Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

Welcome back, folks, to Daily Crunch. The sluggish week between Christmas and New Years continues — but from where this reporter's standing, it's less sluggish than in years past news-wise.

Brian writes about projections around Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset, which is set to be one of the biggest consumer electronics launches in some time. Apple oracle Ming-Chi Kuo recently narrowed down what he believes will be a “late-January/early-February” release date for the system; the first wave of Vision Pros are being shipped to Apple in about a month, Kuo says, with total shipments numbering around 500,000 for the full year. Read more.

In other Apple news, an appeals court has instituted a pause on the Apple Watch import ban that went into effect in the U.S. just yesterday. The halt, which comes after Apple filed an emergency request with the U.S. Court of Appeals, will remain in place until the court takes additional action. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 remain unavailable on Apple’s site nearly a week after initially being pulled. Read more.

More top reads

Hackers keep hacking: Hackers had a busy year exploiting popular file-transfer tools and targeting under-resourced organizations. Carly writes about the biggest data breaches of the year, including MOVEit, Capita, and Citrix Bleed. Read the full list.

The year’s best apps: As 2023 draws to a close, Ivan and the rest of the TechCrunch crew reflect on some of their favorite apps that made everyday life a little easier this year. Some picks include Mimestream (a Mac app for Gmail), a bite-sized comics app (Tinyview) and a macro tracking app with minimal cues (MacroFactor). See the rest.

The Times sues OpenAI: The New York Times is suing OpenAI and its close collaborator (and investor), Microsoft, for allegedly violating copyright law by training generative AI models on Times' content. It’s the latest in a string of IP-related lawsuits over GenAI tech. Read more.

NFTs will survive: NFTs have suffered everything from ridicule and scams to a broad dip in demand due to the "crypto winter." Still, Jacquelyn says, the sector has persisted through the downturn, and recent momentum in crypto has investors, community members and spectators alike becoming interested in NFTs again. See why here. (TC+)

Building homes with robots: A new startup, BotBuilt, wants to lower the cost of homebuilding using robots. BotBuilt’s robots specifically tackle framing, a costly and time-consuming part of the homebuilding process. Read more.

AI’s hidden costs: As the lynchpin of digital innovation, AI holds the future for many forward-leaning businesses. But while AI and GenAI very possibly pave a path toward opportunity, they come with risks that can threaten the sustainable use of the technologies, writes Tangoe CIO Mark Troller for TC+. Learn more. (TC+)

On the pods

On the latest episode of Equity, Rebecca interviewed two Aussie VCs: Dan Krasnostein of Square Peg and Gabrielle Munzer of Main Sequence. They dug into why early-stage funding is popping off in the Australian region, the government's role in growing a startup ecosystem, why the region's deep tech startups are less worried about "tourist-style" investors and what it's like to compete — and collaborate — with Silicon Valley. Listen here.

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