Daily Crunch - Apple launches Fitness+

We review Apple Fitness+, Gmail goes down and Pornhub cracks down on unverified content. This is your Daily Crunch for December 14, 2020.

The big story: Apple launches Fitness+

Brian Heater tried out Apple’s new $10-per-month subscription service for guided workouts, prompting some broader reflections on exercise during this terrible year — and on how Fitness+ might fit in.

The service requires an Apple Watch to sign up, which is a hurdle if (like me) you don’t already own the device, but Brian writes:

Honestly, the Apple Watch integration is probably the best-executed aspect of the entire undertaking — down to the way the wearable doubles as a start and stop button for the workout. It also ensures a more complete rundown of your workouts at the end of the day.

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The tech giants

Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs and other services go down in multiple countries — A huge range of Google services went down for about an hour today.

Reddit acquires Dubsmash — Dubsmash will retain its own platform and brand, while Reddit will integrate its video creation tools.

Apple launches its new app privacy labels across all its App Stores — The new labels aim to give Apple customers an easier way to understand what sort of information an app collects across three categories.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Tonic is betting that synthetic data is the new big data to solve scalability and security — Tonic transforms raw data into more manageable and private data sets usable by software engineers and business analysts.

German Bionic raises $20M led by Samsung for exoskeleton tech to supercharge human labor — The company describes its Cray X robot as “the world’s first connected exoskeleton for industrial use.”

Mombox is a curated kit of postnatal products that puts new moms first — The standard Mombox includes organic overnight pads, a peri bottle, perineal ice pack, post-pregnancy panties and other care products.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

MIT professor wants to overhaul ‘The Hype Machine’ that powers social media — Sinan Aral has spent years analyzing the social media market.

Five questions every IT team should be able to answer — When the CEO comes calling, are you prepared?

IPO delays are bumming me out — Roblox is on ice and Affirm could slip.

(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

FDA grants emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, distribution to begin within days — And vaccinations started today!

Pornhub removes all unverified content, following reports of exploitation — Pornhub announced last week that it would be limiting uploads to only verified users.

Original Content podcast: David Fincher presents a compelling character study in ‘Mank’ — Gary Oldman delivers a mesmerizing performance as the co-writer of “Citizen Kane.”

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