The U.S. Navy is testing a team of drone boats to protect harbors here and abroad. The boats, which are basically autonomous versions of the Rigid Hull Inflatable, are connected to a AI routing system called CARACaS. In original 2014 tests the boats worked separately to protect ships in a harbor and the new routing system now allows them to swarm as a team to surround and neutralize threats.… Read More
First Round Capital has become known for many things in its 12-year-history, like the high marks it receives from founders; the smart content it produces; and the newer annual, “state of startups” reports it publishes. The early-stage venture firm also reliably puts together one of the more memorable video cards every December, one that it uses to showcase all of the founders to… Read More
Bill McGlashan, who oversees TPG Growth — the growth investing platform of the global firm TPG — is reportedly fundraising right now for a $2 billion vehicle called Rise that will seek both financial and social returns. He tells Dealbook the fund was inspired by bets TPG Growth has already made, including in a cellphone tower company in Myanmar called Apollo Towers that helped… Read More
Facebook today is rolling out a new program that will place messages at the top of your News Feed which prompt users to discuss and share moments that are happening in the world, including the holidays, as well as other historical and cultural moments. You may have already seen these large, colorful cards at the top of your News Feed wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving or reminding you not to… Read More
There are few reasons why TechCrunch Disrupt (sign up here to get news about the next one) is so effective for startups. The combination of breaking news on stage and brand new companies in the Battlefield competition draws in the media and investors. And investors can easily walk a curated hall of new startups in Startup Alley, knowing that we have worked hard to bring the best and the brightest. Read More
Google.org is donating $30 million to non-profits this holiday so that they can buy any tech and related services that they need including hardware, software, training and IT maintenance or repair services. Earlier this month, reports leaked that Google had donated money earmarked for employees’ Christmas gifts to charity instead this year. It’s true that the company made… Read More
The holidays are upon us and I’m holding another micro-meetup as part of the NYSG at Houston Hall on December 21 at 7pm. This is another meet and greet event for networking and some light pitching/drinking so come on out with your demo and your pitch memorized. These are very informal events that I like to hold to keep talking to folks in the NYC tech world so consider it a nice… Read More
It took BlackBerry a long time to get to this point, and it may take them a while to get out. But while the Canadian corporation’s most recent earnings still have plenty of bleak spots, there’s enough of a change here to make investors hopeful as the company goes full bore into a long-awaited transition to a software/services/branding operation.
The company posted earnings this… Read More
If you have an iPad, you have a very capable external display for your computer using Duet Display, and now you can also experience Apple’s new Touch Bar without having to pick up a new computer. It’s not the same as having one built in to your computer, but it is a good way to play with Touch Bar functionality and see how it works with your existing workflow in Apple’s… Read More
Bragi has to break bad news to customers awaiting its new wireless earbuds, The Headphone. The cord-free gadget performed well in our testing of a pre-production sample, but Bragi sent a note to customers on Monday that informed pre-order buyers they likely wouldn’t be receiving their order in time for Christmas, owing to a slower than expected production process.
The company had… Read More
On the heels of Kik and Facebook’s Messenger adding in new video features yesterday, one of their old rivals Viber is announcing a new video tool of its own: users can now use Viber to send each other videos as messages with the push of a button — the messaging app video equivalent of push-to-talk. The feature is coming out in a new version of the app that will also include… Read More
A spinoff from the robot veterans at SRI is making a big bet on ubiquitous soft robotics: SuperFlex aims to establish a new product category with what it calls “powered clothing.” The company, which initially split off from its parent in April, hopes to have a product to show in a few months, and has raised nearly $10 million to develop it. Read More
Garmin has partnered with mobile telecom giant MTN to launch a line of fitness watches in Ghana. The GPS navigation and sports tech company will offer its vivoFit3, vivoMove, vivoActive, Fenix3, and vivoSmart activity trackers through select MTN Ghana distribution outlets. Read More
Uber, the transportation-on-demand behemoth, courted controversy this past week when it started to test its self-driving cars on public roads in San Francisco without the state’s permission.
Today, Uber drew even more heat, as bike advocates warned that the test vehicles have a so-called “right hook” turning problem, which can put cyclists at grave risk.
In this… Read More
Price f(x), a pricing optimization SaaS, has raised €4 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is Prague-based Credo Ventures, and London-based Talis Capital. Noteworthy, this is the first outside funding the European startup has taken since it was founded six years ago and despite being profitable for the last three of those. Read More
A San Diego startup called eSUB Construction Software has raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Revolution Ventures according to President and CEO Wendy Rogers. The company’s cloud-based project management apps help subcontractors track and get compensated for all the work they do on construction jobs. Rogers said, “There’s a saying that subcontractors get paid for… Read More
Waymo gets 100 new Chrysler Pacifica minivans outfitted with Waymo technology, Starry raises another $30 million, Elon Musk wants to build tunnels because of his reaction to traffic, Zuckerberg gets us one step closer to Jarvis and 79 percent of Americans now shop online. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
iPrice, an 18-month old e-commerce aggregation service that’s active in seven countries in Southeast Asia, has closed a $4 million Series A funding round. Read More
Starting this week, metered parking spots in midtown Manhattan are going mobile with a new system that lets drivers pay via smartphone. The new ParkNYC app is tied to a car’s license plate number, working along the lines of an EZPass. Drivers enter their parking zone and the amount of time they’re parking and it goes to work deducting money from the account. Drivers can add… Read More
One of the memes to come out of the somewhat contentious rollout of the MacBook Pro is that Apple has given up on the desktop Mac. Given the slower upgrade cycle of desktops and how well my Retina 5K iMac is holding up, it took me a while to pay attention to what was going on there — until it had reached a fever pitch. The consensus was that Apple is no longer interested in keeping up… Read More
