Tech

خلاصہ: Sony is raising PS5 prices, starting tomorrow Sony is raising the price of all PS5 models by $50 in the US. The company cited the “challenging economic environment,” which includes the tariffs President Trump has placed on imported products. The changes will go into effect on Thursday, and the new prices are as follows: PlayStation 5 – $549.99 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99 PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99 Sony says that the retail prices for PS5 accessories “remain unchanged.” In April, Sony raised the price of PS5 hardware in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and in May, the company said it was considering price hikes to cover the Trump administration’s tariffs. Microsoft has also raised the price of Xbox hardware and accessories, including bumping up the Xbox Series X digital edition to $549.99. Ahead of the Switch 2’s launch, Nintendo hiked the cost of accessories for the console, and in earlier this month, it raised the price of the original Switch “based on market conditions.” Source Information Publisher: The Verge Original Source: Read More https://www.theverge.com/news/762410/sony-ps5-price-hike-raise-digital-pro

خلاصہ: Amazon’s next tablet might run Android Is Amazon moving away from FireOS? Amazon is preparing to launch a new tablet that could run on Android instead of its custom FireOS software, according to a report from Reuters. Multiple sources tell the outlet that Amazon plans to release the “higher-end” Android tablet as early as next year. Amazon currently powers its Fire tablets using a forked version of Android, forcing developers to create apps compatible with FireOS and distribute them on the Amazon App Store. The company’s upcoming tablet could soon change this, potentially giving users access to a wider variety of Android features and apps. The updated Fire tablet could cost $400, according to Reuters, marking a big jump from the Amazon’s $230 Fire Max 11 device. Amazon still plans to launch cheaper tablets with the Linux-based Vega operating system used in some of its Fire TV streaming devices, but the company’s full lineup of tablets will eventually adopt Android, Reuters reports. Source Information Publisher: The Verge Original Source: Read More https://www.theverge.com/news/762348/amazon-android-tablet-launch-fireos

خلاصہ: Sword of the Sea is a spirited celebration of movement and the sea There's a persistent belief that in order for sharks to breathe underwater, they must keep on swimming. While this is partly true for a few species, the myth likely stems from how certain types of fishes (bony fish, if you want to know) need to breathe through constant motion, inhaling and pushing a huge amount of water through their gills as they swim. As the misconception goes, for sharks, much like their aquatic peers, to cease movement is to spell certain death - which is exactly how it feels playing Sword of the Sea. The new game from Giant Squid scales this idea up by orchestrating movement into a grandiose, stirring symphony. Similar … Read the full story at The Verge. Source Information Publisher: The Verge Original Source: Read More https://www.theverge.com/games-review/762217/sword-of-the-sea-review-ps5-steam

خلاصہ: Upgrade to the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air while its under $1,000SAVE $200: As of Aug. 20, the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is on sale for $999 at Amazon and Best Buy. That's 17% off its $1,199 list price and its lowest price to date. Shop now: Amazon Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $999 (save $200) Get Deal ...

خلاصہ: Deal alert: The LifeStraw is down to its lowest price in 30 daysSAVE 25%: As of Aug. 20, you can get the LifeStraw Peak Series water filter straw for just $18.74, down from $24.95, at Amazon. That's a 25% discount and $6.21 in savings. Opens in a new window Credit: LifeStraw LifeStraw Peak Series $18.74 at Amazon $24.95 Save $6.21 ...

خلاصہ: Grab the Soundcore Boom 3i portable speaker for under $100 at AmazonSAVE $40: The Soundcore Boom 3i speaker (black) is on sale at Amazon for $99.99, down from the list price of $139.99. That's a 29% discount. Opens in a new window Credit: Soundcore by Anker Soundcore Boom 3i speaker (black) $99.99 at Amazon $139.99 Save $40.00 ...

خلاصہ: Kiss of the Spider Woman trailer: Jennifer Lopez sings and sparkles in movie musicalJennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh star in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," a musical from "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon. Source Information Publisher: Mashable Original Source: Read More https://mashable.com/video/kiss-of-the-spider-woman-trailer-jennifer-lopez

خلاصہ: Startup Funding Outlook: VCs ‘Chasing The AI Wave’ But With CautionGlobal venture funding in 2024 edged above 2023’s totals, with AI showing the biggest leap in amounts year to year. The trend continued in Q2 of this year, when global funding reached $91 billion, according to Crunchbase data — an 11% increase year over year. Overall, the first half of 2025 marked the strongest half-year for venture investment globally since the first six months of 2022, signaling a tentative recovery in the private markets. But what’s ahead for the remainder of 2025? Will we continue to see venture funding increase, led by AI? What kind of impact will the flurry of IPOs we’ve seen so far this year have on the private markets? To get a sense of what’s ahead, Crunchbase News spoke with startup investors from four venture firms: Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, Bain Capital Ventures and Left Lane Capital. Not surprisingly, AI was a dominant theme. But there were varying opinions on just how much it would continue to dominate. Let’s dive in. AI momentum continues Matt Murphy, partner at San Francisco-based Menlo Ventures, believes funding is exploding because “everyone is chasing the AI wave and many firms who started late are playing catch-up.” It’s still early innings, though, in his view. The funding trend will only accelerate the rest of this year, primarily driven by a broad set of AI application and infrastructure companies “growing at unprecedented rates.” For its part, Menlo entered the AI space by writing its first check into GenAI startup and OpenAI competitor Anthropic’s May 2023 $450 million Series C round. In May 2024, Menlo announced the launch of its $100 million AI fund — named the Anthology Fund — in partnership with Anthropic. Murphy calls that venture a “big success” with more than 30 companies having gone from seed to Series A. “We couldn’t be more excited about the next few quarters in the venture market as AI models get more powerful and more entrepreneurs dive into new and existing categories,” he predicted. “The pace of change in workflows, productivity and innovation will be unprecedented.” Robert Windesheim, the newest investor at San Francisco-based Founders Fund, agrees that AI is “providing significant tailwinds,” calling it the “most important technology since the internet.” He believes the AI boom is the primary driver behind the increased capital deployment — from venture funding to IPOs and public markets more generally. “I expect this to continue over the next 12 to 18 months as models continue to improve and new use cases get unlocked,” he told Crunchbase News. “Most recently, reinforcement learning on domain-specific data has unlocked new product avenues.” ‘All in on AI’ Windesheim said that despite all the frenzy around AI, the San Francisco-based firm is trying to “stay conscious of overhyped AI rounds,” choosing to be “very deliberate in backing select companies within a vertical.” For example, he noted, Founders Fund only backed OpenAI among the multiple foundation model labs. However, he concedes that “AI will continue to play a very significant role and unlock further opportunities” in the venture world. Menlo’s Murphy agrees, noting that everything his firm is pursuing “has a strong AI component as the differentiator.” “So for us, we’re really all in on AI,” he told Crunchbase News. That means it may be harder for non-AI companies to raise. “But good businesses will always be able to raise capital,” he acknowledged. “Defense tech is another area on the rise outside of your more classic AI apps and infra.” Bain Capital Ventures Partner Abby Meyers agrees that AI is top of mind at her firm “AI is in almost everything we do now,” she said. To be clear, that doesn’t mean that the firm is only investing in straight AI companies. It has backed AI companies building for sectors such as law, customer service, sales, education and compliance, among others. “We believe that we’re still in the early phases of harnessing this technology, and anticipate that there will be meaningful opportunities to invest in multiple generations of AI businesses for years to come,” Meyers told Crunchbase News. And the firm is not just talking the talk. Bain views AI as “a critical productivity multiplier for workers of all kinds,” including investors. For example, she said, the firm is using AI to automate tasks like routine data analysis, synthesizing large volumes of product feedback, and benchmarking competitors. “… We also increasingly recognize that we can’t just use AI — we have to use AI well, identifying where it can accelerate our efforts without eroding their substance or simply creating slop or noise,” Meyers added. AI will also push adjacent sectors across the broader value chain — such as energy and semiconductors, which will most likely continue to draw significant attention, noted Founders Fund’s Windesheim. Looking ahead, Meyers believes that supply chain, manufacturing and utilities “are each huge, important industries that need ways to better harness and leverage data and make processes systematic, and eventually, AI-driven.” She “worries” about business models that hinge on cross-border trade or logistics, given geopolitical uncertainty. “And, the first generation of relatively lightweight AI applications are at risk of being rendered superfluous as foundation models facilitate more and more use cases directly,” she said. Investing smarter Harley Miller, founder, CEO and managing partner of Brooklyn, New York-based Left Lane Capital, said his firm is overall “cautiously optimistic” about the remainder of the year. Valuations recalibrated following the market correction that took place in the spring and summer of 2022, to Miller, “anecdotally felt good, up until recently.” “The craziness of certain AI have and have-nots are pushing valuations to unprecedented levels, which are akin to 2021, frankly, especially for B2B/enterprise AI companies,” he added. Still, the broader reset in valuations over the past two years has created a healthier foundation, in his view. “That said, the bar is higher now,” he said. “We expect this momentum to continue, particularly for companies with clear profitability paths and consumer resonance. Fundamentals are back in focus, which is a net positive for the ecosystem.” Back-to-back rounds Indeed, AI companies are raising rounds in rapid succession, and thus significantly increasing their valuations in short periods of time. Anthropic, for example, saw its...

خلاصہ: How To Navigate A Hype CycleBy Michael Grupp Legal tech is hot right now. That’s because generative AI is rooted in text, and few industries are as text-focused as legal. Unsurprisingly, the legal world is buzzing. Of course there’s also a lot of anxiety. GenAI threatens to automate tasks that once justified steep hourly rates anywhere from $500 to $1,500. Legal careers, long considered stable and high-status, suddenly feel vulnerable to disruption. Try asking ChatGPT a basic legal question and you’ll quickly see why the anxiety is real. But there’s also excitement. For the first time, lawyers can draft, review and research at unprecedented speed. It’s like giving every associate a jetpack. The gold rush is on. In 2024 alone, legal tech startups raised $2.2 billion globally, according to Crunchbase data. If you’re building in this space, the market heat is at the same time as validating as it is intoxicating. But here’s what the pitch decks don’t tell you about being the founder at the crest of a hype cycle. A sea change Back in 2019, selling legal tech products required educating your customers first. Once, before pitching our legal AI and automation software to a major insurer’s management committee, I was told, “Add a slide explaining what legal tech is. They have no idea.” For years, that slide became our most-used asset. It opened doors, built trust and educated skeptical buyers. But it was slow and methodical. Partners would nod politely while we explained that our AI software could draft documents or flag compliance risks more quickly than their colleagues could. The sales cycle averaged around eight months, going up to years, the industry norm at the time. Fast-forward to 2025, and partners at top law firms will buy a legal tech product after a single demo, because the once speculative notion that “half of what my team does now could be done by AI” has suddenly become the accepted wisdom. The entire legal industry has gone from “What is AI?” to “We need AI yesterday” in just a few years. This has been particularly interesting to observe in an industry as storied with tradition and continuity as law. The utilitarian nature of AI technology means that anyone can make a GPT wrapped in a nice UI, so expect competitors to emerge weekly when you’re operating in a hyped sector. From Big Law incumbents to three-person Y Combinator teams pitching your exact product, challenges to your market position can come from anywhere these days. There will be a deluge of funding announcements, feature launches, strategic hires and M&A deals as everyone tries to be the loudest player in the game. Ignore the noise The key is to ignore the noise and focus on speed, which might already feel like a tired adage in the AI era, but it remains essential to success. Say “yes” more than you explain, accept imperfect customers, awkward use cases and messy implementations. Keep an eye on your runway, but this is the time to make one-year bets, not five-year plans. As Jason Lemkin bluntly put it on the 20VC podcast: Either you ship fast and stretch the truth, or you wait for LLMs to catch up and risk irrelevance. After seven years of building through the trough and crest of the legal tech cycle, the industry transformation I’ve advocated for is now front-page news. The wave I caught with the “What is Legal Tech?” slide turned into a tsunami that is reshaping how million-dollar law firms operate. Keep your perspective Even if it feels impossible at times, make sure to zoom out regularly to avoid getting sucked into the hype maelstrom. Find trusted advisers who have seen these cycles start and die before. Your board should be a source of clarity amidst the whirlwind of hot takes. Finally, be grateful that you actually caught the wave. It can be intimidating, but when the focus is on your industry you get to build your company while the world watches, meaning doors that are usually locked shut will be wide open for a limited time. My advice is to build something that matters for when the hype dies, because it always does. Michael Grupp is the CEO and co-founder of Bryter, the legal automation platform combining AI with workflows for law firms and corporate legal teams. A former lawyer at Clifford Chance and Hogan Lovells, Grupp transitioned from international litigation to entrepreneurship, founding Thesius (acquired by Persona Service AG, 2017) and Lexalgo (acquired by Bryter, 2018). Bryter has raised €90 million and serves clients including DLA Piper, Linklaters, McDonald’s and Deloitte. Grupp also lectures on legal tech and innovation at J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt and is a thought leader on the intersection of law and technology. Illustration: Dom Guzman Source: Crunchbase

خلاصہ: Exclusive: Insurtech Startup Inclined Raises $8M For Offering That Was ‘Historically Reserved For The Wealthy’Inclined Technologies, a fintech startup that lends against whole life insurance policies, has raised $8 million in a Series B funding round, the company told Crunchbase News exclusively. HSCM Ventures led the financing, which also included participation from Northwestern Mutual and other new and existing backers. The raise brings San Francisco-based Inclined’s total funding to $31 million. The company did not disclose its valuation, saying only that the Series B was raised “at a premium” to its $16.5 million Series A. In 2020, Strava co-founder Mark Shaw teamed up with Josh Wyss and Graham Gerlach to start Inclined, his third company. He’d previously founded insurance software startup Guidewire Software, which ended up going public in 2012. Shaw joined activity and fitness tracking platform Strava as a co-founder in 2009 to lead engineering as CTO. The goal with Inclined, he said, is to digitize many of the traditional time-intensive operations involved in the process of lending against whole life insurance policies. Shaw concedes that insurance may not be considered among the sexiest of industries, particularly in the age of AI. But in his view, Inclined is able to do something that has historically been reserved for the wealthy: open up the option to borrow against whole life insurance policies to more people. Whole life insurance policies differ from term life in that they accumulate value that is available permanently, rather than just paying for coverage. Shaw, who serves as Inclined’s CTO, likens it to buying versus renting a home.  And when whole life policyholders want to access their cash value, they often choose to do so via a loan, rather than withdrawing the money directly, which is less efficient, he explains. This gives banks a way to better participate in the market at scale, according to Shaw. And because banks often have “much lower rates than insurance companies,” he explained, that means borrowers get to borrow at lower interest rates. Plus, their money can be compounded over decades. Inclined’s flagship product is called “iLOC” and is a revolving line of credit collateralized by the cash value accumulated within a whole life insurance policy. It’s offered through advisers of insurance carriers that Inclined is partnered with, including Northwestern Mutual, MassMutual and Guardian Life. No recurring interest payments are required, there are no late-payment penalties, and no fees are charged to borrowers, according to Wyss, who serves as the company’s CEO. People “are essentially borrowing from themselves,” he said. Many people access the money they have built up in these policies to do things like make investments, pay for education or fund other large purchases such as real estate.  “They can access this liquidity during their lifetime,” Wyss told Crunchbase News. “It’s not just something used after a person dies.” Insurtech funding sees choppy funding Inclined’s funding follows several years of declining venture investment in insurance and insurtech startups but a more recent uptick, Crunchbase data shows.  Last year, such startups raised some $4.5 billion globally, down from $6.3 billion in 2023 and $9.5 billion in 2022. In 2021 — the peak year for global venture funding — insurance-related startups raised close to $19 billion worldwide, per Crunchbase data. But through the first half of 2025, those startups have raised nearly $4.3 billion, putting them on pace to top last year and 2023. Inclined’s rapid growth Since Inclined’s founding, more than $1 billion of credit has originated on its platform, its co-founders said. While they declined to reveal hard revenue figures, they told Crunchbase News that the company’s annual recurring revenue is “up more than 50x” since it last raised in September 2022, for a compound annual growth rate of 318%.   Because of its B2B2C model, Inclined has a few different types of customers. Over 2,000 insurance professionals recommend and sell its iLOC product to their policyowner customers who want to access the cash they have built up in their policies. It has about 3,500 whole life policyowners who are using the iLOC product. The company makes money primarily through fees paid by its banking partners. When asked why the startup opted to raise less money in its Series B than it did in its Series A, Wyss said the company was “just being judicious” about the amount of capital it needed. “We felt like this was the right amount of capital to get to the next milestones of the company,” he said. “And, partnering with Northwestern Mutual and getting them on the cap table was a big part of this, too.” Inclined plans to use its new capital mostly to “invest in sales,” and grow its engineering team, according to Shaw. Craig Schedler, vice president of venture and corporate development at Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, told Crunchbase News via email that Inclined’s technology platform will help enable its policyowners “to understand and optimize the value of their whole life insurance policies, helping them manage their financial lives and have greater access to the living benefits of their Northwestern Mutual policy.” Related Crunchbase query: Venture Funding To Insurance And Insurtech Startups  Illustration: Dom Guzman Source: Crunchbase

خلاصہ: Want A Team That Thinks Like Owners? Variable Compensation Is The AnswerBy Julio Martínez I recently tied the bonus of our VP of engineering to our ARR target. Initially, he said I was insane. But six months later, he thanked me. The distinct mindset shift — from owning a function to owning the outcome — changed everything. Startups are under more pressure than ever to hit revenue milestones with leaner teams. Yet compensation models don’t always reflect this. It’s common for sales teams to chase bonuses while the rest of the organization operates on fixed salaries, detached from the company’s growth. That’s a missed opportunity. When introduced correctly, variable compensation can align your entire company around your growth and foster a performance-based culture where everyone thinks like an owner. Here’s how you can implement variable compensation across your startup, without wrecking your team’s morale in the process. Pick one North Star metric and stick to it Startups are chaotic by nature. Priorities shift, roadmaps pivot, and focus is hard to hold. That’s exactly why variable compensation needs to be grounded in a single, unifying metric, usually ARR. At Abacum, the entire company rallies around Net New ARR. This means it’s not just a finance metric; it’s our compass. It aligns every team, from engineering to customer success, around one shared definition of success. This forces teams to zoom out, think bigger and collaborate cross-functionally. Pro tip — don’t overcomplicate this. Pick one metric that matters and make it the center of gravity for everything you do. If your company lives or dies by revenue growth, ensure that everyone lives and breathes that metric. Make it meaningful A 5% bonus might look good on paper, but it won’t change how people think or act. If you want real behavior change, the incentive needs to be big enough to matter. At Abacum, we offer variable compensation of around 20% across the business. It’s meaningful enough to make people sit up, lean in and focus on moving the needle. When it comes to creating a high-performance culture of accountability, individual KPIs alone don’t cut it. You’re not trying to reward task completion; you’re rewarding business impact. When bonuses are tied to company-wide outcomes, people stop thinking in silos and start thinking like owners. Pay MORE when the business wins One of the most powerful cultural levers in a startup is sharing upside. When your team feels the win financially, not just intellectually, they don’t just celebrate, they double down. They work harder, smarter, faster and more collaboratively to do it again. Founders need to scale bonuses with overachievement. The more a team exceeds targets, the more they earn, no caps. Keep the structure simple so everyone understands how their efforts drive upside. Your comp model should reinforce the idea that you’re a team that builds and celebrates together. Make it hurt when the business misses Accountability separates serious startups from the rest. If bonuses still get paid when the company misses its goals, they stop being incentives and start becoming participation trophies. At Abacum, we don’t finger-point when we fall short. But it is a catalyst for a serious conversation. What went wrong? What do we need to learn? What should we do differently next quarter? That reflection fuels progress, but only if the miss has real consequences. Big upside for overperformance is powerful, but there must be consequences for underperformance as well. Otherwise, you’re sending the signal that outcomes don’t actually matter. Why this model works Variable compensation isn’t just a perk — it’s a tool for driving real ownership. When every function is tied to outcomes, people stop measuring their individual outputs and start thinking in terms of business results. It’s not about how long you sit at your desk, it’s about what you deliver when you’re there. Many startups avoid this model because it feels risky outside of sales. But the real risk? Letting your team operate in silos, disconnected from whether the company sinks or scales. That’s how cultures stagnate. If you want to attract talent who want to build value, not just collect a paycheck, and a team that moves in sync, thinks like owners, and rows in the same direction — don’t just talk about alignment. Put your money where your mouth is and make it count. Julio Martínez is the co-founder and CEO of Abacum, a company specializing in financial planning and analysis software for mid-market firms. Abacum’s all-in-one platform enables CFOs to forecast revenue, plan headcount and account for unseen financial circumstances amidst tough macroeconomic headwinds. Under Martínez’s leadership, the company has expanded internationally, with its headquarters in New York City, and offices in London and Barcelona. Before co-founding Abacum, Martínez had a career in finance and technology. In 2018, he attended the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Illustration: Dom Guzman Source: Crunchbase