Many of the largest companies in the world — like Facebook with FBLearner — have built an edge for themselves by making the process of studying their users and data science ongoing, tracking closely how things change over time. But for other businesses, those studies might just end with a single chart or predictive analysis report. Ian Swanson started DataScience about two and a… Read More
We were all pretty excited when Consumer Physics showed us their hand-held molecular scanner at TechCrunch Disrupt two years ago. They garnered much praise here and all over the web for creating a hand-held product that could scan and identify food, medicine, and vitamins. Now, two years later, people are pissed. The project raised $2.7 million from 130,000 backers and it looked, at least on… Read More
According to a 2014 report from Complete College America, a nonprofit group based in Indianapolis, just 19 percent of full-time students earn a bachelor’s degree in four years at public universities. The stats are even worse at community colleges, where five percent of full-time students earn an associates degree within two years, and just 15.9 percent earn a one- to two-year… Read More
We enjoy “diversion” in our pastimes, prefer “biodiversity” in our ecosystems and strive for “diversified” holdings in our portfolios, yet we unconsciously resist diversity in our social and professional communities. As it turns out, this natural tendency toward sameness has become a liability in today’s marketplace, costing companies talent,… Read More
The last time you had a key cut, you probably experienced a retro service, which included speaking to a real human (ugh!). KeyMe puts the kibosh on the old-fashioned key copying user experience with a series of new kiosks and just landed a $15 million Series C round to fund aggressive expansion. Read More
According to one estimate, there are roughly 900 tech companies working in the AI field, covering everything from business intelligence to finance and security. The AI gold rush started in 2014 with a flurry of deals into AI companies. Last year there were some 300 deals into AI companies according to CB Insights and in the UK alone, companies like Ravelin, Signal and Gluru raised seed rounds.… Read More
Over the next 10 years, the differentiating source of supply and value in the automotive industry will not be car parts or engines. Instead, it will be a network of software developers. Read More
The U.S. apparel industry is currently valued at $12 billion, and with the high number of dollars pouring into the retail economy, brands are looking to technology to foster deeper connections with consumers and elevate the overall shopping experience. Whether it’s in-store or online, technology is becoming a lever to bolster brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Read More
Canon’s already got a handful of mirrorless cameras under its belt, but the company hasn’t quite committed itself to the format in the same way we’ve seen from likes of Sony, Olympus and Fujifilm. The company’s latest, unveiled early in the lead up the big Photokina event in Cologne next week, looks to mark a much whole-hearted shift toward the space. And in a sense,… Read More
The past few years have been exciting for drones; they’ve gained the attention of consumers, enterprises and governments. Their ability to shoot photography and capture data, and potentially violate privacy, has led to many opinions, regulations and oversight. As a result, we are increasingly asking ourselves if drones are actually a “sector” or are yet another layer in… Read More
The Sofort is a strange duck. It’s a $300 instant camera by premium manufacturer Leica that looks a bit like a real world version of the Instagram logo. The price puts it well over Fujifilm’s offerings that also run on the Japanese company’s Instax technology, but this Leica we’re talking about here, so it’s really only natural that there will be a notable premium… Read More
The first consumer VR headset to integrate eye-tracking is about ready for primetime. Fove, a Startup Battlefield alum from Disrupt SF 2014, will begin taking pre-orders for the eye-tracking headset, now officially called the Fove 0, at 8am PST on November 2. There is still no word on an official launch date or a final price. There were a number of production issues that pushed back the… Read More
We’re hearing from our sources Unilever has been in serious talks with the Honest Company, and may very well win the bid for the e-commerce startup, though our sources stressed that the deal is in early stages.
As usual, the deal is fluid and the final details could change (or not happen at all), and the exact price in the conversation could not be learned, though one source said the… Read More
After more than a year of hinting, Spotify is finally coming to Japan this month. The Swedish music streaming service will go live in the country before the end of September, a source at the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Read More
Boston-based Rize Inc has developed a new type of 3D printing which eliminates the need for lengthy post-printing clean-up processes. Its printers are able to imbue plastics with features they didn’t usually have. For example, it will be easier to remove 3D printed products from the build surface and it’s possible to inject dyes into the product. Read More
After a failed stint in the 1990s, virtual reality made its reappearance last year with headsets such as Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift. But this time, it’s here to stay and, in less than a year, it’s already drawn attention and investment from venture capitalists and tech giants such as Facebook, and has made huge impact across a great many industries,… Read More
Optimizely has helped to popularize A/B testing — the idea of trying out different versions of a website or mobile app to see which one performs better.
However, co-founder and CEO Dan Siroker said the practice has largely been limited to marketers testing relatively superficial changes, such as the text or the layout of a page. So today, at its Opticon user conference, the company… Read More
I’ve spent the last couple of days at a Northwest Automotive Press Association driving event, and the last car of the two dozen or so I drove was the 2017 Volvo S90 with the latest version of IntelliSafe, which includes City Safety, Pilot Assist, and more. I’ve already put my name on the list for a more extensive test drive, but even with less than 30 minutes of drive time, I… Read More
Twitter’s big day is finally here. Tonight is the first night of NFL’s Thursday Night Football, which will be streamed all season on Twitter (as well as CBS and NFL Network as cable partners). Twitter reportedly beat out companies like Facebook and Amazon for the exclusive mobile stream, and at the time it was a big win for the company under the then new CEO Jack Dorsey. Now… Read More
We all suspected the Echo’s purpose was – at least in part – to drive more Amazon sales. And that’s exactly what’s happening, according to a new study by NPD Group. The research company found that owners of the Echo spent around 10 percent more after they bought the voice-powered smart speaker than they did before. The NPD Group’s Checkout Tracking… Read More
