The world’s second most populous nation is on track to become its second largest smartphone market, soon surprising the US, according to industry analysts. For Apple, however, it’s been a tough market to crack. A newly published report from Canalys doesn’t even feature the company in a breakdown with Samsung in the top spot at 22-percent, in a market otherwise dominated… Read More
In December, T-Mobile ran a promotion which offered customers switching from AT&T a free year of AT&T’s new live TV service, DirecTV Now. The offer was meant to help stem the tide of potential customer losses, given DirecTV Now’s discounted pricing for newcomers, and its promises to zero-rate the streaming service on its network – meaning it wouldn’t count… Read More
When Backstage Capital Founder and Managing Partner Arlan Hamilton first stumbled upon Silicon Valley — as an area and a state of mind — she realized she had found her people. But after spending some time there and sussing it out, she realized something that ultimately changed her path.
“I noticed it was the land of opportunity, but not for everyone,” Hamilton told me. Read More
Commercial drone tech venture PrecisionHawk has a new CEO—again. Red Hat Inc. cofounder Bob Young, who has served as PrecisionHawk’s CEO since July 2015, is handing over the reins to another veteran of enterprise software, Michael Chasen, a cofounder and former CEO of education tech giant Blackboard Inc. Verizon Ventures, an investment arm of TechCrunch’s parent company… Read More
The little talking speaker that could, Amazon’s Echo, is moving into the breakout phase of its success, according to data collected by analysts firm Slice Intelligence. The Echo is coming off a tremendously successful holiday shopping season, which saw not only a high volume of sales, but a key evolution in consumer demographics that’s driving sales from a broader cross-section… Read More
Remember those heady days of yesteryear when everything was going to be 3D? Tangled in 3D! Puss in Boots in 3D! Video games in 3D! Those days are gone, friends, as LG and Sony quietly phase out the 3D features for their latest TVs. Buried in the releases that plagued CES was a notable absence – 3D TV capabilities. Industry experts are saying that 3D – which rose to prominence in… Read More
I’ve gotten better about not losing my keys. Could be that I’ve made more of a concerted effort not to lose them. Or it could be the fact that I live in a New York City apartment and there simply aren’t as many places to lose them. Could also just be the fact that I don’t drink as much as I once did. I tend to keep better track of things these days. I still have… 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 10 pitches on January 25 at 6:30pm at the Knotel space at 22 West 38th Street, 3rd 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
Google has been under the gun when it comes to the power of its massive ad network — the biggest on the internet — being used for nefarious purposes, but the search giant is intent on using its tech to battle that problem. Today the company published its latest update on how its fighting spam, bots and other problematic “ads” on its network, and said that in 2016 it… Read More
The days are getting longer, which means the time until Disrupt NY 2017 is getting shorter. The biggest tech show in the Big Apple takes place May 15-17 at New York City’s Pier 36. To celebrate Disrupt’s return to Manhattan, we’re giving you the opportunity to buy a limited supply of tickets at the special rate of two for the price of one. A total of 50 pairs of tickets will… Read More
Video doorbell and connected security device startup Ring has raised $109 million in a Series D round, following its $61.2 million raise last year, when it also launched its Ring Pro smart doorbell. This time around, the new funding follows quickly on the heels of its launch of its connected video motion floodlight, which debuted at CES and will help Ring continue to pursue its goal of… Read More
Drag and drop website building platforms like Squarespace and Wix aren’t necessarily the most popular tools in the tech community. But the reality is that these sites are how the majority of internet users, who aren’t necessarily technically savvy, can create and maintain a web presence for themselves or their business. So it’s actually a pretty important industry.… Read More
In nearly the same breath as he shared updates on his plans to dig tunnels, Elon Musk also noted he’s looking to hopefully share more on his progress with developing a “neural lace” next month. That’s a technical term for direct cortical interface, and it’s something that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO takes very seriously, in case you thought he might just be having… Read More
Button, the NY-based startup that lets mobile apps integrate with one another, has today announced the close of a $20 million Series B round. The funding round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Redpoint, DCM, and Greycroft. Though a bit technologically challenging, the premise behind Button is simple: Apps work better together. A great example… Read More
As workforces become increasingly mobile with laptops, smartphones and other handheld devices, the potential for vulnerability increases massively. The sophistication of cyber threats and targeted attacks is constantly evolving. SentinelOne is a cyber security player that has concentrated on this new, multiple-vector, attack method, among others. Today it announced a $70 million… Read More
Elon Musk said he’s making “progress” on his tunnel ambitions on Twitter on Wednesday, a project he first mentioned after being stuck in traffic in LA in December. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO shared more details about the project when pressed by fans, specifying that he could actually plan to start digging essentially from near his office at SpaceX. Musk’s tunnel… Read More
London-based Cleo, a startup that’s developed an AI-powered chatbot to help you manage your finances, has picked up $700,000 in funding from an impressive list of angel investors, including Skype founder Niklas Zennström. Read More
Google is intending to expand the dev tools available to makers using the Raspberry Pi microprocessor to power their projects this year — potentially offering software tools for face- and emotion-recognition, speech-to-text translation, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, predictive analytics and more. Read More
Satya Nadella is set to join the board of Starbucks. The Microsoft CEO was announced as one of a trio of nominees who, if approved by shareholders, will increase the size of the coffee brand’s board to 14 people. Starbucks said Nadella was put forward for his “invaluable insight in international operations and distribution” and, of course, his potential to strengthen… Read More
Microsoft has long positioned its HoloLens augmented reality (AR) helmet as a tool for the enterprise. One of the verticals the company has been especially interested in is construction and late last year, Trimble’s $1,499 SketchUp Viewer became the first commercial HoloLens application for the construction industry in the Windows Store. Since then, Microsoft has partnered with Trimble… Read More
