The doors to TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016 opened September 12 at Pier 48 in San Francisco. The three-day conference hosted over 5,000 attendees, with hundreds of thousands more tuning in online. In fact, Disrupt SF 2016 was the first media conference to stream on Periscope Live in full, making it one of our most watched events ever.
In the much-anticipated Startup Battlefield, 25… Read More
Back in March Microsoft CEO Nadella announced “Bots are the new apps” while The Economist calls chat bots “the next frontier”. So that’s the hype taken care of but what does a bot-driven world look like, especially in the context of the Artificial Intelligence that’s theoretically supposed to drive them? Bazillion Beings, a company exhibiting in Startup Alley… Read More
This isn’t so much an acquisition as a welcoming back into the fold. Urban Engines was formed in 2014 by a bunch of former Google employees, with backing from Google Ventures and Eric Schmidt. The startup was formed to help deal with urban congestion and improve user commutes. Last February, the company launched a self-titled app that brings some key features to mobile mapping –… Read More
Tulip, a cute little gumdrop-shaped baby monitor from Snugb is outfitted with a versatile camera that gathers data on room temperature, humidity and air quality around your baby’s crib. The camera can move in multiple directions for wherever your wee one has crawled and the device comes equipped with a wireless pulse oximetry sensor to capture data on your baby’s heart rate and… Read More
Bots are becoming a part of our life. I wake up in the morning and tell Alexa to play my Brazilian samba, I let Amy set my meetings and I check stats and reports in Slack. Bot builders and users alike are starting to understand that bots are an integral part of our life. But what are the rules that govern these new tech friends? Read More
With side-hustles being all the rage these days, the new Shaper Origin makes it easier than ever to start building and selling cool gadgets in your free time. While you might not be able to build yourself a homemade Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s handheld CNC machine, you just might be able to build yourself a successful shop on Etsy. CNC machining is not a new concept, but it… Read More
While the rest of the iPhone obsessed world was getting ready to stand in line or just impatiently waiting for their pre-order to arrive, the teams at iFixit and Chipworks were sharpening their tools like underfed lumberjacks sitting down to a steak dinner. Both sites offered liveblogs of their iPhone 7 (and 7 Plus) teardowns and spotted some interesting tidbits in the process, discovering… Read More
The Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, sued the FBI today in an attempt to uncover information about how the law enforcement agency was able to unlock an iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters. The Justice Department initially sought to force Apple to create custom software that would allow the device to be unlocked, but dropped… Read More
TechCrunch Include Office Hours are happening in NYC on September 27! Albert Wenger and Andy Weissman of Union Square Ventures will join TechCrunch to provide valuable advice and feedback to startups. Launched in 2014, Include is TechCrunch’s diversity program, aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to take their startups to the next level. The Office… Read More
In the world of MAME cabinetry – essentially a subculture of arcade lovers who build amazing cabinets for their emulators – the goal is usually to either recreate the arcade games of yore or build something really wild. Adafruit built something really wild. Originally a weekend project, this MAME cabinet is a few inches tall and uses a screen about as big as a thumbnail. The kit is… Read More
Traveling the globe used to be relegated to gap years and retirement fantasies, but thanks to tech innovation and some forward-thinking startups, you can now see the world while you take the professional realm by storm. Digital nomads are free-spirited freelance and tech workers who need little more than an internet connection and a passport. Read More
Many of the largest companies in the world — like Facebook with FBLearner — have built an edge for themselves by making the process of studying their users and data science ongoing, tracking closely how things change over time. But for other businesses, those studies might just end with a single chart or predictive analysis report. Ian Swanson started DataScience about two and a… Read More
We were all pretty excited when Consumer Physics showed us their hand-held molecular scanner at TechCrunch Disrupt two years ago. They garnered much praise here and all over the web for creating a hand-held product that could scan and identify food, medicine, and vitamins. Now, two years later, people are pissed. The project raised $2.7 million from 130,000 backers and it looked, at least on… Read More
According to a 2014 report from Complete College America, a nonprofit group based in Indianapolis, just 19 percent of full-time students earn a bachelor’s degree in four years at public universities. The stats are even worse at community colleges, where five percent of full-time students earn an associates degree within two years, and just 15.9 percent earn a one- to two-year… Read More
We enjoy “diversion” in our pastimes, prefer “biodiversity” in our ecosystems and strive for “diversified” holdings in our portfolios, yet we unconsciously resist diversity in our social and professional communities. As it turns out, this natural tendency toward sameness has become a liability in today’s marketplace, costing companies talent,… Read More
The last time you had a key cut, you probably experienced a retro service, which included speaking to a real human (ugh!). KeyMe puts the kibosh on the old-fashioned key copying user experience with a series of new kiosks and just landed a $15 million Series C round to fund aggressive expansion. Read More
According to one estimate, there are roughly 900 tech companies working in the AI field, covering everything from business intelligence to finance and security. The AI gold rush started in 2014 with a flurry of deals into AI companies. Last year there were some 300 deals into AI companies according to CB Insights and in the UK alone, companies like Ravelin, Signal and Gluru raised seed rounds.… Read More
Over the next 10 years, the differentiating source of supply and value in the automotive industry will not be car parts or engines. Instead, it will be a network of software developers. Read More
The U.S. apparel industry is currently valued at $12 billion, and with the high number of dollars pouring into the retail economy, brands are looking to technology to foster deeper connections with consumers and elevate the overall shopping experience. Whether it’s in-store or online, technology is becoming a lever to bolster brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Read More
