Toyota revealed a new concept vehicle with a virtual companion named Yui built-in at CES this year. The Concept-i goes beyond the average concept car, with an in-car experience that gives the driver an AI partner that acts as part copilot, part travel guide and part spa attendant, all the while getting to know you better over time. I took a ride with Yui via Toyota’s CES show floor… Read More
Since its launch in 2008, you’ve been able to back crowdfunding projects on Indiegogo in exchange for “perks.” Last year, the company added JOBS act equity crowdfunding to the mix. Later this year, it’s set to combine the two, in campaigns that let backers get both perks for their money, plus an equity stake in the company, at the same time. Read More
At first glance, the GeniCan is completely ridiculous. At second, it’s actually kind of brilliant. The scanner clips onto the side of a trash can, an always present reminder to scan items when you run out. Before throwing an object out, you hold it up to the IR scanner and it adds it to your list. If an item can’t be scanned – like, say, a piece of fruit — the… Read More
The rise of apps like Instagram and Snapchat has put photo effects front and center in the world of picture messaging, giving users not only the ability to send images to each other, but to personalise them with little doodles, lurid colors, bunny ears. Now, an app maker that has built a bunch of these is launching an SDK that will let any app add these kinds of effects to their… Read More
Peloton has seen great success with its exercise bikes for home use. Today, the company is doubling its product range (to two), with a bike aimed at commercial users. It’s more rugged to stand up to the “don’t be gentle, it’s a rental” hotel and gym crowd, and comes with software that’s more suitable for gym use. Read More
Finnish IoT device startup The Button Corporation has launched a lower cost version of its Internet-connected button (aka, bttn), aiming to expand its appeal to US small businesses. Read More
FinancialForce, a cloud ERP solution built on the Salesforce platform, announced today that Tod Nielsen, an experienced executive from a Who’s Who of tech companies, will become the company’s new CEO. Nielsen replaces Jeremy Roche, who founded the company and has run it since its inception in 2009. Roche will remain on the board of directors, and have a yet-to-be-defined role… Read More
Training surgeons on specific surgical procedures is expensive and hard. London-based Touch Surgery has created more than 200 training programs for surgical procedures to be completed on a mobile phone or tablet. At CES, it announces support for a new type of deeply immersive surgery training — and potentially assistance in an operating room — on DAQRI and HoloLens. Read More
Newly minted classifieds startup Carousell is officially on the prowl to eat up struggling startups in Southeast Asia. The Singapore-based company closed a $35 million Series B in August, and this week it acquired Malaysia-based rival Duriana in an undisclosed transaction that represents its third piecemeal M&A deal since that fundraising. Read More
Samsung had a pretty dire last quarter of business as profits sunk by 30 percent thanks primarily to the recall of the Galaxy Note 7. There’s some New Year cheer, however, with news that the Korean firm is forecasting profit for its current Q4 2016 quarter to jump by 50 percent year-on-year. Read More
CES 2017 kicks off, Vine edges closer to its death, Medium is shifting strategies and streamlining and Netflix’s upcoming Korean TV show. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Amid the confusion of smart showerheads and selfie drones at CES this year, a handful of companies are working to serve the needs of populations that are frequently overlooked by the proprietors of high tech. You won’t find these devices in every home, but homes with someone disabled by age or misfortune will welcome them more than a new voice-powered fridge. Read More
Amazon is bringing its next physical bookstore to New York City. The company confirmed that it would be setting up its fourth Amazon Books shop in the Time Warner Center in midtown Manhattan. “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to The Shops at Columbus Circle, Time Warner Center in New York City in 2017,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email. Already operating three bookstores… Read More
Nvidia’s Shield set-top streaming device got an update at this year’s CES, and it was a big one: The new hardware is 40 percent smaller than the original, with a new Android 7.0 Nougat-based operating system and a redesigned UI that groups games together and just generally organizes things a bit more logically. It also handles 4K HDR content streaming, and boasts the most… Read More
Microsoft isn’t building its own connected car — but it is launching a new Azure-based cloud platform for car manufacturers that want to use the cloud to power their own connected-car services. The new Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will go live as a public preview later this year.
“This is not an in-car operating system or a ‘finished product’,”… Read More
The Boston-based company that was first to provide robotic legs to paralyzed veterans in the U.S., Rewalk Robotics Ltd., has a new product in development that you won’t see this week at CES. The device is a “soft exoskeleton,” designed to help people who have lower limb disability but who have not severed their spinal cord or otherwise become paraplegic. According to Rewalk… Read More
The early cancer screening startup Grail plans to raise more than $1 billion in Series B financing, possibly up to $1.8 billion. While the company doesn’t want to name investor names, only mentioning in a release the funding will come “primarily from undisclosed private and strategic investors,” Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google Ventures,… Read More
Against the backdrop of an imminent public offering, one former Snap Inc. employee is claiming in a lawsuit that the company inflated its performance metrics to lure investors.
Anthony Pompliano, the one-time head of Snap’s growth and user engagement team, is seeking an injunction and monetary relief after being fired just three weeks into his tenure. Mr. Pompliano, now a venture… Read More
In a blog post, Google announced the acquisition of Limes Audio, a Swedish company that focuses on improving the quality of voice calls. The 10-year-old company, headquartered in Umeå, Sweden, also has offices in Stockholm and Palo Alto. The acquisition isn’t Google’s first time shopping around in the Swedish startup community. In 2007, Google acquired Swedish communications… Read More
CES seems to be making some bloggers a little trigger happy with posting. Just a little while ago VentureBeat published a story claiming that Intel had acquired Bitcasa, a cloud storage company that had shut down operations last year. We’ve confirmed directly with Intel that this is not the case, however.
“Intel did not acquire Bitcasa,” an Intel spokesperson tells… Read More
