Tech Meme

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Amazon announces new devices: the $40 Echo Pop with a semi-circle design, updated Echo Show 5 and 5 Kids Edition, $50 Echo Buds, expanded Echo Auto, and more  —  After last fall’s Amazon hardware event which brought us a handful of new Echo devices, like the Dot with the clock and other minor updates … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Chris Welch / The Verge: Beats Studio Buds+ review: better sound, ANC, battery, and voice calls, but ANC lags AirPods Pro, no wireless charging, and misses some Apple ecosystem tricks  —  With better sound, improved noise cancellation, and a standout translucent design, these are everything the original Beats Studio Buds should’ve been. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: Stability AI releases StableStudio, an open-source version of DreamStudio, its commercial interface for the text-to-image Stable Diffusion model  —  Stability AI is releasing an open-source version of DreamStudio, a commercial interface for the company’s AI image generator model, Stable Diffusion. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg: India unveils a ~$2B, six-year incentive scheme to entice makers of laptops, tablets, and other hardware to the country, following its 2021 smartphone program  —  India is unveiling a 170 billion rupee ($2 billion) financial incentive plan to draw makers of laptops, tablets and other hardware … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Ryan Weeks / The Block: Ripple acquires Switzerland-based digital asset custody startup Metaco for $250M in cash and stock and plans to keep the brand and founder Adrien Treccani  —  David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images  — Crypto payments firm Ripple shelled out $250 million for Swiss custody startup Metaco. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Reuters: Since April 6, the Cyberspace Administration of China closed 107K online accounts of counterfeit news outlets and anchors and removed 835K pieces of content  —  China has intensified efforts to clean up the internet from false news and rumours, closing more than 100,000 online accounts … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch: Singapore-based Bolttech, a B2B2C startup that offers “embedded” insurance products, raised a $196M Series B led by Japan’s Tokio Marine at a $1.6B valuation  —  Embedded insurtech is still hot, as the $196 million in funding landed by bolttech proves. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Entrepreneur Dean Drako raised $100M for video surveillance startup Eagle Eye Networks and $92M for smart lock startup Brivo from Japanese security giant SECOM  —  Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo, two players in the world of physical cloud security — respectively video surveillance … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Anna Tong / Reuters: A poll of 4,415 US adults finds that 61% believe AI could threaten civilization and 66%+ are concerned about negative effects; 70% of Trump voters are concerned  —  The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jing Yang / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Shein raised $2B at a $66B valuation, down from $100B in April 2022, led by Sequoia, General Atlantic, and Mubadala; Shein made $23B in 2022 revenue  —  Online retailer made $800 million net profit in 2022 and is targeting 40% growth, but faces geopolitical headwinds and rising competition Lees verder op Tech Meme