All posts tagged: shutters

Another autonomous vehicle startup shutters, Zoox expands driverless testing and investor fervor for AI escalates

Another autonomous vehicle startup shutters, Zoox expands driverless testing and investor fervor for AI escalates

TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. I spent a few days in Austin for SXSW, where I met with up founders and executives, caught a few talks and even moderated two panels. While generative AI was clearly the big attraction, the future of transportation still garnered attention from investors, urban planners, founders, corporations and media. I heard a lot of conversations about how autonomous vehicles would fit into cities as well as debates over what technology could help alleviate traffic and reduce emissions. I caught an interesting conversation between Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who predicted the company would be greener, more affordable and challenge Amazon in the future. These goals seem a bit more attainable — and higher on the priority list — now that Uber has finally ticked …

South Sudan Shutters All Schools as It Prepares for Extreme Heat Wave 

South Sudan Shutters All Schools as It Prepares for Extreme Heat Wave 

JUBA, South Sudan —  South Sudan’s government is closing down all schools starting Monday as the country prepares for a wave of extreme heat expected to last two weeks. The health and education ministries advised parents to keep all children indoors as temperatures are expected to soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), in a statement late Saturday. They warned that any school found open during that time would have its registration withdrawn, but didn’t specify how long the schools would remain shuttered. The ministries said they “will continue to monitor the situation and inform the public accordingly.” Peter Garang, a resident who lives in the capital, Juba, welcomed the decision. He said that “schools should be connected to the electricity grid” to enable the installation of air conditioners. South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. Civil conflict has plagued the east African country which also suffered from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents. The World Food Program …

Viral video of grandmother caught in shop shutters immortalised in spray-painted mural | UK News

Viral video of grandmother caught in shop shutters immortalised in spray-painted mural | UK News

A viral incident in which a grandmother was hoisted into air by a shop’s security shutters has been immortalised in a spray-painted mural. Anne Hughes, 71, was seen standing outside the Best One convenience store in Rhondda Cynon Taf when her coat got stuck in the shutters, and she was lifted 7ft into the air. The moment was caught on CCTV and went viral after it was shared by the shop’s owners on social media. Now it has been immortalised in a mural, spray-painted onto the shutters by graffiti artist, Tee2Sugars. The 33-year-old, from the nearby village of Tonyrefail, said he was asked to paint the piece by those at the store by its owners. “I had seen the video quite early on and my wife and I had both laughed about it. So when I saw the message asking me to paint it I said yes straight away,” he told Sky News. The father-of-two went out at 10pm on Thursday and spent two-and-a-half hours spray-painting the mural free-hand using an image from the CCTV …

Rooster Teeth fans mourn loss of RWBY, Red vs Blue after Warner Bros Discovery shutters company

Rooster Teeth fans mourn loss of RWBY, Red vs Blue after Warner Bros Discovery shutters company

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Rooster Teeth, the Austin-based production company behind popular animated series including Red vs Blue and RWBY, will shut down after 21 years. The news comes after its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, attempted to try and sell Rooster Teeth’s fandom, gaming and comedy entertainment division, but to no avail. The entertainment company’s general manager, Jordan Levin, made the announcement in a memo sent to staff on Wednesday (6 March). “It’s with a heavy heart I announce that Rooster Teeth is shutting down due to challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour and monetisation across platforms, advertising, and patronage,” Levin wrote in an email via Deadline. This closure will affect approximately 150 full-time employees who have been made redundant, as well as numerous other content creators and contractors. Warner Bros Discovery is reportedly in talks to sell Rooster Teeth’s catalogue of content, such as its …

Grandmother left dangling 7ft upside down after getting stuck in shop’s shutters | UK News

Grandmother left dangling 7ft upside down after getting stuck in shop’s shutters | UK News

A grandmother was left dangling upside down after her coat got caught in a shop’s security shutters. Anne Hughes, 71, was seen on CCTV being lifted 7ft into the air outside a convenience store in Rhondda Cynon Taf. She has been dubbed “SuperAnne” in her home village in Wales and said the incident “could only happen to me”. Image: Anne Hughes’ coat got stuck in the shutters. Pic: Kennedy News and Media Speaking at her home near the Best One shop in Tonteg, near Pontypridd, Ms Hughes said her thought at the time was “flipping heck”. “It’s just lucky I’ve got a good sense of humour,” she said. The store shared the clip on its social media and it has been watched nearly two million times. Ms Hughes was standing outside the store, where she works as a cleaner, waiting for it to open when the electric shutters were raised and her coat got stuck. Footage showed her dangling upside down before a shopkeeper rescued her by holding her in his arms as the shutter …

Switch emulator Yuzu abruptly shutters after Nintendo files suit

Switch emulator Yuzu abruptly shutters after Nintendo files suit

Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here.  Yuzu, the popular Nintendo Switch emulator, shut down today, days after Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the developers. At the same time, Yuzu’s parent company Tropic Haze and Nintendo filed a joint motion to settle the lawsuit, with Yuzu paying Nintendo $2.4 million. They’ll also destroy all copies of Yuzu — as well as 3DS emulator Citra — and give Nintendo control of their Yuzu URL, though this settlement is currently dependent on a judge’s approval. Nintendo has frequently pursued legal actions against perceived threats to its intellectual property, including the prosecution of Switch hacker Gary Bowser and rom hosting websites, including Rom Universe. The proposed settlement asks that the court specify, “Developing or distributing software, including Yuzu, that in its ordinary course functions only when cryptographic keys are integrated without authorization, violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s prohibition on trafficking in devices that circumvent effective technological measures, because the software is …

Ford shutters company building an app for plumbers, electricians and other trades

Ford shutters company building an app for plumbers, electricians and other trades

Ford has shut down VIIZR, a software-as-a-service company that along with Salesforce built an app to help tradespeople like plumbers, locksmiths and electricians to schedule field appointments, send invoices and manage customers, TechCrunch has learned. About 40 people who worked at VIIZR were laid off. VIIZR, which was first announced in December 2021, was a separate company majority owned by Ford with Salesforce as a minority investor. Its aim, at the time, was to build one of the many digital tools that would catapult the automaker’s commercial vehicle and service business Ford Pro to about $45 billion in revenue by 2025. VIIZR, is no longer part of that plan. Ford spokesperson Catherine Hargett confirmed that the automaker ended its investment in VIIZR and discontinued the product November 1 due to lack of customer demand and prioritizing its telematics, fleet management and charging productivity software where demand is strong and growing. Ford Pro is well on its way to hitting $45 billion in revenue  — a target that CEO Jim Farley noted during an event in …

Amazon shutters its live radio app Amp

Amazon shutters its live radio app Amp

Amazon has shut down its Clubhouse competitor’s live radio app Amp almost 18 months after its launch. The app allowed users to play DJ and provide commentary alongside playing tracks. The company’s lead for digital music, Steve Boom, sent a memo internally saying the decision to shut down the platform “only became clear after months of careful consideration determining the investments Amazon wants to make for the future,” as reported by Bloomberg. The app, introduced in March 2022, failed to register any significant growth and had nearly 700,000 monthly active users in July, sources told TechCrunch. Amazon responded by saying that these metrics were “inaccurate.” Analytics company data.ai noted that Amp had 1.3 million lifetime downloads. The company cut almost half of Amp’s staff last year during mass layoffs at the company. The app also failed to tempt users to sign up for Amazon as that number was in just single-digit thousands, as per documents seen by Techcrunch in July. Amazon tried to ride the live audio hype fueled by the pandemic. At the launch, …

Better.com lays off real estate team and shutters business unit

Better.com lays off real estate team and shutters business unit

Digital mortgage lender Better.com is exiting the real estate business. The struggling fintech startup laid off its real estate team on June 7, multiple sources confirmed to TechCrunch. The company is said to be shifting from an in-house agent model to a partnership agent model. One person who was impacted by the move told TechCrunch that the agents had received “little to no severance…after getting a more than 50% salary cut in November in order to ‘ensure’ our jobs to come.” TechCrunch reached out to Better.com, which declined to comment on the record. It is not clear how many people were impacted. The news is not shocking considering that rumors of Better.com’s plans to exit the real estate business have swirled for some time as the housing market has experienced a major slowdown driven by rising mortgage interest rates. As early as April of 2022, TechCrunch reported that it was suspected that all of Better Real Estate could be scrapped. The unit was at one time the “baby” of the company, sources said, and where a …