Apple announces its best apps of 2020 – TechCrunch

Apple releases its annual greatest apps listing, a self-driving truck startup raises $350 million and the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will get emergency approval in the UK. That is your Day by day Crunch for December 2, 2020.

The large story: Apple pronounces its greatest apps of 2020

There have been different winners — all chosen by App Retailer editors — for various gadgets. Dwelling exercise app Wakeout! was named the iPhone App of the Yr, Disney+ was the Apple TV App of the Yr and the productiveness app Fantastical was the Mac App of the Yr. As for the iPad App of the Yr, it went to maybe the obvious alternative: Zoom.

So far as consumer recognition goes, Apple stated that Zoom was the most important free iPhone app, adopted by TikTok and Disney+ (which should qualify as free on a technicality), whereas the most well-liked free iPhone sport was Amongst Us.

The tech giants

Loon’s stratospheric balloons are now teaching themselves to fly better thanks to Google AI — Alphabet’s Loon has been utilizing algorithmic processes to optimize the flight of its stratospheric balloons for years, however the firm is now deploying a brand new navigation system.

Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger is now available — The MagSafe Duo appeared yesterday on Apple’s personal retailer and has supply estimates as quickly as this week.

Google says its News Showcase will add free access to paywalled stories — Thus far, Google Information Showcase has launched in nations together with Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, France, U.Okay. and Australia.

Startups, funding and enterprise capital

Self-driving trucks startup TuSimple raises $350M from US rail, retail and freight giants — TuSimple was one of many first autonomous trucking startups to emerge in what has grow to be a small-yet-bustling business.

Virta Health’s behavioral diabetes treatment service is now worth over $1B — Virta goals to reverse the presence of sort 2 diabetes and different power metabolic situations by altering a consumer’s weight loss program and train.

Space Perspective raises $7M for its plan to ferry tourists to the edge of space — Spaceship Neptune is designed to hold as much as eight passengers on a six-hour journey that may embody two hours spent on the higher fringe of Earth’s ambiance.

Recommendation and evaluation from Further Crunch

From surviving to thriving as a hardware startup — Six methods from Minut CEO Nils Mattisson.

A roundup of recent unicorn news — A lot for a December information slowdown.

(Further Crunch is our membership program, which goals to democratize details about startups. You can sign up here.)

The whole lot else

The U.K. approves the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use — The U.Okay. is the primary nation to approve the vaccine for widespread use.

Discovery will launch its own streaming service on January 4 — Discovery is the newest media firm to launch a standalone streaming service, and the newest to undertake the easy naming technique of simply including a plus signal.

Gift Guide: The best books for 2020 recommended by VCs and TechCrunch writers (Part 1) — Contains a lot of good books for tech and enterprise readers, plus my suggestion for the non-new, non-tech, but extraordinarily good novel “Jonathan Unusual & Mr. Norrell.”

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