Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

Happy Friday

YouTube’s homepage gets a new look, Disney reveals streaming plans in the U.K. and elsewhere and we take a closer look at Microsoft’s strategy to become more innovative. Here’s your Daily Crunch for November 8, 2019.

YouTube's homepage redesign focuses on usability, giving you control over recommendations

The company announced an updated, cleaner design that does away with information density, instead giving more room to the videos and their titles. Other new features include an "Add to Queue" option on the desktop, a desktop version of YouTube's stop suggesting feature and more.

The design changes, which started rolling out yesterday, are focused on the desktop and tablet versions of YouTube, not the YouTube mobile website or app.

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Experience TechCrunch live at Disrupt Berlin this December

Sponsored by TechCrunch

f you're part of the European tech startup scene (or want to be), Disrupt Berlin is the place you need to be this 11-12 December. Experience two networking-packed days with leaders from Away, Klarna, Naspers, SoftBank and more. Grab your Early Bird passes and save €500.

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Disney+ will launch in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain in March 2020

Disney has revealed more details about its international streaming plans. Keep in mind, though, that Disney+ won’t be exactly the same in every territory, thanks to rights/licensing deals that may already be in place.

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How Microsoft is trying to become more innovative

Across the board, the company is trying to find ways to become more innovative, especially around its work in AI. Microsoft is unusually open about this process, too, and actually made it a focus at this week’s Ignite conference. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Alibaba to invest $3.3B to bump its stake in logistics unit Cainiao

Alibaba is doubling down on its logistics affiliate Cainiao, two years after acquiring a majority stake in the firm. The Chinese giant said today it would invest an additional 23.3 billion yuan (about $3.33 billion) to raise its equity in Cainiao to 63%.

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Kepler achieves a world-first for satellite broadband with 100Mbps connection to the Arctic

This is the first time there's been a high-bandwidth satellite network for any central Arctic ground-based use, Kepler says, and this connection isn't just a technical demo: it's being used for the hundreds of researchers in the MOSAiC team.

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Google hires former Disney and Star executive to head its India business

Sanjay Gupta previously served as a managing director at Disney India and Disney-owned Star. He’ll be replacing Rajan Anandan, who left the company to join VC fund Sequoia Capital.

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Sir Martin Sorrell's Silicon Valley charm offensive

Sir Martin Sorrell has enjoyed huge success, having built the world's biggest advertising conglomerate, WPP, over 32 years. He's also out for revenge, after he left WPP due to allegations of misconduct.

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• Full Stack Developer (Remote) at The Good Food Institute (Washington)
• Azure Dev-Ops Engineer (Full Time, On Site) at Servant Systems (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
• Account Executive at Quorum (Washington D.C., DC, USA)
• Software Developer at Quorum (Washington, DC, USA)
• Senior Software Engineer Backend at Fictiv (San Francisco, CA, USA)

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Happy Thursday

The Department of Justice accuses former Twitter employees of spying for Saudi Arabia, Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is now on sale and Facebook faces scrutiny from California’s attorney general. Here’s your Daily Crunch for November 7, 2019.

Saudi Arabia reportedly recruited Twitter employees to steal personal data of activists

Saudi Arabian officials allegedly paid at least two Twitter employees to access personal information on users the government there was interested in, according to recently unsealed court documents. Those users were warned of the attempt in 2015, but the full picture is only now emerging.

According to the federal complaint, Twitter employees Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Alzabarah were both approached by the Saudi government, which promised "a designer watch and tens of thousands of dollars" if they could retrieve personal information on certain users. (Both Abouammo and Alzabarah are charged with acting as unregistered Saudi agents — spies.)

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Microsoft's HoloLens 2 starts shipping

Earlier this year, at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced the second generation of its HoloLens augmented reality visor. Today, the $3,500 HoloLens 2 is going on sale in select countries.

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California accuses Facebook of ignoring subpoenas in state's Cambridge Analytica investigation

California's attorney general Xavier Becerra has accused Facebook of "continuing to drag its feet" by failing to provide documents to the state's investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

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Wrench's on-demand vehicle repair and maintenance service picks up $20 million

Equipped with diagnostic software and service trucks, Wrench meets fleet operators and consumers at their vehicles to provide servicing and repairs.

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There's no 'perfect time' for giving employees feedback

For many managers, giving feedback often falls to the bottom of their priority list. According to Gallup, less than half of employees surveyed said they received feedback even a few times a year — yet 69% say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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Google Pay comes to Curve, the banking platform that consolidates all your cards into one

Hot on the heels of adding support for Samsung Pay, Curve — the London-based "over-the-top" banking platform that lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single card — has added support for Google Pay.

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Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk to talk about late-stage bets at Disrupt Berlin

South African internet company Naspers isn't a particularly well-known name in the startup community. However, the company made an early investment in Tencent, and it still retains a 31% stake that’s valued at around $100 billion.

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• Account Executive at Quorum (Washington D.C., DC, USA)
• Software Developer at Quorum (Washington, DC, USA)
• Senior Software Engineer Backend at Fictiv (San Francisco, CA, USA)
• Lead Software Engineer at American Medical Association (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
• Senior Associate, HRIS at The Pew Charitable Trusts (Washington, D.C., USA)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

Happy Wednesday

Uber gets into the ad business, the FCC approves the T-Mobile/Sprint merger and Salesforce names a new CEO for its Marketing Cloud. Here’s your Daily Crunch for November 6, 2019.

Uber is entering the ads business

Uber will become an ad platform, selling space inside its Eats app to restaurants hoping to lure in more food delivery orders. A recent Uber job listing spotted by TechCrunch seeks an Uber Eats Ads Lead "to lead the team and efforts responsible for creating a new ads business that enables eaters to discover new foods and restaurants to grow their customer base."

The fresh opportunity comes at a critical time when Uber is desperate to show its future potential in the face of a sagging share price.

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This Shark Tank company is trending!

Sponsored by Manscaped

Last year there were 171,321 reported ER visits related to personal grooming injuries. Fortunately, MANSCAPED engineered the first manscaping trimmer with SkinSafe™ technology!

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FCC approves T-Mobile/Sprint merger despite serious concerns

The FCC has given its stamp of approval to T-Mobile and Sprint's proposed merger, saying the deal will "enhance competition" and hasten 5G deployment. Those opposed say the merger creates a triumvirate of mobile giants that will "divide up the market, increase prices, and compete only for the most lucrative customers."

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Salesforce names Adam Blitzer as the new CEO of Marketing Cloud

The Marketing Cloud is Salesforce's suite of digital marketing tools, built around the company's acquisition of ExactTarget back in 2013. That acquisition is what brought Blitzer to Salesforce — he co-founded marketing automation startup Pardot, which was acquired by ExactTarget the year before the Salesforce deal.

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Veterans can now use an iPhone to pull up their health records

Health records have been accessible via Apple’s Health app since the beginning of 2018, and now that functionality has expanded to any veteran who is an iOS user receiving care through through the Veterans Health Administration.

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Shopping ads come to YouTube's home feed and search results

If a user searches for "Puma shoes review," a Shopping ad may offer a row of suggested products at the top of the page before the video results. The ads also may appear as a carousel between the videos on the homepage.

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Coveo raises US$172M at $1B+ valuation for AI-based enterprise search and personalization

Coveo's basic selling point is better discoverability and personalization, helping its customers avoid call-center interactions, improving sales and helping companies themselves work faster.

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Where top VCs are investing in fintech

Over the past several years, 'fintech' has quietly become the unsung darling of venture. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

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• Account Executive at Quorum (Washington D.C., DC, USA)
• Software Developer at Quorum (Washington, DC, USA)
• Senior Software Engineer Backend at Fictiv (San Francisco, CA, USA)
• Lead Software Engineer at American Medical Association (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
• Senior Associate, HRIS at The Pew Charitable Trusts (Washington, D.C., USA)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.