Don't miss these Ring, ring, it's that guy you don’t like on Twitter: For some reason, X launched audio and video calling back in October of 2023 for subscribers who use its iOS app. Well, if you pay for X and use Android, here's some good news: calls are now coming to the Android version of the app as well. While I do not see any reason for making calls as I tweet, X has made noise about becoming an “everything app," so count this as one step closer to that goal. Taiwan, politics and semiconductors: Lai Ching-te of the DPP party, who won the Taiwan elections recently, seems to have his job cut out for him. Chipmaking is one of the country's biggest economic drivers, and Lai will have to carefully balance keeping happy supporters of the DPP, which considers Taiwan to be a separate country from mainland China, and bolster the semiconductor industry, which is increasingly more vulnerable to geopolitics. Iowa sues TikTok: The U.S. state is suing TikTok, arguing that its age rating on mobile app stores is bunk, and that it is misleading parents about the content available to kids on the platform. TikTok is not new to the litigation game, but the suit is surely unwelcome, especially as the company – owned by ByteDance, one reason why it's a frequent target of suits and complaints – has been trying hard to hold on to its massive and lucrative presence in the United States. TipTop wants to buy your stuff: Former Postmates founder Bastian Lehmann and former TechCrunch Editor in Chief Matthew Panzarino are cooking up something new at TipTop. The startup's first product is TipTop Cash, which offers instant payoffs for used electronics. Given how much clutter we all have at home, the app sounds like a good idea since, as Sarah Perez reports, it makes it easy to sell the items you own. Still, it remains to be seen how well it will compete with Facebook Marketplace and other used-goods marketplaces. Netflix doesn't heart the Vision Pro: The streaming service giant has confirmed that it won't build an app for the Apple Vision Pro. I am currently on the fence about buying the VR headset, but I did expect app support from the major players — it is an Apple product after all. I'm not sure if Netflix's decision says more about the headset (is it too hard or expensive to build new apps?) or Apple (does it no longer have the cachet to demand developer interest?), but as a consumer, this stinks. Prime Video retreats: Speaking of tech companies acting like they are suddenly out of money, Amazon's video streaming service is downsizing its Africa and Middle East operations in a move that will affect teams in the two regions. "Prime Video will stop contracting originals in Africa and Middle East markets," Annie Njanja and Tage Kene-Okafor report. What's the point of being worth trillions if you have to nickel and dime your own customers and employees? Catchup on crypto: After a long period of relative dormancy, crypto is once again doing its thing: arguing with regulators, launching meme coins, and hunting for the killer use case that will take it to the mainstream. Jacquelyn Melinek has all the critical news, updates and memes to keep you up to speed. Enjoy! Another day, another hack: You know what's cool with kids these days? Supreme shoes. You know what's not cool with kids and everyone else? Massive data breaches. That is precisely what VF Corp, the parent company of The North Face, Vans and Supreme brands, just served up in its winter collection: Some 35 million customers' personal data was yanked by hackers, TechCrunch reports. |
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