https://techcrunch.com/
Meta’s annual Connect conference started today, and this means lots of new hardware.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/27/meta-connect-2023-quest-3-vr-everything-you-need-to-know/
Unity has done a 180 on a controversial new pricing scheme that users of its cross-platform game engine almost unanimously disparaged. A new pricing policy is still incoming, but it’s far less fraught for independent developers, many of whom threatened to leave the engine and platform behind rather than pay. Under the revised terms, there is no runtime fee whatever for any game developed with a current version of Unity, only for those developers who adopt the latest version in 2024. The free Unity Personal will stay free, and the revenue ceiling above which users must upgrade to the next tier has been raised to $200,000. And above $1 million, users will be able to choose between a per-user fee or a 2.5% revenue share, whichever is lesser.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/22/unity-u-turns-on-controversial-runtime-fee-and-begs-forgiveness/
What’s maybe even more important, though, is that Adobe also today announced how it plans to charge for Firefly going forward. The company is going to use what it calls “generative credits” to measure how often users interact with these models. Basically, every time you click “generate” to create a Firefly image, you’ll consume one credit (and the company retooled the Firefly web app, for example, so that it doesn’t automatically start generating images before you’ve made all of the tweaks you wanted to make).
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/13/adobes-firefly-generative-ai-models-are-now-generally-available-get-pricing-plans/
Google is now rolling out Privacy Sandbox — its tech to replace third-party cookies — to all Chrome users. The company is touting this as a more privacy-forward feature, which tracks topics of interest based on your browsing habits. Advertisers can then use this data to show you relevant ads. The company has been showing a new popup about Privacy Sandbox to users over the last few days. Users have complained about the pop-up not providing enough information about the cookie replacement tech and how the company will generate topics of interest based on browsing data if you click on “Got it.” Investor Paul Graham even labeled this pop-up as “spyware.”
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/08/google-flips-the-switch-on-interest-based-ads-with-privacy-sandbox-rollout/
"To picture a Chat, imagine if your group texts and your Instagram Stories met at the park, talked for hours, became best friends and fell in love,” Clubhouse’s blog post says.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/06/clubhouse-is-trying-to-make-a-comeback/
A data breach notice filed with Maine’s attorney general said the fashion giant was hacked over a three-month period beginning early January 2023, during which intruders obtained files from its systems. This data included the personal information of current and former employees, said Lorena Terroba Urruchua, a spokesperson for Forever 21 via public relations firm FTI Consulting, in an email to TechCrunch.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/31/forever-21-data-breach-half-million/
BeFake, a social networking app that combines concepts from popular Gen Z app BeReal along with AI technology has netted itself $3 million in seed funding to create an AI-augmented social network. The app’s name, a clear reference to BeReal’s authentic photo sharing among friends, is meant to suggest it does the opposite. Instead of showing what you’re up to right now, BeFake users also snap photos with both the front and back cameras, but then customize their photos using AI technology using either in-app presets or custom prompts.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/31/ai-powered-befake-is-a-real-app-not-a-bereal-parody-and-it-has-3m-in-funding/