Ivan Mehta, Author at TechCrunch

Meta is tagging real photos as ‘Made with AI,’ say photographers

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:25:11 +0000

Photographers say the social media giant is applying a ‘Made with AI’ label to photos they took, causing confusion for users.

Google pauses its experiment to expand real-money games on the Play Store

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 13:14:34 +0000

Google said today that it globally paused its experiment that aimed to allow new kinds of real-money games on the Play Store, citing the challenges that come with the lack of a central authority to approve such apps in some regions. In January, the company said it would start allowing real-money apps widely in June […]

Google is making your movie and TV reviews visible under a new profile page

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:35:36 +0000

Google is making reviews of all your movies, TV shows, books, albums and games visible under one profile page starting June 24, according to an email sent to users last month. These profiles are also searchable through Google searches, which can lead to users’ being profiled based on their likes and dislikes. The company launched […]

Pocket FM partners with ElevenLabs to convert scripts into audio content quickly

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Lightspeed Ventures-backed audio platform Pocket FM announced it has partnered with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs to quickly convert text content, such as script, into audio series using AI. Pocket FM, which raised $103 million in Series D funding in March, told TechCrunch at the time that it was already experimenting with the ability to convert text […]

Daydream rakes in $50M seed funding to build an AI-powered search engine suited for e-commerce

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Online shopping trends are expected to stay strong this year, but e-commerce is more fragmented than ever. With brands selling on so many platforms — from TikTok Shop, to established marketplaces, live shopping and owned channels — you’d think it would have become easy for shoppers to find what they’re looking for. But that’s not […]

Meta AI removes block on election-related queries in India while Google still applies limits

Ivan Mehta — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:23:21 +0000

Meta AI removes restrictions around answering election-related queries in India while Google is still restricting them.

Threads finally launches its API for developers

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 07:12:11 +0000

Meta said today that it finally launched its much-awaited API for Threads so developers can build experiences around it.

Perplexity now displays results for temperature, currency conversion and simple math, so you don’t have to use Google

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:43:25 +0000

Perplexity could already fetch this data from the web and display results in a descriptive way, but the company is adding some visual flair to these results to make them more prominent and quick.

Brave integrates its own search results with its Leo AI assistant

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 10:10:13 +0000

Privacy-focused search engine and web browser company Brave Software is integrating search results into its Leo chatbot. Search results are based on the Brave Search API and Leo is integrated into the company’s browser. The company said that this integration will help users find more up-to-date information. People can use this integration to fetch information […]

Here are the best WWDC 2024 features you missed

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:58:30 +0000

Apple announced a number of new features and updates onstage during its keynote address at WWDC 2024, including updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, VisionOS and the introduction of Apple Intelligence. Now that people are using developer betas and exploring the sessions at the event, more features that were not announced onstage are surfacing. Remember that […]

Android’s long-time VP of engineering Dave Burke is stepping down

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 04:56:27 +0000

Android is losing one of its long-time engineering leads. Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Android, said on Thursday that he is stepping down from the role after 14 years. However, he is not leaving Alphabet and will be exploring “AI/bio” projects within the company. Burke was involved in pivotal projects at Android, including the […]

The apps that Apple sherlocked at WWDC 2024

Ivan Mehta — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 08:16:42 +0000

Here's a list of third-party apps that were Sherlocked by Apple at this year's WWDC.

Google’s June Pixel feature drop brings Gemini Nano AI model to Pixel 8 and 8a users

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Google is finally making its Gemini Nano AI model available to Pixel 8 and 8a users after teasing it in March.

Apple adds win-back subscription offers and improved search suggestions to the App Store

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:45:16 +0000

At WWDC 2024, Apple introduced new options for developers to promote their apps and earn more from them in the App Store.

Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and devices with M1 or newer chips

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 18:45:43 +0000

Older iPhones or iPhone 15 users won't be able to use these features.

Apple to release Vision Pro in international markets

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:18:56 +0000

The Apple Vision Pro is now available in eight new countries.

Stake raises $14M to bring its fractional property investment platform to Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 13:40:44 +0000

Dubai-based fractional property investment platform Stake has raised $14 million in Series A funding.

Apple needs to focus on making AI useful, not flashy

Ivan Mehta — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 17:31:51 +0000

Google and Microsoft have made their developer conferences a showcase of their generative AI chops, and now all eyes are on next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which is expected to mark the debut of Apple Intelligence. The Cupertino-based company is facing a lot of pressure. Apple has fallen behind its peers in the AI race, […]

Shopify acquires Threads (no, not that one)

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 10:05:33 +0000

Shopify has acquired Threads.com, the Sequoia-backed Slack alternative, Threads said on its website. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal but said that the Threads.com team will join Shopify. Threads added that after the launch of Meta’s social network with the same name last year, the startup had “the opportunity to sell our […]

Meta rolls out Meta Verified for WhatsApp Business users in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Colombia

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 17:49:49 +0000

Meta launched its Meta Verified program today along with other features, such as the ability to call large businesses and custom messages.