The $225 Pebble Time 2 is a refreshingly fun smartwatch

Source: Tech Crunch

The $225 Pebble Time 2 is a refreshingly fun smartwatch

Startups

The $225 Pebble Time 2 is a rebooted smartwatch from Core Devices, featuring a color e-paper screen and a 21-day battery life. Unlike the Apple Watch, it emphasizes a playful, retro aesthetic with physical buttons and a silicone band. Supported by a dedicated hacker community, it offers thousands of custom watchfaces and niche apps. While iOS compatibility is limited, it provides essential notifications and basic fitness tracking.

Read Full Story

Apple is reportedly cutting hundreds of jobs from Siri, Vision Pro teams

Startups

Apple has cut over 200 positions across several teams, including the Vision Pro, Siri, and Intelligent Systems Experience groups. The company is reshuffling resources to prioritize its latest AI initiatives and new device development. These changes come amid a challenging transition period marked by rising production costs, price increases for hardware, and a legal battle with OpenAI, as Apple seeks to evolve its business and user experiences.

Read Full Story

TikTok reaches $400M settlement over children’s privacy lawsuit

Startups

"TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations of violating children's online privacy laws. The DOJ claimed TikTok allowed underage users and collected their data without parental consent. While not admitting wrongdoing, the company will implement stricter age controls and enhanced parental oversight to improve protections for young users on the social media platform.".

Read Full Story

Nvidia just showed that the harness, not the AI model, is now the real hero

Startups

"Nvidia research reveals that the 'harness'—the scaffolding and tools surrounding an AI model—is more critical than the model itself for long-horizon tasks. By utilizing a custom harness with a supervising agent, researchers enabled Claude Opus 5 to achieve a perfect 100% score on the ARC-AGI-3 benchmark, compared to 30% without it. This underscores the importance of open agent stacks in improving accuracy and security.".

Read Full Story

Last chance: Save up to $300 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket today

Startups

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place from October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, focusing on innovation in the AI era. The event features specialized stages for real-world AI, finance, and infrastructure, hosting over 10,000 industry professionals. Attendees can network with founders and investors, including speakers from Rivian and Amazon. The deadline to secure the lowest ticket prices, saving up to $300, is tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Read Full Story

Tesla’s solar roof is dead. Here’s what went wrong

Startups

Tesla has discontinued its solar roof, removing the product from its website and redirecting users to traditional solar panels. Despite ambitious goals, the luxury product struggled with high costs, manufacturing inefficiencies, and technical flaws, including overheating and underproduction. While some installers may still have inventory, Tesla's exit highlights the difficulty of integrating solar technology into roofing, though other competitors continue to pursue the niche market.

Read Full Story

Waymo hands over documents in NHTSA’s child collision probe

Startups

"Waymo has submitted responses to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding a January incident in Santa Monica where a robotaxi struck a nine-year-old girl. The child sustained minor injuries during the low-speed collision. NHTSA is investigating Waymo's software and school zone speed limit protocols. While initial documents were posted redacted for confidentiality, Waymo has now completed its submissions as the federal investigation continues.".

Read Full Story

Why is the DOJ investigating Andreessen Horowitz’s board seats?

Startups

The Department of Justice is investigating venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz for potential antitrust violations. The probe focuses on partners Ben Horowitz and Martin Casado, who hold board seats at competing companies Databricks and Fivetran. This rare application of a century-old law highlights the challenges venture firms face when portfolio companies expand into overlapping markets, raising critical questions about how to manage board conflicts in evolving tech landscapes.

Read Full Story

Accel, AVP Sell Over 1 Cr Amagi Shares In ₹587 Cr Block Deals

Business

"Venture capital firms Accel and AVP sold over 1 crore shares of media SaaS startup Amagi in block deals totaling ₹587.3 crore. The shares, priced at ₹560 each, were acquired by major institutional investors, including SBI Mutual Fund and HDFC Standard Life Insurance. This divestment follows Amagi's strong Q1 financial results and the expiry of its IPO lock-in period, with the stock rising 89% since January.".

Read Full Story

US government lab is probing Chinese lidar for security vulnerabilities

Startups

The Idaho National Laboratory is investigating whether Chinese lidar sensors pose security risks to vehicles in the United States. Funded by private industry, the review examines potential cybersecurity threats and espionage concerns. While Chinese sensors are significantly cheaper than American alternatives, lawmakers are proposing bans to prevent data transmission to China. This research occurs as several U.S. automakers consider integrating these cost-effective sensors into their autonomous vehicle systems.

Read Full Story

Karnataka govt launches low cost AI computing device KEO

Startups

The Karnataka government has launched KEO, an open-source, AI-ready computing device designed to democratize access to advanced technology. Developed using RISC-V architecture, KEO features an on-device AI accelerator to support users in areas with limited connectivity. Aimed at students, farmers, and small businesses, the initiative begins with 3,000 devices. The state also introduced KEO Lite and KEO Pro to further bridge the digital divide.

Read Full Story

Zomato Experiments Rapid Food Delivery With Vending Machines

Business

Zomato, owned by Eternal, has introduced "Zomato Now" vending machines in Gurugram corporate offices to bring food closer to consumers. This pilot initiative aims to enhance delivery speed and potentially improve relationships with restaurants facing high platform fees. While Zomato remains a primary profit driver for Eternal, reporting strong Q1 FY27 growth, the company continues to expand its service models amidst rising operational and regulatory costs.

Read Full Story

Physics Wallah’s Full-Stack Bet: Looking Into The Revenue Engine

Business

PhysicsWallah has evolved from a free YouTube channel into a full-stack education company blending online and offline learning. In Q1 FY27, it reported total revenue of ₹1,162.8 crore, driven by its profitable online courses and expanding offline centers. While the offline segment remains loss-making, the company utilizes its online profits to fund growth across new categories and geographies, diversifying beyond JEE and NEET preparation.

Read Full Story

(Weekly funding roundup Aug 15-21) VC inflow remains rangebound

Startups

Indian venture capital funding in August has been driven primarily by a few large transactions, reflecting a broader struggle to secure significant investment. Recent funding reached $187 million, bolstered by Navi's $100 million raise. Other major deals included River Mobility and Yulu. While sectors like financial services and deeptech saw activity, the reliance on solitary large deals highlights ongoing challenges within the Indian startup ecosystem.

Read Full Story

Zetwerk’s IPO Test: Can Revenue Growth Outrun Its Cash Flow Pressure?

Business

Zetwerk has filed for an IPO featuring a fresh issue of up to ₹2,600 crore and an offer for sale. The B2B manufacturer reported FY26 revenue of ₹15,913 crore and a growing order book of ₹12,370 crore. While shifting toward complex in-house manufacturing for AI and defense, the company faces challenges including thin margins, widening operating cash outflows, and a consolidated loss of ₹1,606 crore.

Read Full Story

Oura faces lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers about sleep-tracking accuracy

Startups

Oura faces a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company deceived consumers regarding the accuracy of its sleep tracking features. The complaint claims the smart rings cannot measure physiological signals needed for sleep staging, relying instead on unreliable AI estimates. While Oura marketed its devices as clinically accurate, the lawsuit argues such measurements require specialized medical equipment, seeking restitution for users and an end to misleading advertisements.

Read Full Story

India Can Build A Commercially Viable Space Sector For The World: PM Modi

Business

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with leaders of 20 space startups to discuss expanding India's private space ecosystem and establishing the nation as a global industry hub. The PM encouraged collaborations with agriculture and education sectors to drive innovation. Supported by the Indian Space Policy 2023 and various venture funds, the sector is projected to reach $77 billion by 2030, leveraging liberalized FDI and ISRO infrastructure.".

Read Full Story

Walmart to finally start accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay

Startups

Walmart and Sam’s Club will begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay starting August 24. The rollout will reach all stores and clubs by the end of the year, with fuel stations following by mid-2027. After years of promoting its own payment solutions and resisting industry standards, the retail giant is finally adopting tap-to-pay technology to provide customers with more checkout options and improve the overall shopping experience.

Read Full Story

Rooftop solar crosses 50 lakh homes as PM Surya Ghar triples its pace

Startups

With a budget of Rs 75,021 crore, the program aims for 1 crore homes through direct subsidies and concessional loans. Currently, 14.8 GW of capacity is commissioned, enabling 19 lakh households to achieve zero electricity bills while others earn income from surplus power.

Read Full Story

Starcloud raises $250 million for orbital data centers as launch options dry up

Startups

Starcloud, a startup developing AI inference satellites, has secured a $250 million funding extension, bringing its valuation to $2.3 billion. Led by Manhattan West Ventures with participation from Nvidia and Cisco, the capital will expand manufacturing and support the Starcloud-3 spacecraft. Starcloud is collaborating with Nvidia on a space-ready GPU and plans to launch its Starcloud-2 satellites in 2027 to provide orbital compute services.

Read Full Story

Categories