So-called ‘EdTech’ has seen many false dawns over the years. After being lauded as the teaching platforms of the future, most MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course platforms) have not quite lived up to the superlatives made for them, and the sector has had trouble coming up with more innovative ideas for a while. But that […]
MarketingMuses
💡 Green Body + Mind! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2pmISHn
💡Create a clutter-free workspace!🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2tVJXvp
The rise of experiential commerce
Sunny Dhillon Contributor More posts by this contributor Mixed reality arcades are the next big market opportunity — but not for VCs Virtual reality in Japan “$43 million and the only thing you can buy in it is a coffee.” So said Samsung’s Senior Director of Store Development Michael Koch about the company’s flagship Manhattan […]
VR, presence and the case of the missing killer app
Sibjeet Mahapatra Contributor Compelling virtual reality shipped to developers and consumers nearly two years ago. The first flagship headsets arrived from Oculus and HTC back in the spring of 2016, offering enough resolution, frame rate, field of view, latency mitigation and position-tracking to produce believable visual immersion. But no one seems to know what to […]
💡 Daily Inspiration: If you have love in your life, you have everything that matters! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2IudcbU
Late-blooming startups can still thrive
Joanna Glasner Contributor More posts by this contributor What does it take to be a startup that raises huge sums quickly? Not a minimalist? Startups will gladly store, manage and deliver your items It seems like startup news is full of overnight success stories and sudden failures, like the scooter rental company that went from […]
Aerones makes really big drones for cleaning turbines and saving lives
Enthusiasts will talk your ear off about the potential for drones to take over many of our dirtiest, dullest and most dangerous tasks. But most of the jobs we’ve actually seen drones perform are focused on the camera — from wildlife surveying to monitoring cracks on power plant smokestack. Aerones is working on something much […]
Education quiz app Kahoot raises another $17M at a $100M valuation
When we wrote about gaming startup Kahoot passing significant milestones of 70 million users on 51 million educational quizzes in January, we mentioned that the Oslo, Norway-based startup was closing another round of funding. Now, that has come to pass: Kahoot has announced that it has raised $17 million, at a valuation that sources close to […]
AWS Elemental MediaTailor Now Supports VPAID Standard and CloudWatch Metrics
Also announced today, AWS Elemental MediaTailor now supports CloudWatch Metrics. In addition to CloudWatch debugging logs, you can use Amazon CloudWatch to build dashboards and alarms for key metrics related to the stability and monetization progress of video streams. These metrics include Fill Rate, Ad Server Error Rate, Origin Errors, Manifest Errors, and others. AWS […]
Enterprise subscription services provider Zuora has filed for an IPO
Zuora, which helps businesses handle subscription billing and forecasting, filed for an initial public offering this afternoon following on the heels of Dropbox’s filing earlier this month. Zuora’s IPO may signal that Dropbox going public, and seeing a price range that while under its previous valuation seems relatively reasonable, may open the door for coming […]
💡Do what you love each and every single day! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2IrqKEZ
Zscaler soars 106% on first day of trading
It was a big debut for enterprise cloud security company Zscaler, which saw its shares skyrocket 106% on its first day of trading. After pricing at $16, shares opened at $27.50, and closed at $34. This was also well above the original expected price range for its IPO of $10 to $12. The company ultimately raised […]
FTC shuts down crypto Ponzi schemers
The FTC has announced that they’ve issued temporary restraining orders and frozen the assets of a team of three defendants who pitched investment advice as the Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network. The FTC claims that the defendants “promised big rewards for a small payment of bitcoin or Litecoin.” From the report: According to the FTC, […]
The next frontier for robotics? Jazz marimba
[embedded content] Watch out all you well-paid, fat-and-sassy jazz marimba players: Shimon, the marimba playing robot is after your jobs. Shimon is the brainchild of the Robotic Musicianship Group at Georgia Tech and I’ve been following his career for a few years now. In this video, taken at the Ferst Center Presents as part of […]
GrokStyle’s visual search tech makes it into IKEA’s Place AR app
GrokStyle’s simple concept of “point your camera at a chair (or lamp, or table…) and find others like it for sale” attracted $2 million in funding last year, and the company has been putting that cash to work. And remarkably for a company trying to break into the home furnishing market, it landed furniture goliath […]
SpaceX is making big money moves
Planning a mars mission, a global telecommunications network for inexpensive internet service, and creating an interplanetary hedge against world war three isn’t cheap, so it’s no wonder that SpaceX is closing on $500 million in new cash through a financing round led by Fidelity, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the round. Responding to clamoring […]
💡 Daily Inspiration: Let someone know you care about them today. 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2FOIbh3
6 Ways to Counteract Your Smartphone Addiction
John Holcroft/Getty Images We are living in an era of technology obsession and smartphone addiction. I hear it all the time: “I can’t go anywhere without my phone” or “I feel anxious when I’m not able to check email” or “If I’m not on my social feeds, I feel like I’m missing out.” Not surprisingly, […]
Anker’s Nebula Capsule portable projector is a pocket powerhouse
Anker is a devie maker that’s rapidly become a go-to brand for affordable, quality accessories include cables, chargers and backup batteries. More recently, it’s started to branch out into additional areas, including projectors through its Nebula brand. The Nebula Capsule is the latest product from that line, a super portable projector with an Android-based OS, […]
Village Global raises $100M seed scout fund from Zuck, Bezos…
It takes a village to grow a startup, so Village Global is offering access to a deep network of top tech execs to lure founders to its seed fund. Today, Village Global announced it’s raised $100 million for that fund that was first unveiled in September. In exchange for equity, portfolio companies get investment plus […]
NexGenT wants to rethink bootcamps with programs for network engineering certifications
Developer bootcamps — several-month training programs that are designed to help people get up to speed with the technical skills they need to become a developer — exploded in popularity in the early part of the decade, but there’s been a bit of a shakedown on the space recently. And that could be a product […]
Small businesses love free stuff, so Gusto is giving them free HR Basics
Gusto, formerly ZenPayroll, is the rare startup unicorn that has stayed relatively mum on its product and growth — it’s last press release, for instance, was more than a year ago. The company’s core offering remains payroll for small businesses, and it has been working to expand its customer base across the nation, including have […]
Zoosk relaunches dating app Lively as a way to meet new people while playing trivia games
Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of trivia applications like HQ Trivia, dating app maker Zoosk has just released an experimental app that combines trivia with the potential for meeting someone new. The app is a relaunch and complete makeover of Zoosk’s Lively, which first debuted in July 2016 as a dating app that used […]
Tokyoflash has created a radar watch that scans the skies (or your wrist)
Tokyoflashis one of my favorite watchmakers. Unabashedly analog, the watches pay homage giant robots and old tech, looking like a cross between something that you could find in the hatch in Lost and a Shinjuku fever dream. Now the company has launched the Radar LED watch, a clever piece that shows the time with sweeping […]
10 High-Paying Jobs With Tons of Open Positions
Cloud security startup Zscaler opens at $27.50, a pop of 72% on Nasdaq, raising $192M in its IPO
The first big tech IPO of the year has opened with a bang. Zscaler, a security startup that confidentially filed for an IPO last year, started trading this morning as ZS on Nasdaq at a price of $27.50/share. This was a pop of 71.9 percent on its opening price of $16, and speaks to a […]
Socially Responsible Business Can Only Succeed If It Becomes a Movement
Tim Ellis/Getty Images What does it take to cause something big about a community to change — something that no one individually has much power over, even something as big as a prevailing mindset? We know what it takes: a social movement. And social movements aren’t only the domain of community organizers and college students. […]
How to Prepare for a Crisis You Couldn’t Possibly Predict
Phil Ashley/Getty Images On the morning of May 18, 2012, at precisely 11:05, Nasdaq planned to execute the first trade in in Facebook’s hotly anticipated initial public offering. The opening trade was an auction of sorts—buyers and sellers entered orders, and Nasdaq calculated a price that would cause as many shares as possible to change […]
How to Tell If You’re a Toxic Client
Google Lens arrives on iOS
On the heels of last week’s rollout on Android, Google’s new AI-powered technology, Google Lens, is now arriving on iOS. The feature is available within the Google Photos iOS application, where it can do things like identify objects, buildings, and landmarks, and tell you more information about them, including helpful details like their phone number, […]
Ava DuVernay will direct a ‘New Gods’ movie for DC
A Wrinkle in Time director Ava DuVernay is closing a deal with Warner Brothers to direct a movie based DC’s New Gods comics. The news was first reported in Deadline, and DuVernay seemed to confirm it by subsequently tweeting a tribute to New Gods creator Jack Kirby. While beloved by many comics fans, The New […]
Watch Thanos explain his simple plan in new ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ trailer
[embedded content] The new trailer for Avengers: Infinity War is here, and it gives us a look at Thanos with a helmet on, and provides some signet into what he hopes to accomplish by invading Earth (kill half the people on it). Also, there are still a ton of characters in this movie, and it […]
Alexa’s new ‘Brief Mode’ replaces verbal confirmations with chimes
Alexa is rolling out an optional “Brief Mode” that lets users configure their Echo devices to use chimes and sounds for confirmations, instead of having Alexa respond with her voice. For example, if you ask Alexa to turn on your lights today, she will respond “okay” as she does so. But with Brief Mode enabled, […]
Apple is holding an education event March 27
Apple has a long legacy of providing services to schools and teachers, but the industry has changed in recent years as the Chromebook has completely changed the way classrooms work. The company is no doubt looking to take back some of that mindshare. This morning, it sent out invites for an event, asking attendees to […]
Finding New Ideas When You Don’t Have a Broad Network
juan díaz-faes for hbr People who study creativity and innovation talk a lot about the value of “recombination” — bringing existing ideas, practices, processes, or technologies together in new ways or applying them in fresh contexts or markets. It’s a model that has led to many popular consumer products, such as leak-proof water bottles that borrow […]
Why You Need an Untouchable Day Every Week
Hayon Thapaliya/DUCEPT Pascal/ hemis.fr/Getty Images I hate meetings. They sit subconsciously in my brain, taking up space. I prepare for them in my notebooks. I travel to them, and then back again, in the middle of my work days. And what do most meetings usually result in? You guessed it — more meetings. When I […]
7 Signs You’ve Found the Perfect Job for You
Experiencing successful career development across our lives requires a consistent evaluation of our long-term goals while balancing our need for instant gratification versus our delayed benefits. It can also require us to follow our gut and learn when to say “yes” or “no” to opportunities that come our way. We look at what we have […]
4 Ways to Get Back to Work When You (Really) Don’t Want to
You know you need to work, but you really don’t want to. Millions of distractions — some worthier than others — compete for your time and attention. How do you drown out the voice of procrastination? Here are four ways that will get you working again, even when you’d rather be doing anything else. 1. Reward […]
How The Internet of Things (IoT) Is Changing Customer Relationships [Video]
Does Buying Instagram Followers Work?
You might know your Instagram content is good, but imagine how much better it will seem if it looks like 10,000 people agree. Whether you’re trying to become a social media celebrity or simply looking to spread brand awareness on Instagram, it can seem tempting to pay for your first couple thousand followers. There are […]
Li Ka-Shing to step down as chairman of CK Hutchison, owner of 3 and other tech holdings
A significant changing of the guard is underway in the world of telecoms and tech out of Asia. CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong conglomerate that owns the European mobile carrier 3 among other mobile and tech holdings, has announced that Li Ka-Shing is stepping down as the company’s chairman and executive director, after 46 years […]
Detectify raises €5M for its crowdsourced website vulnerability scanner
Sweden-based Detectify, which offers a website vulnerability scanner that is in part powered by the crowd, has raised €5 million in new funding. The round was led by New York-based venture capital and private equity firm, Insight Venture Partners. Existing investors, Paua Ventures and Inventure, also participated. Founded in late 2013 by a self-described group […]
AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s low-cost airline, is considering an ICO
AirAsia, the low-cost airline in Southeast Asia, is considering an initial coin offering (ICO) as part of a push into financial services. Tony Fernandes, CEO of the $3 billion Malaysia-based company, told TechCrunch that he is analyzing the potential to hold an ICO that would raise money by introducing its own cryptocurrency. “We have two […]
To Be Friends with Your Employees, Set Clear Boundaries
It’s possible to be friends with someone who works for you, but you need to set boundaries. For example, there may be times when you’re privy to information that will affect your friend, but it would be improper for you to share it. To make the friendship work, be transparent about what you can and […]
Amazon Redshift Spectrum Launches in Two Additional AWS Regions
Redshift Spectrum is a feature of Amazon Redshift that extends analytics to data stored in your Amazon S3 data lake, with no loading or transformations needed. Redshift Spectrum supports open data formats, such as Avro, CSV, Grok, Ion, JSON, ORC, Parquet, RCFile, RegexSerDe, SequenceFile, TextFile, and TSV. You can query data across Redshift and S3 […]
Amazon Redshift Doubles the Number of Tables You Can Create in a Cluster
The maximum number of tables you can create per cluster is 20,000 for 8xlarge cluster node types, and 9,900 for large and xlarge cluster node types. The limit includes user-defined temporary tables and temporary tables created by Amazon Redshift during query processing or system maintenance. Views are not included in this limit.
Blog SEO: How to Search Engine Optimize Your Blog Content
Does Blogging Help With SEO? Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning your website as a relevant answer to your customers’ questions. Blog posts that specifically use a variety of on-page SEO tactics can give you more opportunities to rank in search engines and get customers to visit your site. Search engine optimization is incredibly […]
Amazon SageMaker notebook instances now offer lifecycle customization and option to disable internet access
You can extend the customization of your notebook instances using the lifecycle configuration option. This feature will allow you to invoke a custom script at designated stages of a notebook instance’s lifecycle – such as every time the notebook instance is instantiated, or just when it is first created. You also now have the choice […]
This Is How You Tell a Story (and Other Things SXSW Taught Me)
I write a lot about creating an experience. About humanizing. About authenticity. About telling a story. About being helpful. In a marketing context, much of this boils down to the idea of your brand: about who you are, what you can do, and how that shapes the messages you send your audience, and how you send […]
Lyft is testing monthly subscriptions for riders
Lyft is testing a monthly subscription plan for people who tend to take a lot of rides, The Verge first reported. This is no surprise, given Lyft CEO and co-founder Logan Green said earlier this week Lyft would like to achieve in transportation what Netflix achieved in streaming media with subscriptions. There seems to be […]
4 Pro Tips For Your Next Big Job Interview
Once you have a couple of interviews under your belt, you usually understand the basics: make sure to present yourself professionally, maintain eye contact, play up your strengths, etc. But it can take quite a while before you really take your interviewing game to the next level — after all, there’s a big difference between […]
Google adds a wheelchair-accessible option for transit maps
Google Maps has a pretty solid set of data for taking transit from here to there, but anyone with a physical disability knows it isn’t quite that simple. Some stations may be wheelchair-unfriendly, have out-of-service elevators, that kind of thing. A new update to the service adds an option for you to specify a wheelchair-accessible […]
💡 Daily Inspiration: LOVE is all that matters! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2HFlk8q
Intel announces hardware fixes for Spectre and Meltdown on upcoming chips
When the Spectre and Meltdown bugs hit, it became clear that they wouldn’t be fixed with a few quick patches — the problem runs deeper than that. Fortunately, Intel has had plenty of time to work on it, and new chips coming out later this year will include improvements at the hardware/architecture level that protect […]
FitHouse aims to make fancy fitness classes more affordable
Fitness-oriented New Yorkers aren’t facing a shortage of classes that they can sign up for, but the prices can add up — Clément Benoit, founder of a new startup called FitHouse, said boutique classes cost an average of $35 per session. FitHouse, on the other hand, is charging $99 per month for unlimited classes. Contrast […]
Abra adds twenty cryptocurrencies to its wallet app
Abra, a global currency wallet that was the belle of the early Bitcoin ball, has just added twenty cryptocurrencies and fifty fiat currencies, a feature that allows you to top up and send cash and cryptocurrencies from inside the wallet. “Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold, Stellar Lumens, DigiByte, […]
TheSkimm raises $12 million for its snarky newsletters
Seven million women (and men) love TheSkimm. With its daily newsletters designed to keep you in the loop on the latest news and pop culture, TheSkimm has developed a loyal following, and even recruits fans called “Skimm’bassadors” to help spread the word. That word-of-mouth hype is helping and the startup has seen enough growth to […]
AWS CloudTrail Log Search Using Amazon Athena
AWS CloudTrail makes it easier to search CloudTrail log files using the power of Amazon Athena. Previously, you had to manually create a CloudTrail table using the Athena console or AWS CLI and ensure you had the proper configuration and data definitions to match the CloudTrail log format. Now, from within the CloudTrail console event […]
Lightning Labs just raised millions from Jack Dorsey and others to supercharge blockchain transactions
Lightning Labs, a young, Bay Area-based startup, is trying to make it easier for users to send bitcoin and litecoin to each other without the costly and time consuming process of settling their transactions on the blockchain. It has investors excited about its work, too. The company is announcing today that it has raised $2.5 […]
Volley’s voice games for smart speakers have amassed over half a million monthly users
The rapid consumer adoption of smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home has opened opportunities for developers creating voice apps, too. At least that’s true in the case of Volley, a young company building voice-controlled entertainment experiences for Amazon Alexa and Google Home. In less than a year, Volley has amassed an audience north […]
Why We Don’t Let Coworkers Help Us, Even When We Need It
Chris Madden/Getty Images When colleagues display helpful and cooperative “citizenship behaviors,” research has shown, they tend to develop high-quality social connections, which can improve individual and team performance through enhanced coordination, communication, and shared understanding within organizations. But there’s an obstacle to reaping those benefits — social psychologists have also found that people often react […]
Teacher in Ghana who used blackboard to explain computers gets some Microsoft love
Teaching kids how to use a computer is hard enough already, since they’re kids, but just try doing it without any computers. That was the task undertaken by Richard Appiah Akoto in Ghana, and his innovative (and labor-intensive) solution was to draw the computer or application on the blackboard in great detail. His hard work […]
Three New Amazon Connect Integrations Offer Contact Center Solutions from Qualtrak Solutions, VoiceBase, and Perficient
Amazon Connect integrations are automated deployments that extend the cloud-based contact center functionality provided by Amazon Connect with popular services and solutions from AWS partners. You can use Amazon Connect integrations to easily set up and manage your contact center in the AWS Cloud with key solutions for customer relationship management (CRM), workforce optimization (WFO), […]
Google spent about $270K to close pay gaps across race and gender
Google says there are currently no ‘statistically significant’ pay gaps at the company across race and gender. This is based on the company’s most recent pay analysis, where it looked at unexplained pay discrepancies based on gender and race and then made adjustments where necessary, Google wrote in a blog post today. In total, Google […]
Rihanna calls out Snapchat for tone-deaf ad that made light of domestic violence
Rihanna is not happy with Snap for the tone-deaf ad the company let run on Snapchat. A couple of days ago, an advertisement on Snap appeared that alluded to Chris Brown’s violent assault on Rihanna back in 2009. The advertisement, which was for a game called “Would You Rather,” asked if people would “rather slap […]
6 Ways to Pay the Bills When Pursuing Your Passion
As a child, you usually have big dreams of what you’re going to be when you grow up: a famous actor, a professional athlete, a beloved author. In certain cases, these childhood dreams lead to well-paying, in-demand jobs — just ask doctors or police officers. But unfortunately, more often than not, you learn that if […]
CloudFront now Supports ECDSA Certificates for HTTPS Connections to Origins
Starting today, you can now use Amazon CloudFront to negotiate HTTPS connections to origins using Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA). ECDSA uses smaller keys that are faster, yet, just as secure, as the older RSA algorithm. The smaller keys will also increase the number of TLS handshakes that your origins can process per second, […]
Facebook launches Express Wi-Fi app for its local-operated hotspots
Facebook wants you to pay it for Internet. This week TechCrunch was tipped off that Facebook had quietly launched an Express Wi-Fi Android app in the Google Play store that lets users buy data packs and find nearby hotspots as part of Facebook’s distributed Wi-Fi network. The company’s Express Wi-Fi program is live in five developing […]
Ford is changing the way it builds vehicles
Ford is a 115 year old company and has changed much over the years. The car maker seems ready to change again. Today, Ford gathered several hundred journalists in a theater deep in its Dearborn, MI development center. The building is surrounded by engineering labs and test facilities. A Ford proving ground is across the […]
Ford says its electric SUV will be famous without having to shoot it into space
Ford is committed to electric vehicles and today revealed more details about its upcoming performance electric SUV. Jim Farley, President of Ford Global Markets, speaking a media event today, called the upcoming vehicle low-slung like a Mustang. The company is targeting 2020 release and Farley promised that it will be famous without having to shoot […]
Ford takes aim at Toyota’s hybrid market lead with its new SUV lineup
Ford detailed a bunch of its roadmap for the next few years at a special media event today, and one of the key takeaways is that it’s going all-in on hybrids with its SUV lineup. Ford estimates that SUVs could make up as much as half the entire U.S. industry retail market by 2020, and […]
Repl.it lets you program in your browser
No matter whether you are a seasoned programmer or you simply want to take your first steps in writing code, Repl.it wants to help you get from idea to result as fast as possible — without complicated installs and setup procedures getting in your way. The Y Combinator-funded project, which released version 1.0 of its service […]
Airbnb makes service more accessible to people with disabilities
Airbnb has made some changes to its platform in order to make it easier for people with disabilities to find accommodations that suit their needs. The 21 new accessibility filters Airbnb has added enable people to find homes and apartments that have step-free entry to rooms, entryways wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, elevators, roll-in […]
💡 Daily Inspiration: Let’s go on an adventure together! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2FD3TbJ
PUBG soft-launches on mobile in Canada with Android release
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, the ‘battle royale’ style game where everyone tries to be the last player standing while scrounging for supplies to keep them alive, has launched on Android in Canada MobileSyrup reports, which could presage a future release in the U.S. The arrival of the mobile version of the game more generally known as […]
Why We Don’t Let Coworkers Help Us, Even When We Need It
Chris Madden/Getty Images When colleagues display helpful and cooperative “citizenship behaviors,” research has shown, they tend to develop high-quality social connections, which can improve individual and team performance through enhanced coordination, communication, and shared understanding within organizations. But there’s an obstacle to reaping those benefits — social psychologists have also found that people often react […]
Here’s why Spotify will go public via direct listing on April 3rd
Spotify explained why it’s ditching the traditional IPO for a direct listing on the NYSE on April 3rd today during its Investor Day presentation. Spotify described the rationale for using a direct listing to go public with five points: List Without Selling Shares – Spotify has plent of money with $1.3 billion in cash and securities, […]
CrunchMatch Connects Investors and Founders at Disrupt SF 2018
Disrupt San Francisco 2018 promises to be our biggest Disrupt event ever — with three times the convention floor space and more than 10,000 attendees. That’s incredibly exciting, and it also presents a challenge for startup founders and tech investors eager to network and connect. Who wants to waste valuable time talking to the wrong […]
Blue Apron will start selling its meal kits in stores
Blue Apron announced today it will bring its meal kits to stores. The news arrives at a time when the meal kit subscription company is struggling to grow and retain its users, who are often put off by the expense of the direct-shipped meal kits and the need to commit to an ongoing subscription. In […]
Android Wear is becoming ‘Wear OS by Google’
Android Wear has exactly been the rocket ship of success Google was no doubt banking on when it was launched four years ago this week. After a slow start, the company issued a 2.0 refresh of the wearable operating system in early 2017 — but the update was fairly minimal and didn’t appear to move […]
GM will build its production autonomous Cruise cars at Michigan assembly plant
GM revealed today that it’s going to be starting proper production of its Cruise autonomous vehicle at its Orion township assembly plant in Michigan, with the roof modules for the vehicles assembled nearby at its Brownstown battery assembly plant. Alongside the Cruise AV, Orion will also continue to build the Bolt EV, as well as […]
SwiftKey gets stickers
Back in 2016, Microsoft bought the popular SwiftKey keyboard for Android and iOS for $250 million. It’s still one of the most popular third-party keyboard on both platforms and today, the company is launching one of its biggest updates since the acquisition. With SwiftKey 7.0, which is out now, the company is adding stickers — because […]
We want to hear about your robotics company
As you might have heard, last year’s TC Robotics event in Boston was such a hit we’ve decided to do it again — only on the West Coast, this time. On Friday, May 11, we’ll be holding TC Sessions: Robotics on the U.C. Berkeley campus. We’ve got a lot of big industry luminaries lined up […]
AWS AppSync now supports Android GraphQL subscriptions, releases sample photo application integrating AWS Amplify
Additionally, we are releasing a JavaScript sample application that showcases usage of the AWS Amplify library and AWS AppSync together along with the Complex Objects feature. This sample showcases a comprehensive solution for a private photo storage application, where users can register and sign-in to an application. Photos can be synchronized across devices where users […]
Facebook opens Instant Games to all developers
Facebook’s Instant Games are now open to all developers, Facebook announced this week in advance of the Game Developers Conference. First launched in 2016, the platform lets developers build mobile-friendly games using HTML5 that work on both Facebook and Messenger, instead of requiring users to download native apps from Apple or Google’s app stores. The […]
How to Use Employee Referrals Without Giving Up Workplace Diversity
Martin Harvey/Getty Images More than a third of U.S. workers landed their current job via an employee referral. In a tight talent market, it’s tempting for organizations to rely even more heavily on employee referrals to fill open positions, but a new study from PayScale shows that doing so could lead to pay inequities and […]
Decades Ago, Pilots Learned to “Fly by Instruments.” Doctors Need to Do the Same
mikulas1/Getty Images In a landmark 2016 study Johns Hopkins researchers estimated that more than 250,000 Americans die each year from treatment-related mistakes, making medical error the third-leading cause of death in the United States. As a former military flight surgeon trained in aviation accident investigations, I know well the hazards of misusing or mistrusting instruments. […]
Washington waking up to threats of AI with new task force
Elon Musk has been one of the few Silicon Valley luminaries to place intense attention on the potential dangers of AI, raising a billion dollars with Y Combinator’s Sam Altman to found OpenAI. Musk has continued the drumbeat on AI’s dangers, telling a crowd at SXSW this week that “A.I. is far more dangerous than […]
The red-hot AI hardware space gets even hotter with $56M for a startup called SambaNova Systems
Another massive financing round for an AI chip company is coming in today, this time for SambaNova Systems — a startup founded by a pair of Stanford professors and a longtime chip company executive — to build out the next generation of hardware to supercharge AI-centric operations. SambaNova joins an already quite large class of […]
Don’t foul this free-throwing Toyota basketball robot
[embedded content] Because if it gets to the free-throw line, it sinks the shot – every. single. time. This robot (via The Verge) is the project of a group of Toyota engineers using their spare time, to build a robot inspired by the manga Slam Dunk, which is about a Japanese high school basketball team. […]
YouTube’s Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen teases a new premium music subscription service
In a keynote speech at SXSW, YouTube’s Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen spoke briefly of YouTube’s plans for a music subscription service, amid a longer discussion of the changes he’s witnessed throughout his career in the industry, as well as those still in the horizon. YouTube’s new music subscription service had been expected to launch […]
Amazon’s top original shows generated an estimated 5M new Prime members
Amazon’s original content efforts are paying off, at least in terms of driving new sign-ups for Prime, which is ostensibly their main value to the commerce giant. Documents obtained by Reuters show that the top Prime video original programming, including 19 shows covered within, were accountable for as many as a quarter of the total […]
My Tamagotchi Forever brings the 90s to your smartphone
We had all but forgotten about Tamagotchis. But those attention-starved little creatures are coming back. Today, My Tamagotchi Forever launches on Google Play and the App Store. For those of you who didn’t ride the wave of handheld digital pets in the late 90s and early aughts, or those of you who are too young […]
Fortem gets a $15 million Series A for its drone-hunting tech
Startup pitches invariably involve futures where the skies are thick with drones — delivery, transportation, emergency response. In that seemingly inevitable scenario, tracking and hunting down out of control and malicious unmanned vehicles will likely be a pretty lucrative field. It’s something Fortem’s been working on for a few years now. In May of 2016, […]
Google is launching playable in-game ads
Maybe you’ve seen this kind of ad in a game you have played: your character dies and then the game asks you to watch a short video ad in return for an extra life. That’s actually a feature of Google’s AdMob advertising service, and today it’s extending this with playable ads, a new type of […]
Strix Leviathan raises $1.625M for its enterprise crypto trading platform
Seattle-based Strix Leviathan, an enterprise trading and management platform for crypto assets founded by startup vet Jesse Proudman, today announced that it has raised a $1.625 million seed round led by Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures (yes, that Joe Montana). Other investors include Founders’ Co-op, FuturePerfect Ventures and 9Mile Labs, as well as angel investors like Chris […]
To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To
CSA Images/Getty Images One of the best insights on what true productivity means in the 21st century dates back to 1890. In his book The Principles of Psychology, Vol.1, William James wrote a simple statement that’s packed with meaning: “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” Your attention determines the experiences you have, […]
VC Stereotypes About Men and Women Aren’t Supported by Performance Data
Daniel Haskett/Getty Images Male entrepreneurs are the beneficiaries of the overwhelming majority of venture capital investments. But are their ideas really better investment opportunities for VCs than those pitched by women? According to our research, the answer is “not necessarily.” In a two-part study, we observed that venture capitalists adopt markedly different stereotypical notions of female […]
4 Steps to Repair Your Reputation at Work
Maybe you botched a couple of major projects or had a recent deadline you fell down on. No matter the case, sometimes all it takes is a few critical mistakes to tarnish your reputation at the office. And once that happens, not only might your colleagues begin to respect you less, but you could also […]
John Chen to stay on as BlackBerry CEO through 2023
BlackBerry today announced it reached an agreement to keep CEO John Chen in his current position through 2023. Chen joined the company in 2013 and is responsible for leading the company’s recovery as it left smartphones and embraced services. When Chen took over the company, the company was struggling on all fronts. Its time as […]
Experian acquires UK’s ClearScore and its financial product matching engine for $385M
While credit-scoring behemoth Equifax continues to work through the fallout from its massive security breach, one of its big competitors is snapping up a startup in the UK to diversify its business. Experian today announced that it is acquiring ClearScore, which has built a platform that — like Experian — offers you a credit score, […]
SpaceX and United Launch Alliance land $640 million in Air Force launches
The U.S. Air Force wants to maintain its options: It awarded a total of $640 million in satellite launch contracts to both SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance (Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s joint space launch venture), with the goal of making sure it has access to at least two options for launching its payloads to […]
Airtable raises $52M to give non-coders tools to build complex software
A massive company probably has plenty of engineers on staff and the resources to build a complex backbone of interconnected information that can contain tons of data and make acting on it easy — but for smaller companies, and for those that aren’t technical, those tools aren’t very accessible. That’s what convinced Howie Liu to […]
Five Seasons Ventures is a new €60M European early-stage fund investing in food and agriculture tech
More VC money sloshing around Europe, this time with the launch of a new early-stage fund targeting food and agriculture technology. Backed by the likes of European Investment Fund, Nestlé, Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, and Bpifrance, Five Seasons Ventures is announcing the first closing of its fund with commitments “in excess of €60 million” to invest […]
How to Bring Self-Compassion to Work with You
“I’m going to fail. This is a total sham.” “I’m not smart enough to do this. Why did I ever think I could?” “Why is no one else having this problem? Everyone is doing better at this than me.” Advertisement X GGSC Event: Hardwire Resilience with Dr. Rick Hanson March 30 in Berkeley | 6 […]
What is a Snapchat Streak?
In my last internship, my manager told me a funny story about her 18 year-old brother after he visited the office one day. And it made me realize I officially don’t understand the teenage mind anymore. After meeting me for a mere two minutes, he wanted to add me — the only other person around […]
Revolut adds direct debits in Europe
Fintech startup Revolut is slowly making traditional bank accounts irrelevant. The company is adding direct debits in EUR to make it easier to pay for utilities and subscription services. While Revolut is currently applying for a banking license, the company has already been adding everything you need to replace your bank account with a Revolut […]
Drake and Ninja are playing Fortnight live on Twitch
What do Drake, Ninja the professional esports player, Kim Dotcom, Travis Scott and NFL player JuJu Smith-Schuster have in common? They’re all playing Fortnight together right now and live-streaming it on Twitch. Yes, seriously. You can tune in to Ninja’s channel here to check out the action. Right now the amount of live viewers is […]
Stay Calm During a Tough Conversation by Grounding Yourself
Having a tense conversation brings up a lot of negative emotions, leaving you feeling like an active volcano. To prevent an outburst and stay in control of your emotions, physically ground yourself in your environment. One of the best ways to do this is to stand up and walk around, which activates the thinking part […]
nuqneH? yIjatlh! You can now learn Klingon with Duolingo
If you’re a real Star Wars Star Trek fan, chances are you’ve always dreamt of learning Klingon. It’s one of the most lovely and melodic tongues in the pantheon of fake languages, after all. Well, here is your chance: Duolingo today announced the launch of the official Klingon course on its service. “Many Star Trek fans become curious about […]
Nest’s video doorbell is now shipping
Back in September of last year, Nest announced its first smart doorbell. When it would actually ship, however, was left sort of up in the air; all the company said at the time was to expect it sometime in Q1 of 2018. Turns out, that means today. The Nest doorbell — or the Nest Hello, […]
What Is a Whitepaper? [FAQs]
10 Influencer Marketing Campaigns to Inspire and Get You Started With Your Own
You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about the elusive, purportedly mystical powers of influencer marketing. But is this buzzword-laden tactic actually worth your time and energy? According to a recent study comprised of marketers from a variety of industries, 94% said influencer marketing was an effective campaign strategy. That’s great news for marketers — […]
Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) Available in US West (Northern California) Region
Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) provides simple, scalable, elastic file storage for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises resources via Amazon Direct Connect. Amazon EFS is easy to use and offers a simple interface that allows you to create and configure file systems quickly and easily. It provides massively parallel access for thousands […]
MIT gadget puts multiple artificial organs into a paperback-sized connected system
If you want to see how a proposed drug affects human physiology, your options are limited — and usually you end up using mice, which are in many ways poor analogues. What’s a pharmacologist to do? MIT researchers have a solution: a “body on a chip” that simulates up to 10 interconnected human organs at […]
💡 Daily Inspiration: Good Vibes Only! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2FE1iyA
💡 Daily Inspiration: Good Vibes Only! 🌟 by @marketingmuses 💫 marketingmuses.com ⭐️✨
View on Instagram http://ift.tt/2FE1iyA
TypingDNA launches Chrome extension that verifies your identity based on typing
TypingDNA has a new approach to verifying your identity based on how you type. The startup, which is part of the current class at Techstars NYC, is pitching this as an alternative to two-factor authentication — namely, the security feature that sends unique codes to a separate device (usually your phone) to make sure someone […]
Spotify tests native voice search, groundwork for smart speakers
Now Spotify listens to you instead of the other way around. Spotify has a new voice search interface that lets you say “Play my Discover Weekly”, “Show Calvin Harris”, or “Play some upbeat pop” to pull up music. A Spotify spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that this is “Just a test for now”, as only a […]
Lyft is building a self-driving platform with auto supplier Magna
Lyft is partnering with Magna, one of the largest tier one automotive industry suppliers in the world, on autonomous vehicle technology. Lyft CEO and co-founder Logan Green explained that this will help them get their self-driving tech into various automaker vehicles around the world. Lyft will be working directly with Magna on “co-developing” an autonomous driving […]
Amazon Route 53 Auto Naming Releases API for Managing Health Status of Service Instances
Beginning today, you can use a new Amazon Route 53 Auto Naming API to update the health status of service instances manually. After you register a service instance with a new custom health check configuration, you can call the new API to mark the service instance healthy and start routing traffic to it. Alternatively, you […]
AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) Supports Additional Amazon API Gateway Features
AWS SAM extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way of defining the Amazon API Gateway APIs, AWS Lambda functions, and Amazon DynamoDB tables needed by your serverless application. The AWS Serverless Application Model is available under the Apache 2.0 license, enabling anyone to adopt and incorporate it into build, deployment, monitoring and management tools […]
CFO Naeem Ishaq is leaving Boxed
Naeem Ishaq is leaving his role as chief financial officer of bulk e-commerce company Boxed. Ishaq joined Boxed in 2016, following a stint as head of finance, strategy and risk at Square. A Boxed spokesperson confirmed Ishaq’s departure, and sent the following statement from CEO Chieh Huang: Naeem is a world-class financial talent. Over the […]
Wikipedia wasn’t aware of YouTube’s conspiracy video plan
YouTube has a plan to combat the abundant conspiracy theories that feature in credulous videos on its platform; not a very good plan, but a plan just the same. It’s using information drawn from Wikipedia relevant to some of the more popular conspiracy theories, and putting that info front and center on videos that dabble in… […]
Voicery makes synthesized voices sound more like humans
Advancements in A.I. technology has paved the way for breakthroughs in speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine translation. A new startup called Voicery now wants to leverage those same advancements to improve speech synthesis, too. The result is a fast, flexible speech engine that sounds more human – and less like a robot. Its […]
Reddit set to begin rolling out promoted post ads in their native apps
For how massive Reddit is in terms of user base, it’s really gotten by for a long time having a product that advanced about as quickly as Drudge Report. That’s been changing lately, as the company has looked to mature their platform with user-centric features that make surfing content easier and keep everything a bit […]