Apple unveils new hardware and new subscriptions, Spotify adds virtual event listings and Opendoor is going public via SPAC. This is your Daily Crunch for September 15, 2020.
The big story: Apple announces new iPads and Apple Watches
Apple had a big hardware event today. And while you should check out our full roundup if you want to see all the announcements, I’ll do my best to cover the big ones in a couple of paragraphs.
First up: The new Apple Watch Series 6, priced at $399, with Apple’s S6 silicon chip and a blood oxygen sensor. The company is also expanding the Watch lineup with a more affordable Apple Watch SE, which will cost $279.
Plus, there’s a new iPad Air with Touch ID built into the power button, the previously rumored Apple One subscription bundle (which starts at $14.99 per month), a new fitness subscription and a September 16 launch date for iOS 14 — in other words, tomorrow!
The tech giants
Spotify adds virtual event listings to its app — TechCrunch previously detailed Spotify’s plans in this area, but today the company made the news official.
Twitter debuts US election hub to help people navigate voting in 2020 — That tab will serve as Twitter’s central source for hand-picked election news in English and Spanish, debate live streams, state-specific resources and candidate information.
Waze gets smarter with trip suggestions, lane guidance, traffic notifications and more — Among the changes, Waze is gaining personalized recommendations based on a user’s trip history.
Startups, funding and venture capital
Opendoor to go public by way of Chamath Palihapitiya SPAC — The transaction comes during a wave of market interest in special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, often called blank-check companies.
Kleiner prints gold with Desktop Metal, netting a roughly 10x return — Yes, the startup’s technology is designed to “print metal.”
The Chainsmokers just closed their debut venture fund, Mantis, with $35 million — The musical duo has some major-league backers for their fund, including Mark Cuban, Keith Rabois, Jim Coulter and Ron Conway.
Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch
If you care about remote employees, start tracking their performance — Remote work has been thrust upon us, but are business leaders ready for it?
What’s ahead in IPO land for JFrog, Snowflake, Sumo Logic and Unity — Alex Wilhelm reminds us that some losses are very bad and others are pretty OK.
(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)
Everything else
CBS All Access to rebrand to Paramount+, expand internationally in 2021 — The name change is designed to better reflect the expanded content lineup that has joined the service following the Viacom-CBS merger in 2019.
Watch the first official trailer for The Mandalorian Season 2, premiering October 30 on Disney+ — Baby Yoda time!
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