Remember Vigilante? The controversial crime reporting app was kicked out of the App Store in November shortly after its release because Apple believed it encouraged private citizens to engage in, well…vigilantism. Now the app is back, under different branding. Read More
On the heels of acquiring data science community Kaggle, Google is launching a machine learning competition of its own for startups. Google is targeting early-stage companies taking an innovative approach to machine learning. The competition is being run in partnership with seven venture capital firms. Read More
Explaining what VR is like can be a pretty daunting task. Today, Facebook and Oculus are making it a bit easier to share VR experiences with your friends and family. Read More
Facebook’s attempts to clone Snapchat know no limit. The social networking giant is in the enviable position of owning a number of the world’s most used internet services and applications. Facebook the social network is closing in on two billion registered users — a level of global reach that is unprecedented in history — while its Messenger app counts one billion… Read More
Planet, the global imaging company that recently acquired Google’s Terra Bella satellite imaging business, is introducing a new tool called Planet Explorer Beta that allows its users to view how its image captures of Earth from space change over time. It’s available to the public without a login, which means petty much anyone can check out what a particular spot on the planet… Read More
Food delivery startups abound in the U.S., but few of them deliver to customers in “second cities” and smaller towns. From early pioneers like Grubhub to newer services like DoorDash, food delivery businesses have tended to focus on urban areas with a high concentration of restaurants and people who frequently order takeout. Now, New Orleans Saints Quarterback, philanthropist… Read More
Tesla’s solar installation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is not just a product launch of the company – it’s the first real proof the company’s offering up that its acquisition of SolarCity is not only smart, but necessary. Necessary, because it will help Tesla achieve its grand vision of making solar (and other renewable) energy a practical and cost-effective option… Read More
Hot on the heels of rolling out its own version of Twitter, called Pulse, video game streaming site Twitch today announced its new desktop application, Twitch Desktop App. Twitch says the app will include community servers, voice and video messaging and game content distribution. Read More
Facebook has scored a significant deal that will allow it to stream at least 22 live Major League Soccer matches on its social network. Through a collaboration with both MLS and Univision Deportes, Facebook gained the rights to stream the 2017 MLS regular-season matches in English, as well as enhance the video content with various interactive elements. Read More
It’s rare that I quote a company’s marketing tagline outright, but PassivDom, makers of an “autonomous 3D-printed mobile house,” sounds pretty darn rad. The Ukrainian company wants to create mobile homes that can be made anywhere and are completely self-powered. Max Gerbut, a Ph.D. of Engineering Sciences of physics of the solid state, built the houses in the Ukraine and… Read More
In preparation for Disrupt New York in May I’m going to hold a few pitching workshops in New York for you all. We’ll listen to and critique 8 pitches on March 13th at 7pm at the Knotel space at 22 West 38th Street, 4th Floor. This is an informal pitch-off, but the two best teams will get two tickets to Disrupt New York and the undying admiration of millions of people (actually… Read More
It may not look like a bunch of cobwebs, but the tie you see above was spun from the same material spiders spin out from their behinds. The difference is this thread was mass produced from fermented microbial poop instead, and it’s the first product out from materials science startup Bolt Threads. Read More
Startups in the U.K. will be hoping for better performance from the local broadband market after telecoms regulator Ofcom agreed to a deal with the country’s largest broadband provider, BT, to legally separate Openreach: aka the division of BT that builds and maintains the broadband infrastructure. Read More
Uber’s crisis PR activities have returned to relative normality in Asia after the U.S. firm ran into fresh issues with government regulators in two countries this week: Hong Kong and Thailand. The ridesharing giant has been fighting some serious corporate fires in the U.S. lately but it is back to basics as UberX drivers in the two countries come under fire for operating in legal grey areas. Read More
Momo, China’s top location-based social networking app, has continued its impressive user growth from last year and added solid financial figures to back it up, according to its most recent earnings report. The company, which was previously backed by Alibaba, went public when it listed on Nasdaq in December 2014. Read More
Pocket, the smart bookmarking and content discovery service that was recently acquired by Mozilla, just launched an iMessage app that is pretty nifty for those who use both services regularly. I’ve been pretty frustrated with the lack of genuinely useful iMessage apps since its launch last September, but in Pocket I might have found something of use. The iMessage integration… Read More
Google’s Jamboard will cost $5,000 plus an annual management fee, Airbnb closes Series F to go over $1 billion, Google goes after Slack and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are expecting their second baby. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Chowbotics Inc. has landed $5 million in a Series A round of venture funding to develop what it’s calling food service robots. These are machines designed to prepare food in restaurants, cafeterias and hotels, as well as food courts in airports, malls and hospitals. The company’s flagship product, Sally, is a salad-making robot that uses 20 different food canisters to prepare… Read More
The feud between Oculus and ZeniMax Media is opening up once again, this time with the CTO of Oculus, John Carmack, suing his former employer for earnings that he claims are still owed to him. Carmack is suing ZeniMax Media for $22.5 million that he says has not been paid to him for the 2009 sale of his game studio, id Software, known for such video game classics as Doom and Quake. Read More
