A well-known fast food chain – let’s call them Kurger Bing – is debuting a new 15 second ad today set to start running nationally. It starts off simply enough, some dude standing behind the counter of an otherwise empty “restaurant,” addressing the camera. He explains that he doesn’t have the time to fully explain an iconic hamburger to you. Ad time… Read More
Invites have just dropped for Microsoft’s latest press conference. Details are scant for the “Learn What’s Next” event happening May 2 in New York City, but between the title and the big #MicrosoftEDU hashtag that graces the crudely colored artwork, this looks to be focused on the company’s next big play at the education sector. Back in January, the company… Read More
Social VR has the potential to shift the bounds of human communication, it’s part of the reason why Facebook has invested billions in the technology. One of the keys to having positive VR interactions will be having the ability to interpret the emotions of the people you’re chatting with. Today, MindMaze is showing off the MASK, a device that reads the emotions on your face… Read More
Normally adding 200 million users in 8 months to a product that already has a billion would reduce the average engagement, but most apps don’t have Facebook Messenger’s network effect. Now with 1.2 billion monthly active users, “we increased engagement massively in terms of number of messages sent per active user. We had double-digit growth percentage-wise”… Read More
The enterprise voice space grows hotter today as VoiceOps announces its seed round with participation from Accel, Founders Fund and Lowercase Capital. The YC-backed startup aims to support sales teams by offering managers clear insights into what tactics are being used on the front lines. Founders, Daria Evdokimova, Ethan Barhydt and Nate Becker designed a machine learning-powered system… Read More
Disrupt NY is but a month away, and we’re more excited than ever about our brand new Startup Spotlight. The Startup Spotlight gives young but proven startups the chance to tell their origin story, from that original “Aha!” moment to the pivot, if there was one, to today. It will also give budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to hear actual founders talk about their journey… Read More
Food delivery startups have proven to be a hard business – focus is often on growth more than profits, with high burn rates, low returns and they can be logistics nightmares. But nevermind all that, a new, more niche prepared meal delivery service seems to be popping up — for babies.
Yumi (formerly Caer) announced its launch just last week; Gather, Ayesha Curry’s meal kit… Read More
Netherlands-based accelerator program Rockstar, which focuses on helping startups through their first 1,000 days, has launched a new vertical program for artificial intelligence startups — touting it as Europe’s first AI-focused accelerator. Read More
If you’re a fan of the Star Wars (many people are) then you may also be a fan of this trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront II, which just popped up a bit early on Vimeo. The trailer is amazing, showing action-packed sequences rendered using the in-game engine, which seems to be able to delivery top-notch visuals of the variety normally reserved for cutscenes. Perhaps you played Star… Read More
Teamable wants to know your social network. Well, its software does. The reason: it might find someone suited to fill an opening at your company who — no offense to your intelligence — might not necessarily spring to mind. How does it work? By churning through your contact lists (think Gmail, Facebook, GitHub, any other sources of contacts that employees are willing to… Read More
Time Warner’s Turner and Warner Bros. have joined the now-crowded market of subscription-based streaming services with the launch of Boomerang, a $5 per month service that streams both classic cartoons and current series. Boomerang’s catalog will offer shows from Warner Bros.’ Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes and MGM animation library of over 5,000 titles, which includes new… Read More
Home robotics is an area of intense interest, with many large companies exploring how they might best address the potential market. Bosch subsidiary Mayfield Robotics has Kuri, and automakers including Toyota and Honda have their own approach, which a focus on independence for people continuing into our senior years. Startup OhmniLabs thinks that human connection is what will convince people… Read More
Yes, Toyota used both “millennial” and “casualcore” to dreadful effect in the press release for the new FT-4X crossover SUV concept it revealed during the New York International Auto Show. But I still want this adorable car box to become a real thing, because it reminds me of both the Honda Element and the Toyota FJ Cruiser, vehicles I love so well. The FT-4X… Read More
Toyota is introducing a new robotic leg brace called the Welwalk WW-1000 that can help patients with partial paralysis affecting one side of their body walk again. The robotic exoframe is worn on the affected leg, with a large motor component at the knee joint that provides just enough assistance to the patient, letting them recover their own walking ability therapeutically over time. The… Read More
We’re pleased to announce the addition of pitches and demos at Session: Robotics, our upcoming event centered around the issues concerning the robotics community. Students and startups should apply now for slots for event, taking place July 17 in Boston at MIT’s stunning Kresge Auditorium. This opportunity will put participants in front of the companies, founders and engineers… Read More
Rules governing the use of food delivery robots remain to be seen across the US. But major food businesses are investigating the possibilities already. In the latest deal, Yelp Eat24 has begun testing delivery by robot in partnership with Marble in select San Francisco neighborhoods. TechCrunch spied Marble’s delivery robots, stickered with a Yelp Eat24 logo, earlier this month. But… Read More
Sisense introduced a new tool today called Pulse, which uses machine learning to trigger an alert when it detects results outside of normal parameters for a particular metric. A user can set a Pulse alert to monitor a metric or KPI such as sales activity or win rate. The machine learning component watches the chosen metric and learns over time what’s normal. When it detects an… Read More
Amazon FreeTime, the subscription service offering kid-friendly books, videos, apps and games, is today rolling out a feature called Discussion Cards that will help parents better understand the content their child is viewing, reading or playing. The feature will be a part of a new Parent Dashboard that will also include activity reports and other insights into how the child has been using… Read More
HackerEarth, an Indian startup that grew from arranging hackthon to offering corporate innovation services, has closed a $4.5 million Series A funding round. The Bangalore-based company said the funding was led by DHI Group, which operates U.S. IT recruitment portal Dice.com, with participation from Japanese quartet Beenext, Beenos, Digital Garage, BizReach and existing investor Prime… Read More
Like most new forms of media and communications, GIFs have thus far struggled to find a business model that matches their ubiquity. GIF-sharing startup Tenor hopes to change that, by partnering with media companies, brands and advertisers to help them build and distribute GIFs users will love — and hopefully make a few bucks along the way. Read More
