Let’s face it, if you’re an investor, you were probably priced out of these insanely large rounds. If you’re a founder, you’re swooning at the mere prospect of making such a statement. But no matter who you are, a lot can be gleaned from analyzing investment trends. Looking at B rounds provides a nice balance between the somewhat predictable success stories of… Read More
Pinterest found that the 30% hiring rate it set for women in engineering roles was doing too much, so it’s lowering its 2017 goal to 25%, Pinterest disclosed on its blog today.
“We still aspire to 30%—but realize it’s likely going to take more than 12 months to get there,” Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann wrote on the company’s blog.
Over the past year… Read More
Google today officially announced that it’s rebranding its Google Keyboard application for Android users to “Gboard,” the name sported by its newer keyboard app that sports a fully integrated Google Search engine, emoji and GIF search, and more. The keyboard’s Android launch had been spotted earlier this week by a number of media sites and blogs, who had… Read More
For a metrics powered company, Facebook is pretty bad at metrics. The company just announced its third metrics-related issue in the past two months with today’s reveal that it also experienced problems providing accurate numbers to publishers on its Instant Articles platform. Instant Articles are those that fast-loading, interactive articles that can be loaded directly in the Facebook… Read More
Looks like Anki’s may have a full-fledge holiday hit on its hands. The hardware startup, which first came to prominence when Apple demoed its Drive cars on-stage during a keynote a few years back, went all in on its latest offering Cozmo earlier this year. The plucky little robot is the result of a team of new hires from studios like Pixar and Dreamworks, effectively looking to build… Read More
2016 was a big year for research and discovery in space. The year started off with Caltech astronomers picking up the presence of a ninth planet while researchers at LIGO were detecting gravitational waves for the first time. NASA’s Juno spacecraft finally arrived in orbit around Jupiter, and astronomers found the closest exoplanet to Earth. Blue Origin showed off their suborbital… Read More
Google is joining the Cloud Foundry Foundation as a Gold member. To be fair, this doesn’t necessarily come as a major surprise, especially given that Google recently hired the foundation’s former CEO Sam Ramji. Other Cloud Foundry Gold-level members include Accenture, Allstate, CenturyLink, Huawai, Phillips and Verizon. It’s worth noting that Google — unlike Cisco,… Read More
Facebook’s power-play to rule social virtual reality has a boring name: the “Coordinated App Launch API”. Like a VR version of Xbox Live or PlayStation network, it lets you gather with friends in Oculus VR’s new Rooms feature, and then launch together into a developer’s multiplayer game. The Coordinated App Launch API could make Oculus the portal to playing… Read More
Most robotic arm systems required a very complex and very invasive brain implant… until now. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created a new system that requires only a sexy helmet and a bit of thinking, paving the way to truly mind-controlled robotic tools. “This is the first time in the world that people can operate a robotic arm to reach and grasp objects in a… Read More
NES Classic demand exceeded Nintendo’s expectations – that much was fairly clear from the fact that it has thus far been nearly impossible to get a system here in the States. The gaming company hasn’t released any specifics surrounding just how many units of the all-in-one emulator it managed to move, so we’ll have to rely on some new numbers coming out of NPD.… Read More
Pokémon Go, step aside. In the first 24 hours, Nintendo’s Super Mario Run has beaten the record-breaking Pokémon game in terms of day one downloads. According to data from Apptopia, Super Mario Run saw 2,850,000 downloads in its first day on the App Store, compared with the 900,000 Pokémon Go had pulled in when it was first launched. Rival firm App Annie puts the download figures… Read More
As a fan of banks – I like the lollipops they give out – I’m slightly disturbed by services like TalkBank. This Russian company replaces one-on-one teller interaction with a chatbot that can tell you your balance, offer on the spot advice, and even send you cool deals related to your credit cards. Founded by Mikhail Popov, Alexander Popov, and Vladimir Kozhevnikov the company… Read More
The right wing of Facebook’s solar-powered drone Aquila failed, causing a crash landing of its first test flight, according to a new report on the incident from the National Transportation Safety Board. In response, Facebook says the next version of its Internet access-spreading drone will have a spoiler or airbrake, and will prioritize safe airspeed over altitude tracking. The crash… Read More
For better or worse, 2016 was another year of bots. I probably got more pitches for bot startups than anything else. And yet, bots are far from hitting their stride. If we hope to break beyond the rigid functionality of today’s tools, a prerequisite is going to be giving bot developers a bit more open source love.
RASA NLU, a new open source API from… Read More
Wire, the Skype co-founder Janus Friis-backed end-to-end encrypted mobile messaging app, has added a username option — allowing people to communicate with others via the app without having to share their mobile phone number or email to do so. Read More
Amazon infiltrated the home when no one was looking with a smart assistant loaded on some low-price hardware, and now the competition has a whole lot of catching up to do. In this last push ahead of the holidays, Google is certainly making a valiant effort. The company’s Home hub has been available at retail since October, offering the promise of a whole lot of functionality on the way.… Read More
Ready for your Fire TV to get a makeover? Amazon says it will today begin to roll out an update that will bring new user interface, described as a “more cinematic experience” to Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. The revamped interface, which makes Fire TV look more like Netflix, was previewed earlier this fall, when Amazon released its latest Fire TV Stick. Where before, navigation was… Read More
Twitter last year ditched its iconic star button in favor of hearts for favorites, and now it is considering a revamp for its famous retweet button. Read More
It’s become a well-trod refrain, but carmakers are looking at what comes after ownership, and car-sharing between individual owners and renters is one of those models. Mercedes-Benz has begun its own car-share service that adopts that approach – Croove, a platform that has now launched as a pilot in Munich, Germany. Croove is pure peer-to-peer car rental model, where renters use an… Read More
