Lauren Forristal

Lauren covers media, streaming, apps and platforms at TechCrunch.

Lauren Forristal

It’s been three years since Spotify acquired live audio startup Betty Labs, and yet the music streaming service isn’t leveraging the technology to its fullest potential — at least not…

Spotify’s ‘Listening Party’ feature falls short of expectations

Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the top entertainment and sports talent agencies, is hoping to be at the forefront of AI protection services for celebrities in Hollywood. With many…

Hollywood agency CAA aims to help stars manage their own AI likenesses

Poshmark, the social commerce site that lets people buy and sell new and used items to each other, launched a paid marketing tool on Thursday, giving sellers the ability to…

Poshmark’s ‘Promoted Closet’ tool lets sellers boost all their listings at once

The announcement signifies a significant shake-up in the streaming giant’s advertising approach.

Netflix to take on Google and Amazon by building its own ad server

Gemini, the company’s family of generative AI models, will enhance the smart TV operating system so it can generate descriptions for movies and TV shows.

Google TV to launch AI-generated movie descriptions

Apple is bringing new accessibility features to iPads and iPhones, designed to cater to a diverse range of user needs.

Apple announces new accessibility features for iPhone and iPad users

As part of the update, Reddit also launched a dedicated AMA tab within the web post composer.

Reddit introduces new tools for ‘Ask Me Anything,’ its Q&A feature

Hydrow, the at-home rowing machine maker, announced Thursday that it has acquired a majority stake in Speede Fitness, the company behind the AI-enabled strength training machine. The rowing startup also…

Rowing startup Hydrow acquires a majority stake in Speede Fitness as their CEO steps down

Match Group, the company that owns several dating apps, including Tinder and Hinge, released its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, which shows that Tinder’s paying user base has decreased for…

Match looks to Hinge as Tinder fails

Autonomous, AI-based players are coming to a gaming experience near you, and a new startup, Altera, is joining the fray to build this new guard of AI agents. The company announced…

Bye-bye bots: Altera’s game-playing AI agents get backing from Eric Schmidt

In February 2023, Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-SC) proposed a bipartisan bill to protect children from online sexual exploitation, which then passed the House last month, on…

Biden signs bill to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation

Tubi, the ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox, launched a new beta program on Tuesday called “Stubios,” inviting aspiring filmmakers to submit their original content. Notably, applicants will receive feedback…

Tubi calls on indie filmmakers and their fans to help beef up original content library

With Match and other online dating companies facing a downturn, Archer’s growth is certainly notable.

Match-owned Archer hits over half a million installs amid dating app slump

Kajabi, the video and web hosting platform for content creators to sell online courses, announced Thursday the official launch of its no-code branded mobile app offering, letting users host their…

Online course platform Kajabi allows creators to build their own branded apps

Allowing women to make the first move has been Bumble’s modus operandi ever since it launched in 2014. A decade later, the company wants to give women even more control.…

Bumble’s Opening Move feature takes the pressure off women to come up with a new message every time

Petlibro, pet tech startup that designs automatic food dispensers for cats, launched its first refrigerated smart feeder.

Petlibro’s new smart refrigerated wet food feeder is what your cat deserves

Sanlo, a fintech startup that helps gaming companies manage finances, announced Wednesday the closed beta launch of its webshop tool, giving select game developers and studios a plug-and-play solution that…

Fintech gaming startup Sanlo’s webshop tool could help developers avoid costly app store fees

The company has developed an API that uses proprietary computer vision AI technology to identify products in TV shows and movies.

Diddo’s new funding will bring its shoppable TV API to streaming platforms

After losing their husbands in devastating and unexpected ways, Karine Nissim and Eloise Bune discovered there were no suitable places where people could go to face all the challenges that…

Two widow founders launch DayNew, a social platform for people dealing with grief and trauma

The mixed reality operating system that powers Meta Quest headsets can officially be used by third-party device makers, the company announced on Monday. Three major tech players — Asus, Lenovo…

Meta opens Quest OS to third-party headset makers, taps Lenovo and Xbox as partners

It’s not uncommon for people to screenshot dating profiles and send them to their friends and loved ones, either to get feedback or to let them know who they’re seeing…

Tinder gets a ‘Share My Date’ feature for users to send date plans to their curious friends

TikTok Shop, TikTok’s social commerce marketplace, is launching a secondhand luxury category in the U.K., putting it in closer competition with The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari, among…

TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK

The “AI ClipHero” feature creates short clips from livestreamed selling events, which often last for hours.

Live selling startup CommentSold uses AI to generate shoppable, social-ready clips

Amazon is trying to keep live shopping relevant with the launch of an “Amazon Live” FAST (free ad-supported TV) channel on Prime Video and Freevee. Previously only available as a…

Amazon brings its ‘Amazon Live’ shoppable livestreams to Prime Video and Freevee

Meta continues to field criticism over how it handles younger consumers using its platforms, but the company is also planning new products that will cater to them. On Monday, the…

Meta thinks it’s a good idea for students to wear Quest headsets in class

As eBay continues to invest in the trading card space, the e-commerce company announced Wednesday three significant commercial transactions with Collectors, the parent company of PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), the…

eBay enters trading card commercial agreement with Collectors, acquires Goldin

Announced earlier this year, Roku revealed today that its Pro Series TVs, the lineup of high-end televisions, are now available for purchase in the U.S. Starting today, Roku Pro Series…

Roku’s Pro Series TVs are now available

Five months ago, Rooms, a 3D design platform made by ex-Google employees, launched its beta version on the App Store. Today, the free iOS app is getting a big update…

Rooms, a 3D design app and ‘cozy game,’ gets a major update as users jump to 250K

Agnes Kozera and David Kierzkowski, the co-founders of podcast sponsorship marketplace Podcorn, today launched their newest app — Storiaverse, a short-form entertainment platform that offers a multi-format reading experience, combining…

Storiaverse launches a short-form storytelling app that combines video and written content

Home From College, a career platform for young professionals and college students looking for their first job or internship, announced Wednesday that it raised $5.4 million in a seed round…

GV invests in Home From College, a career platform for Gen Z