Microsoft looks to have inadvertently made some of its own orphaned devices useful again, after accidentally leaking a debug policy that could allow owners of Windows powered hardware such as earlier iterations of Windows Phones smartphones or ARM-powered Windows RT tablets to install alternative operating systems like Android and Linux. Read More
The first OSVR headset made its debut at last year’s CES. The wearable wasn’t aimed at Oculus or HTC – nor were its creators looking to take on Samsung’s low cost Gear VR. Rather, the prototype represented the first step in a multi-company effort to build a new, non-proprietary paradigm in the burgeoning world of virtual reality.
And Min Liang-Tan helped lead the charge. Read More
CVS Health today is launching its own mobile payments solution that will allow customers to pay for products, pick up prescriptions, earn ExtraCare loyalty rewards, as well as pay – just by scanning the barcode in the CVS mobile app. The idea, the company explains, is to eliminate the number of steps it takes today to complete a checkout, which today is a very manual process.… Read More
The Fisker Karma is back, reborn as the Karma Revero, with a familiar look, along with a new name and some design tweaks and feature additions that mark a departure from its origins. Today marks the first time we’ve seen the Revero, revealed via images shared by Karma detailing the car’s exterior, as well as its unique solar roof and redesigned infotainment system. Karma is a… Read More
Don’t expect Spotify’s lackluster attempt at original video to help it defeat Apple Music or YouTube. The three-minute clips produced in partnership with new media company ATTN are no more compelling than any freely available videos on the web. Spotify’s first series called “Deconstructed” features animated shorts about outdated national anthems, LGBT rappers,… Read More
Mondo, the U.K. mobile banking startup and probably the noisiest of the new breed of British challenger banks, is now officially, well, a bank. Read More
Alibaba saw record revenue growth in Q2 2016 as the company’s Chinese retail marketplaces surged and revenue from its users on mobile overtook that of desktops for the first time. Read More
Arianna Huffington, the cofounder and Editor-in-Chief at the Huffington Post, is today stepping down from her role at the HuffPost to focus on a new startup called Thrive Global. Huffington announced the news in a tweet this morning. I thought HuffPost would be my last act. But I’ve decided to step down as HuffPost’s editor-in-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global. —… Read More
Another traditional media company has invested in an online property to help expand its digital footprint and capture the next generation of consumers. Refinery29 — the online publisher that, in its own words, is aimed at “a modern woman’s destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life” — has raised $45 million in funding led by Turner, the Time… Read More
Jibo, a cutesy social robot pitched to crowdfunders in mid 2014 as ‘the world’s first social robot’ but since delayed and yet to arrive in the market some nine months after its original due date, is now only going to ship to backers in the U.S. and Canada. Read More
Logitech has a new device called the Pop Home Switch, and it’s a bit different from their usual offerings. A company known for Universal Remotes encrusted with physical keys, touchscreen displays and all manner of interaction options is instead going for single-button simplicity. The Pop is a broad button about the size of your palm, which connects to a hub that plugs directly into an… Read More
The latest on-demand delivery startup to pick up backing is Barcelona-headquartered Glovo. The company operates a local on-demand delivery service similar to Postmates in the U.S. or the U.K.’s Jinn, and is disclosing €5 million in Series A funding. Read More
Palantir acquires Silk, Abundant Robotics has built robots that pick apples, Adidas is building a robot factory to build shoes, and Berkeley Labs is building mini robots to map the galaxy. Macbook Pro could have a second screen and Touch ID, the White House’s new messenger bot lets citizens send messages to the president, Elon Musk wants to build solar roofs. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
Bill Maris, who founded GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) in 2009, is leaving the unit at the end of this week, according to a new report from Recode.
Maris, a neuroscience student at Middlebury who cofounded an early web hosting company before joining Google, is reportedly being replaced by David Krane.
Krane is a managing partner at GV; he joined the venture arm in 2010, after… Read More
The Brazilian on-demand food delivery company, iFood has picked up $30 million in new financing to expand regionally and solidify its grip over the online food delivery market outside of the US. Read More
Among other things, CareSkore wants to use machine learning to anticipate mortality. However, the newly endowed platform is more than just a Facebook poll that tells you how you’ll meet your end this Christmas by being squashed by a falling piano. Storm ventures, Cota Capital, Rising Tide Fund and Liquid 2 Ventures are rallying behind the Y Combinator graduate with today’s… Read More
Twilio recently exceeded expectations with an IPO that priced them at over $1 billion. For some, this proves that developers are the future of business. While they are certainly an indispensable asset, as more and more businesses turn to the cloud, what about the rest of us? What about the admins and the marketers and those who are equally important to a business but don’t code? Read More
Yelp and Nowait announced a partnership that will enable Yelp users to check nearby restaurants’ wait times and “get in line” remotely from the Yelp app. Yelp will be making an $8 million strategic investment as part of the partnership, which was announced as part as Yelp’s 2Q earnings release yesterday. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Nowait is a mobile platform that has… Read More
Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a Toyota R&D organization headquartered in Silicon Valley, is providing $22 million over four years in an initial research grant with the University of Michigan. The funding follows Toyota’s opening of a third research facility for TRI at the U of M campus, which it officially announced in April this year. The funding is earmarked for… Read More
