SmartJane is a new women’s health test out from uBiome today that promises to check for 23 vaginal flora as well as 19 strains of the human papilloma virus and a string of sexually transmitted diseases like Chlamydia and gonorrhea from the comfort of your own home.
uBiome, which launched in 2012 to sequence and study the human microbiome, is best known for its at-home gut health test… Read More
A new video series called That Moment When is pretty much my kryptonite. And I mean that as a compliment. See, I’m the kind of person who has to watch shows like The Office with my hands over my eyes. Violence? Gore? Monsters? All fine. But introduce any embarrassment or social discomfort, and suddenly I’m cringing. That Moment When has plenty of discomfort, and it doubles down… Read More
Bringing debt collection into the age of the soft touch, email and text-based world of the 21st century has netted TrueAccord $22 million in a new round of funding.
I first wrote about the company three years ago (time flies) and since then the company has added a 70 new customers and is managing the debt of roughly 1.8 million individuals and businesses (to the tune of approximately $1.6… Read More
Why count inventory when the robots can do it? Retailers are using machines from a startup called Bossa Nova Robotics to analyze what’s selling on the shelves. The robots drive autonomously through store aisles figuring out what has sold and then sends back data. The company is now raising $17.5 million Series B led by Paxion to scale its business. Intel Capital, Cota Capital and others… Read More
A spokeswoman told us YouTube has broadened its policy for taking down extremist content: Not just removing videos that directly preach hate or seek to incite violence but also removing other videos of named terrorists, unless the content is journalistic or educational in nature — such as news reports and documentaries. Read More
One of the niftiest features of Google Home is now available for owners of the smart speaker after support for ‘Broadcast’ rolled out. The new addition allows you to push messages or reminders across a network of Home devices to mimic an in-home intercom system. So rather than calling up to kids that dinner is about to be served, or getting them to wake up for school, Google Home… Read More
When admitting you are struggling with anxiety or depression is hard enough, asking for help can seem insurmountable. Pacifica’s self-help app was created to make cognitive behavioral therapy exercises accessible to more people. Now the startup is launching a Therapist Directory for users who want to take the next step. The service allows them to find a provider, attend consultations… Read More
Hardware is hard, they say, and that’s why hardware will be a point of discussion at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2017. We’re pleased to bring to the stage several companies that built, launched and live in the world of hardware. It’s our hope that through these panels and fireside chats, founders, devs and investors walk away from the conference a bit more comfortable… Read More
Apple is once again the biggest selling producer of wearables after its third-generation Apple Watch, released in September, helped it pip China’s Xiaomi to the post. The new device, Apple’s first that connects to the internet without being tethered to a smartphone, took the U.S. mobile giant to 3.9 million shipments in the recent Q3 2017, according to new data from Canalys. The… Read More
Amazon has denied reports that it is withdrawing its AWS business from China, but the firm did admit that it has been forced to sell some physical assets to its local partner. The U.S. firm appeared to have exited the country after The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported that Beijing Sinnet, the partner that operates AWS China, had notified investors of its acquisition of the… Read More
Lofelt, a Berlin-based startup that is developing ‘next-generation’ haptic technology for use in a range of products — including gaming, AR, VR, automobile, consumer electronics, toys, medical, and entertainment — has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is Wolfman.One, with participation from Q Venture Partners, Coparion, and previous backer… Read More
LightStep, a company which has developed a new tool for application performance management, has emerged from stealth with a $29 million dollar war chest. The company, founded by ex-Google engineer Ben Sigelman, has developed a group of software tools to track the how well applications are working across enterprises. At Google, Sigelman was responsible for the creation and operation of Dapper,… Read More
One of the only questions I’ve asked HTC VR execs consistently over the past several months is whether the Daydream version of its upcoming standalone headset would ship on time in late 2017, they have consistently said it will, though now it seems as though the entire project has been cancelled. HTC and Google both confirmed to TechCrunch that a Daydream-branded HTC standalone headset… Read More
Today’s Stories
Apple could give us a bigger iPhone X next year
Lyft heads to Toronto, Canada in December, the first city outside the United States
SoftBank might not do the deal with Uber after all
Credits
Written by: Sarah Buhr
Hosted by: Sarah Buhr
Filmed by: Joe Zolnoski
Edited by: John Murillo
Notes:
Tito’s continues his journey out in the Outback this week so… Read More
Walmart and Hudson’s Bay-owned department store Lord & Taylor just announced an interesting partnership — Lord & Taylor will start selling its catalog of high-end fashion merchandise on Walmart.com this Spring. Of course this deal doesn’t mean you’ll see designer pants on the same page as $19.97 Wranglers. Instead, Lord & Taylor will have its own… Read More
Hello and welcome to another Equity Shot, a quick-hit episode of our venture-capital themed podcast. (Equity, released every Friday, focuses on the money behind the headlines.) This week Katie Roof and I — Alex Wilhelm — sank our teeth into the story that roiled the tech community’s weekend and continued to cause waves today. Yes, the Uber-SoftBank story. Read More
Boston Dynamics hasn’t talked much since it changed hands from Google’s ailing robotics wing to the deep pockets of SoftBank, but the cutting-edge robotics firm happily gave the world a sneak peek of what it’s been working on in the meantime. The company posted a 24-second teaser trailer showcasing a sleek new version of its latest offering, the electric-powered SpotMini. Read More
A new study out from health startup Cardiogram and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) suggests wearables like the Apple Watch, Fitbit and others are able to accurately detect common but serious conditions like hypertension and sleep apnea. Read More
Tampa’s goal to become a smart city was on display on Monday, as the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority hosted the first public demonstration of a connected vehicle technology research project that will launch into pilot testing in 2018. The project involves outfitting a fleet of 1,600 privately owned vehicles. Read More
Touted as the iPhone X’s new flagship form of device security, Face ID is a natural target for hackers. Just a week after the device’s release, Vietnamese research team Bkav claims to have cracked Apple’s facial recognition system using a replica face mask that combines printed 2D images with three-dimensional features. No one really knows how legitimate this purported hack is. Read More
