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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.
Starry's Station aims to be the smartest, prettiest WiFi router around
Starry founder Chet Kanojia seems intent on changing how people get their internet service like he did with Aereo and television. While the beta launch of the startup's millimeter-wave wireless service won't happen until this summer, people will be able to get the first taste of the Starry formula — a WiFi router called the Starry Station — much sooner than that. Like Google's OnHub, the $349 Starry Station is meant to give regular people a simpler, sleeker, more reliable way to set-up and manage their Wi-Fi networks, but it also packs a handful of curious extras.
Twitter's former CEO is working on a fitness platform
Dick Costolo hasn't been sitting on his thumbs since getting the boot from Twitter. The former CEO has announced that he's starting a new company whose software "reimagines the path to personal fitness." It'll stress motivation for exercise, he says, not just tracking your vitals. Costolo isn't saying when he expects products to be ready (he hasn't even mentioned a company name yet), but there's at least a roadmap.
Meet KATIA, a robotic arm that wants to do it all
Some people very strongly believe that robots will eventually replace humans in the workforce. Those people probably wouldn't like KATIA, a surprisingly versatile robot arm we just met here at CES. Carbon Robotics founders Rosanna Myers and Dan Corkum managed to build an industrial-grade robotic arm that, ahem, won't cost you an arm or a leg. Seriously, they're aiming to sell KATIA for a relatively paltry $1,999 starting this March.
Owlet's smart baby monitor can save lives while looking cute
Most startups crow about saving people time or money — Provo, Utah-based Owlet, on the other hand, is part of an exclusive club that wants to save lives. After a successful crowdfunding campaign and a beta testing push, Owlet recently released its washable, wearable baby monitor to the masses in hopes that its heart tracking abilities could help few the youngest of young ones succumb to ailments like SIDS.
This VR flying rig had me pining for the fjords
Riding on a flying, virtual Pegasus is cool and all, but German design firm Hyve has cooked up what might be an even purer VR flying experience. Rather than plop down on a specially made stationary bike, designer Johannes Scholl has spent the last two years of his life crafting Icaros, a rig you climb on top of to simulate flight. There's no motor or hydraulics here — the sense of motion is derived solely from your own of balance... or in my case, the lack thereof.
Flying the Icon A5, an almost affordable personal plane
As we cut through the skies over the Hudson River and traced a loop around the Statue of Liberty, I spent as much time glancing down at the instrument cluster as I did peering out the window. That might seem like a huge waste of time given the views I was taking in but I couldn't help it: It's not often I wind up in the cockpit of a plane looking at dials and readouts, much less ones that make sense to me. That's because a pilot and I were tooling around in an Icon A5, a $189,000 "light sport" amphibious aircraft that's eager to shrug off the complexity of (relatively) cheap aviation. After nearly ten years of development and fighting for FAA approval, the A5 is almost ready to make the skies accessible to the well-heeled.
The shower of the future will save the planet, but at a high price
Aside from building a coal-fired power station, the thing that activates your brain's climate-guilt gland the fastest is taking a luxurious bath. Unfortunately, using a shower isn't that much better for the planet, which is why Dutch startup Hamwells has built the ultimate in eco-washing facilities. The company is showing off its first-generation e-Shower here at TechCrunch Disrupt, and the device does for showers what Dyson did for vacuum cleaners: makes it an object of desire. There's just one downside, and that's how much you're going to have to spend to own one.
Former Android boss Andy Rubin could be coming back to phones
It's been a little bit over a year since former Android boss Andy Rubin left Google entirely to start a hardware startup incubator called Playground Global. Now, it sounds like Rubin is going to get back in the Android game, albeit indirectly. A report from The Information claims that Rubin is trying to recruit people to start a new smartphone company, likely funded through Playground Global. It's not clear if Rubin would be an advisor or play a more active role in managing and operating the company, but either way his vast experience with Android would be helpful for a new hardware company trying to get off the ground.
Apple buys motion-capture company that worked on 'Star Wars'
Apple's latest startup pickup is Faceshift, a company that specializes in facial motion capture -- often doing it without any need for physical "markers" on the model's face. Cupertino confirmed the deal to Techcrunch, which also discovered that several Faceshift employees are already working for Apple in Europe. While a lot of Faceshift's technical demos have focused on real-time animation based on camera-based motion capture, it also works on improving facial CGI animation in movies and other media. (That's where the Star Wars connection comes in.) It's a bit of a reach to figure out exactly how the startup's work will dovetail into Apple's machinations for the future -- but at least it's something a little more interesting than another map company.
Skype co-founders build delivery bot that rides on sidewalks
While companies like Amazon and Google are betting on airborne drones for the future of delivery, two of the founders of Skype are taking a more pedestrian approach. They've created a company called Starship Technologies, and its eponymous robots are autonomous rovers that drive along sidewalks to carry packages at an average speed of 4mph. The aim is to deliver "two grocery bags" worth of goods (weighing up to 20lbs) in 5-30 minutes for "10-15 times less than the cost of current last-mile delivery alternatives."
Yota aims for mass-market success after buyout
It's fair to say that the global launch of Yota Device's last E-Ink smartphone didn't quite go to plan. Despite positive reviews and a successful crowdfunding campaign, the Russian startup was forced to scale back its US plans significantly following a manufacturing issue. That sad state of affairs goes a long way to explaining why it's just accepted a large investment that puts a majority 64.9-percent stake in its company in the hands of Hong Kong-based investment company REX Global.
Startup lab Theranos scales back unique 'finger prick' blood tests
Theranos, the $9 billion Silicon Valley startup that promises blood test results with just a finger prick, is under serious scrutiny. According to The Wall Street Journal, FDA investigators recently showed up unannounced to inspect its laboratory, due to concerns about the data the company voluntarily submitted for approval of its testing methods. So far, the FDA has only approved one (for herpes) of the 100 Theranos tests waiting for its endorsement. Since the agency also marked the "nanotainers" -- containers that can keep tiny amounts of blood -- Theranos uses as "unapproved medical devices," the company was forced to stop drawing blood by pricking patients' fingers unless it's to check for herpes. In short, it has almost completely stopped doing what makes the startup unique, making it like any other lab, with needles, syringes and such. Update (10/16): Founder Elizabeth Holmes had an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC today (you can view it after the break), and Theranos has published another blog post promising "Unprecedented transparency." It confirms that the finger prick tests are only being performed to check for herpes, saying that it sought out and asked the FDA to review and fully clear its technology for other tests.
Apple buys an AI startup with eye on better photo management
Apple's acquired a startup with a keen focus on developing artificial intelligence systems that run locally on your device rather than at an offsite server farm. In Perceptio's case (why does every start-up sound like Aviato now?), it's using deep learning for photo classification rather than other mundane tasks, according to both Bloomberg and ReCode. The latter notes that Facebook and the like do this with cloud processing but Apple is incredibly big on not storing user-data offsite. So it makes sense that the company would be interested in bringing this sort of imaging tech to its handsets and computers -- especially considering that new camera the iPhone 6s series is sporting.
Nextbit reveals Robin, a smartphone that's nestled in the cloud
"Nothing excited me in mobile in the past few years," Tom Moss says, leaning back in an office chair. Far as he's concerned, smartphone makers -- especially those working with Android — have spent way too much time crafting hardware and not nearly enough effort on innovating software. That's why, when the bug to build something new bit again, Moss gathered an Android dream team to build a "cloud-first" smartphone called Robin.
How much should we trust tech companies?
Last week, the internet was awash with journalists' interpretations of Spotify's new privacy policy. Depending on whom you ask, the policy was eerie, creepy or just downright atrocious. While Spotify scrambled to reassure us that it wasn't really interested in snooping through your photos or tracking your every move, people publicly quit the service, argued with its CEO and generally hated on the company. Such public outcries are now commonplace. But what is it about the industry that evokes such an endemic distrust? Why are we so quick to believe they're out to do us harm? Aaron Souppouris and Devindra Hardawar try to get the bottom of the matter. Or at least argue about it.
Frontback's selfie app is back thanks to an anonymous rescuer
Tech startups rarely get a second chance if they fail, since they can't usually draw on the help of either a huge following or a pile of cash. However, the recently defunct Frontback is getting that rare reprieve. The selfie-oriented social service has reached a deal with an as yet unnamed "partner" that will keep it running for the foreseeable future. This mysterious helper believes there's "something incredible" behind the concept of posting both front and back photos, Frontback says, and it's offering "fresh ideas" for what to do next. There's no certainty that Frontback will live happily ever after, but it's at least not going to fade out any time soon.
Warby Parker wants you to use your phone for eye exams (update)
Warby Parker, the eyewear company that sends you frames to try on before you make a purchase, has some lofty goals for the near future. In addition to plans that'll almost double its current retail footprint, the start-up has tech in the works that will save you a trip to the optometrist for an eye exam. "We think that would increase access to eye exams," co-founder Dave Gilboa told The Wall Street Journal. "It's early in the process but we are excited about the potential." Of course, besides the convenience, it'll also provide an avenue for folks who really need their eyes looked at to get some help at home.
Venmo finally gets more secure with two-factor authentication
If you're the type who uses Venmo to pay your buddies back for artisanal cupcakes, congratulations: You're a little bit safer now. Venmo announced the other day that it was rolling out a new two-factor identification feature -- when the service detects a login from a new device, it'll send you an email and a 6-digit pin to your phone so you can prove everything's on the up and up. That might sound like a no-brainer for a financial services company that's (thanks to back-to-back acquisitions) part of eBay's payments empire, and you know what? It absolutely is. The only thing more shocking than Venmo not having something like this in the first place is how long its taken to implement.
Snapchat delivers news (and ads) with Discover
It's been a long time in the making, but Snapchat's new Discover feature is ready to go... and so is the app's transformation from a pure messaging service into a full-blown media destination. Once the app update is in place, a quick tap on a circle icon that lives in the top right corner of the screen takes you away from your inbox and plops in front of a curated selection of stories from media partners like CNN, Yahoo, Vice, ESPN and even Snapchat's own fledgling editorial team.
