Worldcoin to launch new Orb to make its eyeball scanning device look “more friendly” The next iteration will look similar to an “Apple product,” CEO saysIt’s been a little over 180 days since Worldcoin publicly launched – and its futuristic looking Orb device is getting an upgrade, Alex Blania, CEO and co-founder of Tools for Humanity, shared exclusively with TechCrunch.
“The new orb is coming” and the “next iterations will look quite different,” Blania said during a fireside chat at a StrictlyVC event on Wednesday.
The next Orb will roll out the first half of this year and will have alternative colors and “form factors,” in an effort to look “much more friendly,” Blania shared.
Tools for Humanity is the company that created Worldcoin, the crypto project co-founded by Blania, Sam Altman and Max Novendstern.
Its flagship device is a five-pound chromatic bowling ball-sized device that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
OnePlus launched the OnePlus 12 series globally today, bringing an R-series device to North America and Europe for the first time.
The company also launched the $99 OnePlus Buds 3 wireless buds apart from the OnePlus 12 (starting at $799) and the OnePlus 12R (starting at $499).
Last year, OnePlus launched just the $699 OnePlus 11 in the U.S., while the OnePlus 11R was limited to India and China.
The OnePlus 12 boasts a 6.82-inch 1440p display with the company claiming it reaches up to 4,500 nits of brightness.
OnePlus is opting for a triple camera setup in the OnePlus 12 with a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-808 sensor, which has a f/1.6 aperture.
Another interesting new feature in iOS 17.3 is something called stolen device protection.
Once again, the passcode can be used if Face ID fails — thieves can also register their own face in Face ID if they have the device passcode.
Apple gives you an hour to remotely wipe your deviceAs a protection mechanism, Apple has introduced stolen device protection in iOS 17.3.
When it’s turned on, some actions will require Face ID or Touch ID biometric authentication, such as accessing stored passwords and credit cards.
In addition to requiring Face ID or Touch ID authentication, changing your Apple ID password, changing your passcode and turning off stolen device protection also require a security delay.
Apple announced today that Apple Music subscribers now have access to collaborative playlists with the launch of iOS 17.3.
When users are in a car and streaming music through Apple Music, other trusted iPhone devices will get an invite to join the session.
Listeners can then control the music from their own devices, even if they don’t have an Apple Music subscription.
The launch of iOS 17.3 also brings Apple’s new Stolen Device Protection feature, which helps prevent thieves from accessing your information.
To turn on Stolen Device Protection, you need to go into your settings then tap “Face ID & Passcode.” You then need to enter your device passcode tap to turn Stolen Device Protection on.
The rabbit r1 will use Perplexity AI’s tech to answer your queriesOne of the standout gadgets of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the rabbit r1, will use Perplexity AI’s tech to answer user queries, both companies said in an announcement.
Perplexity noted that the first 100,000 r1 buyers will get one year of Perplexity Pro for free.
We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Rabbit: Together, we are introducing real-time, precise answers to Rabbit R1, seamlessly powered by our cutting-edge PPLX online LLM API, free from any knowledge cutoff.
The 5th batch of 10,000 rabbit r1 devices has sold out.
Pre-orders for the 6th batch, totaling 50,000, are available now at https://t.co/R3sOtVWoJ5 Expected delivery date for the 6th batch is June – July 2024.
Bitcoin spot ETF volume rose, Coinbase went to court, Solana Mobile announces new device and Google cuts crypto apps in IndiaWelcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction.
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Prior to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the spot bitcoin ETFs, some experts told me they expected trading volumes to hit $10 billion in a year, not a week.
Monica has spent the last 10 years at Ripple, working her way up from the director of communications to now, president.
What else we’re writingWant to branch out from the world of web3?
Solana Mobile is swinging for the stars after it announced a second, cheaper web3 phone phone dubbed “ Chapter 2 ” earlier this week.
Demand for the Chapter 2 is apparently so high, Solana Mobile hit its 7-day sales goal within the first 24 hours, Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana and president of Solana Labs, exclusively told TechCrunch.
In the first 24 hours after the phone was announced, Solana Mobile saw over 25,000 preorders, and by the 30-hour mark, it had 30,000 preorders, Gokal said.
“For developers, Solana Mobile is creating a massive opportunity for crypto app teams looking to incentivize their users,” Gokal said.
“Giving back to the community has a snowball effect: As more developers start releasing crypto-incentivized apps to Solana Mobile users, we’ll see even greater adoption,” Gokal said.
The upgrade, dubbed Reencle Gravity, is due out by around September of this year.
If the upcoming composter works as advertised, it’ll help households reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from food waste, while generating nutrient-rich fertilizer for gardens.
However, the Gravity composter may also digest a good chunk of your income, thanks to its expected $649 price tag.
Still, many of these tools demand outdoor space, time and some elbow grease in order to turn food waste into fertilizer.
Reencle also says the Gravity composter can handle up to 3.3 pounds of food waste per day, or 50% more than the Prime model.
Apple confirmed today that iOS 17.3 will be released to the public next week, giving iPhone users new features like Stolen Device Protection and collaborative Apple Music playlists.
There will also be a new Unity Bloom wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad, available next week when iOS 17.3 comes out.
Additionally, there will be a security delay if you change sensitive settings, including creating a new Apple ID password, turning off Find My and updating select Apple ID security settings like removing a trusted device or phone number.
Apple previously noted in its iOS 17 features list that it was delayed to 2024, and later on, it reportedly appeared in the iOS 17.3 beta.
Spotify, one of Apple Music’s largest competitors, launched a real-time collaborative playlist feature, “Jam,” in September.
A year ago, at CES, I broke out the snark-hammer at 444, a startup that was trying to make a ‘smart’ pepper spray device.
To my surprise, it had landed a significant partnership, co-development, and co-branding deal with Mace, one of the biggest names in the sprayable self-defense sector.
“When you deploy the device, pepper spray comes out.
I often end up seeing startups at CES that seem completely pointless (this year, my eyes did backflips over Direction 9.
This serves as a great great reminder that, for true entrepreneurs, it takes more than a snarky post from an opinionated blogger to encourage them to throw in the towel.
