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UNICEF looking to invest in tech that helps children in need
The United Nations Children's Fund, more commonly known as UNICEF, wants to start investing more in technology startups. This new initiative is part of its Innovation Fund, which seeks to develop projects that can make life better for underprivileged children across the globe. But first, companies must meet a few requirements to qualify for UNICEF's funding: The idea must be open source and have a working prototype, while the tech behind it can be novel or improve an existing one.
Apple's latest acquisition is an education-focused startup
Apple went on a major shopping spree last year, acquiring a handful of startups from different fields -- depth-sensing cameras, speech technology and more. But it doesn't look like the company's had enough. As Bloomberg reports, Apple has purchased LearnSprout, a firm with an education service which lets academic staff members analyze student data. While LearnSprout's website doesn't offer many details beyond this, it does mention that its tools are being used in more than 2,500 schools in the US.
Amazon shines a spotlight on startup products in the UK
After going live in the US this summer, Amazon has today brought its Launchpad program to the UK. Appearing sans fanfare on the UK portal, Launchpad is a dedicated storefront specifically showcasing the products of early stage companies. That said, the initial catalogue features some relatively well-known brands, such as Sphero, Withings, Pebble, Elgato, Misfit and new smartphone player Wileyfox, though it's not limited to products in the technology realm. The idea behind Launchpad is that startups can use the program -- and Amazon's delivery expertise -- to get their products to customers without having to become logistics experts themselves.
Amazon Launchpad helps startups get products to customers
If you're an inventor, then your expertise probably lies in developing hardware and software rather than knowing the ins-and-outs of the logistics business. Amazon is hoping to help these individuals with Launchpad, a system that lets startups harness the company's vast marketing and transportation resources. Essentially, if you run a venture capital-backed startup or have made a splash on Indiegogo, then you can send Amazon a box of devices and Jeff Bezos will take care of the rest. For instance, Launchpad will be one of the first places that you can buy Thync's mood-changing wearable and Eero's distributed WiFi hardware.
Google fights patent trolls by giving away patents
Last year, Google and a handful of other technology companies banded together to fight patent trolls -- creating the License on Transfer Network (LOT). It's a pretty good system, effectively protecting LOT members from patent litigation by giving all participants a royalty-free license to any patent that leaves the LOT network. Now, Google wants to expand the network's ranks to include start-ups, and it's offering new members a pretty nice welcome package: free patents.
Recommended Reading: The secrets behind 'Madden's' player ratings
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. How Madden Ratings are Made by Neil Paine FiveThirtyEight If you've ever played a Madden title, at some point, you've questioned how player ratings are compiled. Heck, players are even critical of their own scores. Well, the stats experts over at FiveThirtyEight dive deep on the matter, offering a load of background information and a method for compiling and grading your own abilities... or lack thereof.
Xiaomi passes Uber as the world's most valuable startup
As if we needed another sign of Xiaomi's skyrocketing growth, the Chinese smartphone maker says it's now the most highly valued technology startup in the world. Yes, it's even worth more than wunderkind Uber. Xiaomi announced that it raised a whopping $1.1 billion from investors, which pegged its valuation at $45 billion, slightly higher than Uber's $40 billion-plus value. For a company that didn't even exist before 2010, Xiaomi is on a roll: It was named the third-largest smartphone maker in the world earlier this year (which honestly makes it hard to think of it as a startup). And it's now focused on expansion efforts in India and Indonesia (scaling back plans to reach 10 more countries this year). It's no wonder why Xiaomi is popular in emerging markets -- its phones offer high-end specs and looks for a fraction of the price of other smartphones. While it has no plans to tackle the US or Europe yet (its next stop is Brazil next year), Xiaomi's unique strategy and massive funding could end up driving down smartphone prices everywhere.
Recommended Reading: Palmer Luckey and the homemade VR headset
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. How Palmer Luckey Created the Oculus Rift by Taylor Clark, Smithsonian Magazine If you've yet to read up on the origins of the Oculus Rift, there's no time like the present. Smithsonian Magazine details the headset's origins, giving its creator, Palmer Luckey, an American Ingenuity Award this week. The piece offers a look into the gaming gadget's brief history, including the first meeting between Luckey and Brendan Iribe, Nate Mitchell and Michael Antonov back in 2012.
Indiegogo's pilot program lets successful projects keep raising money
When it comes to the wild and woolly crowdfunding space, it's not hard to look at Kickstarter as the Goliath to Indiegogo's David -- that's why the latter keeps trying to change up how young companies get the cash to build their products. First came Flexible Funding (which let project creators keep whatever money they've raised even if they didn't hit their goal), and now the company is launching a pilot program to keep those campaigns open indefinitely. That's right: if your crowdfunding project hit its initial milestone, you won't ever have to stop taking money from the people waving their wallets at you. In a way, this new funding model could turn Indiegogo into the store that Kickstarter never wanted to be. Sounds great for all those upstart artists and hardware hackers out there, no? It can be, but it could also mean questionable products (like the much-maligned Healbe GoBe and the Ritot projection watch) maintain a stream of funding they may not actually be worthy of. Only a handful of projects have been given the so-called Forever Funding treatment so far, including runaway successes like the Tens tinted sunglasses and this tiny tracking device, but this particular privilege should go live for everyone "in the coming months."
Recommended Reading: Star Wars visuals and Square's data gold mine
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The Man Who Literally Built Star Wars by Jeremy Singer, Esquire Pocket Esquire sits down with Star Wars set decorator Roger Christian to find out what it was like to literally build the visuals for George Lucas. During the course of the chat, we discover that the interior of the Millennium Falcon was constructed from scrap airplane metal, the challenge of the garbage compactor, the inspiration for Hans Solo's blaster and the creation of the first lightsaber.
Watch the first episode of HBO's Silicon Valley on YouTube
Depending on who you listen to, Silicon Valley is either a utopia dedicated to ceaseless innovation and disruption... or a place where self-absorbed nouveau riche techies throw ostentatious parties and drive up housing prices. The real nature of the valley is hard enough to suss out even if you live there, but Mike Judge's Silicon Valley paints a not-too-parodic picture of the new wild west for the rest of us to dissect. Don't have HBO (or a friends HBO Go credentials)? Never fear: The first episode is now available on YouTube. Judge sets everything into motion pretty slowly, but there's plenty there for startup nerds to latch on to: There's an incubator run out of some dude's house, an abundance of pale coders (some with questionable facial hair) and the ticking drama-bomb of a startup eschewing big money from an established company in favor of going alone.
Nike+ aims to innovate wearable tech with virtual game and startup Accelerator program
With the recent resurrection of Jawbone's Up, as well as news of Nintendo's planned Wii U FitMeter, it's become clear that competition in wearables is just now heating up. And now Nike, one of the forerunners of the category, is reaching outside of the box with two new initiatives to propel adoption and expand usability of its activity-tracking devices. Announced as a teaser via its Youtube channel today, NikeFuel Missions -- a virtual game -- appears designed to motivate users by translating their collected movement data (read: NikeFuel points) into currency for escape from a gaming world "conquered by cold." Not much else has been made known about the title, but according to the company's Facebook page, further details will be revealed tomorrow, December 11th. Curious parties can head to that destination site now to sign-up for updates and register to be one of the first in line to play -- but be warned, you'll need a Nike+ device to participate. Further building upon its work in the wearables space, Nike+'s also announced the creation of a three-month long startup program, dubbed Accelerator. Set to take place in Portland, Oregon this coming March, the initiative will bring together 10 startups for an "immersive, mentor-driven" experience that aims to foster innovation and integration with its Nike+ tech. The deadline for consideration is this February 3rd, so if you think your small company could benefit from a swoosh of support, there's still plenty of time to apply at the source below. And while you're at it, be sure to click past the break for a preview of the virtual gaming goods Nike has in store.
Kickstarter brings crowdfunding to the UK on Halloween
Whether you're currently keeping calm, or simply carrying on, we've got some good news for you steadfast Brits: Kickstarter makes its official launch in the UK on October 31st. Sure, its arrival was rather inevitable, but All Hallows' Eve will mark the first time that inventors outside of the US can take part in the crowdfunding website. Kickstarter visitors will find UK projects listed alongside those in the US, and inventors who think they've stumbled upon the next great mousetrap may begin work on their listing today. Naturally, Insert Coin fans are bound to find some nifty projects work their way across the pond, but in the meantime, you can check out the commerce-related details at the source link below.
TAT founder Hampus Jakobsson leaves RIM for startup land (update: not as much of a blow)
RIM just can't seem to avoid staff shakeups. Hampus Jakobsson, The Astonishing Tribe founder and a key factor in BlackBerry 10's interface design, has signaled that he's leaving the smartphone maker. He cites an itch to launch another startup as the impetus behind the move, although he hasn't said what he'll be doing. We can certainly tell that Jakobsson is aware of the climate in which he's leaving -- the veteran has been quick to note that others at RIM are taking his role and that he doesn't expect an upheaval as he heads through the door. There's at least a grain of truth to the reassurances, we'd say. With BlackBerry 10 devices appearing in January on RIM's current schedule, most of the hard work on the software will likely have already been done. Nonetheless, we're sure some fans will be disappointed that a guiding light won't be around to influence any followups. [Image credit: Media Evolution, Flickr] Update: We've learned that Jakobsson had been a Director of Strategic Alliances at RIM since TAT was acquired; while the company he brought into the fold is clearly working on BlackBerry interface design, he hasn't been guiding the work himself. The departure still has an impact -- it's just at the corporate level rather than in design.
Kickstarter sends some love to Europe, will support UK projects beginning this fall
Kickstarter's US-based micro funding site has seen measurable success on this side of the Atlantic, and it looks like the company is planning to capitalize on that momentum, bringing its service to the United Kingdom later this year. A company spokesperson was unable to comment on the move beyond what was offered up in an earlier tweet, but judging by the 110 characters you see above, it appears that Kickstarter plans to open the site up to UK projects beginning this fall, with more information to come at a later date. That 140-character limit is hardly to blame for the micro-size tease, with much space to spare even beyond that rather informal sign-off -- it seems that the site just wants to get its ducks in a row before revealing more. For now, feel free to hit up the source link below to read the post and share your thoughts on Twitter.
Kickstarter pledges more transparency, publishes project stats page with daily updates
Every time we boot up a browser there appears to be a new iPad mount or Arduino project on Kickstarter, but just how many projects have there been to date? How many were successful? And how much might that microfunding startup be netting in commission cash? You can find all those answers through a new Kickstarter stats page (and some number crunching on a calculator), updated daily with key raw data that's tallied, and broken up by category as well. To date, 60,786 projects have launched, of which 24,986 (44 percent) were successfully funded, 31,722 failed and 4,078 are currently active on the site. Of the $261 million that's come in, $219 million has been in the form of "successful dollars," representing $10.95 million in income for the company itself based on a five-percent commission rate -- roughly the same amount raised for Pebble, a single project. Speaking of million-dollar-plus projects, there have been a total of seven, including one in the Music category, three in Games, two in Design and one in Comics (Pebble falls within the Design category, not Technology). There are plenty more stats to comb through if you've been hankering for a peek behind the scenes at Kickstarter -- it's all at our source link after the break.
Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku
Microsoft's Kinect Accelerator program kicked off over a month ago, but at the time we were only made aware of the participant start-ups' names, not their innovations. So, when Microsoft offered us the opportunity to talk with the folks behind four of the program's participants -- Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku -- we jumped at the chance. Join us after the break to see what this quartet of fledgling companies has planned to propogate the Kinect effect further than ever.
NYC's Made in New York Digital Map lets you see who's hiring in the tech field
You can't deny Mike Bloomberg's often coming up with different ways to involve New Yorkers in tech-related bits. On this occasion, Mayor Bloomberg & Co. have introduced a novel way for citizens of The Big Apple -- and others who plan on making the move -- to find jobs in the technology sector. Dubbed "Made in New York Digital Map," the service aims to make it easier for folks to see which tech companies are seeking engineers, designers, developers, etc. At the moment there's more than 325 outfits looking for new hires, with over "thousands of jobs" being up for grabs. Mayor Bloomberg says this is only the beginning and he's encouraging startups to set up shop here in the City, as he believes this "is the place to be if you're a growing tech startup." You can take a tour of the Digital Map now via the source link below.
Microsoft kicks off Kinect Accelerator program to take 11 Kinect-centric start-ups to the next level
Microsoft unwittingly created quite the hacking cottage industry when it first introduced Kinect. Though it took awhile for the company to come to grips with the amazing inventions enabled by its sensor bar, Redmond eventually released Kinect for Windows. Now, the Kinect Accelerator program is here to take Kinect development even further. Kinect Accelerator is a three-month long incubator of sorts for folks with Kinect-basted start-ups. It works by providing the chosen ones with mentors from Microsoft Research, Microsoft Studios, Kinect for Windows and the Xbox team to provide support and knowledge to refine and improve their Kinect apps. Additionally, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs will be available to give advice help the teams craft business plans to help them become profitable. We had the opportunity to chat with Craig Eisler -- who heads up the Kinect for Windows team and is heavily involved with Kinect Accelerator -- about this new venture. Eisler told us that Microsoft's been planning the program since last summer after witnessing all the Kinect innovations that have been percolating organically. So, the Accelerator gives Microsoft the opportunity to find some of the best ideas and speed up their development. Microsoft wound up receiving almost 500 applicants to the program, and winnowing it down to a final 11 was no easy task -- the final 50 ideas were apparently all quite good, and the initial plan was to only take ten into the program. The 11 who made the cut hail from across the globe (US, Canada, Argentina, France, and Germany), and will receive $20,000 and office space, plus Kinect hardware and development software to get their ideas off the ground. Unfortunately, we couldn't get Eisler to tell us exactly what each team is working on, but he did say they'll benefit the medical, retail, fashion, and even farm industries when all is said and done. Specifics about the inventions will come later, once the mentors have worked their magic and the apps are closer to their final forms, so stay tuned. You can learn more about the Kinect Accelerator and the chosen teams at the source link below and PR after the break.
Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells
Optogenetics might be a relatively unknown area of neuroscience, but it's one that, thanks to some new research, could soon find itself (and its rodental subjects) in the spotlight. For the uninitiated, it's the practice of manipulating animal cells using light (with a little help from gene therapy). Until now, optogenetic equipment has been large and unwieldy, making testing on subjects (read: rats) painstaking. Startup, Kendall Research, has changed all this, creating wireless prototypes that weigh just three grams (0.11 ounces). By eschewing bulky Lasers for LEDs and Laser diodes, the equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the rodents. At that point, their brain function can be manipulated with the touch of a button, and different parts can be stimulated without breeding mutant variants -- a controversial practice that doesn't even yield results in real time. The "router" is powered wirelessly by super capacitors below test area, and researchers can conduct experiments remotely, even automatically. Human applications for this are still some way off, but we're sure our future overlords will make good use of it.
