Citizen Lab claims Apple's 'Lockdown Mode' helped block spyware attack by hacker group NSO

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Happy Tuesday Crunch, our crunchiest of friends. So happy to see you again. Yesterday, Haje wondered if he was an AI, so clearly he needs a holiday. Today, shall we bask in the glory of tech news together? —  Christine and Haje  Image Credits: JuSun / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 You got blocked: Sometimes technology does what it's supposed to. In Apple's case, researchers looking into spyware vulnerabilities said its "Lockdown Mode" was able to thwart the advances of the infamous mercenary hacking provider NSO Group. Lorenzo has more. Also, Apple opens its first retail store in India, but there are…challenges, Manish writes. Don’t forget your boarding pass: Alaska Airlines is doing away with check-in kiosks in favor of a more modern look to its gate area. Fliers will need to print boarding passes at home or check in using their smartphones, Frederic reports. Truth seeker: Elon Musk wants to develop his own chatbot called TruthGPT, which he describes as "a maximum truth-seeking AI," reports Ivan.

Startups and VC Mansa, a free ad-supported streaming service and content aggregator that offers a curated selection of Black cultural content, launched out of stealth today, Lauren reports. Mansa offers a wide variety of content, from on-demand titles and digital linear (FAST) channels to short-form videos and user-generated content. And we have another loosely assembled melange of tasty morsels for you: Like shopping but future-i-er: Christine reports that Rally bags $12 million to build the future of e-commerce checkout. Eye see what you did there: AI-powered retina scanning startup Mediwhale raises $9 million, Kate reports. One tool to rule them all: Avalor wants to unify cybersecurity tools by aggregating data, Kyle reports. I'll take a large, please: Christine reports that B Capital leads Odeko's $53 million Series D to help small coffee shops scale. Welcome to your customer service bot: Ron covers that Ada released an automated generative AI-driven customer service suite. Fill that pit lest you fall in: Over on TC+, Haje explores 7 common pitfalls for hardware startups and how to avoid them. Image Credits: Getty Images

TC+ SaaS retention benchmarks: How does your business stack up? SaaS companies are like leaky rowboats. If retention rates aren't strong enough to overcome customer churn, they'll take on water until they sink to the bottom. Sid Jain, a senior analyst with ChartMogul, researched 2,100 companies and found that "more than half of SaaS businesses had lower retention in 2022 when compared to 2021." In this detailed breakdown, he compares net revenue retention rates by ARR range and identifies benchmarks for companies that have yet to reach product-market fit. "What is considered a good net retention rate differs by the stage of your business," advises Jain. "When benchmarking, always keep the stage of your business in mind." TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Three more from the TC+ team: Money? For NFTs? In this economy?: Jacquelyn has some advice for you if you want funding for your NFT project. Make hay while the sun sh-ai-nes: So you want to launch an AI startup, Ron wonders. Not all debt is created equal: Jeremy Abelson explores why investors prefer debt over equity (but not venture debt). Read More Image Credits: AlexandrMoroz / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. You gotta love Darrell's headline for his article today, "Goodbye to the fat middle," which at first glance might pay homage to ridding oneself of their fluffy abdominal fat, but really Darrell opines about Adobe's new AI-powered features, and what that means for the human workforce, namely, that "what's most in danger of future extinction within these bullet points provided by Adobe is effectively the fat middle of the bell curve of multimedia editing work." Some television platforms and shows are quieter than others, but Prime Video customers who need a little extra sound to hear dialogue just got boosted. Sarah reports that if you can't watch television without subtitles, Prime Video has a new feature that makes dialogue easier to hear. And we have five more for you: It's all so chill: More than a dozen open source bodies wrote a letter to the European Commission to reconsider some aspects of the Cyber Resilience Act, which they say could have a "'chilling effect" on their software development, Paul reports. Competition heating up: A new Instagram feature competes with Linktree and others to enable users to put up to five links in their bio. Sarah has more. "The first bird that pokes its head out gets shot": The U.S. government's critique of TikTok is drawing in a number of other China-based tech companies, and now Shein and Temu find themselves facing scrutiny, Rita reports. Who you gonna call?: When monsters attack, you need an army of fictional characters to fight back. Luckily, Niantic is making a real-world 'Monster Hunter' game, writes Ivan. Can you hear me now?: It's noisy out there, but Whisper Aero is out to create drones and other vehicles quieter, Aria reports. Image Credits: Collage by Darrell Etherington / Getty Images

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Computer, Networks and Emerging Technologies Instructor at Calbright College (Anywhere) Lead Data Engineer at Brivo Systems LLC (Bethesda, MD, USA) Senior Systems Performance Engineer at IEEE (Piscataway, NJ, USA) Executive Director Business Architecture at Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR, USA) Senior Software Developer (Remote) at The American Physical Society (United States) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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Sideloaded apps coming soon to an iPhone near you in iOS 17

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Monday, April 17, 2023

Happy Monday Crunch! Haje is wrapping up this newsletter before heading to TechCrunch Early Stage 2023 in Boston on April 20. It's not too late to get your ticket! Meanwhile, on the Equity podcast today, the pod crew wonders, What’s an Angry Bird worth? It turns out, Sega thinks it's $775 million for the whole bird farm. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Apple

The TechCrunch Top 3 Apple's announcements were big for readers today, so here we go: Psst, wanna install an app?: Apple likes to keep things close to the vest, but Ivan writes that the consumer tech giant is reportedly considering allowing people to sideload apps to their iPhone in iOS 17. Apple makes things interest-ing: Last October, Apple unveiled a new financial product, and today, the company spilled a little more tea about its Apple Card savings accounts, featuring a 4.15% interest rate, reports Romain. Watch this: Apple Watch users have been waiting — can we say patiently? — for a new software update. Well, Sarah reports today the watch is likely to get its biggest software update since its 2015 debut.

Startups and VC Back in January, a $810 million deal fell apart to buy Angry Birds makers Rovio, but the company suggested they were still in talks with other potential interested parties. Today, Paul reports that deal became official as Japanese gaming giant Sega has confirmed that it's buying Finland's Rovio in an all-cash deal worth $775 million. As the economy has gotten tougher, plenty of companies have switched from buying to renting. There's an acronym for this — XaaS, or "everything as a service," also referred to as "servitization." An example of this would be ServiceNow, which automates services for enterprise operations. A newish player in this space is Equipme, out of Germany, which secured $3.8 million in a seed investment round led by La Famiglia VC, Mike writes. And we have five more for you: That's a hell of a slingshot: Orbit Fab closes $28.5 million Series A for on-orbit refueling capabilities, Aria reports. 1 + 1 = 21M: Innovamat tallies up $21 million to reinvent math education, Ingrid reports. As fleeting as a laptop: Romain reports that device-as-a-service startup Fleet expands beyond laptop leasing. It sees right through you: Scan.com, which gives patients direct access to private medical imaging services, raises $12 million, writes Paul. Hydrate or die-drate: Hydration brand Cure mixes new funding into its growth plans, Christine reports.

No, you're not raising money to increase your runway Haje often hears founders say they are raising money to increase their runway by 18 to 24 months. In a sense, that is accurate, but only from the startup's point of view. That's not what an investor is looking for. Your company surviving for another year and a half is not the goal of a fundraise; that's a side effect at best. Ask yourself — what happens at the end of those 18 months? Founders should communicate to investors what a round of funding unlocks. That's expressed in milestones, not in time. The goal is to transform the company sufficiently that you can do something that you cannot do at this moment, and in this piece, Haje breaks down how. Three more from the TC+ team: No more pixel peeping: Carly writes how the crackdown on pixel tracking in telehealth is a warning for every startup. When the restraint goes marching in: Is there really a march from the public cloud back on-prem? Our own corporate reporter Ron suggests there's more at play. A non-prophet organization: Alex suggests that tech investors' obsession over profit is already waning. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: Siriporn Kaenseeya / EyeEm / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. There was no "up, up and away" for SpaceX today, which was attempting to fly its Starship launch system for the first time. Aria reports that the flight test turned into a wet dress rehearsal due to a frozen pressure valve. Now SpaceX is looking at April 19 as the next possible date to try again. Luxury car enthusiasts gather 'round. Mercedes debuts the Maybach EQS SUV, which includes features that Matt writes are "dripping with historic Maybach design elements: two-tone paint, imposing wheels, a proper hood ornament and, yes, a grill with filigree slats even though it's electric and there isn't a radiator to protect." Now here's five more for you: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: Ivan takes a look at some of the AI-powered tools out there to help developers build AI-powered chatbot assistants. Don't let this one fly away: Adobe's generative AI tool Firefly is now a part of the Creative Cloud family, Frederic reports. That's a fact, Jack: Some of the U.S.'s largest technology companies are voicing concern over India's fact-checking rule. Manish has more on why. Cleopatra will now take your chat: Want to see what Beethoven and other historical and fictional characters might have to say about…anything? There's an app for that. Superchat's new AI chatbot lets you message these characters via ChatGPT, Sarah writes. A-I can't believe it: An AI-generated song by Drake and The Weeknd went viral, and the response is what you might have imagined. Amanda has more.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Computer, Networks and Emerging Technologies Instructor at Calbright College (Anywhere) Lead Data Engineer at Brivo Systems LLC (Bethesda, MD, USA) Senior Systems Performance Engineer at IEEE (Piscataway, NJ, USA) Executive Director Business Architecture at Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR, USA) Senior Software Developer (Remote) at The American Physical Society (United States) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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