Category: Tech news

 With digital ad spending expected to surpass the spend on television advertising next year, the Big Apple overflows with adtech startups. Many of these startups are coming to New York from abroad. Despite the challenges of setting up shop in such a huge and saturated market, these foreign startups believe that the opportunities NYC presents are greater than its challenges. Read More

 In my on-going Technotopia series I’ve been talking to designers, coders, and journalists. This time I talk to business professor Raj Raghunathan author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy, a book about finding happiness when you’re already firing on all cylinders in a hard-charging career. Raghunathan’s book shows us that there is little correlation… Read More

 We live in a time of great polarization. Politically, in nations across the world, both the left and the far right grow more numerous, and draw further away from the mainstream establishment, every year. Economically, the rich continue to separate themselves from the poor, as the very rich do from the rich. And in tech, of course, we increasingly live in a “winner-take-most” world. Read More

 Legislation allowing ordinary American investors to invest in the shares of startups and small businesses was first introduced in the U.S. Congress in 2011. Despite bipartisan support and the approval of President Obama, it is only now becoming a reality. Read More

 “Tell me about your cap table?” I asked the founder of an early-stage startup. He was clearly passionate about his business, and had assembled a top-notch team to help him achieve his ambitious vision. But the grit and determination that helped him overcome the challenges of his current and former startups seemed to falter a bit as he considered his response. He had a dirty cap… Read More

 Robots and artificial intelligence have come a long way since a Roomba entered your home to vacuum your floor and Siri gave you advice on the best Italian restaurants in your parents’ neighborhood. Cars drive themselves. Robots deliver pizza. A revolution is underway. Robots in the workforce present an opportunity to stimulate job growth and create new types of work. Robots will not… Read More

 It’s that time of year again: more than 40 500 Startups companies presented and launched in Mountain View this afternoon. From acne consultations by dermatologists through your smartphone, to selling sewing patterns, today’s Demo Day hit quite a few pretty interesting areas. Here are a couple of our favorite ones from the batch. Read More

 Accion Systems, the company developing miniature space propulsion systems, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by Shasta Ventures. RRE Ventures, Founder Collective, and Slow Ventures also participated in the round. The company had previously raised $2 million from seed funding and $6.5 million from partnerships with the Department of Defense. While perhaps best known for their… Read More

 Progressive women’s advocates doing controversial work are often at risk of physical violence and online harassment because of their online presence.  To help those advocates navigate social media safely, Tactical Technology launched to ensure that, in an increasingly digital age, they don’t end up more vulnerable than ever. “For some women who are politically active… Read More

 When Rwanda’s socioeconomic turnaround is discussed, the country’s disciplined approach to economic growth and commitment to avoiding the pitfalls of corruption are usually highlighted. However, while these components certainly played a significant role, another key factor in Rwanda’s transformation is often overlooked. Read More

 Researchers from MIT, the University of Sheffield and the Tokyo Institute of Technology joined forces for a project that reads like something out of a William Burroughs novel. Crafted from dried pig intestines, the little origami robot is designed to hatch from inside a swallowed capsule and unfold like an accordion. Once inside the swallower’s stomach, the little meat ‘bot… Read More

 In today’s digital world, everyday functions such as making dinner reservations or hailing a taxi are done at the touch of a button. Similarly, other, more complex and esoteric functions, such as wealth management, are also moving toward automation. This evolution is enabled by the creation of state-of-the-art software, which has helped make wealth management more consumer-friendly… Read More

 Communication in the harsh, uninhabited and undeveloped environment of the Australian Outback is a huge challenge. That’s why Paul Gardner-Stephen, a senior lecturer at Flinders University in Adelaide, has partnered with Toyota and the communications and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi on a solution. The three partners are building a literal mobile network, using fleets of… Read More

 You know what to do at work today, but do you know why? Goals. Having clear goals is critical to keeping productivity and morale high on any team. Whether it’s a launch date, level of traction, sales quota or hiring objective, teams perform better with well-defined motives. Lattice weaves goals into your workflow. Built by Y Combinator president Sam Altman’s brother Jack, Lattice… Read More

 NASA has announced that astronomers working with the Kepler space telescope have verified 1,284 new planets – more than doubling the number of previously confirmed planets from Kepler. In fact, this new batch was the single largest group of new validated planets to date.
Astronomers used statistical analysis on a planet catalog of 4,302 potential planets gathered by the Kepler space… Read More