Mobile World Congress 2023 kicks off with new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS

There’s another episode out of Inside Startup Battlefield, the podcast mini-documentary getting a behind-the-scenes look at the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield. Maggie just dropped the new EP: Getting to know the Battlefield 200. Oh, and if you want to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt, you can apply now to speak!

— Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Don’t you just love a new feature?: We have a team over in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, and one of the top stories coming out of there is the slew of new features Google has announced for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS. We’ll let Aisha give you the scoop, but it involves productivity, connectivity and accessibility. You know, the equivalent of the three educational “Rs,” but instead for mobile.
• A reason to wear sunglasses at night: Speaking of Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi unveiled its lightweight AR glasses with a “retina-level” display, Ivan writes. Also, check out Ivan’s other Xiaomi story on its 13 Pro flagship.
• This phone is cool, literally: OnePlus has been on a roll this month with new products, and now today, Brian reports on its gaming concept phone with a glowing liquid cooling feature.

Startups and VC

Card collectors often dispute how much their cards are worth. New Jersey–based CollX raises $5.5 million to provide a free iOS and Android app to card enthusiasts that enables them to scan their trading cards and get value in return, Ivan reports.

Anthropic, a buzzy AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI employees, has begun offering partners access to its AI text-generating models, Kyle reports. The first commercial venture to announce that it’s integrating Anthropic models is Robin AI, a legal tech startup that’s raised over $13 million. Quora’s experimental chatbot app for iOS and Android, Poe, uses Anthropic models, but it’s not currently monetized.

And we have five more for you:

• Gotta keep ’em separated: Devin explores how SepPure’s nanofilters massively reduce energy cost of industrial separation processes.
• Evernote layoffs: Bending Spoons recently acquired Evernote, and now it lays off 129 Evernote staffers, Kyle reports.
• Pahk the Cah, etc.: Ron takes a look at how Boston offers a world of advantages for startup founders.
• Valuable clouds: Kyle reports how cloud security startup Wiz, now valued at $10 billion, raises $300 million.
• What are we even paying for?: Spade turns credit card transaction gibberish into clear, actionable data, Christine reports.

Using predictive LTV to juice up marketing campaigns

Last fall, Voyantis CEO Ido Wiesenberg shared a TC+ post with several tactics for reducing customer acquisition costs via predictive modeling.

In a follow-up, he explains how to use predictive lifetime value (LTV) to create “more targeted, effective acquisition strategies that focus on acquiring and retaining customers.”

Adding predictive LTV to decision flows helps identify lucrative customers early in the sales cycle, but it can also shorten underperforming ad campaigns, set performance targets and help teams adjust budgets midstream.

Three more from the TC+ team:

• Making more: Why so many gigafactories? It’s not just EVs driving demand, by Tim.
• Acquiring more: Going private: A guide to PE tech acquisitions writes, by Jeff Laborde.
• Raising more: Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022’s startup correction, by Becca.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

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Big Tech Inc.

The hubbub over the weekend was that a new round of Twitter layoffs included Esther Crawford, the chief executive of Twitter payments who oversaw the company’s Twitter Blue verification subscription. She had been one of Elon Musk’s most public cheerleaders following his acquisition of the social media giant. Rebecca reports that some 50 people were part of the layoffs.

And, just when you thought we might get a break from AI chatbots, Aisha writes that Snapchat now has one that is powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. That’s right, folks, it’s called “My AI” and for $3.99 per month, you too can give it a whirl. Go ahead, ask it for birthday gift ideas for your BFF.

And we have five more for you:

• Thank you for your patience: Dish subscribers are not having a good day. The U.S. satellite television provider was hit by a multiday outage after a reported cyberattack, Carly writes.
• Losing all self-driving control: Following a recall, Tesla pauses its rollout of Full Self-Driving beta software. Kirsten has more.
• Don’t go breakin’ my heart: Lauren reports that Spotify is doing away with the heart button and will instead implement a “plus” sign.
• Two Pokémon walk into a bar: Amanda writes on a few new Pokémon features, including Pokémon Go’s integration with Scarlet and Violet, an update on Pokémon Sleep, and Pokémon’s partnership with Netflix to launch the stop-motion series “Pokémon Concierge.”
• Paired up: Mobile carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, teamed up with AWS and Microsoft to launch Open Gateway, which Ingrid writes is a set of Twilio-like APIs that will enable these carriers to tap into network services for more development.

• Information Technology and Services Director at City of Beaverton (Beaverton, OR, USA)
• Sales Account Executive at Makai HR (Hawaii, USA)
• Lead Exhibition Technical Engineer at Meow Wolf (Grapevine, TX, USA)
• Chief Operating Officer at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Washington D. C., DC, USA)
• Vice President of Marketing at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Anywhere)

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