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Insurance software startup Zenefits has agreed to pay $3.4 million in unpaid overtime to 743 of its account executives and sales representatives in California and Arizona, according to the Department of Labor. Zenefits has also agreed to let the DOL monitor its practices to ensure the company does not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act. This agreement comes after the DOL’s Wage and… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
A startup called Final wants to change the way people use credit cards — or rather, the company wants to change the credit card industry to fit consumers’ lifestyles. With a 1% cash-back bonus and no annual fee, Final offers a competitive credit card product, but it really excels in the flexibility it provides in the way consumers can manage virtual cards across multiple vendors. Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
There are white boards lining the walls covered in complex formulas and earlier iterations of the company’s robotic leg are scattered in pieces on and underneath tables. You can practically chart the company’s half-decade of development with a quick look around the room, from Caputo’s 2010 PhD work on robotic feet to its first product offerings: a pair of devices designed to… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
Apple first introduced the “Memories” tab in iOS 10. This feature automatically scans your photo library and creates smart albums depending on the date, location and content of the photos on your device. For instance, iOS is going to put together an album about your last vacation in Moscow, or an album of your kids growing up. Your iPhone can also generate emotional videos by… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
Every tech and toy company, from Apple to Hasbro, has an educational coding offering these days. Sony’s Koov kit has been kicking around Japan for a while now, and should be pretty familiar to anyone who’s spent time with Lego’s educational initiatives — it’s a set of blocks, sensors, motors and actuators that pair with a mobile app. Now Sony is ready to bring the… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
Time Warner and Snap Inc. have announced a new deal that will bring increased ad spending and the development of new made-for-Snapchat shows. People familiar with the deal tell TechCrunch that the deal is valued at about $100M spent over the next two years. The newly created shows will span a variety of genres, including scripted drama, daily news shows, documentaries and comedy. The shows will… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
Continuing the patent dispute internationally, China has now given the Charpentier/Doudna side a patent to edit genes in the country.
CRISPR pioneers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna lost a patent case to the Broad Insititute earlier this year when the court determined the Broad Insititute had an application markedly different than Charpentier’s and Doudna’s overall patent. Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
On Stackshare, Airbnb lists over 50 services in its “stack,” Slack lists 24, and Spotify lists more than 31; these stacks are collections of different pieces of software that each company is using to run their operations, and range from infrastructure tools to communications tools to container tools to email service tools. Why are companies beginning to share the specific mix of… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
Like Silicon Valley startups, the Federal Government grapples with technical debt – but on a massive scale. Read More
Source: Tech Crunch
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, chances are that you’re paying $9.99 every month, $14.99 for a family plan, or $4.99 per month if you’re a student. But Apple quietly added another option. You can now pay $99 for a 12-month subscription. This setting is quite buried as Apple doesn’t want you to know that you can pay less than what you’re actually paying. We… Read More
Source: Tech Crunch