NatLife Sounds True Trance Sounds V3 For Diva True Trance Sounds V3 For Diva – it's a clear Trance soundbank. The emphasis was on a Lead sounds similar to the famous Roland JP-8000 and Virus TI. And of course you get the full range... Read More

Ginger Audio GroundControl Sphere monitoring software Ginger Audio's latest release provides monitor control and routing facilities for multi-channel surround and immersive audio from a DAW or other playback application. 

Stereo7 Audio Resonova EDM Piano Kontakt VST plugin is a versatile and cutting-edge virtual instrument that seamlessly blends the richness of a modern EDM piano with the limitless creative possibilities of electronic... Read More

US crypto bills on the move, Worldcoin launches and Russia’s CBDC: Hodler’s Digest, July 23-29Crypto legislation goes to the House floor in the U.S., Worldcoin’s controversial launch and Russia’s digital ruble signed into law.

Twitter rebrands to ‘X,’ hackers infect Call of Duty, and foreign visitors to China go cashlessHey, friends, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s roundup of the week in tech news. Life getting in the way of your daily TechCrunch habit? Not to worry. WiR will get you caught up in no time.
This week, WiR covers the improving quality of AI porn generators and the ethical dilemmas they raise; Twitter rebranding to “X”; and hackers infecting Call of Duty with self-spreading malware. Elsewhere, we dive into a North Korean hacking group, foreign Chinese visitors’ newfound ability to go cashless, and the rollout of Sam Altman’s Worldcoin eyeball-scanning crypto project.
As always, it’s a lot to get to, so let’s not delay. But first, a reminder that if you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday.
Most read
Twitter rebrands to “X”: This week, Twitter removed its iconic bird logo and adopted “X” as its new official branding. The move, which Elon Musk announced over the weekend, is a harbinger of the platform’s shift — perhaps more aspirational than concrete — to deemphasize text tweets in favor of audio, video, messaging and payment and banking.
Now it’s my X: Twitter’s rebranding to X hasn’t been faring exceptionally well. In addition to a haphazard rollout that saw parts of the site referencing “X” while others still implored you to “search Twitter” or push a blue button to “Tweet,” the company didn’t even make an attempt to secure the @x Twitter handle, owned by Gene X Hwang of the corporate photography and videography studio Orange Photography. Twitter later wrested control of the handle without notifying or compensating Hwang.
Hackers infect Call of Duty: Hackers are infecting players of an old Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 2, with a worm that spreads automatically in online lobbies. As Lorenzo writes, Modern Warfare 2 was released quite a bit ago — 2009 — but still has a small community of players. Call of Duty publisher Activision said in a tweet that it would bring the Steam version of the game offline as it “investigates report of [the] issue.”
Foreign visitors to China go cashless: This week, China’s two dominant mobile payment solutions, WeChat Pay and Alipay, announced that foreign users can now pay at Chinese retailers by linking their foreign credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard and Discover. Previously, using WeChat Pay and Alipay in China required a local bank account, making it challenging for short-term visitors to use these payment methods.
Worldcoin launches its eyeball-scanning project: Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s audacious eyeball-scanning crypto startup, has begun the global rollout of its services to help build a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online. People can download World App, the startup’s protocol-compatible wallet software, and visit an Orb, Worldcoin’s helmet-shaped eyeball-scanning verification device, to receive a unique “World ID.”
North Korean hackers expose themselves: Security researchers say they have high confidence that North Korean hackers were behind a recent intrusion at enterprise software company JumpCloud because of a mistake the hackers made. Mandiant, which is assisting one of JumpCloud’s affected customers, attributed the breach to hackers working for North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, or RGB, a hacking unit that targets cryptocurrency companies and steals passwords from executives and security teams.
Waymo puts the brakes on trucks: Waymo is tapping the brakes on self-driving trucks and shifting most of its capital, resources and talent to one commercial bet: ride-hailing. Kirsten writes that the move, which was announced Wednesday in a company blog post, comes six years after Waymo first tested its autonomous vehicle system in Class 8 trucks. The company emphasized the decision was driven by the commercial opportunities in applying its autonomous vehicle technology to ride-hailing.
SEC probes Bolt ex-CEO: Ryan Breslow, co-founder of the e-commerce software outfit Bolt, was subpoenaed along with the company last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Christine reported this week. A letter authored in April by a lawyer representing Bolt investors said the SEC was investigating whether federal securities laws were violated in connection with statements made when Bolt was raising money in 2021.
Audio
In need of a podcast to fill the hours? You’re in luck. TechCrunch has a roster of new episodes to keep you both entertained and informed.
On Equity this week, the crew dug through the headlines of the past few days, starting with AngelList’s acquisition of Nova, Waymo steering toward robotaxis and the latest on interest rates from the Fed. They also touched on earnings for Big Tech and how more limited partner capital can funnel into diverse venture funds.
Found featured a conversation with Mandy Price, the co-founder and CEO at Kanarys, a software-as-a-service startup that helps companies tackle their diversity and inclusion problems with data. Mandy talked about why she started the company after a decade-long career as a lawyer and why she didn’t want Kanarys to just be focused on hiring metrics, as many other diversity, equity and inclusion platforms are.
And on Chain Reaction, Deana Burke and Natasha Hoskins, the co-founders of Boys Club, spoke about their social decentralized autonomous organization for the “crypto curious.” Originally designed to get women and nonbinary people into the web3 world, Boys Club now aims to be an open space for anyone looking to get into the space.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Why SAFE rounds are safe: SAFEs, simple agreements for future equity, have long been touted as a founder-friendly structure for signing venture deals. But is it really fair to call them that? Rebecca investigates.
Positivity in the face of toxicity: Dominic writes about how prioritizing positive company culture is just as important — or at least, should be as important — as investor returns.
Playing the long AI game: Microsoft’s and Alphabet’s results indicate the AI game is more of a long-term strategy, Alex writes.

Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September to immerse yourself in all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup expo floor, there’s something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code WIR. Learn more.

DECAP (DaBaby, Eminem) makes a beat from scratch
Multi-platinum producer DECAP sat down with us to showcase how he makes a beat from scratch in Ableton Live.

Cinematique Instruments Kalimba The kalimba is not just one kalimba - No, the kalimba is a big bundle of six different kalimbas as well as 2 articulations of the famous Guitaret. They are all different and all have a... Read More

Getting It Done: Last week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for the independent do-it-yourselfers covered how to best prepare for a gig, how to increase your streams, and much more… Free Touring for Musicians. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: Last week in D.I.Y & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s week in reviewA busy week by any definition, and the music industry last week was no exception, with Barbie leading in music, Warner and TikTok cutting a deal, Spotify increasing prices, and. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

G3 MultiBusComp plug-in from SSL SSl's latest plug-in offers three independent bands of G-Series compression, as well as variable saturation controls and a range of side-chain routing and processing options.

Graham Nash Benefit Concert Aids NAMM's Museum of Making MusicOn July 18, NAMM’s Museum of Making Music welcomed patrons to a sold-out “Concert for a Cause” benefit event that featured legendary Grammy Award®-winning renaissance artist Graham Nash. The event was held at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California, and raised more than $195,000 in support of the museum’s educational outreach programs, which impact thousands of school children and adults each year. Do you know an ambitious college student studying a career in music? The Lamond GenNext Award (formerly the President’s Innovation Award) honors and helps to fund college students who demonstrate excellence and are exploring career opportunities in music, sound and event technology.Apply Here

Music and music making are essential elements of the full human experience. Watch as Graham Nash expounds upon the benefits of making music from a young age, as captured by NAMM’s Oral History Program.

namm.org

NatLife Sounds True Trance Sounds V2 For Diva NatLife Sounds is back with a new massive soundbank for U-He Diva synthesizer. It's a 64 outstanding Trance presets, thats fit every needs from the sound design. One bank for... Read More

Worldcoin is making reality look like a lot like Black MirrorOpenAI’s sister company Worldcoin wants you to buy its coin — and possibly unleash a tempest of problems across the world in the process.

Angry Mob Presents New Normal Writing Camp, Announces Upcoming CampsThe New Normal Writing Camp presented by Angry Mob Music Group took place over five days (June 26-30) in Downtown Los Angeles and featured 30+ talented artists/writers/producers from 10+ different cultural backgrounds. In addition, out of those in attendance, 50% of them were women producers and 70% were female writers/artists. 

The New Normal Writing Camp, founded by Ralph Torrefranca (Filipino-American Senior Director of A&R, Angry Mob), was created to bring our songwriting community together and lift each other up in an industry where underrepresented voices are often held back due to the old ways of thinking. The New Normal is a writing camp that encourages diversity and champions the melting pot of cultural backgrounds, which brings a unique and universally relatable perspective into the music world.

“Artists in residence” included UMI (RCA), YDE (Warner/Facethouse), Paravi (RCA), Deb Never (Moon Landing), Maris (Black House), Tempest (Arista/Sony), and Chandler Leighton; Our producers included MNDR (Mark Ronson, Charlie XCX), Chong The Nomad (21 Savage, Shang-Chi), Ali Stone, V-RON (Alicia Keys, Ambre), Joe Pepe (Iann Dior, Sam Short), Verskotzi (Prinze George, Sam Drysdale), Bus (Ty Dolla $ign, Brent Faiyaz) and Dominique Sanders (Tech9, Dr. Dre); and our writers/artists included Bailey Bryan, Sayak Das, Kiana V, Brooke Daye, Rose Tan, LeyeT, Galxara, Taylor Foley, Chloe Tang, Sad Alex, Floyd Fuji, Mori Einsidler, Gray Trainer, Dan Richards and Louis Castle.

The New Normal is proudly sponsored by BMI, Topo Chico, Shure, JHS Pedals, Izotope, Native Instruments, and Spitfire Audio, who all support the message and purpose behind what the camp aims to change in the industry. For more pictures, visit The New Normal Songwriting Camp's Instagram. Angry Mob Music is also planning to have another New Normal Writing Camp in Los Angeles, CA during the fall of 2023, followed by one in Nashville, TN in 2024.