You know what people love? When you take something familiar and useful and replace it with content “for you” that you actually didn’t ask for. That’s one of the more visible changes in the latest version of Chrome for Android, which swaps out the bookmarks and recently visited items on the new tab page for “suggested articles.” Here’s how to get rid of it. Read More
Last week, I sat down with IPO pro Lise Buyer to talk about the Bay Area ecosystem for a Sirius XM radio show that’s broadcast from Wharton’s San Francisco campus. Buyer was the host and I was the guest, but because the IPO market is top of mind for so many in the startup industry right now, I asked if I could turn the table for a few minutes on Buyer, who is best known for helping… Read More
More than 80 million viewers around the world tuned in to watch the first of three presidential debates. With all the buzz being generated in and around the upcoming elections, no industry is exempt from their impact — Silicon Valley and the tech industry included. The Valley is not sheltered, nor is it immune to national politics — a fact that the Valley used to know. Read More
A lot of the industry watchers that follow Twitter are out here on the West Coast, where the company is based. And for good reason! The Twitter diaspora exists in a large force out here and are great to keep in touch with in order to keep context, and it’s important to be in general geographic proximity of the company’s headquarters. Which is part of the reason we’re… Read More
Following its release of guidelines for automakers regarding self-driving cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a similar set of guidelines or “best practices” for cybersecurity in vehicles, designed to provide guidance for car makers. The best practices document is 22 pages and is non-binding, meaning there’s no regulatory imperative… Read More
French startup OpenDataSoft just raised a $5.4 million Series A round (€5 million) to make it easier to manipulate huge sets of data. Aster Capital and Salesforce Ventures invested in today’s round, with existing investor Aurinvest also participating and Ader Finance helping with the deal. Interestingly, this is one of the first investments in a French startup from Salesforce… Read More
Not everything in our field of view at any given time is all that interesting; often, it’s only when something consistent changes that our eyes take notice. Paris-based Chronocam is looking to further develop this concept in the computer vision space with its new camera technology being optimized for autonomous vehicles. Today, Chronocam announced that it has picked up $15 million in… Read More
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Your Wrist, whose bold 80+ year mission is to help you carry grocery bags and wear watches like the Luminox XCOR 5261 Chronograph. This unique automatic chronograph from a watchmaker most known for brightly luminous and rugged timepieces, is an homage to spaceflight and looks pretty darn cool. XCOR is a private spaceflight… Read More
Virtual reality offers businesses the ability to see consumer habits in digital environments before committing the resources to actually building out those environments in the real world. For InContext Solutions, a major market opportunity that they’ve been able to isolate is giving retailers the opportunity to test and explore new in-store retail concepts inside virtual reality. Today,… Read More
If you had the chance to watch the second episode of the new season of Black Mirror, you won’t take much convincing when people tell you how important realistic 3D audio is to immersing you in a virtual reality/mixed reality experience. Dysonics is a startup in the VR audio space looking to build the hardware and software workflows that give VR content creators high-fidelity solutions… Read More
Last year, Uber launched UberHEALTH to deliver on-demand wellness pack and optional flu shots. For 2016, it’s doing it again, with Uber for Health, which similarly offers on on-demand “flu-fighting” care pack when you request one in-app, with optional free flu shots for up to 5 people at your location. And this time around, the entire thing is free.
With last year’s… Read More
This week on Technotopia I had the opportunity to speak Laura Dawson, an expert on all things publishing and the future host of a podcast dedicated to ISBNs. To say that she has her finger on the pulse of the publishing world is an understatement.
Dawson knows the ins and outs of the big houses and she understands how they think. Interestingly, almost every publisher is well aware of the… Read More
Venture capital investment has slowed in the third quarter, but estimates reliant on data available at quarters’ end overstate the extent of early stage declines. According to projected funding totals from Crunchbase, early stage investment in U.S. startups held up at historically high levels in the third quarter. Seed, venture capital and strategic investors are on pace to invest… Read More
DARPA’s submarine-hunting robot boat plies the seas off the coast of California. Smooth, grey, and purposeful, truly this vessel resembles other predators of the aquatic world in more than mien. But it turns out it’s also a sweet parasailing platform. Read More
Consumer watchdog groups, CCFC, Public Citizen, and the Center for Digital Democracy, are again targeting the deceptive advertising practices of “influencer marketing” in a new complaint filed with the FTC on Friday. The groups specifically call out Google’s YouTube and YouTube Kids, Disney-owned Maker Studios, Dreamworks’ AwesomenessTV and others, as being involved… Read More
Transit app Moovit and the nonpartisan, nonprofit Rock the Vote organization are working to get you to the right poll on time. On election day — Tuesday, November 8 — Moovit will get you from wherever you are to your correct polling place via public transit, bike sharing services or Uber, whichever works best. When users tap the Directions tab, which usually shows only a… Read More
Research shows the flurry of M&A in the advertising industry is nowhere near slowing. In Q1 2016 alone there were 72 merger and acquisition events among advertising technology, marketing technology and digital media firms. It’s clear much of this deal activity is about industry consolidation to bolster or establish audience, round out tech stack or neutralize potential threats. Read More
Industry, a job site for the hospitality sector, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding to fuel nationwide expansion, as well as product and team growth.
We originally covered Industry last year when it was still in beta in San Diego with about 300 restaurants signed up. Shortly after, they raised $200,000 in pre-seed funding from local San Diego angel investors.
Industry likens itself to… Read More
Lyft is testing out membership passes to let passengers ride for less money in November, the company announced on its blog today. There are two types of passes: a $20 one that guarantees up to 20, $2 Line rides and a $29 one for up to 20 “free” rides. So, if you’re a power Lyft Line rider, $29 up front could save you a ton of money. If you purchase a pass, you also… Read More
