TC Daily Newsletter 07/13/16

European Pokemon are more sophisticated, Hyperloop One has some hyper-drama, Magic Leap keeps teasing and Samsung plans a party – all in today's top tech news from TechCrunch.

1. The Pokewave begins to engulf Europe

Pokemon Go fever is still high, with new data showing usage eclipsing hugely sticky apps like Facebook. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better: Go touched down in its first European market today, with the release of Pokemon Go in Germany.

Europe is likely to enjoy the Pokepleasures, but the really big launch will come when Go starts rolling out in Asia. Consider this: it hasn't even been released in Japan, where the franchise was born, which is causing some impatience.

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2. Hyperloop hijinks

Eternally entertainingly-named Brogan BamBrogan isn't laughing about his departure from Hyperloop One – the former SpaceX staffer has filed suit against brothers Afshin and Shervin Pishevar, and has filed a restraining order against Afshin as well. BamBrogan (who named himself) claims in court documents that the Pishevar brothers and other VCs are strangling the core tech, and that Shervin is giving the company's PR vendor preferential treatment (and dating her).

Hyperloop One might have a personal chasm to cross before it crosses the Baltic Sea.

3. Magic Leap might actually show us what it does... "Soonish"

Augmented reality startup Magic Leap is one of the most secretive, best-funded startups on the planet. With over $1.39 billion invested, we still know little more about the company than we did in 2014. But founder Rony Abovitz was at Fortune's conference in Aspen this week and said they're finally beyond the research phase, while slyly teasing some kind of fall product reveal.

Magic Leap's whole competitive advantage is supposed to be to overlay hyperrealistic graphics on real settings, with minimal equipment required. It sounds promising. Unlike most of the company's investors, however, I like to look before I leap.

4. Samsung's going big on August 2

It's summer, which means Samsung has a big phone it wants to show us. That big phone, like a Note 7, will be revealed on August 2 at 11 AM ET, and leaks suggest it'll be something like an enlarged Galaxy S7. Given the S7 sales performance, why mess with success?

Maybe more interesting from an emerging tech perspective will be if they show us another iteration of GearVR, their virtual reality headset developed in partnership with Oculus, which is probably the best way for most people to enjoy quality VR affordably right now.

5. Google acqui-hires more search talent

Google picked up an entire company to help it improve Spaces, the group sharing/chat app that most of you probably already forgot existed. Kifi, the company acquired (mostly for talent) offers deep link searching tools for stuff shared on social. Those are smarts that likely have value beyond Spaces, should that prove to have a limited shelf life.

6. Pokemon Go no longer wants all of your data – just some of it

In its haste to bring Pokemon Go to the world, Niantic pushed out a version for iOS that "accidentally" required full access to your Google account. They've fixed that with a 1.01 update, which now only asks for your email address, and any info you may be sharing via your Google Public profile. I'll gladly give you whatever for a Gyarados, Niantic.

7. Law that gives Feds authority to collect bulk internet data challenged

Section 702 lets the U.S. Government monitor foreigners operating outside of the U.S., even without any prior connection to terrorism, but it may be challenged thanks to a case in the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. If the law gets challenged successfully, that would be a big step towards ensuring more privacy for a big portion of the world. But it "probably won't," is the unfortunate prediction of one privacy expert familiar with these kinds of cases. Womp womp.