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Bose gets into the hearing aid headphone business
When you’ve got a punny name as good as “Hearphones” (no Google, I did not mean “headphones”) in the chamber, you owe it to the world to deliver product. For Bose, the emerging space of hearing assisting headphones was the perfect place for that fun bit of word play. The company’s newly unveiled earbuds seem to occupy a similar spot as a number of emerging… Read More
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Blackmore raises $3.5 million to build better eyes for your self-driving car
A Bozeman, Montana startup called Blackmore Sensors and Analytics Inc. has raised $3.5 million to build Lidar systems that can help vehicles see more details about what’s in front of them than existing sensors do today. The company spun out of a research and development firm called Bridger Photonics that developed Lidar systems for micron-precise laser cutting and welding, originally… Read More
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Microsoft had the best month for consumer Surface sales, partially credits MacBook ‘disappointment’
According to Microsoft, November marked the company’s best month for consumer Surface sales by volume (a list that excludes Surface Hub electronic whiteboard). The ever-growing line’s pre-holiday success was no doubt due in no small part to the recent arrival of the refreshed Surface Book and the brand new Surface Studio, the swiveling all-in-one that marks one of the more… Read More
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The Galaxy Note 7 is getting a 30-percent charging limit in the UK, not a full bricking (yet)
On Friday, Samsung loudly confirmed its plans to push a software update that would kill US-based Note 7s’ ability to charge – effectively rendering them useless when not plugged directly into a power source. It was a more decisive follow up to an earlier update that wouldn’t allow the phone to charge over 60-percent, attempting to wean those last few Note diehards off… Read More
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Occipital shows off a $399 mixed reality headset for iPhone
Mobile VR is an Android game, but as more and more rumors flourish about the next iPhone, some companies are looking to get developers ready to bring iOS users into the world of VR. Occipital announced today that it is launching a mixed reality platform built upon its depth-sensing technologies called Bridge. The headset is available for $399 and starts shipping in March; eager developers can… Read More
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Samsung’s latest software update stops the Note 7 from charging altogether
As the prolonged garbage fire that is 2016 draws to a close, Samsung seems to finally be putting the final nails in the coffin of the Note 7 saga. Admittedly, the last couple of months have mostly been a few isolated death rattles, but believe it or not there are still some devices in the wild, in spite of the company’s best efforts to get them all back. New numbers posted today have… Read More
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Vesper grabs $15M to build a durable low-power mic that listens forever
As digital assistants like Siri and Alexa become more intelligent, there’s a growing need for them to always be accessible. Current microphone tech has been too power-hungry to keep permanently enabled. As a result, a new class of products, home assistants, like Amazon’s Alexa-enabled products and Google Home, have arisen as power-connected alternatives. Vesper is aiming to… Read More
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Joe Lonsdale pours $4.55M for alcohol IoT startup Nectar
Nationally, bars today lose billions of dollars from improperly managed alcohol inventory. These losses add up quickly as a result of oversized pours, spills and even theft. Nectar, a stealth connected-device startup operating out of a Palo Alto dentist’s office (of all places), just locked down a $4.55 million seed funding round from the likes of Joe Lonsdale (8VC + Palantir), Lior… Read More
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Osmo raises $24 million from Sesame, Mattel and other big names in toys and education
Hardware kits, internet-connected toys and robots that teach kids to code are now commonplace. But Osmo, an early entrant in IoT toys, is pulling ahead of the pack with funding and partnerships with top names in the field. Specifically, Osmo has raised $24 million in new venture funding from Mattel, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Collab+Sesame, the venture fund run in partnership by New… Read More
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Johnson & Johnson and HAX team to foster health device hardware development
Johnson & Johnson, of BAND-AID and Tylenol (and about half the inventory at your local drugstore) fame, is teaming up with Shenzhen-based accelerator and hardware investor HAX to put some weight behind health startups. Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the forward-thinking wing of the cursive font conglomerate, is apparently on the lookout for technology ideas aligned with the… Read More
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Microsoft outlines future mixed reality and cellular PCs with Intel and Qualcomm partnerships
If you weren’t anywhere near Shenzhen today, you likely missed some of the stories coming out of Microsoft’s Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC). The company used the opportunity to highlight a number of partnerships and plans designed to hasten the next step in Windows evolution. At the top of the list is Project Evo, a collaboration with Intel designed at… Read More
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Ruvento raises new seed fund to invest in hardware across Singapore, China and the U.S.
Today, Ruvento is announcing a new $25 million seed fund for hardware startups in need of capital from Singapore, China and the U.S. The fund, managed by Slava Solonitsyn and Alex Toh, will write 70 percent of its checks between $100k and $500k. The rest of the capital will be reserved for follow-on investments of up to $2 million. Ruvento is not the first investor to take a… Read More
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Samsung scores an 8-0 Supreme Court ruling in Apple patent case
This morning’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling was nothing if not decisive. The nation’s highest court handed down an 8-0 ruling in favor of the South Korean smartphone maker in its on-going legal battle against its chief competitor. The case, which dates back to 2011, centers around design patents. Apple sued the phone maker over hardware and software design, including, notably, the use… Read More
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Plume’s plug-in WiFi pods are now available
The home WiFi network extender space sure got real crowded, real fast. Startups Eero and Luma have been battling it out for some time before Google elbowed its way in, earlier this fall. All of the devices offer different somewhat different solutions to the problem of spotty home wireless networks. Like those offerings, Plume takes a similar approach of arriving solo on in a bundle, so users… Read More
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Blink’s home security camera gets an outdoor version
CES is still a full month away , but consumer security startup Blink is getting a jump on things with the announcement of a new outdoor camera designed to slot into the company’s home surveillance ecosystem. The Blink XT will be making its in-person debut at CES in January and will start shipping the following month, but company’s offering up pretty much all you need to know about… Read More
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Former TechShop CEO Mark Hatch joins Network Society Ventures as General Partner
Early-stage venture firm Network Society Ventures has snagged TechShop’s former CEO and co-founder Mark Hatch as general partner. Hatch is recognized as a pioneer of the maker movement, is a current entrepreneur in residence at UC Berkeley, and is a former Green Beret. For those who don’t know it, TechShop bills itself as “a membership-based DIY… Read More
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A sneak peek at Propel’s battling Star Wars drones
Last year’s breakout Star Wars toy was, without question, Sphero’s BB-8. It was the perfect synergy of technology and intellectual property, which brilliantly captured The Force Awakens’ breakout star droid. In the lead up to Rogue One, there isn’t a single toy running away with the title, but Propel’s drones are a pretty strong contender. Unveiled via a teaser… Read More
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As acquisition talk surfaces, Pebble stays quiet about Time 2 shipping
When rumors first surfaced about a Fitbit acquisition of Kickstarter king Pebble, concerned backers were understandable concerned about what the news would mean for the status of their unreleased devices. While its hard to know how such a move might ultimately impact support for the company’s existing line of products, at the very least, Pebble 2 buyers can breathe a relative sigh… Read More
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The Moto Mods ecosystem expands with a car dock and Mophie battery backup
At launch, the Moto Z was compatible with three different modular backings (four if you count the shell projector): a Motorola pico projector, a speaker from JBL and an Incipio battery pack. Shortly after launch, the company brought a little camera brand legitimacy to the ecosystem with a Hasselblad back featuring 10x optical zoom. Not a huge number, sure, but it was certainly a more… Read More
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You can now wear Spectacles indoors with Rochester Optical’s lenses
If Snap’s Spectacles are really about sharing your life with the world, we need a solution for capturing the majority of our lives that occur boxed inside buildings. This solution could come in the form of replacement lenses or in the form of an entirely new device. Niche lens manufacturer Rochester Optical gave us the first one today with replacement lenses for Spectacles that… Read More
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