Hey, friendly people, and welcome to the Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that brings together the top tech news of the past few days. It is our humble opinion that there is no better place to learn about industry events, whether you are a news junkie or among the tech-curious.
In this edition of WiR, we cover Apple’s iPhone and other related announcements, the MGM hack and Tesla’s Cybertruck that returns with a new interior. Also on the agenda is the payment processor Square facing an outage, California considering a ban on autonomous trucks and the chaos canning the supply chain startup Flexport’s CEO, former Amazon consumer chief Dave Clark.
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Apple unveils iPhone 15: Apple had a jam-packed press conference on Tuesday, and among the highlights were two new iPhones: the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Both have USB-C connectors, a move encouraged in part by EU law. There are other new features, too, including a titanium body (on the Pro) and a haptic “action button” that replaces the mute switch on previous-gen iPhones.
Extended iCloud storage plans: In other Apple news, the company announced in the presser on Tuesday that it has added 6 TB and 12 TB storage options to iCloud +, the cloud storage subscription. (Pricing hasn’t been announced, unfortunately.) Amanda says that, while the average consumer won’t need a lot of space, the new plans will be useful for photographers and filmmakers, who are set to get major camera upgrades with the iPhone 15.
USB 3 speed on the iPhone, with a catch: A major benefit of the iPhone 15 Pro is USB 3 speed – file transfers up to 10 gigabits per second. But as Ivan reported, the owners couldn’t get those out of the box. Apple ships a USB 2.0 cable with a type-C port; Users must use “an optional USB 3” cable to unlock higher data speeds. But hey, at least the new “spatial video” mode on the iPhone 15 Pro won’t require any aftermarket accessories.
MGM’s biggest data breach: It’s been a bad week for casinos. After reports that Caesars paid millions in ransom to a cybercrime group, hotel and casino giant MGM Resorts confirmed that a “cybersecurity issue” was to blame for the ongoing outage affecting the company’s systems at its Las Vegas properties. According to reports on social media, the incident led to outages affecting ATM cash dispensers and slot machines at MGM’s Las Vegas casino, and forced the hotel’s restaurants to accept cash-only payments.
Cybertruck gets a new design: Tesla’s Cybertruck – the subject of frequent delays – has been spotted in the wild with a new interior. New photos shared by Tesla watchers Kilowatts depict a Cybertruck with different wheels and center console than the one we saw in May. But as Harri writes, it’s unclear if this particular vehicle shows what the Cybertruck will look like once Tesla finally gets around to delivering them to the masses.
Flexport repeats: Two days after the sudden departure of former Amazon executive Dave Clark as CEO of Flexport, Ryan Petersen, the founder of Flexport, said publicly that the company would withdraw several job offers and look to – rent office space while Flexport tries to control costs and get “its house in order.”
California is considering banning self-driving trucks: In a blow to the autonomous truck industry, the California Senate passed a bill, AB 316, on Monday that would require a trained human safety operator to be present any time a self-driving car is operating. , heavy-duty vehicle operates on the state’s public roads – effectively banning fully autonomous trucks. Of course, AB 316 still needs to be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom before it becomes law, which is no sure thing given Newsom’s reputation as friendly to the tech industry.
Square outage resolved: In case you missed it last week, Square restored its services after a one-day outage left small business owners unable to process payments. The company owned by Block, as of last Friday morning on the US West Coast, has been battling a prolonged outage that has disrupted its services since the afternoon of the previous day.
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Equity brought TechCrunch+ senior climate reporter Tim De Chant to the show to talk climate technology, hardware advancements and why there’s a full stage this year at Disrupt, the flagship TechCrunch conference, focused on sustainability.
On this week’s episode of Found, the crew interviewed Jaleh Bisharat, the co-founder and CEO of NakedPoppy, an e-commerce site that helps people find the makeup shades that work best for them and offers a market for “clean” natural beauty. products. Bisharat discusses his personal journey towards launching the company after a long career working in marketing for companies such as Amazon and Eventbrite.
And Chain Reaction recaps a panel moderated by Jacquelyn live at the Avalanche House event that took place in Seoul, South Korea, during Korea Blockchain Week. The panel focused on the biggest opportunities and challenges facing the web3 enterprise, featuring speakers such as Dan Sun, the startup success manager for web3 APAC lead at Google Cloud, and Gagan Mac, the head of product and senior director of web3 services at Circle.
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TC+ subscribers have access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you already know if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are some highlights from this week:
Antitrust and generative AI: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is making the case for aggressive antitrust enforcement. How will this affect the market for generative AI? Two guest contributors from Perkins Cole, the international law firm, investigate.
Instacart’s high valuation: Alex wrote about Instacart’s IPO, which announced that the startup could sell up to $616 million in its stock — a total of 22 million shares. With a debut stock price of between $26 and $28 per share, Instacart is on the verge of “decacorn” status.
Counting on Fintech: Some fintech companies have weathered the macroeconomic storm better than others and see the end in sight. In particular, startups using AI to fight money laundering and fraud seem to be enjoying tailwinds, reports Anna.
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