blogger better: 2016-03-13

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Sesame Workshop is looking for startups that help kids

Big Bird (L) and other Sesame Street puppet characters pose next to temporary street sign November 9, 2009 at West 64th Street and Broadway in New York on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the broadcast of the children's television show. The sign is located across the street from Sesame Workshop's corporate headquarters which will launch the 40th season of Sesame Street on PBS on November 10. AFP PHOTO/Stan Honda

Sesame Workshop, the organization that brought to life the beloved “Sesame Street” and countless other programs, has announced a new venture arm to invest in apps that help children develop. Working jointly with venture capital firm Collaborative Fund (which has funded companies like Lyft and AltSchool), Sesame Workshop has formed a new organization called Collab+Sesame. Read More

http://ift.tt/1RtIT0M Sesame Workshop is looking for startups that help kids http://ift.tt/1RrRAiy

Russell Crowe with sword in a scene from the film 'Gladiator', 2000. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

Is that photo pretty enough? Is that tweet funny enough? If not, they might not be seen now that Instagram and Twitter are moving to algorithmically sorted feeds. That could spell big problems for marketers and cause our social media lives to be more stressful. To make their apps more consistently interesting, especially for people who don’t check them non-stop, Instagram and Titter… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1PjblB5 Algorithmic feeds force us to compete Josh Constine http://ift.tt/25bE4U9
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Algorithmic feeds force us to compete

{rss:content:encoded} Algorithmic feeds force us to compete http://ift.tt/25bE4U9 http://ift.tt/1PjblB5 March 19, 2016 at 08:59PM Russell Crowe with sword in a scene from the film 'Gladiator', 2000. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

In early February 2016, a study of financing deals reported by The Wall Street Journal found that investors are increasingly protecting themselves from IPOs that don’t perform as expected. This fallout is a continuation of the demise of the so-called “unicorn,” a tech startup with a pre-IPO valuation of over one billion dollars. Read More

http://ift.tt/1R7LwIG Why unicorns falter http://ift.tt/1R5XPXb

How international startups are supporting New York City

Immigrants make up 13.3 percent of the population in the U.S., which is the highest percentage the country has seen in more than 100 years. Now let’s put this into perspective: Thirty-six percent of all top tech founders in the U.S. are immigrants — almost triple the percentage of immigrants in the country. Many immigrants are pushing innovation in the U.S, aiding the country… Read More

http://ift.tt/1nW223T How international startups are supporting New York City http://ift.tt/1Mg6x4W

Has Twitter reversed course on plans to increase the character limit on tweets? That’s what you might think when reading the press coverage of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s appearance on The Today Show, but I’m not convinced that there was really a big change of heart. You may recall Re/code’s report in January that Twitter was looking at a “10,000 character limit… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1WhiSF5 Jack Dorsey says Twitter is keeping its 140-character limit, but maybe don’t get too excited Anthony Ha http://ift.tt/1Phopa2
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Parking tickets actually earn cities less money than when people pay the meters like they should. The problem is that even new meters that let you pay by phone or credit are such a hassle that people don’t use them and hope they don’t get caught. But Y Combinator startup Meter Feeder has built a way to pay for parking that easier for citizens, cheaper for cities, and works with… Read More

http://ift.tt/22oZFto Meter Feeder lets you ditch coins and codes, pay for parking with GPS http://ift.tt/1XB5CN7

Meter Feeder lets you ditch coins and codes, pay for parking with GPS

{rss:content:encoded} Meter Feeder lets you ditch coins and codes, pay for parking with GPS http://ift.tt/1XB5CN7 http://ift.tt/22oZFto March 18, 2016 at 09:52PM No More Parking Meters

If you’re a tutor looking to offer your services online, a startup called Coach aims to give you the tools you need. CEO Spencer Fry created a similar platform, in some ways, when he co-founded CarbonMade, which offers designers and artists an easy way to showcase their portfolios online. He said there’s a bigger challenge with Coach, though, because there are more pieces to… Read More

http://ift.tt/1TYz5B3 Coach gives tutors and other freelancers tools to build an online business http://ift.tt/1MfhzY4

I tried out Nike’s self-tying shoes, the HyperAdapt 1.0

{rss:content:encoded} I tried out Nike’s self-tying shoes, the HyperAdapt 1.0 http://ift.tt/259dqew http://ift.tt/1RTHn8H March 18, 2016 at 06:36PM Nike-laces

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few days with the folks at Nike, who were showing off a whole bunch of new and upcoming products at their Innovation for Everybody event. The big attention-getter was the HyperAdapt 1.0 — namely, self-tying shoes. Nike had already toyed with the idea of emulating Back To The Future Part II by announcing limited edition, self-lacing Nike Mags… Read More

Despite reports to the contrary, Twitter’s new algorithmic timeline, announced last month, has only now reached all of Twitter’s user base. That being said, the company does have some early data on how well this updated timeline experience has been performing so far. According to the company, few users are choosing to opt out of having their tweets sorted for them automatically.… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1VjPj8S Twitter says few users have opted out of its new, algorithmic timeline Sarah Perez http://ift.tt/1S8ka5o
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Progress lets you visualize your weight loss by taking perfectly aligned daily selfies

{rss:content:encoded} Progress lets you visualize your weight loss by taking perfectly aligned daily selfies http://ift.tt/1UmPoJa http://ift.tt/1XAyDsb March 18, 2016 at 06:02PM Withings Scale

For those who struggle with their weight, one of the more challenging things to deal with beyond, of course, the lifestyle changes that have to accompany any attempts at weight reduction, is our inability to see our own progress. Because weight loss is often very slow and incremental, many get frustrated with a perceived lack of results and then give up. A new application called Progress wants… Read More

Perlstein Lab, or PLab as it is also known, continues to hone its automated drug discovery platform and presents its latest iteration Wednesday March 23rd at Y Combinator Demo Day. The platform they created helps the bio startup focus on finding cures for rare diseases rather than common ones. This novel approach is different from most Big Pharma labs and is thus one of their differentiators. Read More

http://ift.tt/1S8oQbf YC-backed Perlstein Lab continues their rare disease drug discovery http://ift.tt/1pyKgpf

A month ago, payments company Stripe launched Atlas, a toolkit for startups to incorporate in the U.S. and lay the groundwork for growing their businesses online. Aimed largely at small enterprises outside of the U.S., Atlas is making a notable addition to the roster of countries covered under the program: from today, it will begin to accept Atlas applicants from Cuba, so that… Read More

http://ift.tt/1psTYZr Stripe’s startup toolkit Atlas opens for business in Cuba http://ift.tt/1Lv0xVS

Managed By Q, the company that lets you order on-demand cleaning services, IT help, handyman work and more all from an iPad in the office, has today announced a new stock option plan for its office operators. The program, which will give back 5 percent of the company to operators, applies to all employees of the company, regardless of role, starting on July 1, and the program will continue… Read More

http://ift.tt/1pQBd2B Managed By Q gives five percent of the company equity to office operators http://ift.tt/1nUykMJ

The American dream is no longer for sale — but it is for rent. We are slowly going through a subtle shift in how the economy is owned and operated, with massive implications. On an average day, you may wake up, shower, dress, drive to work and return home. But the way you do it is changing: Where once you would own the car, the house and the clothes, you now have the option to live life… Read More

http://ift.tt/1MeoIIa Life, by subscription http://ift.tt/1RTjMoD

WeWork, the co-working space headquartered in New York and valued north of $5 billion, has today announced its second acquisition. The company will be acquiring Welkio, a digital sign-in system for guests at an office, which was actually built at a WeWork hackathon. Welkio was founded by two Hathaway employees — Hathaway is a WeWork member. After the Hackathon, Hathaway employees… Read More

http://ift.tt/1RTcW2p WeWork’s second acquisition is Welkio, a digital sign-in system for offices http://ift.tt/1pQp4uz

Creo, the Indian startup that recently received $3 million in funding to create a new twist on Android, has unveiled its first smartphone, called the Mark 1. A promotional video has been posted, but the company hasn’t released hardware details yet. Founder Sai Srinivas tells TechCrunch that leaked specs cited in some reports are inaccurate, but emphasizes that Creo won’t compete… Read More

http://ift.tt/1R2EHt0 Indian smartphone startup Creo releases more details about its new take on Android http://ift.tt/1S7Ov3O

Foodpanda acquires Delivery.com’s Hong Kong business

News of yet more movement among on-demand food startups: Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda announced today that it has acquired Delivery.com’s Hong Kong business and will take over its operations there. Read More

http://ift.tt/1S7vnmP Foodpanda acquires Delivery.com’s Hong Kong business http://ift.tt/1pPALS9

Nextbit cancels CDMA version of Robin smartphone, issues refunds

{rss:content:encoded} Nextbit cancels CDMA version of Robin smartphone, issues refunds http://ift.tt/1Rp6RdC http://ift.tt/1VgoFxt March 17, 2016 at 07:40PM robin-hand

After already delaying the CDMA by a few months, Nextbit has decided to cancel the production of the CDMA Robin for Verizon and Sprint networks outright, Recode reports. The company is now refunding Kickstarter backers and offering them a 25% discount on the GSM version should they choose to get one. Read More