Let's be honest: you were probably curious about Sackboy: A Big Adventure when it launched alongside the PlayStation 5, but not so much that you were willing to buy that instead of Demon's Souls or Miles Morales. Thankfully, you no longer have to pay extra to indulge that curiosity. Sony has made the LittleBigPlanet spinoff (also available on PS4) free to all PlayStation Plus members between April 4th and May 1st.Sackboy is decidedly different than the core franchise. Where Little Big Planet is a 3D-enhanced side-scroller that revolves more around environment interaction and creativity...

Apple has set the dates for WWDC 2023. The company's developer conference will run between June 5th and June 9th. It's still in an online format despite the pandemic fading into the background, but there will be a "special experience" at Apple Park on the 5th for developers and students. The company isn't saying much about what to expect (even the graphic is too vague), but this may be one of Apple's most important events in recent years.Developing...This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-wwdc-2023-begins-june-5th-171718339.html?src=rss

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, is trying to woo popular social media creators to join its new app, Lemon8, before it is officially introduced this year.

Colored lab-grown diamonds, 3D printing, and more titanium that you can shake a stick at mark the wild releases from Watches & Wonders 2023.

The 217-mph electrified Revuelto puts out 1,001 horsepower and boasts 13 driving modes, but it can manage only 8 miles on battery power alone.

The first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is facing yet another delay, with NASA officials saying Wednesday that it was now targeting no earlier than July 21 for launch. The space agency and Boeing blamed the delay on certification issues related to the capsule’s parachute system and other verifications on Starliner’s components and […]NASA pushes back Boeing Starliner’s crewed flight test to July by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

The U.S. Treasury Department’s guidance on battery sourcing requirements for the electric vehicle tax credits will result in fewer vehicles being eligible for full or partial credits, reports Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official. The proposed EV credit guidance as included in the Inflation Reduction Act says that in order for vehicles to qualify for […]Battery sourcing guidance might slash EV tax credits by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Microsoft is “exploring” putting ads in the responses given by Bing Chat, its new search agent powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. While these sponsored responses are clearly labeled as such, it does make one question how far we’ve really come from the old model of ads on search engines. Microsoft confirmed this is happening, albeit in […]That was fast! Microsoft slips ads into AI-powered Bing Chat by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

Sam Parr, founder of HubSpot-acquired newsletter and media brand The Hustle, doesn’t watch “Succession” because “it’s too real” (and because he prefers watching comedy compared to behemoth business billionaires fighting). But when he announced his new project, Hampton, an invite-only club for chief executive officers, the references started rolling. It’s specifically one Succession quote that […]Hampton is tech’s new membership community for chief executive officers by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

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Investors just pumped millions into Irrigreen, a startup vying to quench America’s thirsty lawns with “approximately 50% less water.” Seed investor Ulu led the $15 million funding round. Two tech investors that are focused on water conservation — Burnt Island and Echo River — also chipped in, among a handful of others. The San Francisco–based […]Irrigreen’s precision sprinklers prevent water waste and wet legs by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch

According to David Wechsler, a principal at OMERS Ventures, “having an embedded strategy is not required for venture funding.”6 VCs explain why embedded insurance isn’t the only hot opportunity in insurtech by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch

When my six-year-old’s teacher told us we had to buy her a wired headset for school, I must have spent an entire hour doomscrolling Amazon reviews. Normal headsets wouldn’t fit, and every option for younger kids was from an alphabet soup brand of dubious quality — they felt like so much of a gamble that we eventually just went with one of the cheapest options. Logitech’s new Zone Learn would have been an instabuy for me. Not only does the $40 rotating boom mic headset come from a name brand but it also actually looks thoughtfully designed.It’s flexible, adjustable, gives you the...

Online used vehicle retailer Shift Technologies cut its workforce by 30% in the first quarter as the company sought to reduce costs and eliminate duplicate positions following its merger with CarLotz, CEO Jeff Clementz said during an earnings call. The layoffs came as the company saw its revenue plummet in the fourth quarter and its […]Online used-car marketplace Shift cuts workforce 30% following CarLotz merger by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

2022 was a tumultuous year for many fintech startups. But for Ramp, it was a year of opportunity. The company shared today that it saw its revenue grow by 4x last year, buoyed by what co-founder and CEO Eric Glyman describes as a desire on the part of companies of all sizes and stages seeking […]Ramp reports 4x revenue growth, says it still has ‘vast majority’ of equity funding by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch

There are some things you can set your watch to. The occasional global pandemic excepted, developer season is certainly one. After Google I/O and Microsoft Build, WWDC will return to Apple Park in Cupertino. The event, which runs June 5 to 9, looks to be another scaled down version of the big developer-centric show, similar […]WWDC returns to Apple Park June 5-9 by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

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Back in 2017, Instagram launched a bookmarking feature called “collections,” which allows users to organize the posts they save into private groupings for easier access. Now, Instagram is introducing a new feature that lets users create collections with their friends. The social network told TechCrunch in an email that it’s rolling out “collaborative collections,” a way […]Instagram now lets you bookmark posts with friends and store them in a dedicated space by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

With a drier than normal investment scene, founders are looking for more effective ways to reach the right VCs. Toward that end, over the past few weeks, thousands of founders have applied to land capital through a common app, but instead of hoping to land into a university, they’re hoping to land capital from top […]Startup founders are trying to automate the worst part of the job: fundraising by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

Alvaro Morales and Kshitij Grover were working together as engineering leaders at Asana for five years, during a time when the company underwent major changes to pricing and packaging. The initiatives were painful for both the engineering and finance departments, they say — which is when the pair realized that they wanted more flexibility over […]Orb, which helps B2B companies price their products, raises $19.1M by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

A fluid geopolitical landscape could roil the climate tech industry. How should founders and investors react?Why startups should care about geopolitical repercussions of US climate law by Tim De Chant originally published on TechCrunch

The curious case of the hallucinating software.

At Spotify’s Stream On event this month, the company introduced a redesigned app with TikTok-like discovery feeds, an AI DJ, and other tools for artists and podcasters. But the app’s changes may not be stopping there. The company confirmed it’s now testing a revamp of its user profiles, which includes a card-style layout that lets […]Spotify is testing new card-style user profiles focused on discovery by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

AI is riding high on a curve of hype, which means some of the practical questions that might grow louder over time — the many costs (financial and social), the business models — may not be the most front of mind right now. Today a startup called Fetch.ai is announcing $40 million in funding in […]Blockchain startup Fetch.ai grabs $40M to provide monetization and other tooling for AI-generated information by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Salt Labs, a rewards platform for hourly workers, today emerged from stealth with $10 million in pre-seed funding led by Fin Capital with participation from Anthem Venture Partners and others. Co-founder and CEO Jason Lee tells TechCrunch that the money is being used to build out Salt Labs’ initial team, product development and go-to-market strategy […]Salt Labs raises $10M to gamify contract work by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch