Welcome, people, to TechCrunch Week in Evaluate (WiR), a digest of the previous few days in tech happenings.

As I write this, snow’s gracing New York Metropolis — an more and more uncommon deal with because of our altering local weather. And that feels becoming in mild of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional’s imminent launch. In any case, one of many guarantees of headsets just like the Imaginative and prescient Professional is that they transport the wearer away from the stresses of on a regular basis life to extra optimistic realities — not less than for a spell.

Brian went fingers on with the Imaginative and prescient Professional this week. His impressions? It’s transporting, all proper — however very dear.

There’s a good chunk of reports to recap this week, so let’s get to it. However first, a reminder to enroll right here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday for those who haven’t already carried out so.

Information

“Quiet supersonic” jet: NASA and Lockheed Martin have lastly taken the wraps off the X-59, an plane which will form the way forward for each army and civilian air journey, Devin writes.

Byju’s valuation reduce: BlackRock has reduce the worth of its holding in Byju’s, slashing the implied valuation of the Indian startup to about $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022.

Notion launches a calendar app: Notion, the extremely common note-taking and venture administration service, has launched a stand-alone calendar service. Frederic has the total story.

Samsung’s Galaxy S24: Samsung held a press convention this week the place it introduced its newest flagship telephones — all powered by AI in some kind or one other.

Layoffs at Google: After shedding over 1,000 employees throughout a number of divisions final week and reducing 100 jobs at YouTube, Google CEO Sundar Pichai despatched a memo to its workers warning extra layoffs are anticipated this 12 months.

Evaluation

CES chases off intercourse tech: Regardless of being an business that caters to a common human expertise, intercourse tech has all the time had an uneasy affiliation with CES, Haje writes. And this 12 months, the convention successfully managed to chase the intercourse tech business off its present flooring — for higher or worse.

Podcasts

On Fairness, Alex and Mary Ann chewed by means of funding rounds galore from Pomelo, Tandem and Briq — and in addition mentioned how C-suite executives really feel about AI and the enterprise.

Discovered featured Magic Spoon co-founder and CEO Gabi Lewis. Magic Spoon creates cereal flavors that play on our nostalgia for Froot Loops and Cocoa Puffs with a grown-up high-protein twist. 

And on Chain Response, Jacquelyn interviewed Monica Lengthy, the president of Ripple, the blockchain-based digital fee community and protocol.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get entry to in-depth commentary, evaluation and surveys — which you understand for those who’re already a subscriber. Should you’re not, think about signing up. Listed below are a number of highlights from this week:

Unicorn membership: Cowboy Ventures’ founder Aileen Lee penned a long-awaited follow-up to her unique 2013 article by which she coined the time period “unicorn.”

Personal fairness in 2024: Alex and Anna write about how PE companies might be the final resort for startups struggling to exit.

Reddit, IPOing: Reddit may lastly go public this 12 months. Alex examines what that might imply for the corporate — and others making an attempt IPOs this 12 months.

Bonus spherical