After spat with TikTok, UMG expands Spotify partnership to include music videos and more

In the wake of Universal Music Group’s (UMG) public spat with TikTok, which saw the label pulling its full catalog from the video app earlier this year, the company is doubling down on its deal with Spotify. On Thursday, UMG announced an expansion of its strategic relationship with the streaming music service that will focus […]
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Why a16z-backed Wonderschool is acquiring EarlyDay

Wonderschool, a startup that provides software and support to help individuals and local governments spin up childcare businesses, has acquired EarlyDay, which operates an early childhood educator marketplace. TechCrunch has covered Wonderschool since its infancy, including both of its seed rounds and its Series A (led by Andreessen Horowitz). Terms of the deal were not […]
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The Moose from 3DMakerpro could be the 3D scanner that hobbyists have been waiting for

3D-printing has never been so close to the mainstream with printers from Bambu Lab and Uniformation being as close to plug-and-play as any newcomer can get. What has been missing from the hobby so far however is a user-friendly method of being able to scan your own objects and turn them into 3D models to print out yourself. 3D scanners have existed for a while, but like the printers themselves, the technology is now speeding up and the price coming down.
Enter the Moose, from 3DMakerpro which has just kicked off its pre-sale today, and from the press release it sounds like it could be just what we are looking for: “(The Moose scanner are) beginner-friendly 3D scanners with AI visual tracking technology. The Moose series is 3DMakerpro’s latest consumer-grade 3D scanner line-up offering, designed to handle real-world medium-sized objects into 3D models with remarkable efficiency and precision.
“Powered by a set of AI features and in collaboration with Oqton, the developer of Geomagic Wrap, 3DMakerpro aspires to make 3D scanning easier and more accessible to beginners and advanced users in the creative field.”
“The Moose series brings consumer 3D scanning to new heights of accuracy and allows more users to benefit from the convenience of 3D scanning,” said Tianshi Yuwen, Global Marketing Director of 3DMakerpro. “Our dedication to innovation empowers us to democratize high-precision 3D scanning and push beyond the boundaries of making all creative visions a reality.”
The Moose comes in two different variants, the Moose and the Moose Lite with the latter costing $249 at pre-sale ($399 after) and the main Moose costing $454 ($699 after). The Lite’s scans are not as detailed and operate with a Mono texture mapping method, while the main Moose has full 24-color mapping.
Hopefully, we will get to see within the next couple of weeks whether 3DMakerpro has pulled this off, but initial signs look great, and those pre-order prices are tasty.
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Take-Two confirms new Borderlands game amidst Gearbox acquisition

Embracer Group has announced plans to divest Gearbox Studios in a sale to Take-Two Interactive valued at $460 million to be made up entirely of newly issued Take-Two shares. Take-Two has confirmed that Gearbox is working on a new Borderlands game.
According to a press release from the video game holding company, it is divesting Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, and the franchises Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem.
The divested properties will join Take-Two’s 2K division, which has long been a publishing partner of Gearbox. They have published the successful Borderlands games franchise since the first one in 2009. Gearbox will continue to be led by its founder and CEO Randy Pitchford.
The sale does not include studios that were purchased by Embracer through Gearbox, including Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions. It also does not include Gearbox Publishing in San Francisco, publishers of Remnant 2, and owners of the publishing rights of several upcoming titles, including Hyper Light Breaker.
The end of Embracer’s restructuring?
This divestment marks the apparent end of a planned restructuring which resulted in over 1300 layoffs at Embracer-owned companies.
“Today’s announcement marks the result of the final structured divestment process and is an important step in transforming Embracer into the future with notably lower net debt and improved free cash flow. Through the transaction, we lower business risk and improve profitability as we transition to becoming a leaner and more focused company,” says Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer.
Randy Pitchford said that despite being a long-term shareholder in Embracer Group, he believed that this was the most positive outcome for Embracer, Take-Two, and Gearbox. “My primary interest is always Gearbox, especially our talent and our customers. I want to personally assure fans of our games that this arrangement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best they can possibly be,” he said.
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SBF sentencing live updates: FTX founder in New York federal court

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud involving his cryptocurrency exchange and a related hedge fund. Prosecutors want him locked up for decades.

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Xiaomi releases electric car $4K cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3 as price wars heat up

Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi said Thursday it will sell its first car for far less than Tesla’s Model 3, as price wars heat up in China’s fiercely competitive electric car market.

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YouTube says over 25% of its creator partners now monetize via Shorts

With TikTok potentially poised for a U.S. ban, YouTube is touting how well its own TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is paying off for creators. The company on Thursday said its short-form video platform now averages over 70 billion daily views and over 25% of channels in YouTube’s Partner Progam monetize their videos through revenue-sharing on […]
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Amazon One launches new app to scan your palm for checkout

Amazon announced Thursday the launch of its new app for Amazon One, its contactless palm recognition service that allows customers to hover their palm over a device in order to purchase from select places, including over 500 Whole Foods Market stores, Amazon stores, and more than 150 third-party locations. Instead of signing up for Amazon […]
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888 agrees to the sale of certain United States B2C assets to Hard Rock Digital

Global gambling group 888 Holdings parts ways with several business-to-customer (B2C) assets after a strategic business review.
Hard Rock Digital benefits from 888’s move that the company is calling a “controlled exit of its remaining US B2C operations”.
Hard Rock Digital is one of the United States’ leading sportsbook and online gaming operators. The company has been quick to pounce on the 888 assets after the company conducted its review.
888 sells B2C assets
The operator’s review earmarked the sale of their American-based assets after a rocky 2022 and 2023. The company reported a £115.7 million ($141m) loss in 2022 and £121.3 million ($151m) pretax loss in 2023 respectively.
Per Widerström, CEO of 888 said that “in the US, the intensity of competition and requirement for scale means huge investment is required to reach profitability.”
The leading man at the gambling operator said that despite some U.S. gambling markets doing well, “we (888) have concluded that achieving sufficient scale in the US market to generate positive returns within an accelerated timeframe is unlikely.”
888 concluded that as a “result of the review the Group has agreed the sale of selected assets to Hard Rock Digital (“HRD”), completion of which is conditional upon, amongst other items, relevant regulatory approvals. It is expected that the disposal will be completed in a number of phases, with final completion expected in Q4 2024.”
The dynamic of the U.S. gambling and online gaming market is only continuing to become more complex as 2024 unfolds.
Other than existing businesses giving up their territory in the U.S. market there are limited opportunities for gambling operators to expand their existing markets. This is unless a state allows for more gambling options to be present.
The biggest operators in the U.S. are ready to capitalize in states that have no form of gambling legislation.
An example is the state of Missouri. The home of the current Superbowl-winning champions the Kansas City Chiefs. The football team and other sports teams in the state are lobbying for an ease of the current restrictions on gambling. These established brands are looking to benefit from lucrative sports betting partnerships with brands such as Hard Rock Digital.
Image: Ideogram.
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Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced to jail time

Sam Bankman-Fried, owner of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, will receive sentencing in New York today (March 28) after his convictions for fraud and conspiracy last year. District Judge Lewis Kaplan could level a sentence of up to 110 years of jail time.
Prosecutors are pushing for 40-50 years, whereas the defense is seeking leniency due to Bankman-Fried being a non-violent first-time offender. They are lobbying the judge for a sentence closer to six and a half years.
Victims of the collapse of FTX have been writing to the judge to provide their thoughts on the issue and to attempt to convey the impact fraud of this scale has had on them.
Sunil Kavuri, a British investor, said to the BBC “He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?” At the time of FTX’s collapse, Kavuri had over $2 million worth of holdings on the exchange site.
Arush Sehgal, an entrepreneur from Barcelona, and his wife had around $4 million in dollars and Bitcoin in FTX – their life savings. He described it as them having “lost everything.”
Canadian Angela Chang had about a quarter of a million dollars in FTX, and its fall has led to her taking out credit card debt and ultimately selling a portion of a claim to an investor. She believes that victims of the crimes committed by Bankman-Fried are being minimized due to being in the crypto industry. “People think that crypto is criminal and so they have sympathy for this guy… But I’m not a criminal,” she said to the BBC.
How will Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentence be determined?
Making a sentencing decision such as this is a complex matter. The scale of the crime and its effects are contested at a huge scale, according to Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman. “Any judge or lawyer will tell you that one of the best things the defendant can do before being sentenced is really, really show he’s on the right path, show some remorse, and show some degree of self-knowledge as to his offense,” said professor Richman, continuing, “Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial.” Bankman-Fried had his bail revoked last year after rumors of witness tampering and intimidation reached Judge Kaplan.
Part of the case for leniency stems from the fact that through the bankruptcy filings, most people who had holdings in FTX stand to regain their money. However, this does not account for losses sustained due to being unable to participate in the market as Bitcoin hit its record high before beginning to fall again.
There are also those reaching out to beg for leniency in sentencing, including Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried. She is a former law professor and describes the US justice system as “punitive”. “I have no illusions about the redemptive power of prisons,” she wrote in a letter to Judge Kaplan. “Being consigned to prison for decades will destroy Sam as surely as would hanging him.”
Despite the pleas from family and friends and the fact that Bankman-Fried is a non-violent first-time offender, Professor Richman believes it would be “really surprising” for the Judge to come anywhere close to the defense’s request of 6.5 years.
Featured image: Generated by Ideogram
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