and its Galaxy Note 7 issues late last year, Samsung has managed to post a record $9.9 billion in profit for the second quarter of 2017, its strongest ever. The Galaxy S8 and its supplier business helped with the swell.

6. Overwatch players will be well compensated in pro league

Overwatch players are starting out at $50,000 per year in the new city-based competitive esports league for the online game. That's pretty damn good, considering there are also health and retirement benefits, and compensation will ramp based on performance.

7. WeWork expands to China

Shared workspaces from WeWork are now officially a thing in China, with a standalone business backed by some major investors and local partners.

Also, FYI the automated version of this newsletter is no longer going to be sending on the weekends, but if you still want TC news on the weekend you can sign up for the Week In Review or the Startups Weekly.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Adobe Flash really is going to die this time. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 2017 By Darrell Etherington

Flash is really going to go away finally (in a few years), also white plastic is an intergalactic aesthetic trend. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for July 26, 2017.

1. Flash's end is near

Adobe Flash, you still manage to annoy the heck out of me – admittedly less often than usual, but Adobe announcing an official end-of-life date for the crappy web tech is great news for people who would like to watch online video without annoyance.

The main culprits are admittedly TV and cable networks who launched streaming sites when Flash was the best option out there and still don't really have a good strategy for the future of online video, but I'll just be happy to never have to enable the plugin in Chrome again.

2. Facebook needs humans to craft its AI narrative

Feel like editorializing the end of human achievement? Lol jk, but this Facebook ad for an AI Editor is still great fodder for poking fun.

3. Wazers rejoice

Google has finally put Waze on Android Auto, which is big news for the platform's many devoted users. It comes with all the same hazard reporting features, and, importantly for Google, it incorporates Waze's location-based native advertising platform. Remember: Ads are still Google's primary business, and this gives them a new vector for the automotive market.

4. Apple and Cochlear debut first cochlear implant made for iPhone

The MFI program usually concerns itself with cables, docks and cases, but now there's a new cochlear implant that's certified for use with iPhone, and designed specifically to enhance iOS accessibility. Pretty cool.

5. Ebay's image search is the latest step in a camera-centric world

iOS 11 adds QR code reader and brings AR kit to the iPhone's camera, and more companies are building camera-based tech. It's the platform of the future, and it's growing at a rapid pace across industries and devices.

6. Blue is a dating app for verified Twitter users, and a dumb idea

Hey this is stupid. It's probably just a stunt, since the company makes an app I've never heard of but I know about. Still dumb.

7. Apple's earbuds are inspired by Stormtroopers

White plastic is the signature look of both evil galactic authoritarians and people who love taking their music on the go.

Also, FYI the automated version of this newsletter is no longer going to be sending on the weekends, but if you still want TC news on the weekend you can sign up for the Week In Review or the Startups Weekly.

Get more stories at techcrunch.com 

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