Month: January 2025
Inside the wild fall and last-minute revival of Bench, the VC-backed accounting startup that imploded over the holidays
Friday, December 27, was supposed to be the start of a relaxing holiday weekend. But it was chaos for thousands of small business owners who use Bench, an accounting and tax startup based in Canada that raised $113 million from investors like Bain Capital Ventures and Shopify. That morning, they found themselves unable to log
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Friday, December 27, was supposed to be the start of a relaxing holiday weekend. But it was chaos for thousands of small business owners who use Bench, an accounting and tax startup based in Canada that raised $113 million from investors like Bain Capital Ventures and Shopify. That morning, they found themselves unable to log […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Apple Intelligence Now Requires Nearly Double the iPhone Storage
Apple Intelligence now requires 7GB of free storage per device, nearly doubling the original 4GB requirement from iOS 18.1. This is a result of new AI features like Genmoji, ChatGPT in Siri, and Image Playground. With further updates expected, storage demands could rise to 10GB per device. 9to5Mac reports: Per Apple’s website, Apple Intelligence now requires 7GB of free storage. The same 7GB number applies whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. But it also, since each product does its own on-device processing, adds up for multi-device use. If you want to use AI features across all three devices (which I’d assume most of us do), that’s a grand total of 21GB of free space being used by Apple Intelligence. And unfortunately, if you’re tight on storage, there’s no way to reduce the requirement by disabling certain features.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple Intelligence now requires 7GB of free storage per device, nearly doubling the original 4GB requirement from iOS 18.1. This is a result of new AI features like Genmoji, ChatGPT in Siri, and Image Playground. With further updates expected, storage demands could rise to 10GB per device. 9to5Mac reports: Per Apple’s website, Apple Intelligence now requires 7GB of free storage. The same 7GB number applies whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. But it also, since each product does its own on-device processing, adds up for multi-device use. If you want to use AI features across all three devices (which I’d assume most of us do), that’s a grand total of 21GB of free space being used by Apple Intelligence. And unfortunately, if you’re tight on storage, there’s no way to reduce the requirement by disabling certain features.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
These fintech companies are hiring in 2025 after a turbulent year
While the rapid pace of funding has slowed, many fintechs are continuing to see growth and expand their teams.
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While the rapid pace of funding has slowed, many fintechs are continuing to see growth and expand their teams.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Apple CEO Tim Cook Donating $1 Million to Trump’s Inaugural Fund
Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to donate $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, reports Axios. The donation will be a personal donation directly from Cook rather than a donation from Apple.
Following Trump’s win, Cook congratulated him on social media site X, and in December, Cook had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Cook aimed to maintain a relationship with Trump during Trump’s first term as president, and it appears Cook plans to continue on with that plan going forward.
Sources that spoke to Axios said that Cook is donating to the inauguration “in the spirit of unity.” Apple is not expected to make a donation.
Trump is taking office as Apple faces regulatory pressure both in the United States and in other countries. In March 2024, Apple was sued by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly violating antitrust law in multiple ways with its platforms. The Apple vs. DoJ legal battle will play out during Trump’s term.
Amazon, Meta, Uber, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Coinbase, Toyota, Ford, GM, AT&T, Black & Decker, and Charter Communications are also making donations to Trump’s inauguration fund.Tag: Tim Cook
This article, “Apple CEO Tim Cook Donating $1 Million to Trump’s Inaugural Fund” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to donate $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, reports Axios. The donation will be a personal donation directly from Cook rather than a donation from Apple.
Following Trump’s win, Cook congratulated him on social media site X, and in December, Cook had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Cook aimed to maintain a relationship with Trump during Trump’s first term as president, and it appears Cook plans to continue on with that plan going forward.
Sources that spoke to Axios said that Cook is donating to the inauguration “in the spirit of unity.” Apple is not expected to make a donation.
Trump is taking office as Apple faces regulatory pressure both in the United States and in other countries. In March 2024, Apple was sued by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly violating antitrust law in multiple ways with its platforms. The Apple vs. DoJ legal battle will play out during Trump’s term.
Amazon, Meta, Uber, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Coinbase, Toyota, Ford, GM, AT&T, Black & Decker, and Charter Communications are also making donations to Trump’s inauguration fund.
This article, “Apple CEO Tim Cook Donating $1 Million to Trump’s Inaugural Fund” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Sony CES 2025 press conference: Watch it here Monday at 8pm ET
Sony
Be it for the Walkman portables and Trinitron TVs of old or the PlayStation consoles, Alpha cameras and superlative headphones of the twenty-first century, Sony has long been a mainstay at CES. But for the past couple of years at the world’s biggest electronics trade show, Sony has opted to focus on a different field: Automotive. The Afeela electric vehicle dominated Sony’s 2023 and 2024 CES press conferences, and we know that trend will continue for 2025, with an appearance at the Sony event (and a followup press conference) already confirmed.
What to expect at Sony’s CES 2025 press conference
The Afeela is the first product from Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the Japanese electronics and transportation giants. After a surprise rollout at CES 2023, the Sony CES presser teed up additional details on the EV’s LiDAR-heavy sensor array and AI-enhanced cabin tech (the latter coming with an assist from Microsoft) at CES 2024. If the car’s previously announced scheduling waypoints — preorders in 2025 ahead of 2026 availability — remain intact, we’re hoping to hear which of the Afeela’s concept car niceties will actually make the cut once it enters the streets of the real world.
Of course, it won’t be all Afeela all the time in Vegas. Expect Sony to spend time talking up its imaging, gaming or maybe even its movie studio division. And with any luck, we’ll get more info on the company’s XR headset, which was shown off at the 2024 show, only to never be seen again. CES 2025 would be the perfect place to show off a meaty update of a possible competitor to the Apple Vision Pro.
Sony’s CES 2025 livestream
You can watch the Sony CES press conference as it happens below. The feed will start Monday, January 6 at 8:00PM ET.
The separate Afeela press conference will take place on Tuesday, January 7 at 4:30PM PT, and will be streamed on YouTube as well. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sony-ces-2025-press-conference-watch-it-here-monday-at-8pm-et-212207358.html?src=rss
Be it for the Walkman portables and Trinitron TVs of old or the PlayStation consoles, Alpha cameras and superlative headphones of the twenty-first century, Sony has long been a mainstay at CES. But for the past couple of years at the world’s biggest electronics trade show, Sony has opted to focus on a different field: Automotive. The Afeela electric vehicle dominated Sony’s 2023 and 2024 CES press conferences, and we know that trend will continue for 2025, with an appearance at the Sony event (and a followup press conference) already confirmed.
What to expect at Sony’s CES 2025 press conference
The Afeela is the first product from Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the Japanese electronics and transportation giants. After a surprise rollout at CES 2023, the Sony CES presser teed up additional details on the EV’s LiDAR-heavy sensor array and AI-enhanced cabin tech (the latter coming with an assist from Microsoft) at CES 2024. If the car’s previously announced scheduling waypoints — preorders in 2025 ahead of 2026 availability — remain intact, we’re hoping to hear which of the Afeela’s concept car niceties will actually make the cut once it enters the streets of the real world.
Of course, it won’t be all Afeela all the time in Vegas. Expect Sony to spend time talking up its imaging, gaming or maybe even its movie studio division. And with any luck, we’ll get more info on the company’s XR headset, which was shown off at the 2024 show, only to never be seen again. CES 2025 would be the perfect place to show off a meaty update of a possible competitor to the Apple Vision Pro.
Sony’s CES 2025 livestream
You can watch the Sony CES press conference as it happens below. The feed will start Monday, January 6 at 8:00PM ET.
The separate Afeela press conference will take place on Tuesday, January 7 at 4:30PM PT, and will be streamed on YouTube as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sony-ces-2025-press-conference-watch-it-here-monday-at-8pm-et-212207358.html?src=rss
VW will offer “highly competitive” leases on ID.4 as sales restart
Dealers can also start fixing the door handles on almost 100,000 recalled ID.4s.
Last September, faulty door handle hardware caused Volkswagen to take the rather drastic steps of suspending sales and production of the electric crossover, as well as recalling almost 100,000 customer cars. Now, it says it has new parts that will allow it to fix existing cars, lift the stop-sale order, and soon, resume production at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The ID.4, like many new EVs, features flush door handles in service of the all-important effort of drag reduction. Instead of conventional mechanical handles that interrupt the laminar air flow down the side of the car, VW instead went with an electromechanical solution.
Unfortunately, the door handle assemblies weren’t sufficiently waterproofed, allowing the electronics inside to corrode. Consequently, early last year VW started getting complaints of ID.4s with doors that would intermittently open while driving, with reporting almost 300 warranty claims by September, when it pulled the car from sale, issued the recall, and stopped the production line.
Overhaul Your Space With LG’s Mammoth 86-Inch TV for Under $1,200
Make a splash in 2025 with this big screen model worthy of any home theater setup — all for the lowest price we’ve seen.
Make a splash in 2025 with this big screen model worthy of any home theater setup — all for the lowest price we’ve seen.
Generative AI funding reached new heights in 2024
If there was any doubt, the generative AI bubble did not burst in 2024. Investments in generative AI, which encompasses a range of AI-powered apps, tools, and services to generate text, images, videos, speech, music, and more, reached new heights last year. According to data from financial tracker PitchBook compiled for TechCrunch, generative AI companies
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
If there was any doubt, the generative AI bubble did not burst in 2024. Investments in generative AI, which encompasses a range of AI-powered apps, tools, and services to generate text, images, videos, speech, music, and more, reached new heights last year. According to data from financial tracker PitchBook compiled for TechCrunch, generative AI companies […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.