Baidu, the China-based search engine giant, said earlier today on its official WeChat account that it has established a 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) investment fund that the company will use to fund mid- and late-stage deals in the internet sector, with check sizes ranging from $50 million to $100 million.
Reuters, which first reported the news, notes the move looks like an attempt to… Read More
A few days ago we revealed an automotive product from Anker called Roav. At the time, it seemed the Roav was an in-vehicle heads-up display that looked a lot like the Navdy. Today, Anker reached out with additional details. Roav, when it launches in November, will be Anker’s automotive brand, with the Roav Dashtop as the flagship product. Anker tells TechCrunch the Roav Dashtop… Read More
Despite some shareholder opposition, the Tesla acquisition of SolarCity proposed by Elon Musk continues to make progress, with a new date set for a vote of the shareholders of each company: November 17. That’s the date to mark in your calendars for a more firm go/no-go signal for the deal, which would see Musk move closer to his vision of a company that can manage clean energy from… Read More
Back in August there were clear signs that Hyperloop One (HO) might be building its super fast transportation system at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai. The Royalty-led government of the United Arab Emirates and the CEO of DP World, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, appeared to be entertaining the idea of a submerged, floating Hyperloop to shift cargo at lightning speed from the port, having spent billions… Read More
With Android Experiments, Google is giving itself the freedom to experiment with quirky little apps that show off some interesting technologies but don’t really have any other real purpose. The latest of these experimental projects is Sprayscape, a VR camera app for Android that is probably not quite what you expect when you read the words “VR camera app.”
Unlike similar… Read More
I don’t usually post about other tech journalists but this is kind of important. A great guy, James Kendrick, started JKOnTheRun, one of the first tech blogs focusing on mobile devices. In the dark days of the early naughts he was a bright spot on the prairie, a star in the firmament. Now he’s sick.
James was a freelancer and his work recently dried up. To add insult to injury… Read More
XYZ came seemingly out of nowhere to capture the top spot in the 3D printing market. The Taipei-based company’s success is due in no small part to the fact that it’s managed to price out the competition. While companies like MakerBot are battling it out at the $1k and $2k price points, XYZ is routinely ducking under $300. The company’s new da Vinci miniMaker combines its… Read More
With Bitcoin facing an uncertain future, the technology behind Bitcoin — the blockchain — is poised to overtake its original application. Startups, central banks and massive financial institutions in New York, London, Shanghai and elsewhere are starting to get in on the game.
This is the fourth episode in our series on Bitcoin and the Blockchain. You can watch previous episodes here. Read More
Microsoft’s Windows Server 2016 is now generally available and rolling out to customers. Presales for Server 2016 started on October 1 and Microsoft always said that customers would get access to the actual bits in mid-October. Now that it’s mid-October and the leaves are falling, the company is living up to this promise. In addition, System Center 2016, Microsoft’s… Read More
Motorcycles aren’t exactly safe, but BMW envisions a future where two-wheel vehicles have enough onboard intelligence to make it possible for drivers to use them without protective clothing. The emphasis here is still on the thrill of the drive, but intelligent driver assistance features will help make it possible for the ride to maintain its thrill while adding a lot more safety.
The… Read More
A startup called Shine is rolling out a new service offering on-demand life coaching via text messages as a paid tier to its free, daily texting service. While a number of today’s chatbots and SMS-based concierge services have been focused on helping people shop via text message, Shine to date has instead focused on helping you become a better person. Through automated texts,… Read More
On the heels of Samsung’s acquisition of Viv just a week ago, a new AI assistant has risen into the spotlight and is jockeying to fill the shoes of its now well-known rival. Ozlo, the Greylock- and Jerry Yang-backed independent entrant to the personal assistant race, is launching today on iOS and the web in an effort to give stalwarts like Siri, Alexa and Cortana a run for their money.… Read More
Atlassian wants the best of both the cloud and data center worlds, and it announced at the Atlassian Summit today that it was expanding its data center-cloud strategy with new products. At a time when companies are shifting their business to the cloud, it may seem like an odd approach to offer both cloud and on-prem products, but Atlassian sees it as hedging its bets in a world that remains… Read More
Google and Facebook are teaming up to build a 120 Terabits per second (Tbps) submarine cable that will connect Los Angeles with Hong Kong. The two companies are working with Pacific Light Data Communication — a wholly owned subsidiary of China Soft Power Technology that’s relatively new to the sub-sea cable game. Once the new 12,800 km cable is at full capacity, it’ll be… Read More
Skagen is a Danish watch company famous for its minimalist designs and affordable prices. Now, for $215, you can add a little smarts to your minimalist wrist, a welcome bit of news for those who think the flat black slab of an Apple Watch is too flamboyant. The Skagen Hagen is basically an activity watch similar to the Withings Activite and the watches containing smart movements from MMT.… Read More
HP just unveiled its latest laptop built around Intel’s Kaby Lake platform. But this update adds more than just a new processor to the HP Spectre x360 laptop.
Some of the other tweaks lean more towards aesthetics on the 13.3-inch laptop, including a slimmer profile by removing 2mm of thickness (now 13.8mm), the new HP logo, an infrared camera that enables Windows Hello… Read More
FourKites, a two-year-old, Chicago-based company aiming to make sense of the fragmented trucking industry for vendors trying to ship their goods, has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels, and Otter. What the platform is promising more specifically is visibility into… Read More
The MegaBots team devoted the first episode of its new web series to beating the hell out of its most recent creation. Over the course of seven and a half minutes, the company puts the poor robot through hell, shooting it with its own gun and whacking the hell out of it with a wrecking ball, until it finally, mercifully, tips over. “In almost every trial,” the company explains in a… Read More
Pandora is not taking today’s debut of Amazon’s new, on-demand music streaming service lying down. The company has conveniently timed the launch of its own new paid tier, Pandora Plus, to coincide with that of Amazon Music Unlimited’s arrival. In addition, Pandora has announced a rebrand, including an updated “P” logo, which is meant to reflect the evolution… Read More
Amazon may be experimenting with how to take on grocery stores via its own drive-in pick-up locations, but in the meantime, the company is still working to expand its online grocery shopping service, AmazonFresh. Following the recent price drop to $14.99/month for Prime members – a more palatable charge than the earlier $299/year, AmazonFresh has today set up shop in Dallas, Texas and… Read More
