Tesla flips a switch to increase the range of some cars in Florida to help people evacuate

 Tesla has pushed an over-the-air update to some of its vehicles in Florida that lets those cars go just a liiiittle bit further, thus helping their owners get that much further away from the devastation of Hurricane Irma. Wondering how that’s even possible? Up until a few months ago, Tesla sold a 60kWh version of its Model S and Model X vehicles — but the battery in those cars… Read More

Is it exit season yet?

 Startup funding and exiting activity has been slow over the past few months in the U.S. Fewer companies closed rounds, IPO volumes were light, and not a lot of big M&A deals got done. But that’s to be expected, right? After all, it was summer break. Now that Labor Day’s over and we’re back at our desks, we can expect deal volumes to pick up. That seasonal explanation for… Read More

23andMe’s second act sits squarely in drug research and development

 The company first began making moves early in 2015, forging a partnership with Pfizer to conduct a bit of drug research using 23andMe’s genetic data. The pact was formed in the midst of orders from the Food and Drug Administration that 23andMe cease sales of its consumer health report product, which drove a major portion of both 23andMe’s revenue and brand awareness at the… Read More

The next Apple Watch will have LTE cell service

 Last night an iOS 11 GM download link made its way onto Reddit, which 9to5Mac discovered and has been digging through. You can check out the full list of discoveries here, but one big thing that stood out is that the next Apple Watch (or at least one version of it) will finally have LTE cell service, meaning it doesn’t need to be tethered to your phone at all times. The leaked… Read More

A perfect storm of corporate idiocy

 At this point in the game there should be a single page on every corporate website, preferably accessible from its front page, that includes the name and all contact details for the Chief Security Officer, including the last four digits of her social security number. It should be her responsibility to ensure that no one uses this information for nefarious purposes in addition to her daily… Read More

How we built a newspaper in 72 hours

 Earlier this year, Impossible Labs was commissioned by Jimmy Wales, to try to come up with a platform that could help combat that problem. In 72 hours.
“I could have raised money from Silicon Valley and then engage in a year long massive investment in a priori thinking about a model that might not even be of interest to the public,” explains Wales. Read More