Daily Crunch: Periscope Shut Down - TechCrunch

Periscope will be discontinued, Samsung is planning further development of foldable technology, and Airbnb has established new objectives for diversity. This is your Daily Crunch for December 15, 2020.

Leading the News: Periscope to Cease Operations

It is now confirmed that Twitter’s live-streaming application, Periscope, will be shut down by March of the following year.

This development isn’t particularly unexpected, considering Jane Manchun Wong identified code within the app hinting at a potential closure, and also considering how infrequently Periscope has been utilized recently.

Periscope communicated in an official statement that its present operations are “not viable,” and maintaining the platform in its current condition would be detrimental to both its existing and past user base, as well as to Twitter itself.

Major Technology Companies

Samsung intends to release additional foldable devices in 2021 — The exact nature of this expansion, whether it involves a new device or a more substantial change, is currently unknown.

AWS introduces a new Chaos Engineering as a Service solution — These tools assist in simulating challenging, worst-case scenarios. (Furthermore, the title of “chaos engineer” is remarkably appealing.)

Airbnb announces new diversity targets — By the close of 2025, Airbnb aims to have 20% of its U.S.-based workforce comprised of individuals from underrepresented minority groups.

Startups, Investment, and Venture Capital

Public, a social stock trading platform, secures $65M in Series C funding — The company reports a tenfold increase in its user base throughout the current year.

Frank, a company focused on financial aid, expands its services to assist students with online courses — The organization is facilitating the use of student financial aid for enrollment in digital courses at over 100 institutions.

Parsec obtains $25M from a16z to support remote work and cloud gaming — Parsec initially catered to gamers seeking access to their gaming PCs from various devices, but naturally broadened its scope to encompass other applications.

Insights and Analysis from Extra Crunch

A detailed look at Zoox’s six-year journey from initial concept to finished product — Unlike its competitors, Zoox is developing the self-driving software, the on-demand ridesharing application, and the vehicle itself.

Despite being a challenging year, 2020 highlighted the importance of security — Many of the security issues brought to light by the pandemic are expected to persist into the coming year.

Startup valuations have rebounded from the lows experienced during the summer — Recent data indicates a decline in the occurrence of down rounds.

(Extra Crunch is our subscription service, designed to make information about startups more accessible. You can register here.)

Other News

Among Us is now available on the Nintendo Switch — Among Us was recently launched on the Switch following its unexpected success during the pandemic.

Bandcamp Fridays will continue through May of next year — On the first Friday of each month, the platform waives its fees, allowing artists and labels to retain the full revenue.

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