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GSK to use 23andMe’s DNA library in drug development
DNA testing company 23andMe has partnered with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in a bid to develop new drug treatments. 23andMe, which gives customers insight into their genetic makeup via postal saliva tests, has some five million customers -- a potential DNA database considerably larger than those generally available to the scientific community. "By working with GSK, we believe we will accelerate the development of breakthroughs," 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki wrote in a blog post.
Uber will let users rent Lime scooters through its app
Lime is teaming up with Uber to let you rent electric scooters through the ridesharing giant's app. Uber is also investing in Lime as part of a $335 million funding round led by Google parent company Alphabet's venture capital arm GV that takes Lime into unicorn territory with a $1.1 billion valuation. The company will use the investment to buy tens of thousands more scooters.
IKEA and Sonos show off their first smart speaker prototype
Nearly six months after IKEA and Sonos announced their plans to "democratize" music together, the partnership has revealed a teaser of the forthcoming SYMFONISK speaker range. However, the above image -- which doesn't look unlike a stage projection light -- is said to be a non-functional prototype, so the final product may look nothing like this (fingers crossed).
Uber could soon use Waymo's self-driving cars
Uber's autonomous car program has faced significant challenges in recent times, but CEO Dara Khosrowshahi believes it'll be rival Waymo that helps get it back on track. Speaking at Recode's Code Conference in California on Wednesday, Khosrowshahi said that he'd "welcome Waymo to put cars in our network."
Airbnb is encouraging tourists to visit Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico suffered the worst natural disaster in its history in September last year, when Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing devastation that's still affecting its inhabitants. But it remains one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, and Airbnb wants to help it back on its feet with an expanded partnership effort to boost tourism to the area.
Amazon recruits Best Buy to sell Fire TV Edition smart TVs
Best Buy has partnered with Amazon to sell voice-controlled Fire TV Edition branded TVs in its stores and on its website, the companies announced. CEOs Jeff Bezos from Amazon and Best Buy's Hubert Joly said the retailer will sell 11 Amazon-powered TVs, including 4K and HD models, starting this summer with Toshiba models. At the same time, Best Buy will become a merchant on Amazon's website and get exclusive rights to sell Amazon Fire TVs.
Microsoft Mixer streams now support Lightstream Studio effects
Microsoft's Twitch competitor Mixer makes livestreaming pretty straightforward thanks to a broadcast feature built directly into Xbox One and Windows 10. However, if you want to make your streams looks a bit more polished with effects and overlays, things can get complicated. Today, the company is announcing a new partnership with Lightstream Studio, which will help streamers give their broadcasts a professional visual edge.
Qualcomm hopes Samsung deal will fix its antitrust woes
Troubled chipmaker Qualcomm has struck a deal with Samsung that may quash its hefty antitrust case in South Korea and ward off a rumoured hostile bid takeover from rival Broadcom. While the exact terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, the new patent cross-licensing agreement stipulates that Samsung "will be withdrawing" its interventions in Qualcomm's appeal against its $854 million fine from the Korean Fair Trade Commission.
Honda and Toyota are still backing hydrogen fuel-cell cars
Toyota, Honda and Nissan are partnering with eight industrial firms to make a fresh push on hydrogen refuelling stations in Japan. The group wants to build 80 stations within the first four years of the partnership -- which is expected to last a decade -- with nine in operation by March 2018. The plan would nearly double the 91 stations currently in the country.
Kohl's will now pack and ship Amazon returns for you
A couple of weeks ago, Amazon and Kohl's announced a new partnership, which added spaces in Kohl's stores dedicated to selling hardware like the Echo and Dot smart speakers, called the Amazon Smart Home Experience. Now Kohl's is planning for 82 of its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago to offer free return service for Amazon customers. The Kohl's stores will pack and ship "eligible" Amazon return items for anything you buy from the online retailer, for free, starting this October.
Samsung has a $300 million fund aimed at smarter cars
Samsung is planning to get ahead in the connected car market with a new $300 million fund focused entirely on auto-related startups and technologies. The Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund has been earmarked for smart sensors, machine vision, artificial intelligence, safety solutions and more, and will help even the playing field between the company and its biggest rivals. Intel paid $15.3 billion last month to acquire Mobileye, while Qualcomm is currently in the process of buying automotive-grade chip maker NXP Semiconductors. Samsung's first major investment with the fund -- to the tune of $89 million -- will be in networking and safety control company TTTech. The company has provided automotive technology to a number of manufacturers, including Boeing for its 787 Dreamliner, NASA for its Orion Spacecraft, and more pertinently, Audi for its A8.
Shazam brings its music-recognition skills to Samsung TVs
Samsung and Shazam have partnered up to put an end to the head-scratching torment of hearing an unidentifiable song on TV. Samsung's newest update for its 2017 smart TV platform will give viewers access to Shazam at the click of a button, allowing them to identify the title, artist and lyrics of a song playing on screen. This can happen live, or via content delivered through HDMI. Viewers can also speak "what is this song?" into the Samsung One Remote to access information, plus stream the music they identify and create playlists that can be accessed without running an external app.
Atari partners with LGBT Media to make more inclusive games
Atari is making good on its promise to stake part of its strategy on LGBTQ apps. The company has formed a partnership with LGBT Media, the company behind the social app LGBTQutie, to reach more of the community. The deal will see LGBT Media acquire and "re-launch" Atari's city-building game Pridefest by taking advantage of its connections to the LGBTQ community, including an expansion of the title's social side. Ultimately, the two hope to create a "new standard" for gaming in a demographic that they see as underserved.
Lyft and nuTonomy aim to improve self-driving car comfort
Ride service companies like Uber and Lyft are focused on the technology of self-driving cars, but what about everythingn else? Lyft is now exploring the passenger aspect via a partnership with self-driving software firm nuTonomy. The idea, the companies say in a news release, is to gain knowledge on areas like passenger comfort and safety, "from routing and booking to the performance of the driving system and how it interacts and communicates with the rider."
Comcast and Charter partner to push into wireless service
In recent years, a number of telecommunication and media giants have attempted some major mergers (sometimes unsuccessfully) to consolidate power -- a move that often leaves customers with less choice. While Comcast and Charter Communications aren't merging, they did announce a new partnership today that aims the considerable power of the two companies right at the wireless industry. The partnership is rather vague for now, but it sounds like the two companies will be working together to make a substantial push into competing directly with Verizon and AT&T.
Apple Music clips are the new stars of Musical.ly videos
Part creation tool, part social network, the popular Musical.ly app lets users make and share their own music videos using segments of songs. Thanks to a new deal with Apple, the service's users will be able to add songs from the vast Apple Music library to their latest masterpieces.
Spotify integrates itself into Waze (and vice-versa)
Drivers use their smartphone for both navigation and music, so why not put the two together? Waze and Spotify have announced that they've done just that: You can now navigate with Waze within Spotify and access Spotify playlists from Waze. After you set up a playlist, it will automatically play when you start your journey, while letting you "easily" change songs. At the same time, you can browse playlists (and switch from one app to the other) when your vehicle is at a full stop.
BMW and Baidu end self-driving car partnership
Last June, BMW and Baidu announced they would work together on self-driving car technology. Reuters reports that the automaker and Chinese tech company are now ending the joint research project. Baidu had been using BMW 3 sedans to perform on-road tests in China and had plans to so the same in the US.
Sony and Panasonic partner to sell 8K TVs by 2020
NHK boldly declared it would broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8K (also called Super Hi-Vision), but that's just four years away now and the grand total of 8K TVs on the market is ... one. To get things jump-started, the Japanese broadcaster has teamed up with Sony and Panasonic to develop the tech necessary to get more sets on the market, according to Nikkei.
Pandora and Ticketfly joining forces for personalized events
If you rely on Pandora to discover new music, you may soon be looking to the service to also offer tickets for the same artists you unearthed there. Pandora and Ticketfly are joining together to offer personalized events based on the artists you listen to.
