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Technology
India, the worldlargest democracy, continues to normalize shutting down internet and suspending mobile communications for tens of millions of citizens in the country to thwart protests.
Days after Narendra Modi -led government shut down mobile communications in the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura(yet to be restored) — home to more than 36 million people — and then parts of Uttar Pradesh (yet to be restored), the most populated state in the country with more than 200 million people, New Delhi moved on Thursday to extend the suspension in parts of the Indian capital and city of Mangalore — together home to about 22 million people.
On Thursday morning, a trio of top three telecom networks — Reliance Jio, Vodafone and Airtel — began to cut mobile communications in parts of New Delhi. All three carriers said they were following governmentdirection.
By afternoon (local time), the services had been restored, users said. But hours later, the Indian government — which already has the worst track record among any nation for internet shutdowns — issued a similar direction for Mangalore, a major commercial center in the state of Karnataka.
The move comes as the Indian government attempts to silence tens of millions of people across the nation as they protest the introduction of a controversial new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims.
New Delhi passed the bill last week, which creates a path to citizenship for immigrants of all the major religions except Islam. The new law is part of a series of actions the Modi government has taken this year that critics say erodes the countrysecular traditions.
A large number of people, most of whom were students, marched in the streets Thursday in parts of New Delhi, Mumbai, Mangalore and several others corners of India to urge the government to change its mind. At least two people were shot dead in Mangalore, according to local media reports.
Protesters with posters and placards during a demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) near Red fort on December 19, 2019 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Mayank Makhija/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In an op-ed piece, The New York Times criticized the governmentactions. &The not-so-hidden message [in the new law] is that the Muslim-majority countries abutting India persecute Hindus and other minorities, and that Muslims from such countries cannot be refugees — even people like the Rohingya, some of whom have reached India after fleeing to Bangladesh from brutal repression in Myanmar,& the article said.
&The law, as India200 million Muslims have correctly surmised, has nothing to do with helping migrants and everything to do with the campaign by Mr. Modi and his home minister, Amit Shah, to marginalize Muslims and turn India into a homeland for Hindus, who comprise about 80 percent of the population of 1.3 billion,& it added.
A number of local film stars and other public figures joined the protest Thursday, but a group that was nowhere to be found was the startup ecosystem. A prominent angel investor in India, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told TechCrunch that startup founders and venture capitalists in the country are unlikely to join the conversation as they do not want to risk upsetting government officials.
Tim Draper, one of the most influential venture capitalists in the world and who has been exploring India for sometime, however, had enough. &India choosing one religion over another makes me seriously concerned about my plans to fund businesses there,& he tweeted.
Preventing people from a medium that enables them to stay in touch with one another, and access news and information, is becoming a common phenomenon in several nations, though none come close to India.
Access Now, a digital rights group, reported earlier this year that India alone had about 134 of 196 documented shutdowns in 2018. According to Internet Shutdowns, a service operated by New Delhi-based digital advocacy group Software Law and Freedom Centre, there have been about 95 documented cases of internet shutdowns in India this year, up from 91 last week.
The new wave of tough measures comes as New Delhi maintained an internet shutdown in parts of the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the 137th day on Thursday — the longest-ever imposed in a democracy. The internet shutdown in the Muslim-majority state was imposed on August 5, afterthe Indian government revoked Kashmirautonomy and statehood.
Indiamove has won it at least one fan, though. Chinese state media said earlier this week that this practice in India, which America has seen as an example of democracy in Asia since the 1950s, means that &shutting down the internet in a state of emergency should be standard practice for sovereign countries.&
&India did not hesitate to shut down the internet in these two states to cope when there is a significant threat to national security. When ChinaXinjiang region faced a similar national security threat a few years ago, the Chinese government responded with a similar strategy. However, it attracted sharp criticism from mainstream media in Europe and the U.S.&
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TechCrunch Early Stage is a new event series for 2020 focused on early-stage founders. The idea is to provide access to advice and networking on the level of a great accelerator program, but with a smaller time commitment and a broader array of expert advisors.
The first of TechCrunchthree Early Stage events is in San Francisco on April 28 (the others will be in Paris and New York City), and we&re pleased to announce our first four guest speakers. These experts will lead 45-minute breakout sessions, starting with a brief presentation followed by audience questions moderated by a TechCrunch editor.
Cyan Banister, Partner, Founders Fund
How to win an institutional seed round
Asher Abramson, Co-Founder, Demand Curve
How to create great growth assets for paid channels
Lior Zorea, Law Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
What VCs want in a term sheet (and how you can get what you want)
Dalton Caldwell, Partner, Y Combinator
How to get into Y Combinator
There will be about 50+ breakout sessions at the show, and attendees will have an opportunity to attend at least seven. The sessions will cover all the core topics confronting early-stage founders — up through Series A — as they build a company, from raising capital to building a team to growth. Each breakout session will be led by notables in the startup world on par with the folks we&ve announced today.
But wait, theremore! Don&t worry about missing a breakout session, because transcripts from each will be available to show attendees. And most of the folks leading the breakout sessions have agreed to hang at the show for at least half the day and participate in CrunchMatch, TechCrunchgreat app to connect founders and investors based on shared interests.
Herethe fine print. Each of the 50+ breakout sessions is limited to around 100 attendees. We expect a lot more attendees, of course, so signups for each session are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Buy your ticket today and you can sign up for the breakouts we are announcing today. Pass holders will also receive 24-hour advance notice before we announce the next batch. (And yes, you can &drop& a breakout session in favor of a new one, in the event there is a schedule conflict.)
So get your TC Early Stage: San Francisco pass today, and get the inside track on the sessions we announced today, as well as the ones to be announced in the coming weeks.
Possible sponsor? We have some very nifty ways to bring sponsors in on the show flow, so please contact us here!
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Write comment (99 Comments)Welcome to TechCrunch2019 Holiday Gift Guide! Need help with gift ideas? We&re here to help! We&ll be rolling out gift guides from now through the end of December.You can find our other guides right here.
To those who are in it, gaming is more than just a hobby. Ita way to connect with others, an outlet for competition and, for the most talented, a potential career path. But as far as hobbies (or more-than hobbies) go, it can become really expensive.
So this holiday season, surprise your beloved gamer with gear that will keep their wallet full and their fingers engaged.
Before you dive in, make sure to double check your recipientpreferred gaming platform. While things like a massive USB hard drive will generally work regardless of whether they&re on PC or Xbox, even the best Xbox headset probably won&t work with PS4. We&ve got suggestions for each platform below, plus a few games for each.
This article contains links to affiliate partners where available. When you buy through these links, TechCrunch may earn an affiliate commission.
Logitech G502 Hero (or Lightspeed)
PC
If they&ve been gaming for years, your giftee might already have a mouse they love. If they&re just starting to get into gaming on a PC, though, upgrading to a really good mouse is a solid first step. You don&t have to worry too much about compatibility with their existing hardware, and it should last them years.
The Logitech G502 Hero and the Logitech G502 Lightspeed are great options here. The Hero, a wired and more budget-friendly version of the Lightspeed, comes with 11 customizable buttons, weight customization, LED lights and the namesake HERO sensor can scale between 100 and 16,000 DPI — allowing them to find their exact sensitivity comfort zone. The Lightspeed, meanwhile, adds two big features to the Hero with the Lightspeed wireless tech (super-low latency for a wireless mouse) and wireless charging via the optional $100 PowerPlay mouse pad.
Price: G502 Hero (Wired), $42 on Amazon | G502 Lightspeed (Wireless), $150 on Amazon
Razer Huntsman Elite
PC
Though this keyboard is on the pricey side, itworth it. The Huntsman Elite has super-fancy hybrid keys, using both mechanical and optical sensor inputs for super-consistent, ultra-fast key presses. The opto-mechanical switch gets rid of debounce and promises a much longer lifespan (100 million keystrokes) than much of the competition, so it&ll last. It has built-in storage for profiles, letting you quickly swap in customizations you&ve made for different games. Itgot a comfortable wrist rest, and, of course, RGB lighting.
Price: $175 on Amazon
Astro A50
PC + PS4 + Xbox
Having a good headset can feel like cheating, and the Astro A50s are pretty damned great. With Dolby Headphone 7.1 Surround Sound, and 5GHZ wireless transmitter for low latency, I honestly feel like they make me a better player. The headset has controls for mixing voice chat and game sound, and the battery lasts up to 15 hours. It comes in two versions: one for Xbox/PC, and one for PS4/PC; sadly, no version works with all three platforms.
Price: $300 on Amazon
SteelSeries Arctis 7
PC + PS4
If dropping $300 on a headset seems a bit too much, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 will get the job done at less than half the price. It offers Lossless 2.4GHz wireless audio (low latency) and a fantastic Clearcast bidirectional mic. SteelSeries says it has up to 24 hours of battery life, though I&ll admit that I&d never have the stamina to test that.
Price: $110 on Amazon
Astro C40 TR Gaming Controller
PS4 + PC
As gaming gets more and more competitive, controller players have historically been at a bit of a disadvantage. While most console shooters have systems like aim assist to try and make up for the gap, console controllers inevitably have fewer inputs than a PC gamer with their full-blown keyboard/mouse setups.
The Astro C40, my personal go-to PS4 controller, helps counter that a bit. With re-mappable panels on the back, trigger stops and both wired and wireless capabilities, the C40 is a controller that can up your game. It also has a 12-hour battery life; I&ve never managed to actually kill this controller between charges.
(I have noticed a bit of aim drag on one of the joysticks from time to time. That said, the controller has a removable panel for changing out joysticks, and Astro sells the C40 with a six-month warranty.)
Price: $180 on Amazon
Scuf Gaming Prestige Xbox Controller
Xbox
If your Xbox gamer isn&t happy with the included Xbox controller, a solid option is the Scuf Gaming Prestige controller for Xbox. It has four mappable paddles on the back, and is fully customizable. That means you can tailor the color, the length and shape of the joysticks, and the feel of the controller. One caveat: Itworth noting that in my experience, Scuf controllers don&t stand up to a lot of wear and tear, especially considering the $160 price tag.
Price:$160 from Scuf
Seagate Game Drive 4TB
PS4/Xbox One
The game you&ve been dying to play is finally out… aaaaand now you&ve got to pick which of your existing games to delete to make it fit. Or you could just plug in a monster hard drive and forget about all that for a while.
The Seagate GameDrive 4TB will immediately bump up your consolestorage capacity, adding space for another 50+ games. It uses USB 3.0, which means it doesn&t need an extra power source and transfers at good speeds. Ita spinning disc rather than solid state — the upside of which is that it keeps things cheap, the downside being that the read(/load) times tend to be a bit slower.
(Tip:Pretty much any USB 3.0 hard drive bigger than 256GB will work with PS4 or Xbox One, though you&ll need to wipe/format it for each console the first time you plug it in.)
Price: 4TB Game Drive for PS4, $114 | 4TB Game Drive for Xbox, $120
A big ol& microSD card
Switch
As with the Xbox/PS4, most people will probably eventually want way more storage than the 32GB that comes built into the Nintendo Switch. Unlike the Xbox/PS4, however, the Switch taps microSD cards rather than external USB drives.
Fortunately, microSD cards have seen drastic price drops over the last few years. You can get cards as big as 512GB for less than $100 these days. Two things to be aware of: you&ll want a card that supports transfer speeds of at least 60-95 MB/s, and you probably want to buy from a brand you recognize from a retailer you trust. Bootleg cards with mislabeled capacities are a thing.
Price: Sandisk 512GB microSDXC, $80
Games:
Giftee already got things covered on the hardware front? Get& em some games! No game is one-size-fits-all, so herea smattering of choices across genres and platforms.
(Trying to figure out if a game seems right for someone? Look for &LetPlay& videos on YouTube, or watch a Twitch stream. It&ll take a few more minutes than just watching a trailer, but they&re often much better representations of what a game is really like.)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Shooter, PC + PS4 + Xbox
Call of Duty has been a staple in any gamerdiet for the past decade. Though the franchise has had a bumpy few years, the community has been re-energized with the recent launch of Modern Warfare*, the sequel to one of the franchisemost popular titles. This boots-on-the-ground FPS game should be a welcome gift to most gamers, as long as they don&t already have it!
(*Confusingly, this one is officially just called &Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,& without any number following it, despite it being the fourth CoD game to share the &Modern Warfare& name. Make sure you&re getting the one made in 2019, not 2007, 2009 or 2011.)
Price: $45 on Amazon
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Action/Adventure, PC + PS4 + Xbox
The upcoming release of &Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker& makes this 2019 title an excellent option for your gamer, who may wish to continue on in a galaxy far, far away the moment they leave the theater. This action-adventure games follow the story of Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan, who is looking to finish his training and restore the Jedi Order, all while thwarting the Empireattempt to hunt him down. Ita true Star Wars tale.
Price: $40 on Amazon
The Last of Us (Parts 1 - 2)
Action/Adventure, PS4
The Last of Us initially launched a few years ago, but the title has been remastered for PS4. The title follows Joel and Ellie, two survivors of a Zombie apocalypse as they try to survive warring factions, the military and the zombies themselves. Ita cinematic adventure that your gamer could end up playing for hours without even noticing. And the affordable part 1 is a great way to prime for the 2020 release of part 2, which you can pre-order now.
Price: Last of Us 1 (Remastered), $17 | Last of Us 2 (Pre-order)
The Outer Worlds
Action RPG, PC+ PS4 + Xbox
The Outer Worlds is a first-person RPG that is sure to please classic sci-fi fans. The relatively complex game allows players to make decisions as they move to new worlds and meet new NPCs, all the while participating in combat situations with hostiles. The game is available on PC, PS4 and Xbox, with a Switch version set to launch in 2020.
Price: $35 on Amazon
Untitled Goose Game
Puzzler, PC + Mac + PS4 + Xbox + Switch
Anyone interested in a super-lightweight, lean-back sort of game will appreciate the Goose Game. Essentially, the player is a very annoying goose, and completes tasks that make the lives of surrounding humans more difficult. Itcute, itfun and itaffordable.
Price: $20
Pokémon Sword/Shield
RPG, Switch
The first original Pokémon game for Switch is a great jumping on point for those new to the franchise. The Pokémon company changed some key elements of gameplay to make repetitive actions less punishing, and created a great, engaging story. There are also dozens of new Pokémon to discover on the fastest-selling Switch game ever, and a thousand+ from past generations.
As with most main series Pokémon titles, there are two versions of this game — Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. They&re slightly different — each one has a handful of unique Pokémon you can&t get in the other, some visual differences, etc. — but therenot really a wrong choice.
Price: Pokémon Sword, $60 | Pokémon Shield, $60
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The road to the blockchain revolution has not always been smooth. Most tech experts agree that the potential for new businesses and applications built on distributed ledgers is sky-high, but we are still waiting for that breakthrough year when blockchain transitions from a tech-oriented focus to widespread adoption.
2020 is a new year and the start of a new decade.
I believe we are on the cusp of a blockbuster year for blockchain development and that 2020 will see this technology begin to take its biggest, most world-changing steps yet. As innovators continue to shape the competitive landscape, we will see more products in production and we will begin to see true blockchain-based solutions.
I&ve reached out to some creative and influential thought-leaders in the blockchain space for their predictions for the upcoming year. Their predictions & along with a few of my own — are below.
Products in production
&Those who have been quietly building during the crypto winter will begin to deliver beta and production versions of their platforms. There are many companies that are on the verge of launching their products for the mass market. Those who deliver products that are better than their centralized counterparts will see real adoption. Those that are more complicated for traditional users to implement will arrive, but not see the adoption their communities are hoping for.& — Ben Golub, executive chairman and interim CEO, Storj Labs
&2020 will be the year when software tools (think Stripe, Plaid, Twilio) that exist in the traditional software development stack will be created and adopted in the decentralized software development stack.& — Ben Lambert, principal, Pelion Venture Partners
&Open source projects that use Hyperledger fabric will stay in the lead, not because of resources being injected into it, but because of the volume of overall users and new integrations solving use cases as a proof of concept. In the commercial blockchain environment that does not rely on open source, companies will explore ways to introduce it into their product line while balancing permissions and privacy in a truly decentralized manner.& — Luis Macias, CEO and founder, GrainChain
Regulation
&Between Xi Jinping recently declaring China needs to ‘seize the opportunity of blockchain technology,& and the continued regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., China will broaden its lead in blockchain relative to the U.S. Until the SEC rolls out more clear guidelines related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the U.S. market will continue to stagnate.& — Ben Golub
&SEC enforcement on scammy ICOs from 2017/2018 will continue in 2020 causing further chilling on altcoin trading and increased compliance with existing securities laws. The result: legitimate securities tokens will be a good way to raise capital for unique assets as the regulatory landscape catches up with the technology and a more liquid market for security tokens results.& — Jonathan Johnson
Privacy and security
&Privacy and security will become a key differentiator for incumbents in the cloud. Since its data breach last year, and its Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has become more sensitive to the privacy and security concerns of its users. Privacy and security are now becoming a key differentiator for businesses and it will cause companies in the cloud to start taking a serious look at their security strategies in 2020. It will take much longer than a year for them to solidify and fully deploy their strategies, but 2020 will be the year the conversation begins to shift.& — Ben Golub
Voting
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Write comment (93 Comments)A company building a very high-tech glove has just gotten its hands on some new money.
HaptX is building a sensor-packed glove for VR and robotics applications that simulates haptic and resistance feedback for enterprise users.
The Seattle startup has raised $12 million in new funding from Mason Avenue Investments, Taylor Frigon Capital Partners, Upheaval Investments, Votiv Capital, Keiretsu Forum, Keiretsu Capital, NetEase and Amit Kapur of Dawn Patrol Ventures. HaptX has now raised $19 million to date.
The company says this funding will go toward the companynext generation of glove hardware.
I got a chance to demo the companyglove last year and there are certainly some bizarre experiences that are enabled by the product, which uses an external pneumatic box to expand and contract air pockets inside a glove form factor to make it feel like the virtual object you&re holding onto in VR is actually in your hand.
Needless to say at this point, the virtual reality industryconsumer ambitions haven&t quite panned out as expected. The enterprise space has found slightly more enduring success, though much of the enterprise use hasn&t expanded too far beyond &internal innovation hubs& and pilot programs. HaptX seems to have zeroed in on the same enterprise customer base as other VR startups, with a lot of its customers using the gloves in design and visualization processes. HaptX has moved away from marketing itself as a VR-only company and has expanded into robotics, reshaping its offering into a solution framed by real-world input and real-world output.
Alongside the funding announcement, HaptX is sharing that it has partnered with Advanced Input Systems to collaborate on &product development, manufacturing, and go-to-market.&
The company is focused on enterprise and unfortunately doesn&t seem to be building a mech suit for Jeff Bezos, although they sent me a great gif of him demoing the technology earlier this year at a conference.
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Write comment (100 Comments)The Daily Crunch is TechCrunchroundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you&d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Facebook acquires Madrid-based cloud gaming startup PlayGiga
Facebook is building out its gaming business — earlier this year, the company added its Gaming hub to the main navigation menu. And last month, it agreed to buy Beat Games, developer of popular virtual reality title Beat Saber.
PlayGiga, meanwhile has been working with telcos to create streaming game technology for 5G. It also developed a gaming-as-a-service platform, using IntelVisual Cloud platform, that will enable telcos and communication service providers to offer streaming games to their customers.
2. TiVo merges with technology licensor Xperi in $3 billion deal
Earlier this year, TiVo said it was preparing to split itself into two — a product and IP business — in order to make itself more attractive to buyers. Today, the company announced those plans have been put on hold as it has instead merged with technology licensor Xperi Corporation, in a $3 billion deal.
3. Spotify prototypes Tastebuds to revive social music discovery
Tastebuds (discovered by reverse engineering master Jane Manchun Wong) is designed to let users explore the music taste profiles of their friends. It will live as a navigation option alongside your Library and Home/Browse sections.
4. Uberride-hailing business hit with ban in Germany
In Germany, Uberride-hailing business works exclusively with professional and licensed private-hire vehicle companies — so the court ban essentially outlaws Ubercurrent model in the country.
5. Snackpass snags $21M to let you earn friends free takeout
Sending people Snackpass rewards became a new way to flirt or show gratitude at Yale. And through the Venmo-esque Snackpass social feed, users could keep up with a fresh form of gossip while discovering restaurants.
6. PayPal completes GoPay acquisition, allowing the payments platform to enter China
Though Chinapayment market today is led by local players, including eWallet providers like AliPay and WeChat Pay, thereroom for PayPal to grow in a market where digital payments per year are counted in the trillions, not billions, of dollars.
7. Teslarecord stock price shows its investment in energy storage is finally paying off
A little over a year after sparking a legal firestorm for musing that he would take Tesla private for $420, Elon Musk is probably glad he didn&t. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
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