Apple is releasing a new video advertisement for the iPhone and iOS. Like previous ads, this video shows a stark departure from its predecessors. You can feel Tor Myhren’s influence on this ad. The recently hired VP of Marketing Communications has an impressive background in the advertising industry and is now in charge of Apple’s ads. That’s probably the reason why these… Read More
Google announced a number of updates to its cloud computing services at a small event in San Francisco this morning. These updates touch Google’s machine learning services, as well as its database and analytics services, and include an update to how it supports its users. The company’s focus today, though, was clearly on machine learning. Google launched the private alpha of… Read More
Google announced today that its now ten-year old service Google Apps for Work (formerly Google Apps for Your Domain), is getting rebranded yet again. This time around, the company will call it “G Suite.” Sounds more hip, right? Alongside the news, Google also noted a handful of upgrades and improvements in G Suite’s existing product lineup, which includes apps like Drive,… Read More
Tesloop’s first vehicle, a Tesla Model S they put into service in July 2015, has reached a new milestone: 200,000 miles on the odometer. Tesloop, you’ll recall, ferries passengers between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in electric Tesla vehicles, making it easy to rack up that many miles in a year. Not many electric cars of any make or model have reached this kind of mileage, so I… Read More
Unconscious biases can play a role in what type of people get hired, promoted and fired in the workplace. Unfortunately, we all have unconscious biases. Though, some have more problematic (racist and/or sexist) ones than others. That’s why diversity consulting startup Paradigm and HR platform Emtrain have co-launched an online course to teach people how to manage their unconscious… Read More
If you need an Uber, Amazon Alexa has your back. Unfortunately if what you need is a conversation buddy, the personal assistant isn’t quite up to the task. In an effort to bolster Alexa’s social intelligence, Amazon is putting $2.5 million into a new university competition to design and build “socialbots” for the platform. Engineers will use the Alexa Skills Kit to… Read More
Google today launched the third developer preview of Android Wear 2.0, the next major version of its operating system for smartwatches. At the same time, though, the company also today said that it will continue the preview program into early 2017. While Google never talked about a final release date for Wear 2.0, its original schedule called for about 30 weeks of alpha and beta testing,… Read More
For startup CEOs, tough economic periods are like stressful stretches in a marriage: They test your mettle while making ugly truths impossible to hide. These days, amid industry-wide belt-tightening, “down rounds” and a still-moribund IPO market, many venture-backed CEOs are baring it all to their board members. But how should you communicate with your investors when navigating a… Read More
Google for Work, Google’s Cloud Platform and the rest of the company’s cloud-based services are getting a new name. They have now been combined under the “Google Cloud” moniker. Google’s Diane Greene made the announcement at a small invite-only event in San Francisco.
If you’ve been following along, today’s news doesn’t come as a total surprise. Read More
The accelerator and seed-stage fund for business to business startups, Alchemist Accelerator, and the curated co-working community called Rocketspace, have partnered up in a way that should help both expand their influence beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to Alchemist managing partner Ravi Belani, startups admitted to the next cohort of the accelerator will work together in… Read More
Front has been around for three years, but the startup is only releasing a proper mobile app now. If you’re a Front user, it brings all the features from the desktop version to your phone so that you can manage emails and other communication protocols in multiplayer mode. Front’s basic premise is quite simple. With Front, you can collaborate, comment, assign and reply to those… Read More
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has been kicking around in one form or another since the late 50s, becoming fully official in 1962, when it was established under the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs as the wonderfully named Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. But, as anyone who’s ever hung out in a planetarium will happily tell you,… Read More
Apple today announced the launch of “Enhanced Editions” for George R. R. Martin’s series, “A Game of Thrones,” beginning with the author’s first title, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the novel’s release. Books Two through Five will follow in the months ahead, says Apple. These Enhanced Editions… Read More
Hello, the makers of the Sense sleep tracker, has hired Angela Chang, a former marketing lead for Nest and who was most-recently head of marketing at DoorDash, as its chief marketing officer. Her hire comes at a time when the company is making an aggressive push to get into larger retailers — most recently Best Buy and Target — and get the device and brand in front of as many… Read More
On the fence about whether your child is old enough for their own smartphone? A new app called Luna Launcher can help you warm to the idea, by offering a simple way to limit access to select apps and actions, including who they can call or text – a list you can restrict to family members, for example. Of course, because of the way it needs to interact with your phone’s… Read More
Back in the old days hardware manufacturers felt safe in the knowledge that no mere hardware hacker could attempt to recreate their inventions. From Sony to Philips to LG to Samsung, the consumer electronics industry was locked up and no one could crack the case. Until those meddling Arduino kids came along… Now anyone can make cool hardware and, thanks to Arduino, it is easier than ever… Read More
Drizly, the service that lets you order alcohol online, has today announced a major transition of the company with the launch of its marketplace. The Drizly marketplace will let any retailer integrate with the Drizly software to generate extra sales. And for the user, the marketplace will allow more pricing transparency and flexibility. The old Drizly, by comparison, would use a set of criteria… Read More
The AOL Alto team is today delivering a new version of the product that may make some of your biggest email woes disappear. Enter the Alto Dashboard. With the latest version of AOL Alto, users can choose between a regular inbox view and a dashboard view of their communications. Dashboard view surfaces contextually relevant information right to the top of the page and offers the ability to… Read More
A Los Angeles startup called codeSpark has raised $4.1 million in seed funding for web and mobile games that teach kids how to code, even before they know how to read and write effectively. CodeSpark’s games were developed for kids 4 to 9 years old, and with a goal of not just teaching them STEM concepts, but engaging boys and girls equally well. The games feature characters who are… Read More
Amid an increasing number robo-investors like Betterment, Stash, and Robinhood, a new San Francisco-based fintech startup called Grow is entering the fray to compete based on investment type, not only financial returns. While the app operates much like its rivals in terms of making it easier for novice investors quickly build their portfolios, its biggest differentiator is that it focuses… Read More
