| Snapchat goes group, Google dials back autonomous auto ambitions and Apple's AirPods arrive. All that and more in The Daily Crunch. And if you were hoping to get away from this terrible Earth via SpaceX in the near future, you may have to wait just a little bit longer. 1. Snapchat launches Groups Snapchat has launched Groups, letting you get together with up to 16 of your best pals on the social network to share a conversation in semi-private. It's a long-awaited feature that makes a lot of sense, given Snapchat's progress. More interesting might be the Shazam integration the company also launched today; it basically brings Shazam into the Snapchat camera as a kind of built-in app. Snapchat's camera could become a platform within a platform, and that would be very smart for Snap to do. 
2. Google taps brakes on self-driving car development Google is stopping work on developing its own self-driving car, according to The Information, and will instead shift the business model to focus on working with automakers. That's probably for the best, but it might mean we never see that adorable little panda car roaming the streets in any kind of significant number. 3. Facebook now has a home for parents to oversee their kids Kids are probably going to use Facebook, unless they're using Snapchat, but this new Facebook Parents Portal is perhaps the network's best attempt yet to make it easier to handle your teen's social activity. 4. AirPods are here... and gone? Apple's AirPods made their debut on the Apple Store today, but they also quickly sold out -- at least for delivery before Christmas. Apple seems to have made only very limited stock available, but it says there'll be regular shipments to stores if you want to try your luck at retail for this potential high-demand holiday gift. 5. Google is working with Improbable to build massive virtual worlds In a lot of sci-fi, a huge virtual world parallels the real one -- and this new team-up between Google and London startup Improbable might pave the way for that to become a reality. I'm staking out my virtual territorial claim right now. 6. SpaceX's first crewed mission pushed to 2018 Delays are only to be expected in the complicated world of space travel. SpaceX is going to miss its original target for a crewed mission with its Dragon capsule, pushing that launch back to mid-2018. It's had to deal with a surprise explosion, however, so it's understandable that things might slip. 7. Google's talking about race in the open Google has big problems when it comes to race and how they're represented on its search engine, but the company is at least open to discussing its problems among employees. At a panel around algorithmic bias yesterday, it welcomed TC's own Megan Rose Dickey, alongside Bradley Horowitz, Anil Dash, Van Jones and others to talk about its challenges and potential fixes. | 
