Daily Crunch: Google launches Live Transcribe

Published February 4, 2019

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1. Google intros a pair of Android accessibility features for people with hearing loss

Live Transcribe is, perhaps, the more compelling of the two offerings. As its name implies, the feature transcribes audio in real time, so users with hearing loss can read text, in order to enable a live, two-way conversation.

Meanwhile, Sound Amplifier is designed to filter out ambient and unwanted noise, without boosting the volume on already loud sounds.

2. Amazon’s Audible brings Choose Your Own Adventure stories to Alexa devices

These are professionally performed, voice-controlled narratives from the publisher of the original Choose Your Own Adventure book series, ChooseCo.

3. Bird CEO on scooter startup copycats, unit economics, safety and seasonality

“2018 was about scaling,” he said. “2019 is about really focusing on the unit economics of the business.”

4. Crypto exchange Kraken acquires Crypto Facilities

This nine-figure deal is Kraken’s biggest acquisition to date. Following the deal, some Kraken users can now access both spot and futures trading.

5. Why no one really quits Google or Facebook

Danny Crichton weighs in on the latest Facebook and Google scandals. Rather depressingly, he argues that nothing will change.

6. Watch the tech-centric Super Bowl ads from Amazon, Microsoft and others

This year’s theme: Sad robots.

7. Your Monday podcast roundup

This week, Equity looks at $100 million funding rounds for everyone, Mixtape discusses allegations that Oracle underpaid minority employees and Original Content reviews the creepy Netflix series “You.”