It seem like 3D printing technology is improving each day. So you can imagine my disbelief to see the world’s first 3D supercar called the Blade, the first prototype supercar based on this new technology, Divergent Microfactories CEO Kevin Czinger introduced the company’s plan to dematerialize and democratize car manufacturing. The company has truly unveiled […]
Challenger bank N26 is announcing two things this week. First, the company lets you share sub-accounts with other N26 users in just a few taps. Second, after a limited beta test, the company is officially launching in the U.S. with open registration. Shared Spaces could be seen as an alternative to joint accounts. The feature could be particularly useful for groups with more than 2 persons and situations that temporarily require a shared account. For instance, you could use Shared Spaces for a vacation, to split bills with your roommates, etc. Only a small subset of the company’s user base can access the feature for now. N26 plans to gradually roll out Shared Spaces to all users. The company is building this feature on top of Spaces. This feature has been around for a while. It lets you create a sub-account and set aside some money in that separate sub-account. You can set savings goal and transfer money on a regular basis. Shares Spaces is basically a multiplayer version of Spaces. When a user creates a Space, they can invite up to 10 other N26 users to that Space. While the original user remains the owner of the Space, other users can freely deposit and withdraw money from the shared account. Sending an invite is the equivalent of granting a power of attorney on a Space. The admin of the Shared Space is the only person who can add and remove participant to the Shared Space. So it’s not technically a joint account as joint accounts have multiple owners. Interestingly, N26 is launching this as a premium feature. You need a premium N26 account in order to create a Shared Space, such as an N26 You subscription (€9.90 per month) or an N26 Metal subscription (€16.90 per month). You can invite free users, but free users are limited to two active Spaces. Those limitations will most certainly foster premium subscriptions. Unfortunately, you can’t spend money from a Shared Space directly for now. Your card and bank transfers remain tied to your main N26 account. You have to tap on a transaction and tap on “Pay back from a space” to get your money back from a Shared Space. N26 co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf told me that there could be a feature that lets you attach different cards to different Spaces in the future. When it comes to the U.S., N26 started accepting customers in the U.S. in early July. And it looks like it’s been working well as anyone in the U.S. can now download the app and open a bank account. N26 is also launching MoneyBeam in the U.S., a Venmo-like feature that lets you instantly send money to other N26 users. N26 is also launching perks in the U.S. You’ll get small discounts on some monthly subscriptions if you pay with your N26 card. Current partners include Aaptiv, Blinkist, Luminary and Tidal. I already coved the U.S. launch back in July, so head over to my previous article to learn more. ... Read More
Zomato, one of India’s biggest food delivery startups, has major ambitions. It is increasingly expanding its reach in the country to serve dozens of new cities and towns every few weeks. It is investing heavily in building cloud kitchens to quickly meet demand for certain food items. And it is internally working on “Project Kisan”, something which has not been reported earlier, to procure raw material directly from farmers and fishermen to better control the supply of items to restaurants. It also wants to deliver food by drones in the coming future. To boost its revenue, Zomato is also trying to bring Zomato Gold, a two-year-old subscription program as part of which it allows customers dining in at a restaurant to access a number of discounted deals on food and drinks, to users who prefer to eat at home, sources familiar with the matter have told TechCrunch in recent weeks. Zomato Gold is already a hit with customers. The company expects Gold, which has amassed more than 800,000 customers, to bring in $20 million to $25 million in revenue by end of this year. But before Zomato goes about extending the program, Zomato Gold’s foundation has come under severe scrutiny from a number of restaurant partners in India who say that the startup’s offering is hurting their bottom line and brand image. More than 2,000 of the 6,500 partners of Zomato Gold have opted out of the program in recent days. The disruption occurred over the weekend after the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), a trade body that represents more than 500,000 restaurants in the country, kick started a #LogOut campaign against Zomato and other dining startups such as Nearbuy, Dineout, EazyDiner, and Magicpin. Image: Manish Singh / TechCrunch The Gold program was supposed to be a win-win for both Zomato and restaurant partners. Zomato presents users with restaurant menus, the option to book tables or get food delivered. Thereby, restaurants get better discovery and hopefully some patrons, but more importantly, improved reviews because of the freebies. And for Zomato, which charges a fee for Gold subscription, it is able to better monetize its customer base. But somewhere down the line, Zomato opened what was supposed to be a program for a limited number of subscribers to everyone, making it unfeasible for restaurants to handle the additional traffic. Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, has acknowledged the resistance and admitted that the company has made mistakes. “Somewhere, we have made mistakes and things haven’t gone as planned. This is a wake up call that we need to do 100x more for our restaurant partners than we have done before.” Zomato, which operates in two dozen countries, and other food startups and restaurant partners met earlier this week to reach a conclusion. That also did not go as planned. “Over the past two days, NRAI has held extensive meetings with all restaurant aggregators and we were bemused to learn that the aggregators were promoting deep discounts to stay competitive amongst each other. While one aggregator gave 1+1 (one drink or food item free on purchase of another drink or food item), the other had to adopt a 50% discount scheme in order to stay relevant,” Rahul Singh, President of the NRAI, said in a statement. Singh noted that it is restaurant partners that have to bear the cost of deep discounts that food aggregators offer on their platforms. “Restaurants do not get any share of the proceeds that aggregators generate from guests as subscription fees,” he added. Zomato, on its part, assured that it will bring changes to its Gold program by mid-September to introduce measures to prevent over usage by customers. But late Wednesday, NRAI rejected the proposal calling it insufficient and said restaurants will continue to stay off Zomato. The restaurant association said the problem is deep discounts that Zomato is bandying out through its Gold program and the startup’s proposed changes don’t really address that. “It’s a tweak in the drug, which doesn’t solve the addiction. Since the launch in November 2017, this program has been shifting goalposts. What started as an exclusive invite only privilege, became a marketplace for bargain hunters, a word admitted by the Zomato founder in recent tweets. This Gold has lost its sheen. We stand united in the cause to obviate the deep discounting phenomenon and will therefore #stayloggedout,” the NRAI said in a statement. Goyal argued that NRAI’s Singh himself is not against deep discounts as his own startup — The Beer Cafe — offers discounts to users. Here’s what I think is going on – pic.twitter.com/bo4DQTe3Qb — Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) August 22, 2019 Restaurants have also complained that if they do not accept Zomato Gold program, they risk disappointing customers who have come to expect that every restaurant has enrolled to Zomato Gold. These customers then leave bad ratings on Zomato, which significantly affects the number of orders they get. Zomato makes most of its revenue from promoting and selling listings on its platform. A Zomato spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company was committed to making some changes to its program. Goyal added, “Zomato is logging out of the logout campaign. We have said enough and we are getting back to work. I am confident better business sense will prevail at the end.” ... Read More
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival Eminem’s music publisher, Eight Mile Style, has filed a lawsuit against Spotify, alleging copyright infringement. The suit claims the steaming platform didn’t get proper licenses for the rapper’s music and wants Spotify to compensate the publisher for billions of streams. There are two prongs to the suit, which was first reported today by The Hollywood Reporter. Spotify is accused of willfully ignoring Eight Mile Style’s ownership of Eminem’s catalogue when deciding how to pay out streaming revenue for his playback metrics. Spotify also allegedly violated sections of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), which passed last October and is designed to help streamline the process by which artists, songwriters, producers, and rights holders get... Continue reading… ... Read More
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales There are many criticisms of Facebook’s size, power, and business model, but two stand out for the intensity with which they are usually discussed. One is that Facebook is a dystopian panopticon that monitors our every move and uses that information to predict and manipulate our behavior. The other is that Facebook has come such a pillar of modern life that every product decision it makes could reshape the body politic forever. Today, in an impressive flurry of news-making, Facebook took steps to address both concerns. First, the company said it was finally releasing its long-delayed “Clear History” tool in three countries. (The United States is not one of them.) I wrote about it at The Verge: It was nearly a year and a half ago that... Continue reading… ... Read More
Rovio's premium mobile game streaming service launches for Vodafone 5G customers... Read More
Both deliberate and accidental Cortana, Kinect commands were recorded and heard, most reportedly from children... Read More
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