Mark Zuckerberg said Instagram will be adding NFTs to its app in the "near term" He didn't detail exactly how that would take shape, but suggested people would be able to show off their existing collectibles. Zuckerberg also said NFT's could one day play a role in the company's eventual metaverse.
Microsoft's Direct storage technology will be available for Windows games starting today. The technology was introduced with the Xbox Series X and S consoles and will be made available on Windows. One of the first games to take advantage of Direct storage is Forspoken, which will be released for Windows and PS5 in October.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison said his company will make its HeatWave tool multi-cloud. Ellison said the cost performance benefits of moving to HeatWave are extraordinary. Amazon Web Services and SAP have responded to Oracle's criticisms of their database offerings with their own responses. The companies say they are committed to providing customers with the best possible experience.
Google Cloud is changing the prices for some of its storage, compute and networking products. The public cloud giant says it can do more to align its capabilities and pricing with customers wide array of workloads. Google Cloud’s top competitors are Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
The European Parliament voted against a version of the Markets in Crypto Assets bill that could have effectively banned proof-of-work-based cryptocurrencies within the EU. This comes as a huge relief for the crypto industry, whose representatives had previously warned about the threat of a hardline regulatory scenario.
Meta Platforms says users cannot make posts calling for the assassination of Russia’s president or other heads of state. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram also says a temporary easing of its hate speech policy only applies to posts by users in Ukraine making threats to the attacking forces.
Netflix's shares fell more than 2% to around $332 each, a 52-week low. That's more than 50% down from the company's 52-year high of $700.99, which it hit in mid-November. The last time shares sold for around $ 332 a pop was March 20, 2020, just as pandemic lockdowns were being put in place.
Tencent's WeChat Pay flouted anti-money-laundering rules, lapses in compliance with "know your customer" regulations. Tencent’s ubiquitous mobile payments network was also found to have allowed the transfer and laundering of funds with illicit transactions such as gambling.
Snorkel.AI co-founder Alex Ratner says storytelling helped him raise $135.3 million in four rounds. He says he honed his storytelling chops at a Stanford lab. Ratner was joined on TechCrunch Live by Saam Motamedi, Greylock partner and the lead investor in Snorkels.AI’s $3.3m seed round.
Apple is releasing iOS 15.4 to allow people with an Apple Watch to use Face ID with a mask to unlock their phones. The update also includes emojis and Siri voice, and will only be available for 2015's iPhone 6s and later. This update will only work on iPhone 12 models and later, but the more you wear a mask will be less likely.