Clay Canning had an idea while in high school: smartphone screen protectors that featured logos, right on the screen.
“In December 2022, I resigned from my job to pursue building Screen Skinz with Clay full time.”Now, Screen Skinz can officially announce the closing of a $1.5 million seed round led by South Loop Ventures and Abo Ventures.
The company produces custom, patent-pending phone screen protectors that feature personalized logos or slogans that are visible when the phone screen is black and then disappear when the phone is in use.
The latest fundraise allowed Screen Skinz to move manufacturing from Asia to the U.S., allowing it to more easily control its supply chain.
Screen Skinz next has some partnerships lined up and is focused on customer acquisition and deepening licensing relationships.
Government spyware is another reason to use an ad blockerAd blockers might seem like an unlikely defense in the fight against spyware, but new reporting casts fresh light on how spyware makers are weaponizing online ads to allow governments to conduct surveillance.
Spyware makers are reportedly capable of locating and stealthily infecting specific targets with spyware using banner ads.
One of the startups that worked on an ad-based spyware infection system is Intellexa, a European company that develops the Predator spyware.
Ad blockers don’t just hide the ads, but rather block the underlying website from loading the ads to begin with.
In 2022, the FBI said in a public service announcement to use an ad blocker as an online safety precaution.
When a hacker called the company that his gang claimed to breach, he felt the same way that most of us feel when calling the front desk: frustrated.
The recording also shows how ransomware gangs are always looking for different ways to intimidate the companies they hack.
I’m just trying to help you,” the hacker responds, growing increasingly frustrated.
“So is that Dragonforce.com?”The hacker then threatens Beth, saying they will start calling the company’s clients, employees and partners.
“Excuse me?” the hacker responds.
India’s largest audio and wearables brand BoAt is investigating a possible data breach after hackers advertised a cache of alleged customer data online.
A sample of alleged customer data was uploaded on a known cybercrime forum, which includes full names, phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses and order numbers.
In a statement emailed to TechCrunch, BoAt said it was investigating the matter but did not disclose specifics.
At BoAt, safeguarding customer data is our top priority,” the company said.
The brand, however, postponed its public listing plans later, after seeing a slowdown in the public market.
The feature, spotted first by the TGInfoEn Telegram channel (via reverse engineer AssembleDebug), is rolling out in select countries for Telegram for Android users.
If you agree to let Telegram use your number as an OTP relay, the company will send you a transferable code for Telegram Premium.
The terms of service for this peer-to-peer login program notes that the company will send a maximum of 150 OTP messages per month.
From a monetary perspective, you might end up paying more through your phone bill than the value of Telegram’s premium membership.
However, users opting into the peer-to-peer login system have to think if giving out their phone number to strangers to save a few bucks is worth the hassle.
That gap introduces a fantastic opportunity for arbitrage — and a lively second-hand and refurbished market.
Getmobil’s growth trajectory has been remarkable, driven by a combination of strategic foresight, operational excellence and a deep understanding of the Turkish electronics — and regulatory — market.
The company’s rise is characterized by its ability to offer consumers high-quality, refurbished electronics at competitive prices, thereby filling a critical market gap.
Before the regulations, the refurbished electronics market in Turkey was chaotic and fragmented, and the quality and warranty coverage of second-hand devices was highly variable.
Navigating the intricacies of Turkey’s electronics market presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for Getmobil.
The much-teased and oft-leaked Nothing Phone (2a) is now officially official, just under a week after it made its limited debut at the company’s MWC after party.
Nothing’s third phone is the first that goes directly after the mid-tier/budget space, with a starting price of $349.
The phone is currently only available here for developers looking to integrate third-party apps with the light up “Glyphs” on the device’s back.
In the London-based firm’s home market, it’s available in both 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB models, running £319 and £319, respectively.
At 5,000 mAh, the battery is larger than the ones found on both the Phone (1) (4,500mAh) and Phone (2) (4,700 mAh).
Adding usernames to a messaging app may seem like a standard feature, but for Signal, such identifiers were anathema to its mission of total privacy and security — until now.
The new feature sounds simple: you register a username and that appears instead of your phone number.
But why do this at all when everyone already has contact names, and Signal is totally private anyway?
That is not just happening in India, we’re seeing a number of jurisdictions where to obtain a phone number, you are required to provide more and more personal information.
But it replaces the phone number when you go to initiate contact.” (Signal does append numbers to chosen usernames to ensure they are unique.)
The London-based phone company’s media push largely relies on trickling out information about devices bit by bit.
Nothing Phone (2a) certainly fits the bill.
While it’s actually the company’s third handset, it’s the aimed squarely at a different demographic than the flagship Phone (1) and Phone (2).
After various teases and a handful of official image releases, the Phone (2a) finally saw the light of day (well, the warm glow of a Barcelona night) at MWC 2024.
Phone (2a) keeps the Phone (2)’s dual-camera set up, though it’s been moved to the center.
The TechCrunch team is in Barcelona this week to bring you all the action going on at Mobile World Congress 2024.
So far, we’ve seen some big announcements from companies, including new Android features from Google, Lenovo’s new laptop concept and rollable phone concept and Xiaomi’s robotic dog.
Motorola’s rollable concept phoneWhat’s the maximum size of a device that you will wear on your wrist?
The company has designed what it’s calling a “rollable concept phone” for Motorola that folds around your wrist.
In addition to design, Xiaomi has developed the five core EV technologies: E-Motor, CTB Integrated Battery, Xiaomi Die Casting, Xiaomi Pilot Autonomous Driving, and Smart Cabin.
