Journals

Andrew Webster / The Verge: Microsoft says Pocket Pair’s Palworld, still technically in early access, is the biggest third-party Xbox Game Pass launch in history, reaching 7M players  —  Surprise viral gaming hit Palworld continues to reach new player milestones. … Read More »Microsoft says Pocket Pair’s Palworld, still technically in early access, is the biggest third-party Xbox Game Pass launch in history, reaching 7M players (Andrew Webster/The Verge)

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: Shopify releases new features, including an AI-powered image editor for products, improved semantic search, and tools for better merchandising  —  Commerce platform Shopify is releasing new features for its Winter Editon rollout including an AI-powered media… Read More »Shopify releases new features, including an AI-powered image editor for products, improved semantic search, and tools for better merchandising (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: An interview with Unity’s chief product and technology officer Marc Whitten, as the company launches official support to build spatial apps for Apple’s visionOS  —  Unity has unveiled its support for spatial experiences including support for… Read More »An interview with Unity’s chief product and technology officer Marc Whitten, as the company launches official support to build spatial apps for Apple’s visionOS (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

Hideaki Ryugen / Nikkei Asia: MediaTek reports Q4 revenue up 19.7% YoY to $4.1B and net profit up 38.9% YoY to $820M, posting its first YoY increases in revenue and profit in five quarters  —  CEO says generative AI is… Read More »MediaTek reports Q4 revenue up 19.7% YoY to $4.1B and net profit up 38.9% YoY to $820M, posting its first YoY increases in revenue and profit in five quarters (Hideaki Ryugen/Nikkei Asia)

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Owner.com, which offers an all-in-one platform for independent restaurants that includes online ordering and a website builder, raised a $33M Series B  —  Independent restaurant owners used to heavily rely on foot traffic as their way… Read More »Owner.com, which offers an all-in-one platform for independent restaurants that includes online ordering and a website builder, raised a $33M Series B (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

Reuters: The US adds 12+ Chinese companies, including YMTC, Megvii, and lidar maker Hesai, to a DOD list to flag firms that are allegedly working with China’s military  —  The United States on Wednesday added more than a dozen Chinese… Read More »The US adds 12+ Chinese companies, including YMTC, Megvii, and lidar maker Hesai, to a DOD list to flag firms that are allegedly working with China’s military (Reuters)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: Paytm plans to cease work with its associate Paytm Payments Bank and accelerate partnerships with other banks, after the RBI’s clampdown on the payment bank  —  Paytm said Thursday that it will cease working with its… Read More »Paytm plans to cease work with its associate Paytm Payments Bank and accelerate partnerships with other banks, after the RBI’s clampdown on the payment bank (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk: Celsius emerges from bankruptcy and plans to distribute over $3B to its creditors, who will also get a stake in the newly formed Ionic Digital mining operation  —  The distribution will be made through PayPal and… Read More »Celsius emerges from bankruptcy and plans to distribute over $3B to its creditors, who will also get a stake in the newly formed Ionic Digital mining operation (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch: Robotaxi company Motional loses capital support from automotive supplier Aptiv, the other half of a $4B joint venture with Hyundai that created Motional in 2019  —  Autonomous vehicle company Motional is losing capital support from one… Read More »Robotaxi company Motional loses capital support from automotive supplier Aptiv, the other half of a $4B joint venture with Hyundai that created Motional in 2019 (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter: In an email to subscribers, Hulu says the company changed its subscriber agreement to bar sharing of accounts outside the user’s household  —  The Disney-owned streaming service changed its subscriber agreement to ban sharing… Read More »In an email to subscribers, Hulu says the company changed its subscriber agreement to bar sharing of accounts outside the user’s household (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)