blogger better: 2016-11-13

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Snapchat Spectacle vending bot lands at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena

Another day, another Spectacles vending machine location. This is the fifth place the Snapbot has appeared, to sell its first-person video capturing sunglasses to droves of willing Snapchat fans (or at least people hoping to turn a tidy profit by reselling them on eBay). Today’s spot is in Pasadena, at the Rose Bowl Stadium where there’s a USC/UCLA game later today. The previous… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2g8sJR1 Snapchat Spectacle vending bot lands at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena Darrell Etherington http://ift.tt/2gvERiy
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House interior blueprint style. 3d-rendering

The precise information you need, delivered exactly when and where you need it. Personalized engagement and experiences. Easy step-by-step navigation. These are just some of the things you get with indoor location-based services. Similar functions have existed outdoors for years, but indoor location services have seen much slower adoption. But that’s about to change. Read More

http://ift.tt/2eS1CMv After decades of dreaming, indoor location’s time has come http://ift.tt/2g8SMHY

A guy like Ralph Clark has a tough job: if all goes according to his business plan he’ll put himself out of business. He is the CEO of ShotSpotter, a surveillance system for cities that triangulates gunfire in 90 cities. I asked him if he’d ever have to shut down. “You know, sadly, in the US that won’t be the case,” he said. The company is coming under fire for… Read More

http://ift.tt/2g8gFj0 ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark talks about the future of city surveillance http://ift.tt/2gqjmiz

FilmStruck is a streaming service for lovers of art-house films and foreign classics

{rss:content:encoded} FilmStruck is a streaming service for lovers of art-house films and foreign classics http://ift.tt/2ePe6EN http://ift.tt/2fpCVU2 November 19, 2016 at 12:19AM

It might be time for movie lovers to add another streaming service to their monthly subscriptions — FilmStruck, a new service created by Turner Classic Movies. Services like Amazon and Netflix are building up libraries of originals (starting with TV, but also including films), and they’re striking deals to get high-profile new releases. But if you’re a particular kind of… Read More

Close-up of a statue of Goddess of Justice, New Delhi, India

It seems everyone is interested in big data these days. From social scientists to advertisers, professionals from all walks of life are singing the praises of data science. In the social sciences, many scholars apparently believe it will lend their subject a previously elusive objectivity and clarity. However, when it comes to the social sciences, big data is a false idol. Read More

http://ift.tt/2fNuzpN Big data can’t bring objectivity to a subjective world http://ift.tt/2fcHyD5

Facebook authorizes a $6B stock buyback

{rss:content:encoded} Facebook authorizes a $6B stock buyback http://ift.tt/2g56ECR http://ift.tt/2grMlTW November 18, 2016 at 10:47PM STANFORD, CA - JUNE 24: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks on a panel discussion with U.S. president Barack Obama during the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University on June 24, 2016 in Stanford, California. President Obama joined Silicon Valley leaders on the final day of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

STANFORD, CA - JUNE 24: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks on a panel discussion with U.S. president Barack Obama during the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University on June 24, 2016 in Stanford, California. President Obama joined Silicon Valley leaders on the final day of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Facebook today said it is authorizing a $6 billion stock buyback that will go into effect in the first quarter next year. Facebook in its last earnings call also said that its growth would likely slow as a result of the company reaching its maximum advertising load. While Facebook has historically grown at a very fast clip, the company is now in a position that it needs to find additional… Read More

Hands-on with Play-Doh Touch, the app that brings kids’ creations to life

{rss:content:encoded} Hands-on with Play-Doh Touch, the app that brings kids’ creations to life http://ift.tt/2eOSw32 http://ift.tt/2fpeTbK November 18, 2016 at 10:04PM screen-shot-2016-11-18-at-3-53-59-pm

Play-Doh has come to the iPad. With the newly launched toy set for kids, Play-Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio, Hasbro has made a solid attempt at bringing the joy of Play-Doh to digital through an iOS app that brings kids’ creations to life. But the combination of physical play and digital is not a skill set that’s easily mastered even by top kids’ brands — just ask… Read More

People working at conference table in office

Cogito, a real-time feedback platform for customer service agents, added $15 million to its coffers today in the form of a Series B. This brings the company’s total fundraising to $22.5 million. The MIT Media Lab spin off is applying the principles of behavioral science to call centers around the world to improve customer experiences. Cogito compares the characteristics of a current… Read More

http://ift.tt/2fN13AH Cogito closes $15M Series B to improve customer support with science http://ift.tt/2eOvidv

App abandoment is on the rise as consumers stick to the apps they know

{rss:content:encoded} App abandoment is on the rise as consumers stick to the apps they know http://ift.tt/2eOyZ2E http://ift.tt/28MFSyX November 18, 2016 at 07:59PM app-store-graveyard1

It’s getting harder to get people to try new mobile applications, according to a new state of the industry report out now from Adobe, as consumers are sticking to what they know when it comes to the apps on their smartphones. App abandonment is also climbing, and app installs are only up 6 percent year-over-year, the report states. Meanwhile, launches of existing apps are much higher… Read More

San Leandro based Airspace Systems is making a business out of solving the toughest problems facing the emerging drone industry. The company designed a drone of its own, jam packed with sensors and machine intelligence, to autonomously intercept threatening drones at high speeds and carry them away from large crowds. If you think this sounds difficult, you would be right. The company employs… Read More

http://ift.tt/2f8iZUw Airspace Systems’ “Interceptor” can catch high-speed drones all by itself http://ift.tt/2g4fKC5

Listen makes phone numbers smarter with auto-responders, muting, reminders and more

{rss:content:encoded} Listen makes phone numbers smarter with auto-responders, muting, reminders and more http://ift.tt/2g5FYCf http://ift.tt/2fDwDmE November 18, 2016 at 06:30PM listen-app

A new mobile application called Listen wants to make phone numbers smarter by giving you more control over who’s texting and calling, thanks to a variety of features like whitelists, reminders, auto-responders, mute buttons, and more. The idea, explains the company, is to offer one “inbox” for everything that comes in via your phone number. The end result is a number you can… Read More

500 Startups just wrapped up its 18th batch of company launches last month — which means it’s already looking forward to the next one. This time around, in its 19th batch, the program (no longer called an accelerator, ironically) has 44 companies ranging from business-to-business software and beauty products. You’ll find everything from software for managing fitness businesses… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2dPB6Tr Here’s the 19th batch of 500 Startups companies Matthew Lynley http://ift.tt/2g4gncG
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Here’s the 19th batch of 500 Startups companies

{rss:content:encoded} Here’s the 19th batch of 500 Startups companies http://ift.tt/2g4gncG http://ift.tt/2dPB6Tr November 18, 2016 at 06:00PM

As of today, founders have a lot of options as to what kinds of accelerator programs they might want to look into trying to get in to. There’s Y Combinator, TechStars, and 500 Startups, among many others. But with so many choices, it might be easy for an outside observer to not really directly distinguish between them. For Dave McClure — who wants to show that his firm 500 Startups… Read More

http://ift.tt/24XNV2b 500 Startups ditches the ‘accelerator’ brand as it looks to differentiate http://ift.tt/2f83bRY

500 Startups just wrapped up its 18th batch of company launches last month — which means it’s already looking forward to the next one. This time around, in its 19th batch, the program (no longer called an accelerator, ironically) has 44 companies ranging from business-to-business software and beauty products. You’ll find everything from software for managing fitness businesses… Read More

http://ift.tt/2dPB6Tr Here’s the 19th batch of 500 Startups companies http://ift.tt/2g4gncG

Sesame Street’s VC fund makes its first investment in tutoring app Yup

{rss:content:encoded} Sesame Street’s VC fund makes its first investment in tutoring app Yup http://ift.tt/2fomAio http://ift.tt/2eNVZ21 November 18, 2016 at 05:15PM The Yup app delivers homework help on demand.

The Yup app delivers homework help on demand.

Sesame Ventures, the venture fund formed by Sesame Workshop and New York-based Collaborative Fund in May, has made its first investment in a tutoring platform called Yup. Specifically, Yup (formerly known as MathCrunch) has raised $4 million in a seed extension round led by Sesame Ventures, bringing the company’s total capital raised to date to $7.5 million. Yup connects students with… Read More

Three UK suffers major data breach via compromised employee login

{rss:content:encoded} Three UK suffers major data breach via compromised employee login http://ift.tt/2g4GH6J http://ift.tt/2e2BpuH November 18, 2016 at 11:45AM mobile hacking

Three UK is the latest company to suffer what looks to be a major data breach — potentially exposing the personal information of millions of customers. Read More