It looks like we can add another to the string of IPOs that at least look like they’ve been successful — with Yext, too, popping more than 20% once its shares made their debut this morning. Shares of Yext went as high as $14 or so after the company gave its final pricing at $11 last night — meaning it raised at least $115.5 million in its IPO. Following Okta, and before… Read More
Microsoft just sent out invites to members of the media for its big reveal of Xbox Project Scorpio, the upgraded console that will be the “first true 4K console for gamers” according to the company. We’ve long expected E3’s press event to be the big consumer debut for Scorpio, but Microsoft spelled out that it will indeed be the star of the show in a blog post on… Read More
We hear a lot about our online data being bought and sold by advertisers, but Narrative founder and CEO Nick Jordan said the actual process remains “incredibly cumbersome.”
And he should know, since he’s spent years in the adtech world, most recently as an executive at Tapad. Jordan explained that from the data buyer’s perspective, you have to go out and strike… Read More
Amazon is making the technology that makes its Echo line of devices so good at picking up your voice commands available to third-party device makers. That includes the microphone array that helps Echo pick up speech even in a fairly noisy room, as well as Amazon’s own proprietary software for recognizing wake words, reducing background noise and cancelling out echoes in large open rooms.… Read More
Lucid is continuing down its path of shipping a Tesla competitor, and the Air just underwent another milestone: High-speed testing. A performance-targeted prototype version of its flagship Air car, the first it’s intending to bring to production, hit Ohio’s 7.5-mile TRC test track to check out how it holds up under high-speed use, including a (software limited) top speed of 217… Read More
Uber is teaming up with Getaround to provide an easier way for drivers without cars to provide rides through the service. Starting in San Francisco, a new pilot will allow Uber drivers to use the Getaround app to rent cars on-demand from pick-up spots throughout the city, and pay a $5 per hour flat rate for use of the vehicle, including insurance, gas and unlimited miles. The rental arrangement… Read More
Uber has been testing a feature that allows riders to specific a nearby intersection instead of having to enter an actual address for a pick-up or drop-off point, and now that’s rolling out to everyone using the app in the U.S. The feature allows you to type in two street names in the app’s address fields, and it’ll even autopopulate major intersection options nearby.
The… Read More
Google is not taking Pinterest’s search ambitions lying down. The company recently launched a “Similar Items” feature on mobile web and Android to point users to more products they’ll love – like handbags, sunglasses, and shoes, for example – and today it’s expanding that functionality to include apparel. More notably, it’s also introducing a… Read More
Eniac Ventures is announcing the close of a $100 million venture fund, the fourth since the group formed in 2009. The seed-stage firm plans to use the money to invest in augmented reality, virtual reality, bots, robotics and other software-enabled technologies. “VR is really a pathway to mixed reality,” said Vic Singh, founding general partner at Eniac. It’s “very… Read More
Cameras help autonomous vehicles read street signs and the color of traffic lights. But LiDARs, aka light detection and ranging systems, do the important work of sensing and helping cars avoid obstacles, whether that’s a fallen tree, drunk driver, or a child running out into the road. Now, a startup called Luminar Technologies Inc., is unveiling a high-resolution LiDAR sensor that was… Read More
An investigation by a British newspaper into child sexual abuse content and terrorist propaganda being shared on Facebook has once again drawn critical attention to how the company handles complaints about offensive and extremist content being shared on its platform. Read More
Finally some good news for Uber: it will resume its ride-hailing service in Taiwan today, two months after suspending operations following a long-running battle with the country’s government. To avoid running afoul of local regulations again, Uber will partner with licensed rental car companies. Read More
Zeroth is an accelerator program that is out to fix the lack of talent, and investment options, for artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia, and it has just opened applications for its second program which takes place in Hong Kong in late July. “There’s almost nothing that won’t be touched by AI,” high-profile investor — and former Google China head — Kaifu… Read More
Another day, another revelation of an ethically questionable business practice by Uber. This time The Information reports that Uber secretly tracked Lyft drivers using an internal software program it dubbed Hell. Read More
Like the boy in Iron Giant, Elmodis watches massive machines to ensure they don’t break or, worse, hurt people. The company recently raised $4.9 million to manage this task in addition to their $250,000 in seed capital from Innovation Nest in Poland. The founders, Artur Hanc and Marcin Swiech, created a “novel way of monitoring machines,” said Swiech. “The technology… Read More
When outdoor warning sirens in Dallas cried wolf last Friday, Twitter sleuths concluded that a hacker hijacked the alarms through a vulnerable computer network. As it turns out, the sirens aren’t computerized at all — they’re controlled through a decade-old radio system, one the city just voted to spend $100,000 to upgrade.
System malfunction with City of Dallas siren… Read More
It’s the 500th episode of Crunch Report. Boomerang joins the subscription games, Lincoln tries to boost sales with chauffers and Justin Kan’s new legal startup AtriumLTS. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Apple has hired a group of biomedical researchers to work on a secret project to monitor diabetic patients using sensors, according to a CNBC report. An estimated 371 million people have the disease worldwide and in the last few years, several tech companies have been trying to come up with better solutions to help those afflicted. Virta is a newly launched startup tackling type 2 diabetes… Read More
With a new electric vehicle initiative, Uber is finally speaking Portland’s language. The company shares a rocky history with the famously green city, but that won’t stop Portland from becoming the first U.S. market where Uber will push a set benchmarks for electrifying its fleet. For the Portland version of Uber Electric, a program that the company rolled out… Read More
Yext today said it would price its initial public offering at $11, meaning the company will raise around $115.5 million in its IPO as it sets up for a debut tomorrow. Yext will be the second enterprise company in the past week alone that will make its public debut tomorrow following this pricing. With Snap’s IPO seen as successful, as well as tech IPOs in general looking good so far,… Read More
