“Yahoo postpones close of Verizon transaction to Q2 2017 citing work needed” plus 29 more VentureBeat
“Yahoo postpones close of Verizon transaction to Q2 2017 citing work needed” plus 29 more VentureBeat |
- Yahoo postpones close of Verizon transaction to Q2 2017 citing work needed
- Morgan Stanley raises Battlefield 1 sales estimate to 15 million
- Crowdfunding site Indiegogo appoints Nate Murray to lead gaming
- 5 super-smart gadgets that debuted at CES 2017
- Apple starts rolling out iOS 10.2.1 with security fixes
- Google starts testing Android Instant Apps to collect user feedback
- Get Qurious Maker Box introduces kids to augmented reality play
- Spellsouls: Duel of Legends combines the MOBA and card game experience for mobile
- Amazon, Google, Huawei, and Microsoft sponsor UC Berkeley RISELab, AMPLab’s successor
- Marketo cofounder Phil Fernandez lands at Shasta Ventures
- Fighting game Tekken 7 debuts June 2 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC
- Professor Einstein robot can be your science tutor and friend
- Civis Analytics adds surveys so brands can better understand themselves
- Automated software testing company Tricentis raises $165 million
- Improbable, a U.K. startup that helps devs build massive simulated worlds, to open first U.S. hub in San Francisco
- Jay Z’s music-streaming service Tidal sells 33% stake to Sprint
- Angeles Equity Partners Raises $360 Million for First Fund
- Womply Launches Retention Intelligence, a New Weapon in the Fight Against Merchant Attrition in the Payments Industry
- Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing 2 mobile game surpasses 40 million downloads
- Seven Bridges to Present on Cancer Moonshot’s Blood Profiling Atlas at Precision Medicine World Congress
- Here’s how Snap might compare to best and worst tech IPOs of the past decade
- China approves first list of green car models to receive government subsidies this year
- Why Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam is leaving
- Hugo Barra leaves Xiaomi after joining from Google in 2013
- Samsung won’t unveil the Galaxy S8 at MWC
- Google Maps’ Explore recommendations come to desktop search results
- Yahoo reportedly under investigation by SEC over data breaches
- Samsung identifies 2 issues that led to Galaxy Note7 battery explosions
- Yes, you can actually tweet from the 2017 Nissan Titan
- Valve confirms: More SteamVR Tracking headsets are in development
| Yahoo postpones close of Verizon transaction to Q2 2017 citing work needed Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:24 PM PST  Yahoo ($YHOO) on Monday released its fourth quarter earnings results, saying it generated $1.47 billion in revenue (a 15 percent increase) and earnings per share of $0.17. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to report $1.38 billion in revenue with an EPS of $0.13. Shares in Yahoo closed the day up 0.83 percent at $42.40, with after-hours trading currently up 1.23 percent. And while that may have given investors a boost needed, Yahoo also revealed that it does not expect to close its acquisition by Verizon until Q2 2017 — previously it expected to close this quarter. In its earnings release, Yahoo cites the enormous work required to meet closing conditions. “The company is working expeditiously to close the transaction as soon as practicable in Q2,” it wrote. Amid all of that, chief executive Marissa Mayer boasted about Yahoo’s Q4, saying: “What we have achieved reflects some of the most impressive teamwork, focus, and resilience I've seen throughout my career. We continued to build our mobile and native businesses — delivering nearly $1.5 billion in mobile revenue and over $750 million in native revenue — while operating the company at the lowest cost structure in a decade. With our 2016 and Q4 financial results ahead of plan, and the continued stability in our user engagement trends, the opportunities ahead with Verizon look bright.” With respect to Yahoo’s financials, much of its revenue continues to be from non-Mavens programs ($824 million). However, the company’s solution set consisting of mobile, video, native, and social initiatives saw a 25 percent year-over-year increase ($590 million) from 2016. More revenue continues to be generated from desktop than mobile, but mobile saw the largest annual increase — 57 percent ($459 million) versus 2.57 percent ($955 million). Search revenue was $767 million for the quarter, up 45 percent from the same time last year. Financially speaking, it would appear Yahoo had a good quarter.
Today’s results come less then a day after news broke that the company was reportedly under investigation from federal regulators over its failure to notify investors in a timely basis about the multiple cyberattacks that were revealed last year. When reached for comment, a spokesperson directed VentureBeat to previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission: "…the Company is cooperating with federal, state, and foreign governmental officials and agencies seeking information and/or documents about the Security Incident and related matters, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a number of State Attorneys General, and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.” In today’s earnings, Mayer stated: “In addition to integration planning, our top priority continues to be enhancing security for our users. With security protocols and password changes in place, approximately 90% of our daily active users have already taken or do not need to take remedial action to protect their accounts, and we're aggressively continuing to drive this number up. Our commitment to our users is unwavering, and we continue to be encouraged by their loyalty to us and their ongoing patronage of our products.” The investigation by the SEC adds to a growing list of headaches for a company just itching to complete its $4.8 billion acquisition by Verizon. Besides the more than 1 billion user accounts compromised in 2013 and another 500 million accessed in 2014 by "state-sponsored hackers," Yahoo has had to contend with fallout from its dealings with the U.S. government when it was revealed the company allegedly secretly scanned customer emails, although there is no evidence about what specific data had been handed over. Of course there has been some development on the fate of Yahoo: Earlier this month, in an SEC filing, the company revealed Marissa Mayer will be departing from the board — but she’ll remain as CEO, for now. And after the the deal closes later this year, the pieces Verizon isn’t buying, namely the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes, will be spun out into a new entity called Altaba. Since its Verizon deal has yet to close, Yahoo said it will not be holding a conference call with analysts to discuss its latest earnings report. |
| Morgan Stanley raises Battlefield 1 sales estimate to 15 million Posted: 23 Jan 2017 01:05 PM PST  One of Electronic Arts’ biggest franchises may have had an even better holiday than many analysts were first expecting. Morgan Stanley, a Wall Street financial firm, is raising its 2017 earnings forecast for EA by 3 percent based on the performance of the publisher’s World War I shooter Battlefield 1 and its mobile Star Wars game. Battlefield was so strong through EA’s fiscal third quarter and the gift-giving holidays, that Morgan Stanely now estimates that the game surpassed 15 million copies sold. “We [are raising] our Battlefield fiscal-third-quarter unit estimate by 2.6 million to 15 million,” reads a note from Morgan Stanley’s analyst team. “[That’s] based on strong third-party data trends and our proprietary price tracker showing Battlefield was the second least discounted title this holiday season, which we view as a sign of strength.” Battlefield was among the top-selling games of 2016 based on data from industry tracking firms like The NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track. The historical shooter was the No. 2 best-selling game in the United States, according to NPD (based on physical and some digital sales). It was only behind Activision’s Call of Duty, which once again topped the charts with the release of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. But despite once again failing to overtake Call of Duty — something that few industry analysts expected to happen — Battlefield is in a great position for EA. “Battlefield’s outperformance this year sets up well for next year as it is likely to lead to higher digital map pack revenue,” explained Morgan Stanley analysts. The financial firm is less enthusiastic about Titanfall 2, which it has at 4 million units sold. That was also Morgan Stanley’s initial estimate. |
| Crowdfunding site Indiegogo appoints Nate Murray to lead gaming Posted: 23 Jan 2017 12:55 PM PST  Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo has appointed Nate Murray as head of gaming. Game crowdfunding remains one of the important ways for indie developers to get access to money to finance game projects for brand new intellectual properties. Murray, a veteran of tabletop game crowdfunding, will lead the platforms efforts in both tabletop gaming and video games. The Indiegogo platform competes with Kickstarter and Fig to provide alternative funding through crowdfunding for games. Murray is the former in-house product and crowdfunding campaign manager for IDW Games. The San Francisco company said the new hire and the recent six figure campaign launch of Tom Vasel’s Dice Tower Podcast Network (the biggest tabletop gaming podcast network in the world) are strong indicators of Indiegogo's commitment to gaming in 2017.  Above: Nate Murray is head of gaming at Indiegogo. Image Credit: Indiegogo Nate will lead Indiegogo's gaming team and work directly with game campaigners on overall strategy and development throughout the entire life cycle of their projects. Murray worked on tabletop game campaigns for Machi Koro and X-Files. Murray was also responsible for spearheading huge crowdfunding campaigns for the company, including the incredibly successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles board game. “I’ve spent the last four years studying the ins-and-outs of crowdfunding and based on that work I can say that Indiegogo provides unparalleled resources and opportunities for game campaigners," said Murray in a statement. "I’m excited to join the Indiegogo team because the platform is designed to help campaigners raise the funds they need to create their ideas, as well as assist them beyond their campaign dates. Indiegogo is part of the entire process of bringing campaigners projects to life from concept to manufacturing and ultimately to market.” The appointment of Murray follows Indiegogo's launch of its equity crowdfunding services, which allows anyone to invest in startups and growing companies. The new service provides entrepreneurs on Indiegogo the opportunity to raise funds from interested investors in exchange for financial stakes in their company, and provides funders on Indiegogo the opportunity to own a financial stake in innovative startups. Indiegogo's new equity offerings includes gaming campaign Crowfall, the fantasy massively multiplayer video game that is now one of the highest equity crowdfunding raises for an original game with more than $668,000 raised. The launch of equity crowdfunding is the latest effort by Indiegogo to help entrepreneurs throughout the entire life cycle of their projects. Indiegogo has introduced new products and services meant to support entrepreneurs beyond the crowdfunding stage of their business. Indiegogo debuted in 2008. |
| 5 super-smart gadgets that debuted at CES 2017 Posted: 23 Jan 2017 12:10 PM PST  GUEST: CES 2017 is over, but there’s still a lot to be said about the gadgets that will come out this year. The event had a record-breaking turnout of 165,000 attendees and 3,800 exhibitors spanning 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space. Looking back, it was a great show, with hundreds of tech companies and startups showing off thousands of products in demos and keynotes. Although it seemed a bit quiet compared to previous years, the eye-candy for geeks was there big time. In case you missed what happened at CES, here’s a quick recap of some cool gadgets that made their debut. 1. Geeni SurgeGeeni unveiled the Surge and many other smart home products such as the Energi, the Spot, and the Lux Drop at CES. Surge is a smart plug connected to the Geeni app that lets you control any plugged-in electronic device from anywhere. Surge and other Geeni plugs are Alexa-compatible, which means they also allow voice control using Amazon Echo. The devices don’t need any complicated hubs or gateways and connect directly to your home Wi-Fi network. 2. Plume Labs FlowPlume Labs is making a smart air quality tracker called the Flow. It tracks, monitors, and reduces your exposure to air pollution by detecting pollutants in the air and by tracking nitrogen dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), temperature, humidity, and other factors. The gadget is very portable, and you can easily clip it to your stroller, bag, or bike. 3. L’Oreal Hair CoachNokia-owned Withings, L’Oreal's innovation labs, and Kerastase are coming out with a hi-tech hair brush called the Hair Coach, a sleek, lightweight hair brush with professional-grade boar and nylon bristles. It has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionalities, as well as a microphone to listen to your brushing patterns. The brush detects when you use it and begins data collection automatically. As soon as you complete your brushing session, all data is sent to your phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. 4. HyperSuitHypersuit makes you feel like you’re flying. It has multiple sensors to detect your movements. All you have to do is to lie down in a flying position and move your arms like a bird. The product is currently at a prototype phase, and the company is creating both the hardware and software to make it work. 5. Kolibree AraKolibree is making what it calls the first AI toothbrush: the Ara. This oral care device monitors how long you use your toothbrush daily and gives you a personal score based on online and offline brushing. It has 3D motion sensors, Bluetooth, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer to monitor your brushing pattern. Ara’s algorithm analyzes the data and sends you a report every week through email.  |
| Apple starts rolling out iOS 10.2.1 with security fixes Posted: 23 Jan 2017 11:43 AM PST  Apple today started rolling out iOS 10.2.1, a point release for the iOS 10 mobile operating system. This comes about a month and a half after Apple pushed out iOS 10.2. Developers and people participating in Apple’s Beta Software Program have had access to early builds of this release in the past few weeks. They haven’t packed many features, and it’s likely that today’s release doesn’t, either. But iOS 10.2.1 does include numerous security fixes. For one thing, the update makes sure that compatible iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches will no longer automatically unlock when a person isn’t wearing a paired Apple Watch. Also thanks to an update to WebKit, processing certain kinds of web content won’t lead to arbitrary code execution anymore, and iOS devices that have the Activation Lock enabled won’t show the home screen anymore if they’re tinkered with in a particular way. (You can find more detail on these fixes and others here.) To install the update, go to Settings > Software Update. Apple today also released macOS Sierra 10.12.3, as well as Safari 10.0.3, tvOS 10.1.1, and watchOS 3.1.3. |
| Google starts testing Android Instant Apps to collect user feedback Posted: 23 Jan 2017 10:33 AM PST  Google today announced it has begun a limited test of Android Instant Apps. The company says Android users can try “a few” Instant Apps, including from BuzzFeed, Wish, Periscope, and Viki, in a limited test. The goal is to collect user feedback and iterate on how Instant Apps work before expanding the experience to more apps and more users. Google unveiled Android Instant Apps at its I/O 2016 developer conference in May. Think of Instant Apps as a subset of an existing app that launch immediately, no installation required. Tapping a URL can open an Instant App even if the user doesn’t have the full Android app installed, and closing an Instant App means it is essentially gone (it lives on in your cache for a few hours in case you want to open another such link again, but there’s no app on your home screen). At the time, Google presented use cases related to visiting a place infrequently or even just once: when you want to pay for parking, when you’re visiting a museum, or when you’re spending the day at an amusement park. Instead of visiting a mobile site or downloading a full-blown app, an Instant App would be the solution.
Back in May, Google said it had “about a half dozen” partners trying Instant Apps: Buzzfeed, B&H Photo Video, Medium, Hotel Tonight, Zumper, and Disney. Today, the company said it has been working with “a small number of developers” to refine the user and developer experiences, but interestingly only one name from last year’s list (BuzzFeed) is on the launch list. Google also added today that there is interest “from thousands of developers” in these types of apps. Android users were supposed to start seeing Instant Apps by the end of 2016. Google is thus less than a month late. Google plans to have the full Android Instant Apps SDK available “in the coming months.” We have contacted the company for more information and will update you if we hear back. |
| Get Qurious Maker Box introduces kids to augmented reality play Posted: 23 Jan 2017 10:01 AM PST  Pokémon Go got many people to engage with an augmented reality game for the first time. But Los Gatos startup Get Qurious wants to expose even younger kids to AR games through tactile play. The company has introduced the Get Qurious Maker Box, which combines physical game cards with an interactive digital world. Using AR imaging, you can use the physical game cards to spur storytelling animations on the iPad. It is targeted at children ages 4 to 9. You play by holding a physical game piece — such as a picture of a cartoon pig — in front of the iPad’s camera. The app recognizes the pig and triggers an animation. The first Maker Box takes the classic “Three Little Pigs” story and brings it to life as an animated storybook through the app, the interactive story cards, puzzles, a sticker book, and pretend play masks.  Above: Get Qurious combines an iPad and physical cards. Image Credit: Dean Takahashi “The idea is to have a lot of physical activities, using their hands and crafting,” said Manoj Jacob, cofounder of Get Qurious, in an interview with GamesBeat. “Normally, kids engaging with an app are just sitting still and looking at a screen.” Get Qurious helps children learn concepts of logic, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and creativity through physical play and 3D storytelling. The idea is to enable multi-modal learning in children by engaging all of their senses. “We were inspired by the need to blend education and entertainment,” said Sesh Sareday, cofounder of Get Qurious. “While everyone has been excited about mobile devices, people are concerned about the addiction to screens. What’s been left out is the physical play. This is a new way of play.”  Above: Manoj Jacob, left, and Sesh Sareday of Get Qurious. Image Credit: Dean Takahashi The Get Qurious Maker Box is available at new b8ta stores in Palo Alto, California; Seattle, Washington; and Santa Monica, California It’s also for sale online on Marbles The Brain store and Amazon. Get Qurious was able to get its box into retail early by working with the Sprosty Network, which has a retail-oriented startup accelerator call RetailXelerator. Jacob applied for it and was accepted. Sprosty waived the fee for going through the accelerator. The idea is to invoke curiosity, spark imagination, and let children dream to reach for the real things they want. The products are simple, reusable, replayable, and do what apps or real-life things by themselves cannot do. They are new ways to play, learn, and explore, full of surprises and magical from their own table top, Sareday said. “We want kids to be motivated and creative and do stuff,” Sareday said. “There are millions of apps out there. We don’t want to do one more app. We really want to spark the imagination.” The box comes with multiple activities. One is an interactive story book with 12 chapter story cards that kids can wave in front of the tablet camera. The cards trigger the story of the Three Little Pigs. You can also put on a mask and look into the device camera. You tap the microphone button on the app to record, and then you can speak the words of the story. You can modulate your voice to make it sound funny. The masks enable role-playing that parents or siblings can use to have fun with each other.  Above: Get Qurious Maker Box costs $25. Image Credit: Get Qurious Another activity is Puzzle Builder, which lets kids build their own house just like the Three Little Pigs. The kids can put the puzzle together and scan each piece to see the house in 3D. You can flip the pieces over for a fun new puzzle. Again, the learning is multi-modal. You can also play with stickers (which are reusable). There are some blank spots in the storybook. Kids can place stickers in the blank spots and see a different piece of the story unfold, depending on which stickers they have chosen. There’s a lot of competition. Osmo uses an iPad’s camera to recognize objects in digital-physical games that bring together apps and toys. And Square Panda combines an iPad with an accessory that reads physical letter blocks. Sareday said the product is educational, but the company isn’t focused on making it curriculum-oriented, with clear educational outcomes. In that respect, the product is dedicated to learning through fun. The company has five employees, and it has been able to start selling its $25 product using only friends and family funding. Jacob said the company is working on more boxes, and it eventually hopes to be able to churn out boxes one after another. So far, the app is available only on iOS. Sareday said the company is seeking more money, and it will eventually hire a new CEO. Over time, the company could launch a subscription service, launching a box every month, Sareday said. With each new box, the company is learning how to make the elements more engaging. “This can evolve into more complex things,” Sareday said. |
| Spellsouls: Duel of Legends combines the MOBA and card game experience for mobile Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:33 AM PST  A mobile developer is moving from soccer to a different kind competitive game. Developer Nordeus today announced Spellsouls: Duel of Legends for iOS and Android. The game combines aspects of both multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) and digital cards games, both of which are two of the most popular genres in the esports world. Of course, bringing those experiences together can’t guarantee an esports hit. The market will decide that. Spellsouls has soft launched for iOS in Taiwan, Canada, Croatia, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. MOBAs are no stranger to mobile, with Vainglory resting as the No. 641 ranked game on the U.S. iOS App Store, according to App Annie. Digital card games have also had success on mobile. Blizzard’s Hearthstone is ranked No. 396, and it leads a $1.2 billion category in the gaming market. Spellsouls look like a traditional MOBA with its fantasy setting, top-down view, minions, and lane-based combat, but its has some major differences. Players fight against each other one-on-one, and they use abilities from a deck of cards that they create in order to fight. Battles will take about three minutes. You can learn more about how the game works in the video above. The Serbia-based Nordeus also created the mobile soccer game series Top Eleven, which has over 150 million registered players. Top Eleven 2017 is the No. 128 ranked sports game on the U.S. iOS App Store, according to App Annie. "We set out to ensure that Spellsouls builds on our strengths in competitive gaming to bring players a true blend of game genres that balances fast action and deep strategy" said Ivan Stojisavljević, chief technology officer and co-founder of Nordeus. "We're bringing a lot of the knowledge and expertise gained from years developing and running Top Eleven to Spellsouls; with triple-A production values and deep engagement as our two highest priorities." |
| Amazon, Google, Huawei, and Microsoft sponsor UC Berkeley RISELab, AMPLab’s successor Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:00 AM PST  The University of California, Berkeley in November wrapped up the AMPLab, a five-year computer science research lab that produced, among other things, the Apache Mesos cluster management software and the Apache Spark data processing engine. Today the university is announcing what comes next: RISELab. The new five-year initiative has financial backing from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ant Financial, Capital One, Ericsson, GE Digital, Google, Huawei, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, and VMware. AMPLab figures Ken Goldberg, Michael Jordan, Randy Katz, Michael Mahoney, David Patterson, and Ion Stoica are sticking around for the new program, alongside new participants like Databricks cofounder and chief executive Ali Ghodsi and Trifacta cofounder and chief strategy officer Joe Hellerstein. But the new organization has a new focus. “Like much of the big data movement, the AMPLab focused mostly on offline data analysis problems, where minutes and hours could be devoted to extracting value from data. By contrast, the RISELab researchers are looking to make real-time decisions in milliseconds,” the team said in a statement. RISELab already has a slew of projects listed on its website. Among them are a tool called Allegro that rewrites queries in order to bring back differentially private results and a modeling framework called Paris that’s meant to figure out performance of workloads using different types of virtual machines (VMs) in public clouds. Like MIT and Stanford, Berkeley has played a role in the history of computing. Berkeley RISC, the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and RAID have come out of it — during previous five-year labs — not to mention graduates like Eric Schmidt and Steve Wozniak. “The difference between traditional labs elsewhere and Berkeley’s labs is that at Berkeley each lab has a well-defined vision and goals. The five-year duration provides a natural deadline to measure whether the lab has successfully delivered on its goals,” Stoica told VentureBeat in an email. “For example, the vision of AMPLab was to ‘make sense of the big data’, and the goal was to build ‘the next generation of open-source data analytics stack to be used across industry and academia’. Similarly the vision of RISELab is to enable ‘intelligent real-time decisions with strong security’, and the goal is to develop ‘platforms, tools, and algorithms to support applications that require intelligent real-time decisions on live data with strong security.'” |
| Marketo cofounder Phil Fernandez lands at Shasta Ventures Posted: 23 Jan 2017 09:00 AM PST  Shasta Ventures‘ investment team has added a new venture partner, bringing on board Marketo’s cofounder and former chief executive, Phil Fernandez, to make investments in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies. After being replaced at Marketo by former Salesforce executive Steve Lucas in 2016, Fernandez said that there was an opportunity for him to retire. However, with more than 30 years of experience tucked away, he felt like he needed to be involved in the entrepreneurial cycle in Silicon Valley. But rather than jumping back into an operating role at a company, he opted to pursue a formal venture capital route, which landed him at Shasta. "It gives me a chance to continue to stay involved in the early stages of company formation and the entrepreneurial cycle," he told VentureBeat in an interview. "I’ve done angel investing before and loved [it], but now it’s a chance to formalize that process." As a venture capitalist, Fernandez will focus on the SaaS space, where he said there’s plenty of room to grow. "Having created a great successful SaaS company in Marketo, becoming a student of the business model, and knowing what does and doesn’t work, I believe it’s a business model that has many, many more places to go. It’s still populated with 10-20 year old software that’s hard to use, not keeping in line with the new apps out there. Many companies will be created in the SaaS space," he said. While he was courted by multiple firms, he said that Shasta Ventures stood out because of its team and the space it operates in. Fernandez also has a previous relationship with Doug Pepper, who joined Shasta last year as managing director — Pepper was a Marketo board member and Series A investor. Fernandez attributes his entry into professional investment to Pepper: "He kind of laid out the red carpet for me to get to know more about Shasta." Although it’s still early, Fernandez says he’s interested in the "new world of [Internet of Things] and connected systems, smart cities, smart healthcare, smart manufacturing." He’s looking at the latest software and hardware products being built on top of what Amazon and others are doing in the IoT space, and applicability in the industrial sector. "There will be very valuable companies that will be created in the space," Fernandez said. "We’re at a tipping point where enough infrastructure has been created…we’ve gone from moonshot companies to where very straightforward innovative entrepreneurialism can now ride on these IoT platforms (e.g. Amazon, Salesforce, Microsoft, etc.) being created to build businesses…" Tackling SaaS is a natural move for Fernandez, who has extensive experience in the space, thanks to Marketo. He and cofounders Jon Miller and David Morandi launched the marketing automation software company in 2006 before taking it public seven years later. It was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $1.79 billion last year. Since Shasta invests in the enterprise space with companies like Anaplan, Glint, Lithium, Zuora, and Leanplum, Fernandez’s knowledge could play a big part in helping these startups either go public or become dominant market leaders. As Pepper wrote in his welcome post to Fernandez: "Phil is a great fit for Shasta because we always look for entrepreneurs with unique insights into a market and the ability to build a special and highly differentiated product or user experience. Now in his new role, Phil can help entrepreneurs to navigate their own journeys to becoming the next market leaders." Fernandez’s first day was January 9. |
| Fighting game Tekken 7 debuts June 2 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC Posted: 23 Jan 2017 08:45 AM PST  Tekken 7 will finally launch on June 2 in the Americas, according to Japanese publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment. The long-awaited fighting game arrives on the Sony PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Microsoft Xbox One after years in development. Bandai Namco has launched a season pass and preorder bonuses. If you reserve a game today, you can get a downloadable vampire character, Eliza. If you play on Xbox One, you’ll also get a free backward-compatible copy of Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360. The company also released a new trailer. Bandai Namco said that the console and PC versions will offer additional balance and fine tuning compared to the arcade version which has already debuted. It also has a dramatic story mode, more characters, and online tournament modes. And if you preorder a PS4 version, you can get exclusive costumes for three characters and a jukebox mode, where you can listen to classic Tekken tracks. The Windows version will debut on Steam. The season pass will have three content packs with new playable characters, new stages, costume packs, a 35-piece Metallic Costume Pack, and a game mode. PlayStation 4 players, on the other hand, will get exclusive costumes and a jukebox mode when the game launches this June. The Tekken 7 Collector’s Edition on PS4 and Xbox One will include a 12-inch by 18-inch statue with the character Kazuya fly-kicking Heihachi in mid-air, a special Steel Book, and the official Tekken 7 soundtrack. Check out the trailer below.
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| Professor Einstein robot can be your science tutor and friend Posted: 23 Jan 2017 08:00 AM PST  We’re going to meet a lot of robots with artificial intelligence in the coming years. But will we get any as smart as Albert Einstein? A Hong Kong startup called Hanson Robotics wants to make that happen with the introduction of Professor Einstein, a walking and talking robot that looks like the famous scientist.  Above: Professor Einstein Image Credit: Hanson Robotics Hanson Robotics is announcing a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign today to raise money for the robot. Professor Einstein is a robot who will be your friend and science tutor. Paired with the Stein-O-Matic app for iPad or Android, the Wi-Fi-connected robot lets you interact with Einstein the scientist. He will take you on a journey of discovery and adventure, revealing the secrets of the universe, playing math games with you, telling jokes, and even answering your questions by pulling data from the cloud. This little robot has inherited all the intelligence and science know-how of Albert Einstein so you can explore the world through his eyes. He recognizes your voice and loves to chitchat about theoretical physics, the weather, and anything else. He has more than 50 realistic facial expressions and gestures. Professor Einstein responds to your questions and can play free games via the Stein-O-Matic app. He gathers new science data from the cloud (and comes with a year of free cloud service), interacts with Android tablet or iPad to teach science and math, and operates up to three hours on rechargeable batteries (which are included). Hanson Robotics targeted the robot at those 13 and older. Over time, the company has some big ambitions to fulfill. Its long-term mission is to “dramatically improve people's everyday lives with affordable, highly intelligent robots that teach, serve, entertain, and are capable of developing a deep relationship with people.” David Hanson, founder and CEO, formed the company in 2013 in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. He assembled a team of roboticists, AI experts, scientists, and others for the new venture. The company conceived the idea for Professor Einstein in October 2015, and it obtained a license for Albert Einstein from Greenlight Rights in December of that year. The company showed off a prototype at CES 2017, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month. Hanson Robotics plans to deliver the product in the spring of 2017. |
| Civis Analytics adds surveys so brands can better understand themselves Posted: 23 Jan 2017 07:30 AM PST  Civis Analytics is opening up its platform to give data scientists access to more information. With the launch of Civis Research, the company is letting customers create surveys that can be sent out to targeted demographics in order to find answers to pressing business questions. In essence, it’s moving in on SurveyMonkey’s turf. "Doing fast, accurate market research is hard," Marshall Miller, the company’s product management lead, said in an email interview. He cited factors like cost, skill set, speed, and access to correct data as obstacles for some companies. "Civis Research crosses those barriers and gives the ability to answer strategic questions to the marketers and strategists who need to know. Now they can get their brand questions answered in a week, and make smart, data-driven decisions." Customers select a questionnaire template that they want to implement and add in the pertinent information about their brand and competitors. Then, they select the segment of the American population they want to know more about, filtering based on demographics and geography. If needed, Civis Analytics has experts on staff to review these surveys before they’re published. Within a week, the company says that not only will responses be in, but an automated visualization is provided to customers, giving you the key insights needed to move forward.  Above: Results from a survey created through Civis Research. Image Credit: Civis Analytics "While [companies] may be surveying their own customers, finding out the opinions of the people who you want to be your future customers is a different beast. It is methodologically challenging to figure out who to survey, what to ask them, and how to make sense of the data — all while maintaining confidence in the accuracy of the results," Miller explained. There are already quite a few competitors in the survey space, including SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, Vizir, and PollDaddy. But Civis Analytics’ surveys and questionnaire templates are crafted by social scientists and let users take advantageof its methodology, rather than requiring them to start from scratch. Users can ask questions about such things as brand awareness, how a company stacks up against competitors, what demographic knows the brand the best and is most satisfied, how customers are hearing about the brand, and the impact that marketing campaigns by competitors have on the brand. In the beginning, Civis Analytics was a service for data scientists, allowing them to take data, model it, make predictions, and act on it. The targeted audience was those with technical know-how, but over the course of time, the company has been extending itself to include tools for advertisers and media planners, as well as salespeople. Now it’s reaching out to marketers, brand managers, and anyone who finds surveys beneficial. With $22 million in freshly raised capital, Civis Analytics seeks to scale itself so it is accessible to everyone, turning users into instant data scientists. Customers interested in using Civis Research should expect to pay about $7,000 per survey, but the exact cost will vary depending on size and length. |
| Automated software testing company Tricentis raises $165 million Posted: 23 Jan 2017 06:01 AM PST  Tricentis, a software testing company for enterprises, has raised a whopping $165 million in a series B round from New York-based VC firm Insight Venture Partners. Founded out of Vienna in 2007, Tricentis offers a range of products and services to help companies automate the testing of their software, including Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. One of its flagship tools is Tricentis Tosca, which enables “continuous testing” to allow companies to automatically receive real-time feedback on perceived business risks associated with a particular version of software. The company claims some notable big-name clients, including HBO, Toyota, BMW, Starbucks, Deutsche Bank, and UBS. “Today’s predominantly manual software testing processes fail to meet the needs of today’s Agile and DevOps initiatives, which require highly accelerated development cycles and, at the same time, a strict accounting for the business risks associated with rapid, iterative code changes,” said Tricentis CEO Sandeep Johri. “Applications drive corporate growth, and continuous testing has been identified as the linchpin to achieve agility and ultimately competitive differentiation.” Tricentis had previously raised a $9 million series A round and, with offices in Europe, the U.S., India, and Australia, the company says it will use its fresh cash injection to “continue accelerating its market penetration” and scale its operations globally. Some figures peg the global software testing market as a $34 billion industry, and we’ve seen a number of big raises in the past four months alone. Back in September, Massachusetts-based app-testing startup Applause closed a $35 million round, taking its total funding to more than $110 million. And two months later, San Francisco software-testing company Sauce Labs closed a chunky $70 million round, taking its total funding to around $100 million. “Software quality testing has traditionally required a large amount of time and manual effort, forcing compromises between speed, scope of testing, and quality of testing,” said Insight managing director Mike Triplett. “To reduce time to market and improve software quality, organizations are abandoning monolithic testing solutions, and turning to Tricentis.” As part of its investment, Triplett will also join Tricentis’ board of directors. Sign up for Funding Daily: Get the latest news in your inbox every weekday. |
| Posted: 23 Jan 2017 06:00 AM PST  Improbable, a U.K. startup that makes it easier for developers to build massive simulated worlds, has announced it’s opening its first base in the U.S., with a division opening in downtown San Francisco in February. The new hub will serve as the cornerstone for a significant expansion program for the company and will be home to a swathe of engineers, executives, and operations staff. Founded out of London in 2012, Improbable raised $20 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz back in March 2015, and later went on to unveil SpatialOS, an operating environment and back-end infrastructure that helps small companies create massive simulated worlds for VR projects, online games, and more and helps accommodate thousands of players in a single world simultaneously. Last month, Improbable announced a partnership with Google aimed at developers who create virtual worlds that run on the Google Cloud Platform. One facet of the partnership includes subsidizing access to SpatialOS to encourage innovation among game developers The company says that it intends to create close synergies between its London and San Francisco hubs, with employees from both locations able to spend extended periods of time in the other city to create “strong cultural cohesion and critical projects across both sites,” according to a company statement. Why San Francisco? Well, the answer may not surprise you. A statement reads:
It’s worth noting here that Improbable’s main HQ will remain in the U.K. capital, and this partly explains why the company is keen to build close ties between its two hubs. It reckons the best talent will always “want to be close to the action,” meaning it’s being careful not to pitch the new San Francisco base as a simple satellite office. “We want our two offices to work together as a single, geographically distant but closely connected headquarters,” it said. The company will initially operate from a new WeWork space in the Embarcadero Center, and it plans to “remain in the North Bay” region as it grows. |
| Jay Z’s music-streaming service Tidal sells 33% stake to Sprint Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:50 AM PST  Sprint has acquired a 33 percent stake in Jay Z’s music-streaming platform Tidal, with the telecommunications giant set to offer Tidal as a bundled service to its 45 million customers. The news comes almost two years to the day after Jay Z — under his real name Shawn Carter — announced he was buying Swedish company Aspiro AB, the firm that owned Tidal, as well as Norway-based WiMP Music. Jay Z has used his many connections in the music industry to create a celebrity-endorsed Spotify alternative that offers lossless-quality streaming, but it hasn’t really captured the public’s imagination. It has enjoyed spikes in popularity, however, thanks to exclusive tie-ups with big-name artists such as Kanye West. But with rumors abounding that Tidal was in trouble and was reportedly inflating its subscriber numbers fraudulently, a partial acquisition by a major technology company with significant reach makes sense. “Jay saw not only a business need, but a cultural one, and put his heart and grit into building Tidal into a world-class music streaming platform that is unrivaled in quality and content," said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, in a press release. “The passion and dedication that these artist-owners bring to fans will enable Sprint to offer new and existing customers access to exclusive content and entertainment experiences in a way no other service can." Interestingly, Sprint says it will offer “exclusive content” that will only be made available to Sprint customers, which, assuming we’re talking about exclusive songs from big-name artists, will surely rile Tidal subscribers who don’t wish to switch to Sprint. Another initiative announced as part of the tie-up includes setting up a marketing fund specifically for artists, giving them the “flexibility to create and share their work with and for their fans,” according to a statement. And as part of the deal, Claure will join Tidal's board of directors. “Sprint shares our view of revolutionizing the creative industry to allow artists to connect directly with their fans and reach their fullest, shared potential," said Jay Z. “Marcelo understood our goal right away, and together we are excited to bring Sprint's 45 million customers an unmatched entertainment experience.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but one unconfirmed report pegs the acquisition value at around $200 million. |
| Angeles Equity Partners Raises $360 Million for First Fund Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:36 AM PST  PRESS RELEASE: Oversubscribed Fund Closes Above Initial ‘Hard Cap’, Exceeding $300 Million Target LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 23, 2017– Angeles Equity Partners, LLC, a private investment firm focused on value creation through operational transformation, today announced that it has closed Angeles Equity Partners I, L.P. and its parallel funds (collectively, “AEP I”) with $360 million in capital commitments from a diverse group of prominent institutional investors, including public and private pension plans, endowments, foundations, a sovereign wealth fund, and alternative asset managers in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. AEP I is the firm’s first private equity fund, and was substantially oversubscribed, exceeding its target of $300 million. Angeles Equity Partners (AEP) is led by co-founders Timothy Meyer and Jordan Katz, who have invested together for over a decade and created value helping companies achieve their full potential. AEP I will focus on North American-based companies across a wide range of industrial sectors, specifically targeting businesses which it believes can directly benefit from the firm’s deep expertise in operational transformation and strategic repositioning. “We thank our limited partners for their support and commitment to our firm,” said Timothy Meyer, co-founder and managing partner of Angeles Equity Partners. “We believe the strong interest in our inaugural fund is an endorsement of our operationally focused investment strategy developed over many years, our experienced team, and attractive current portfolio.” In the last year, AEP I has invested in ERP Power®, a manufacturer of small, smart and efficient power electronics for LED lighting, and Applied Acoustics International®, a tier-one automotive supplier specializing in noise, vibration and harshness products. Angeles Equity Partners pursues control-oriented equity investments in closely held or family owned businesses, and non-core subsidiaries of larger companies, as well as buy-and-build opportunities with proven executives. “We are humbled by the support from the investor community and are excited by the investment opportunities for AEP I,” said Jordan Katz, co-founder and managing partner of Angeles Equity Partners. “We believe the lower-middle market is a compelling segment with unique opportunities for AEP to partner with industrial businesses to help them accelerate the realization of their full potential.” Moelis & Company LLC and GCA Advisors, LLC served as placement agents, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP provided legal counsel. About Angeles Equity Partners, LLC Angeles Equity Partners is a private equity firm that invests in companies across a wide range of industrial sectors and specifically targets businesses which it believes can directly benefit from the firm’s deep expertise in operational transformation and strategic repositioning. This skill set drives the firm’s investment philosophy and, in its view, can help underperforming businesses reach their full potential. Learn more online at www.angelesequity.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170123005115/en/ Angeles Equity Partners |
| Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:36 AM PST PRESS RELEASE: SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 23, 2017– Womply, the leader in front office software for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) and the leading software partner to the credit card processing industry, today announced the launch of its newest product, Retention Intelligence, which will help acquirers and processors proactively identify risk and reduce merchant attrition. Retention Intelligence is an analytics solution for credit card processors and acquirers that helps identify high risk merchants and prevent them from churning. Womply’s software ingests billions of data points including processing volumes, online activity, market trends, geographic patterns, interactions with customer service, and more. This data is analyzed using Womply’s proprietary models to create actionable, real time alerts that highlight individual merchants at risk of churning. This allows acquirers and processors to efficiently address merchant concerns before they churn. “Retention Intelligence is our first product focused exclusively on the needs of acquirers and processors,” said Cory Capoccia, President at Womply. “We recently demonstrated that our merchant-facing software suite, Womply Insights, cuts merchant attrition by 17% and we expect that Retention Intelligence will have an even greater impact over time.” Retention Intelligence alerts can be delivered by email or sent directly into a CRM or ticketing system for use by an acquirer/processor’s Customer Service, Retention, and Sales teams. Importantly, Retention Intelligence allows processors and acquirers to focus their limited resources where it counts: on valuable, high-risk accounts. Targeted alerts allow for faster service response times and improved merchant satisfaction (as measured by Net Promoter Scores), and alert sensitivity can be adjusted based on a variety of factors. “Merchant attrition is one of the biggest problems in the merchant acquiring industry. New entrants, online rate shopping, and aggressive competition have made the environment increasingly challenging for acquirers,” said Mr Capoccia. “Retention Intelligence is the first product of its kind and we are excited to see how this improves merchant experience within the payments ecosystem.” While Retention Intelligence alerts are primarily focused on reducing attrition, the models also identify sales opportunities within each portfolio. These hot leads enable acquirer Sales teams to pounce when one of their existing customers needs new hardware, additional software, or a helpful referral. Whether as a complement to Womply’s market leading merchant-facing software solutions or as a standalone solution, Retention Intelligence is a powerful new tool that Womply’s partners can use to strengthen their portfolios. If you’d like to learn more about Retention Intelligence or the impact Womply Insights has on merchant attrition, contact our Partnerships team (partnerships@womply.com) or visit https://womply.com/retention-intelligence About Womply Womply is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider to small and medium businesses. Our mission is to use technology and data to grow, protect, and simplify small business. Every day we serve tens of thousands of merchants, across 400+ business verticals, in every corner of America. Founded in 2011, Womply has raised more than $50M from growth and venture capital investors including Sageview Capital and Merus Capital, and several high net worth investors. We are one of the fastest growing software companies in America. Womply is hiring for engineering, devops, design, sales, marketing, business development, account management, and more. For more information visit https://womply.com or email press@womply.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170123005029/en/ Womply |
| Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing 2 mobile game surpasses 40 million downloads Posted: 23 Jan 2017 05:00 AM PST  EXCLUSIVE: Fingersoft's Hill Climb Racing 2 has been downloaded more than 40 million times in less than two months. That’s a pretty big deal for the Oulu, Finland-based indie game developer Fingersoft. In honor of the occasion, the company is launching a content update with new challenges, a new vehicle, and more. The title debuted at the end of November, and it topped the charts globally. It reached the No. 1 position in the racing category in 121 countries and No. 1 in the overall games section in 64 countries. Players have reviewed Hill Climb Racing 2 in the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play over one million times, with an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars in the Google Play store and 4.7 stars rating in the App Store.  Above: Hill Climb Racing 2 has hit No. 1 in top downloads in 64 countries. Image Credit: Fingersoft The update introduces four new cups to the multiplayer game, a big badass Super Diesel Truck and new driver outfits. In addition to the numerous racing environments in the game, the players can now compete in four new themed race cups: the Winter Cup, the It's Mine! Cup, the Tunnels Cup, and the More Mines Cup. "Multiplayer has been the most requested feature for Hill Climb Racing 2, and 40 million downloads in two months shows that we've succeeded in listening to our fans with Hill Climb Racing 2,” said Teemu Närhi, CEO of Fingersoft, in a statement. “The whole Fingersoft team is super happy about the success." Hill Climb Racing 2 is a sequel to the original Hill Climb Racing, which came out in 2012 and to date has amassed over half a billion downloads. Building on the original, Hill Climb Racing 2 added asynchronous online multiplayer and 30 unique stages. Players can compete in 16 different challenging cups to gain ranks and unlock new levels, challenge friends in races, or try to best the world's top race times on the leaderboards. Fingersoft’s other games include Benji Bananas, Fail Hard, and Make More. Altogether, the company’s products are installed nearly a million times a day. Fingersoft's products are available for iOS, Android, Windows devices, and Amazon Kindle devices. Fingersoft has 28 employees and it hasn’t raised any outside money.  Above: Hill Climb Racing 2 came out in November 2016. Image Credit: Fingersoft |
| Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:35 AM PST PRESS RELEASE: Representatives from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Foundation Medicine Join Seven Bridges to Discuss Progress of Research Project CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 23, 2017– Seven Bridges, the biomedical data analysis company, today announced that its Senior VP of Commercial Operations, Bruce Press, will join Dr. Howard Scher of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Dr. Geoff Otto of Foundation Medicine at the Precision Medicine World Congress (PMWC) in Silicon Valley to present an update on the Cancer Moonshot’s Blood Profiling Atlas project. Launched this past October, the Blood Profiling Atlas is designed to accelerate the development and approval of simple, accurate, and reliable blood tests for cancer diagnosis and precision treatment. Blood profiling could allow the detection of genetic or cellular changes associated with cancer using a blood test instead of tissue biopsy. Seven Bridges’ cloud-based platform for biomedical data analysis allows researchers working on this Cancer Moonshot initiative to access and analyze vast volumes of sequencing and clinical data from multiple studies, and work collaboratively with their colleagues to make discoveries. In a panel session to be held at 11:15 a.m. PT today, Mr. Press and Drs. Scher and Otto will discuss the successes, challenges and lessons learned to date in creating an open database of liquid biopsy results to develop safe and effective blood profiling diagnostics. As Chair in Urologic Oncology and Chief, Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Scher researches prostate cancer, focusing on the validation of circulating tumor cell and other blood based biomarker assays to biologically profile individual patient tumors and better select and monitor the effects of therapy. Dr. Otto is leading the lab responsible for research and development on liquid biopsy samples from patients with cancer at Foundation Medicine. “Seven Bridges is supporting this ambitious Cancer Moonshot initiative so that collaborators from government, academia and the commercial research sector can work better together and more efficiently take advantage of available datasets,” said Seven Bridges Senior Vice President of Science and Product, Brandi Davis-Dusenbery, Ph.D. “We look forward to joining our colleagues from Foundation Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering to share what we are learning through the Blood Profiling Atlas project, which is applicable to many other areas of precision medicine research.” PMWC is an independent and established precision medicine conference series that attracts recognized leaders, top global researchers and medical professionals, and innovators across healthcare and biotechnology sectors. Recognized as a vital cornerstone for all constituents of the healthcare and biotechnology community, PMWC provides a forum for the exchange of information about the latest advances in technology (e.g. DNA sequencing technology), in clinical implementation (e.g. cancer and beyond), research, and in all aspects related to the regulatory and reimbursement sectors. For more information, visit: http://www.pmwcintl.com/2017sv/. About Seven Bridges View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170123005117/en/ Seven Bridges |
| Here’s how Snap might compare to best and worst tech IPOs of the past decade Posted: 23 Jan 2017 04:20 AM PST  Without a doubt, the potential Snap IPO this year is one of the most anticipated developments for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. With the IPO market hitting a slump the last two years, despite a decent economy, hope abounds that a strong Snap could repair the broken relationship between tech startups and Wall Street. In advance of a possible Snap IPO, the data visualization specialists at Geckoboard have pulled together a range of interesting data about which tech IPOs have been winners and losers over the past decade. The numbers contain some surprises, as well as offering good perspective about how some of the most familiar names performed. First, it’s worth noting that of the 100 largest tech companies that went public over the past decade, 67 percent are currently trading up. That’s a pretty good track record. What are the odds that Snap will end up on the right side of the winners-losers line? According to Geckoboard, the projected $25 billion valuation of the Snap IPO would make it the fourth largest tech IPO in the past 10 years. That number would make it bigger than the IPOs of notable names like LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, and Atlassian. Indeed, it would be the biggest U.S. tech IPO since (cough, cough) Twitter, which has lost about half of its valuation. So, which are the most successful IPOs? Based on percentage gains (and keeping in mind that some have been public much longer than others):
Honorable mention: Facebook, up 249 percent, despite its size. And the worst:
Honorable mentions: Zynga in 7th place, down 66 percent; Fitbit at 9th, down 61 percent; Twitter at 16th, down 49 percent. Snap has also raised a reported $2.3 billion in venture capital. That does not put it in the best of company. Four other companies on the top 100 list raised more than $1 billion in venture capital before their IPO: Facebook, Alibaba, Groupon, and Twitter. Alibaba is up 2 percent from its IPO. But while Facebook has soared, the other two have sputtered. Snap will be six years old this coming May, which puts it in a sweet spot in terms of age. Geckoboard found that the most successful IPOs came from companies between six and 10 years old. One other slight mark in Snap’s favor: Six of the 10 social media IPOs are trading up. Still, the company would seem to have a big challenge ahead if it’s to deliver returns on such a lofty valuation. Clearly, Snap and investors are hoping it will be the next Facebook and not the next Twitter. |
| China approves first list of green car models to receive government subsidies this year Posted: 23 Jan 2017 03:52 AM PST  (Reuters) — China released on Monday this year’s first list of “recommended” green energy vehicles, paving the way for 185 car models to receive government subsidies. Beijing has spent billions of dollars promoting electric and plug-in hybrid cars to help the domestic auto industry develop the technology to leapfrog global competitors, while also reducing frequent bouts of heavy urban air pollution. But the discovery of widespread cheating in the subsidy program has prompted the government to step up oversight, cap subsidies, and raise technical standards for applicants. As a result, all models previously approved for government subsidies are required to reapply this year. The list issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) included vehicles from BAIC Motor Corp Ltd, Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, BYD Co Ltd, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd, and Chery Automobile Co Ltd. Beijing is expected to approve more car models later this year. The government published five lists last year, giving the green light to 2,193 car models. The ministry on Monday also approved several vehicles that use “ternary” lithium-ion batteries, which employ the chemical elements of nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM). NCM batteries, which Korean firms LG Chem and Samsung Electronics primarily make, were ineligible for subsidies under last year’s rules. Beijing lifted those restrictions this year after requiring companies to conduct more rigorous safety testing. Most Chinese battery makers prefer more stable but less energy dense lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, although some Chinese firms like Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd also produce significant numbers of NCM batteries. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Randy Fabi) |
| Why Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam is leaving Posted: 22 Jan 2017 11:01 PM PST  Five years after co-founding Coinbase, one of the most well-funded Bitcoin ventures, Fred Ehrsam has decided to leave the company. The former Goldman Sachs trader revealed in a blog post Wednesday that he would resign from his day-to-day role at the company at end of the month. He plans to remain on its board. Having raised a total of $117 million in venture capital funding at a private valuation approaching half a billion dollars, Coinbase was one of the first well-designed Bitcoin wallets to enter the scene. Since its debut, the company has transformed into more of a brokerage for people to trade digital assets that exist on a blockchain, the public ledger system that undergirds digital currencies like Bitcoin. (Read about one of those digital currencies and the network behind it here.) Ehrsam isn’t the only key employee to leave Coinbase recently. Last year, Olaf Carlson-Wee, the company’s earliest hire, went off to found a cryptocurrency hedge fund. In an interview after announcing his planned departure, Ehrsam discussed Coinbase’s battle with the IRS over obtaining information about its customers (he feels confident in the company’s stance) and the growing professionalization of the Bitcoin trading world (he’s all for it). The following is an edited transcript. Fortune: Everybody seems to be leaving Coinbase. What’s the deal? Ehrsam: Starts out with a heavy hitter [laughing]. First of all, everyone is not leaving. The reason I feel comfortable leaving now is because the company is doing really dang well. And I think the industry is doing really dang well, to the point where it’s actually feasible for the first time, in my opinion, to start building other ideas. Why now? We’ve accomplished a lot of things in the last six-to-nine months that made us feel like it was a good time. The business grew more than two and a half times by revenue in 2016. So the business is doing well. The second part is the executive team has grown quite stronger. We hired a VP of engineering this year. We just hired a chief risk officer, a guy named Mike Lempres, who was the CCO [chief compliance officer] at another Bitcoin company called Bitnet, the GC [general counsel] at Silicon Valley Bank, and a U.S. attorney, amongst other things. He’s starting next week. The last point is we finally got the dang BitLicense [a certification for Bitcoin companies to operate in New York] after what feels like an eternity. It’s a sign that the company is maturing and strong. What are you planning to do next? Do you have any good ideas? You haven’t settled on a particular thing? No, I haven’t. I’m going to take a little time off. I think it’s highly likely that I’ll do something in the crypto space [short for cryptocurrency]. Like I said, I think this is the first time it’s become viable that you can build some really powerful new ideas on top of the blockchain infrastructure that’s available now. Especially with Ethereum [a decentralized cryptocurrency network and rival to Bitcoin] coming onto the scene and continually strengthening. I’ll take some time off and then start tinkering again. Are you thinking about founding a hedge fund like Olaf [Carlson-Wee, Coinbase’s earliest hire]? Probably not a hedge fund. I’m an advisor to Polychain Capital [Carlson-Wee’s fund]. I believe in his thesis around blockchain-based assets [the currencies native to networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum] becoming a huge thing, especially this idea of tokens. [Essentially, the monetary units of blockchain applications, and the fuel that keeps them humming. See some of Ehrsam’s own writings on the subject.] But my desire is to build a product basically, not to start a fund. We’re not going to see a “Fredcoin,” are we? [Laughing] Maybe I’ll do something that involves the token model. I definitely wouldn’t rule that out. But I hope to God that it’s not called Fredcoin. Otherwise that thing is probably not going anywhere too fast. Your exit is coming at a time when Coinbase is embroiled in a legal battle with the IRS, which is trying to get information about Coinbase’s users. How is that going to shake out? The end point seems pretty clear: Coinbase as a responsible regulated institution in the United States will fall under the same, or a similar, tax reporting regime as the major banks and brokerage houses. Just like Bank of America has to file 1099 forms, or some sort of tax forms, to the government, as does a Fidelity. We’re going to have to do the same. The only open question is are they [the IRS] going to retroactively impose these requirements? I think that’s a little overreaching. A lot has happened in Bitcoin- and blockchain-land since you cofounded Coinbase five years ago. How do you feel about what’s happened? When Coinbase was starting we thought we were seeing the birth of something that was really important—what I would almost describe as the future fabric of society—the system for who we are our, our identities; what we own, our assets. We thought it would be a better system than what we have now because it’s mutually owned by everyone who’s part of the system. We sit here 5 million customers later, and adding a quarter of a million every month—all time highs. It’s hard not to feel good about that. I feel really good about that. Of course, with any new technology, especially one as powerful as this with such broad reaching implications, there are always going to be little bumps along the way. I think we’ve made bets that have been a little too early at times. That’s fine. But there’s increasing reach and acceptance around the space as each month passes. A Bloomberg article recently mentioned how much high frequency trading has taken the Bitcoin world by storm. How do you feel about that trend? I think it’s fundamentally a good sign that more and more professional traders and market makers are providing liquidity to the whole ecosystem. It allows people to move much larger quantities of digital currency more quickly than they would if that were not the case. It’s healthy. What are the odds that you’ll return to Goldman Sachs? I jokingly told people here that eventually there’s going to be a “crypto desk” at Goldman, and maybe that will be a retirement job for me. For the foreseeable future, I’m all about building blockchain-based decentralized services. So that’s probably not anytime soon. This story originally appeared on Fortune.com. Copyright 2017 |
| Hugo Barra leaves Xiaomi after joining from Google in 2013 Posted: 22 Jan 2017 10:24 PM PST  Change is coming to China-based phone maker Xiaomi with the resignation of Hugo Barra, the company’s vice president of international. After nearly four years, the Google-turned-Xiaomi executive said he’ll be taking “much-needed time off” before pursing another adventure in Silicon Valley. Xiaomi founder Bin Lin said that Xiang Wang, the company’s senior vice president, has been tapped as Barra’s replacement. “We have ambitious expansion plans for 2017 and are confident in Xiang’s leadership to take our global business to even greater heights,” Lin said. In a lengthy Facebook post, Barra shared that he is departing at a time when he feels Xiaomi is in a good place with its global expansion path. And while the technology company has seen quite a bit of success, including making its U.S. debut at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, as well as in India and 20 other countries, success is not without complications, such as revelations that the company will no longer release sale numbers for its smartphones. After five years at Google, where he last served as the vice president of product management for Android, Barra jumped over to work at Xiaomi, a now-six year old company that has seen some pretty good growth and once achieved a $45 billion valuation. In his role there, he was tasked with helping Xiaomi expand the product portfolio and business globally. “As much as we would love to have Hugo stay with us in Beijing for a much longer time, we understand his personal challenges and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. I'm also looking forward to working closely with him in his new role as advisor to Xiaomi,” Lin said. Barra cited homesickness as the reason for his departure, saying that his friends and life are in Silicon Valley, and he just didn’t wish to be separated any longer. Since joining Xiamo in 2013, Barra has overseen the company’s growth from Greater China to countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, Mexico, and Poland. There was even talk about expanding into the U.S., but that hasn’t quite come to fruition, although the company did launch a set-top box unique to the market. Under Barra’s watch, Xiaomi also brought in $1 billion in revenue in India, its largest international market. “I moved to Beijing, 6,500 miles out of my comfort zone in Silicon Valley, to build from scratch a startup team within a bigger startup. This journey has been nothing short of spectacular in every way, and I can proudly say that Xiaomi Global is the first baby I helped bring into the world,” Barra wrote. |
| Samsung won’t unveil the Galaxy S8 at MWC Posted: 22 Jan 2017 09:01 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) – Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Monday it will not unveil its Galaxy S8 smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show this year, suggesting the flagship model’s launch may be later in the year than its 2016 version. Samsung mobile chief Koh Dong-jin said the phone would not get a launch event at the MWC event in Barcelona, which begins on Feb. 27, unlike the previous Galaxy S smartphones. Koh did not comment on when the company planned to launch the new handset, the first premium model Samsung is due to release since the failure of its Note 7 flagship device in October over safety issues. The firm showed off the Galaxy S7 on the sidelines of MWC in February 2016, and started selling the phones in March. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates) |
| Google Maps’ Explore recommendations come to desktop search results Posted: 22 Jan 2017 07:01 PM PST  Google has integrated part of the Explore feature of Google Maps into its core web search. It recently came to desktop Google Search results after arriving first on mobile devices, where the Explore feature made its debut in 2013 as part of Google Maps. The carousel-style widget appears under the heading “Discover more places” and showcases eight or nine categories of places that are relevant to your search. For example, when I search for “fried chicken,” the new feature in search results display photos and names of restaurants under the categories “Best spots for lunch with kids,” “Chicken and waffles,” “Chicken restaurants,” “American restaurants,” and so on. Clicking on one of these results on desktop takes you to a Google Maps-like interface showing the places in a column on the left and on a big map on the right — from there you can select individual places to see in more detail. But these pages are located at URLs that begin with https://www.google.com/search, as opposed to https://www.google.com/maps. On the mobile web, after tapping one of the categories, you see a stack of cards of places, along with pictures you can swipe through — a stripped-down implementation of Explore in the native Google Maps apps. The feature rolled out to desktop earlier this month, after hitting the mobile web in October, and it’s visible for searches about things pertaining to food and drinks for people using U.S. English as their default language, a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat in an email. “Google is committed to helping people find the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and useful information, so they can make the best decision on where to go. And we're always working on new ways to help improve that experience for our users,” the spokesperson wrote.  Above: What you see if you click one of the categories surfaced in “Discover more places” from Google Search on desktop. Image Credit: Screenshot Google has taken steps to enhance Explore in Google Maps over the years. In 2015, the Explore portion of the Android app was revamped with a new look and a more granular discovery mechanism, and similar improvements came to Google Maps for iOS in 2016. “Discover more places” typically appears at the bottom of desktop search results and near the bottom on the mobile web; sometimes above it there is other content sourced from Google Maps, such as nearby places plotted on a map and listed immediately below. That Google would show multiple representations of Google Maps content in Search suggests that the company simply wants to figure out what works best. Google might well end up blending the map and list with the option of highlighting collections of places à la the Explore/Discover more places feature — but for now, there is overlap. |
| Yahoo reportedly under investigation by SEC over data breaches Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:37 PM PST  Yahoo is facing an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to its failure to promptly disclose to investors information about the two massive data breaches the company revealed last year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC requested documents from Yahoo in December to determine whether the company, which is in the midst of a $4.8 billion acquisition by Verizon, properly disclosed details about the cyberattacks and whether it complied with civil securities laws. The road to closing the acquisition has been anything but smooth for Yahoo. Just two months after the purchase was announced, Yahoo claimed that “state-sponsored” hackers stole data from 500 million user accounts back in 2014. That certainly caught everyone off guard, and there were rumblings that Verizon would either back out or seek a $1 billion discount on the deal. And if that wasn’t enough, two months after that Yahoo revealed another hack, this time dating as far back as August 2013, when more than 1 billion user accounts were compromised by an “unauthorized third party.” Nearly two months later, we’re now hearing about a probe by the U.S. government. This may lead some to wonder whether the Verizon deal will actually go through. While the investigation focuses on what wasn’t disclosed to investors, it also probably includes the soon-to-be parent company Verizon, which has said repeatedly after each incident that it will “evaluate the situation as Yahoo continues its investigation.” The Wall Street Journal says that the investigation is still in its early stages, so any penalties or legal action is still some time away. However, the probe by the SEC is noteworthy, as WSJ indicates the federal agency “has never brought a case against a company for failing to disclose a cyberbreach, given the blurriness of when an issue might be ‘material’.” The publication further notes that it’s unusual because of the scope and timing — sure, there have been numerous cyberattacks in the past year, including those affecting Ashley Madison, Target, Dow Jones, and others, but none have been on this scale and so soon after an acquisition was initiated. Yahoo referred us to language from its SEC filing where it said it’s cooperating with “federal, state, and foreign governmental officials and agencies seeking information and/or documents about the Security Incident and related matters, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a number of State Attorneys General, and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.” But it is also interesting to note that the company is revealing its latest financial earnings on Monday. However, it will not hold an earnings call, citing its continued acquisition by Verizon. Updated as of 8:41 a.m. Pacific on Monday: Corrected that 500 million user accounts were affected, not users. |
| Samsung identifies 2 issues that led to Galaxy Note7 battery explosions Posted: 22 Jan 2017 05:28 PM PST  Samsung today disclosed information about the causes of the exploding batteries inside its Galaxy Note7 flagship smartphone. Following reports of incidents, the device was banned on U.S. flights, recalled, discontinued, and ultimately disabled through software updates, but until this point, Samsung had not fully explained the cause of the issues, which have had a material financial impact on the company. Samsung built a test facility to conduct a thorough review, checking to see if fast charging, water resistance, the iris scanner, or the USB-C port may have played a role, DJ Koh, president of Samsung Electronics’ mobile communications business, said during a press conference. But after testing the assembled phones and batteries, the company determined that it was the battery and not the phone itself that caused issues, Koh said. Specifically, there were two major issues with the two different versions of batteries for the Note7. There was an “electrode deflection and incorrect positioning of the negative electrode tip in the upper right corner of the battery” and “an abnormal weld spot [that] led to an internal short circuit,” according to a video the company released. Exponent, TUV Rheinland, and UL also analyzed the Note7 to determine what had caused the phone’s issues. (The reports are available here.) Koh apologized to customers, carriers, and retail and distribution partners. In addition to releasing the reports, Samsung today also said it has deployed “multi-layer safety measures,” updated its battery safety checks, and formed a battery advisory group. The timing of the Note7 meltdown was not good. The phone was collecting positive reviews and then, suddenly, reports of explosions started, and the narrative continued as Apple released the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the latter one of the Note7’s closest competitors. The iPhone 7 Plus has received many positive reviews even though it lacks a headphone jack. (Apple is no stranger to exploding batteries: There were cases of batteries exploding inside the Powerbook 5300 that it had introduced in 1995, and Apple ultimately recalled the laptops and replaced their batteries.) Another competitor, the Google Pixel XL Android phone, has also racked up positive reviews. Earlier this month, Samsung said that more than 96 percent of its Galaxy Note7s had been returned. |
| Yes, you can actually tweet from the 2017 Nissan Titan Posted: 22 Jan 2017 03:10 PM PST  Trucks have not always been the go-to platform for tech. In most cases, the size of the truck bed, the traction you get from the tires, and the engine torque were the most important tech considerations. Yet times have changed. People who drives trucks today are often business owners who need to stay connected or people who drive them on a commute. Recently, I tested the 2017 Nissan Titan, a full-size pickup with a starting base price of $29,580. It has a V8 engine, can pull around 9,000 pounds of cargo, and has a 390-horsepower engine that provides some zip for merging into traffic. Nissan started offering a "connected car" services with the Nissan Altima a few years ago, but the Titan is the first truck I've ever used that allows you to do Google online searches by voice and let people know where you are using Facebook check-in (which is admittedly a forgotten feature and rarely used — it dates back to when people used Foursquare). What impressed me the most is the ability to check a live Twitter feed and tweet directly from the cab of the truck. To tweet, you need to use the NissanConnect app. I loaded it onto my phone, and it worked smoothly in terms of logging in and finding features. I was in a press vehicle, so I selected the one I was using and then connected my phone by plugging a USB cable into a port next to the steering wheel. I also had to authenticate the Twitter app. Once it was all synced, I pressed an Apps button on the dashboard and then clicked the Twitter icon. You can scan through a live feed of tweets or compose a new tweet. If you decide to tweet, you can use a keyboard on the dash or select a stock tweet. For example, I used the "I love my Nissan" automated tweet. I’m guessing my Twitter followers wondered about that one. Then I typed in a few custom tweets like "Driving up north to see family" and "Heading to a meeting," although I am not sure I'd ever actually use those. I mostly use Twitter to ask questions these days, to let people know about articles, and to make bad jokes. If anything, I'd type a custom message related to my day, which is probably a little more effort than any tweet needs. That said, I liked how it worked. On a long trip, I could see adding more custom tweets and keeping my feed active. The only problem with that? You can only tweet when the vehicle is stopped. In my tests, I tweeted several times while I was driving around an urban area. However, the live feed was active at all times. My problem there is that I tend to search for people and check their feed more than anything. Yet even if this is all still in an early stage, compared to how the rest of tech has moved into AI, chatbots, and many other areas of innovation, I'm still a fan. I see a car as a moving computer on wheels, something that will eventually drive itself and let us live tweet, check Facebook, and even hold a meeting over Skype. The Nissan Titan gets us a step closer to that vision. |
| Valve confirms: More SteamVR Tracking headsets are in development Posted: 22 Jan 2017 02:33 PM PST  In a late comment to the Gabe Newell AMA on Reddit, Valve's Joe Ludwig posted an update outlining progress licensing its SteamVR Tracking system. The system could be critical to the adoption of VR in 2017, and the comment indicates additional head-mounted displays compatible with the SteamVR Tracking "lighthouse" technology are in the works. The headsets are among 500 companies which signed up to freely use the innovative tracking system, according to Ludwig. Below is the full comment in response to the questions "Did you expect more hardware manufacturers to consider interest in releasing their own Lighthouse/Steam VR HMD instead of just HTC? Why do you think other companies haven't (publically at least) gotten on board?":
SteamVR Tracking is an ingenious technology that bathes a room with lasers you can't see with the naked eye, but it allows objects with sensors on the surface to be perfectly tracked throughout a space. A compatible system like lighthouse which works with products from a variety of manufacturers could lower the cost for upgrades (because the tracking system is already installed) while simultaneously opening up VR to an enormous collection of objects that can be brought into a virtual world. The end result would be a whole slew of VR experiences, from fighting fires to hitting a baseball, which would look, sound and feel extremely close to their real-world counterparts. This story originally appeared on Uploadvr.com. Copyright 2017 |
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