Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices … Read more
At least three people died and more than two dozen more were hospitalized after an overcrowded boat used to smuggle migrants broke apart on a reef off the coast of San Diego on Sunday morning. About 30 people were on board the 40-foot cabin cruiser when it struck the rocks in rough weather near Point … Read more
Embedded in all of the hardware announcements Apple shared today at its Spring Forward event, the company had a fun surprise for Apple TV + subscribers waiting for something new to be seen on the service. Ted Lasso’s second season begins streaming on July 23. If you’re not familiar with the show, she plays Jason … Read more
Giving the richest 20% of Americans a break from processed foods, Simple Feast has landed on the shores of the United States to grow its presence by funding $ 45 million from investors. The European startup wants to take a page out of the screaming LIVEKINDLY Collective playbook and hit the US market with gourmet … Read more
Today is the first day of contact for the Star Trek franchise, a celebration where people learned about the extraterrestrial volcanic species and set the stage for the United Federation of Planets a few centuries later. Sure, the April 5th meeting won’t be for 42 years, but Paramount + is still celebrating with a day … Read more
Powerlight Technologies’ laser-based power beaming system will be demonstrated in the David Taylor Model Basin of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland. (USNRL via YouTube) Wireless power transmission has been science fiction for more than a century, but now PowerLight Technologies is turning it into science fact … with fucking laser beams. “Laser power … Read more
Quite a few PC gamers have grappled with the many pressures of the past year with a relaxed session of Townscaper, and now other gamers can see what it’s all about. Oskar Stålberg and Raw Fury have announced that Townscaper will be available on mobile and the Switch sometime this summer. It’s not sure what … Read more
The US has crossed a dismal COVID threshold again, much faster than any other country in the world. Less than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, the US recorded its 500,000th death on Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. That’s more than double the number of COVID-19 deaths registered … Read more
Amazon Smart Sticky Note Printer (Amazon Image) Amazon on Wednesday announced Build It, a Kickstarter-like program that lets you pre-order potential products that the company will only build if it receives enough support within 30 days. Three days later, the first product has already reached its destination: the Smart Sticky Note Printer will be delivered … Read more
An “unprecedented” winter storm continued its attack on the nation Monday, killing at least four people, leaving millions in Texas without electricity and wreaking havoc on travel due to heavy snow and ice in much of the United States. A tornado hit Brunswick County, North Carolina, shortly after midnight on Tuesday, leaving some residents trapped … Read more