Flourish, a new startup out of London, has launched what it describes as a data visualisation platform, designed to make it easier for companies, including media organisations, to visualise and tell stories through data. The company is also disclosing $1 million in backing from Robin and Saul Klein’s LocalGlobe, and U.S.-based Founder Collective. Read More
“Hearing is a right for everybody,” Doppler Labs Noah Kraft told me over the phone last week. It’s why his new chief science officer Jim Pitkow is working with a team of U.S. senators and members of congress to make certain types of hearing aids available over the counter.
Medically approved hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars, even for those with minimal hearing loss. Read More
Amazon’s grocery efforts just got a new level of convenience for shoppers: AmazonFresh Pickup, a drive-in grocery delivery right to your car’s trunk, launching in beta on Tuesday. Shoppers just order online from AmazonFresh’s selection, pick a time slot (as soon as 15 minutes after you make your order), and then drive to an AmazonFresh Pickup location and pull into a… Read More
If you want to learn something new, learn it from the master. That’s the thesis behind MasterClass, which offers tennis tips from Serena Williams, cooking advice from Gordon Ramsay and vocal training from Christina Aguilera.
The startup offers online courses from leaders in their field, charging about $90 for the hours long sessions. Students also have access to the community and… Read More
Hyperloop One is putting a finer point on the business opportunity it believes it has in the Middle East, with a presentation made today during the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit in Abu Dhabi. The company thinks it can soak up around $12 billion of the total $35 billion annual cargo market in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, including all of the current $7 billion air… Read More
AWS continues to add yet more software and services to build out its revenues and touchpoints with businesses that already use its cloud infrastructure for storage and to host and administer services and apps. The latest product, launching today, is Amazon Connect, a cloud-based contact center solution. AWS said it is based on the same tech that Amazon itself has built and uses in-house… Read More
Snapchat all the things! Facebook’s plan to copy everything that made Snapchat successful is finally reaching its final form with the launch of stories in the main Facebook app. You can now share stories with your Facebook friends and see what your friends have been up to for the past 24 hours. At the top of the Facebook app, you’ll see rounded profile pictures representing stories… Read More
Spider-Man: Homecoming is arriving on July 7, but you don’t have to wait to see more from the movie in the latest trailer. The new look gives us a bit more insight into the motivation of Michael Keaton’s Vulture (he’s like the blue-collar Joe to Tony Stark’s one-percenters, maybe) and more insight into the film’s sense of humor.
Basically, it does nothing to… Read More
The upcoming Justice League movie looks very bad, based on its new trailer – in fact, it could be mistaken for its own parody film. That’s not stopping Warner Bros. from exploring all possible media tie-ins to capitalize on what it hopes will be its success at the box office, including using virtual reality. The VR project Warner Bros. has planned for Justice League includes a… Read More
We first got the hint that Razer wanted to gain the favor of entertainment power users when it bought THX last year, which became a subsidiary company and part of the process of making a new entertainment and production certified laptop: the new Blade Pro. A few days ago, I spoke with PR reps from Razer and THX’s own senior vice president of technical operations, Peter Vasay, who said… Read More
Twitter is announcing a new ad unit — pre-roll ads on Periscope videos. In a blog post, Periscope Group Project Manager Mike Folgner says the ads will appear in a way that’s “organic to how people already consume that content on the platform.” Basically, publishers will have the option to run a short video ad that plays before you watch their Periscope… Read More
Tinder is today introducing a new way for users to access the platform with the launch of Tinder Online, a web-optimized version of the dating app so people can Tinder at their desktops. Tinder Online still requires that you sign on to your account through Facebook, and it doesn’t include any of Tinder’s revenue features like Tinder Boost or Super Like, for now. Head of Product… Read More
Tencent, Asia’s second highest valued tech firm, has bought a five percent share in Tesla. According to a filing, the Chinese firm scooped up 8,167,544 shares for around $1.7 billion to become one of Tesla’s largest shareholders. The news itself sent Tesla’s share price up three percent in pre-market trading. The purchase was arranged on March 17, and those… Read More
Uber says it will pull out of Denmark next month, on April 18, blaming a taxi law that includes requirements such as mandatory fare meters and seat sensors. Read More
Turvo, a two-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based company, is emerging today with an idea so ambitious that investors have provided it with $25 million in Series A funding to chase it. What it wants to do: connect people looking to have things shipped, which doesn’t sound so unlike what a lot of both traditional and newer companies want to do. Turvo is setting out to differentiate itself in… Read More
A Seattle startup called Wrench has raised $4 million in Series A funding for an app that sends certified auto mechanics to the customer’s door. The round was led by Madrona Venture Group, according to Wrench CEO and co-founder Ed Petersen. In general, people dread cars repairs. According to a AAA survey, 2 out of 3 people in the U.S. don’t trust auto repair shops and more… Read More
Time to wake up people. Disrupt Berlin is going to be the best, most efficient and deal-friendly startup you will go to this year. But even though you’ve heard the rumblings, you haven’t yet signed up for 2-for-1 tickets to Disrupt Berlin 2017. That’s cool, we get it, you’re busy. But… you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity. The time to act is now.… Read More
Uber has confirmed that all its autonomous test cars are now back on the road in the US, following an accident in Arizona on Friday evening that left one of its vehicles flipped on its side. Read More
Google’s Duo messaging app recently got voice calls in Brazil, but now the feature is rolling out to users across the rest of the world. The initial launch came as part of a series of product launches specific to Brazil, and Google, at the time, teased that an international expansion was just days away. It ended up taking almost a week, but now Duo users outside of Brazil have the option… Read More
