India is planning to speed up testing and safety approvals of electronic devices, including smartphones and earbuds, to reduce their time to market. Currently, it can take as long as 20 weeks to for consumer electronics to pass safety tests — but the new approvals could bring that down to as little as three days. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the country’s nodal agency responsible for setting quality and safety standards, has considered a pilot project to do away with the exis ...read more

Electronics giant Samsung has confirmed a data breach affecting customers’ personal information. In a brief notice, Samsung said it discovered the security incident in late-July and that an “unauthorized third party acquired information from some of Samsung’s U.S. systems.” The company said it determined customer data was compromised on August 4. Samsung said Social Security numbers and credit card numbers were not affected, but some customer information — name, contact and demo ...read more

We might be rolling toward the start of autumn, but we’re rolling back prices to the summer early-bird level. Yup, in honor of the long Labor Day weekend, we’re holding a flash sale on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt, which takes place on October 18–20 in San Francisco, with an online day October 21. Right now and through Tuesday, September 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT, you can buy a Disrupt pass and pocket significant savings. Buy a General Admission pass and save $200 Buy an Investor pass an ...read more

Reviewers Liked OLED touch panel looks fantastic Works as 12.5-inch laptop Sturdy with a professional look Speakers get surprisingly loud Included Bluetooth keyboard has good travel Reviewers Didn't Like No stylus support Very high price Keyboard isn't backlit Poor battery life Kickstand doesn't work in portrait mode Underwhelming performance from Intel U-series processor Heavy as a tablet, awkward as a book Screen is extremely reflective Direct Competitors and Related Products ...read more

Plus Snapchat layoffs, Clearco's departure and big changes at Y Combinator Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This was a Live Week, meaning that Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann recorded the show on Twitter Spaces, hanging out with a bunch of the Equity family. Good times were had! We also disclosed that we are recording live at Disrupt this year! Yes, so come hang out as we tape the show on ...read more

(Amazon Image via Twitter) In a bid to get fans pumped for a season of streaming NFL games on Thursday nights, Amazon has turned to a couple of the league’s star quarterbacks to toss a new “Prime football.” The resulting videos — like the allegedly redesigned football — are a bit of a stretch. Rams QB Matthew Stafford is shown in a video on Instagram throwing the ball 100 yards from one end zone to the other. “This new Amazon Prime ball can really fly,” Stafford says as he l ...read more

Ever traveled on a cruise ship? Pre-COVID, most journeys started with a shipwide safety drill where passengers assembled, donned life vests and learned what to do in an emergency. The ocean has an average depth of 2.3 miles, yet these rehearsals were always a calm affair. You’re starting a vacation; what could possibly go wrong? Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members. Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription. Similarly, there’s ...read more

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given lenders until the end of November to implement adequate systems and processes to ensure that new and existing loans comply with its digital loan rules issued last month. The RBI’s move follows several reports highlighting issues of customers facing torture and abuse from agents of digital loan apps in the country. As we’ve reported, in some cases, customers failed to bear the psychological burden given by threat actors and committed suicide. B ...read more

The big picture: As antitrust authorities in multiple countries continue their inspection of Microsoft's unprecedented acquisition of Activision Blizzard, UK regulators have expressed deep concerns. While much talk surrounding the deal has focused on Call of Duty and consoles, the British antitrust probe highlights its possible effects on the growing cloud gaming and subscription markets. On Thursday, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed worry that Microsoft' ...read more

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has formally cleared the proposed $8.1 billion merger between cybersecurity giants NortonLifeLock and Avast, a month after provisionally greenlighting the deal. The merger has been hanging in the balance since plans were first revealed last August. The CMA revealed in March that it was launching an investigation, stating that combining two closely-aligned, market-leading rivals raised significant competition concerns. And this is true, ...read more