A new report suggests there’s a pricey Apple VR headset in the works, Facebook’s Oversight Board will examine one of the social network’s most consequential decisions and we review the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. This is your Daily Crunch for January 21, 2021.
The big story: Apple might be working on a VR headset
Apple is developing a standalone virtual reality headset that could debut in 2022, according to Bloomberg.
The headset is supposed to include a processor more powerful than the M1 chip currently included in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. And it would cost more than most competing products (so possibly in the $1,000 range or more).
It sounds, in other words, like this is meant to be a specialist product, perhaps paving the way for a more mass-market device later.
The tech giants
Facebook’s Oversight Board will review the decision to suspend Trump — Facebook VP Nick Clegg called the circumstances around Trump’s suspension an “unprecedented set of events which called for unprecedented action.”
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review: Camera refinements are nice, but the price drop’s the thing — The updates are mostly iterative for an already solid handset, but we won’t say “no” to a $200 price drop.
YouTube launches hashtag landing pages to all users — The company has been quietly working on a new feature that allows users to discover content using hashtags.
Startups, funding and venture capital
TripActions raises $155M at $5B valuation as corporate travel recovers from pandemic lows — The company became something of a poster-child for the impact of COVID-19 on certain startup categories.
Omnipresent raises $15.8M Series A for its platform to employ remote-workers globally — Omnipresent says it ensures the process of remote-hiring costs a fraction of what it normally would.
Soci raises $80M for its localized marketing platform — National and global companies like Ace Hardware, Anytime Fitness, The Hertz Corporation and Nekter Juice Bar use Soci to coordinate marketing across individual stores.
Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch
Eight VCs agree: Behavioral support and remote visits make digital health a strong bet for 2021 — In 2020, more of us saw our doctor on video than ever before.
Hot IPOs hang onto gains as investors keep betting on tech — Lemonade is a great example.
Decrypted: With more SolarWinds fallout, Biden picks his cybersecurity team — In this week’s Decrypted, we look at the ongoing fallout from the SolarWinds breach and who the incoming president wants to lead the path to recovery.
(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)
Everything else
The biggest step the Biden administration took on climate yesterday wasn’t rejoining the Paris Agreement — Instead, it was a move to get to the basics of monitoring and accounting, of metrics and dashboards.
How Bitcoin is helping middle-class users survive the pandemic — People like Saeed, an Iranian immigrant to France, see cryptocurrency as a necessity.
MIT aims to speed up robot movements to match robot thoughts using custom chips — The method results in custom computer chips that can offer hardware acceleration as a means to faster response times.
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