Month: October 2018

A patent suit between IBM and Groupon that has been underway for over two years has finally been settled. Today, the two companies announced that Groupon will pay IBM $57 million both to settle infringement claims, as well as to license e-commerce patents from IBM in the future. On IBM’s side, the company said it will “consider” offering Groupon products to employees as part of the company’s corporate benefits package.

“The license we have acquired to IBM’s patent portfolio will enable Groupon to continue to build amazing products for consumers and small businesses around the world. We look forward to sharing these products directly with IBM employees,” said Bill Roberts, Groupon vice president of Global Communications, in a statement.

The $57 million is a fair bit lower than the initial $83 million that IBM was initially awarded when it had won the case against Groupon in July, and significantly lower than the $167 million that it had originally asked for in damages.

Groupon had always argued that it wasn’t guilty because it believed the patents that were in question were too old, and so in July it had said it would consider appealing or applying for a lower sum (which it appears to have achieved).

The news puts to rest a case that has been ongoing since March 2016, when IBM filed a case against Groupon alleging that the daily deals site was violating four patents. IBM — one of the world’s biggest technology patent holders, with more than 45,000 now credited to it — is no stranger to litigating against other companies that it believes infringes on them, with other suits involving Twitter, Amazon, Expedia and more.

IBM made nearly $1.2 billion in intellectual property licensing and royalties in 2017 according to its annual report. Notably, this was down about 14 percent from 2016’s $1.4 billion, so it seems that the company might look to get more aggressive to bring back growth to that area.

“IBM invests over $5 billion annually in research and development,” said Dr. William Lafontaine, IBM’s general manager of intellectual property, in a statement. “This agreement further demonstrates the value of our intellectual property that results from this innovation. We’re pleased this matter has been resolved.”

Groupon has a market cap of about $2.2 billion and its stock is up by over three percent today, although overall has been on a downward trend for the last year, as the company continues to struggle to regain some of the momentum it had in its early days around deals for local goods, services and experiences.

The HRP-5P is a humanoid robot from Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology institute that can perform common construction tasks including – as we see above – install drywall.

While HRP-5P – maybe we can call it Herb? – uses environmental measurement, object detection, and motion planning to perform various tasks. In this video we see it use small hooks to grab the wallboard and slide it off onto the floor. Then, with a bit of maneuvering, it’s able to place the board against the joists and drill them in place.

“By utilizing HRP-5P as a development platform of industry-academia collaboration, it is expected that research and development for practical use of humanoid robots in building construction sites and assembly of large structures such as aircraft and ships will be accelerated,” write the creators.

The researchers see the robot as a replacement for an aging population and a declining birthdate. “It is expected that many industries such as the construction industry will fall into serious manual shortages in the future, and it is urgent to solve this problem by robot technology,” the write. “Also, at work sites assembling very large structures such as building sites and assembling of aircraft / ships, workers are carrying out dangerous heavy work work, and it is desired to replace these tasks with robot technology. However, at the assembly site of these large structures, it is difficult to develop a work environment tailored to the robot, and the introduction of robots has not progressed.”

Considering there are 6 million contractors in the US alone, robots like this one could be a boon or a curse. What happens when we can easily replace humans in shipping, logistics, and construction? Let’s just hope Herb here needs a supervisor.

The HRP-5P is a humanoid robot from Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology institute that can perform common construction tasks including – as we see above – install drywall.

While HRP-5P – maybe we can call it Herb? – uses environmental measurement, object detection, and motion planning to perform various tasks. In this video we see it use small hooks to grab the wallboard and slide it off onto the floor. Then, with a bit of maneuvering, it’s able to place the board against the joists and drill them in place.

“By utilizing HRP-5P as a development platform of industry-academia collaboration, it is expected that research and development for practical use of humanoid robots in building construction sites and assembly of large structures such as aircraft and ships will be accelerated,” write the creators.

The researchers see the robot as a replacement for an aging population and a declining birthdate. “It is expected that many industries such as the construction industry will fall into serious manual shortages in the future, and it is urgent to solve this problem by robot technology,” the write. “Also, at work sites assembling very large structures such as building sites and assembling of aircraft / ships, workers are carrying out dangerous heavy work work, and it is desired to replace these tasks with robot technology. However, at the assembly site of these large structures, it is difficult to develop a work environment tailored to the robot, and the introduction of robots has not progressed.”

Considering there are 6 million contractors in the US alone, robots like this one could be a boon or a curse. What happens when we can easily replace humans in shipping, logistics, and construction? Let’s just hope Herb here needs a supervisor.

LG is announcing a new flagship this week. It’s called the V40 ThinQ. These things we know for sure. We also now know that the handset will sport a cinemagraph-style feature called Cine Shot. How? Because LG says so. Also, we had occasion to see the feature in action

If you’re a company like LG, there’s value in pre-announcing features, and Cineshot is right in the sweet spot, in that it’s interesting without giving too much of the phone away.

For those are uninitiated, cinegraphs are still images with pockets of looped motion. They essentially split the difference between a still and animated Gif. In the case of the V40, the phone merges still and video into one file. The user can then highlight the portion of the photo they want to add motion to by essentially painting it in with a finger. The feature also works with all three (!) of the phone’s rear-facing camera. 

It’s gimmicky — but it’s cool gimmicky. There’s a good chance it’s the sort of thing you’ll use twice out of the box and then never return to, but it’s an interesting and fun way for LG to help distinguish itself from the competition.

More info on the V40 later this week.

LG is announcing a new flagship this week. It’s called the V40 ThinQ. These things we know for sure. We also now know that the handset will sport a cinemagraph-style feature called Cine Shot. How? Because LG says so. Also, we had occasion to see the feature in action

If you’re a company like LG, there’s value in pre-announcing features, and Cineshot is right in the sweet spot, in that it’s interesting without giving too much of the phone away.

For those are uninitiated, cinegraphs are still images with pockets of looped motion. They essentially split the difference between a still and animated Gif. In the case of the V40, the phone merges still and video into one file. The user can then highlight the portion of the photo they want to add motion to by essentially painting it in with a finger. The feature also works with all three (!) of the phone’s rear-facing camera. 

It’s gimmicky — but it’s cool gimmicky. There’s a good chance it’s the sort of thing you’ll use twice out of the box and then never return to, but it’s an interesting and fun way for LG to help distinguish itself from the competition.

More info on the V40 later this week.

Ettitude, recently graduated from the ERA accelerator, is looking to ride the growing wave of e-commerce by offering eco-friendly sheets.

The company offers bamboo lyocell sheets and pajamas, which feel like a hybrid between silk and cotton, and stay cool longer than cotton or other fabrics.

Bamboo lyocell fabric is essentially organic fabric made from weaving together tiny fibers of organic bamboo material or pulp. Ettitude says that the fiber yield per acre from bamboo is about 10 times higher than cotton and requires less than 10 percent of the water to grow.

I tried out the Ettitude sheets and found that they were indeed soft and kept me cool in the hot NYC summer, but they also require slightly more attentive laundering. Ettitude sheets should be washed in cold water and separately (or in a laundry bag), which is a slight departure from throwing your sheets in with the regular wash.

Still, the company is growing. Ettitude, a predominantly bootstrapped company, first launched in Australia and gained traction via ecommerce channels. Late this summer, the company launched in the U.S. and has sold “tens of thousands” of units, with a 20 percent month over month growth rate.

Ettitude has taken some investment from friends and family, and also received $100,000 in investment from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator .

While the consumer side of the business seems to be growing, Ettitude is also receiving inbound requests from enterprise brands such as airlines to get involved with the brand. Qantas, the largest airline in Australia, has started selling Ettitude in its online portal to frequent fliers.

Ettitude Queen set sheets cost $178.

Ettitude, recently graduated from the ERA accelerator, is looking to ride the growing wave of e-commerce by offering eco-friendly sheets.

The company offers bamboo lyocell sheets and pajamas, which feel like a hybrid between silk and cotton, and stay cool longer than cotton or other fabrics.

Bamboo lyocell fabric is essentially organic fabric made from weaving together tiny fibers of organic bamboo material or pulp. Ettitude says that the fiber yield per acre from bamboo is about 10 times higher than cotton and requires less than 10 percent of the water to grow.

I tried out the Ettitude sheets and found that they were indeed soft and kept me cool in the hot NYC summer, but they also require slightly more attentive laundering. Ettitude sheets should be washed in cold water and separately (or in a laundry bag), which is a slight departure from throwing your sheets in with the regular wash.

Still, the company is growing. Ettitude, a predominantly bootstrapped company, first launched in Australia and gained traction via ecommerce channels. Late this summer, the company launched in the U.S. and has sold “tens of thousands” of units, with a 20 percent month over month growth rate.

Ettitude has taken some investment from friends and family, and also received $100,000 in investment from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator .

While the consumer side of the business seems to be growing, Ettitude is also receiving inbound requests from enterprise brands such as airlines to get involved with the brand. Qantas, the largest airline in Australia, has started selling Ettitude in its online portal to frequent fliers.

Ettitude Queen set sheets cost $178.

Fist announced at Apple’s education event in Chicago, the company today launched its new “Everyone Can Create” curriculum on Apple Books. The curriculum joins Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” initiative by offering teachers a way to integrate drawing, music, filmmaking and photography into their classroom lesson plans.

Specifically, “Everyone Can Create” is designed to take advantage of Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad and Apple Pencil, also introduced at the company’s event this March in Chicago. Before its introduction, only Apple’s expensive iPad Pro model offered Pencil support. The new iPad, however, is just $299 for schools, like the prior 9.7-inch device. (Or it’s $329 for consumers.)

The curriculum itself was built by Apple in collaboration with teachers and educators, and works to alongside Apple’s built-in apps like GarageBand, iMovie, Clips, and others. It’s been in preview since the news of its arrival earlier this year, with educators in over 350 schools worldwide giving it a go. Now, it’s open to all, the company says.

Included in the curriculum are four project guides for drawing, music, video, and photos, each with a series of projects that build skills progressively. In total, there are 300 lesson plan ideas across media, projects, and subjects. Not all are focused on the creative arts, to be clear. For example, a math teacher can use the iPad camera’s burst mode to capture the arc of a basketball toss to measure its parabola, the company explains in its announcement. Students can also use the camera to learn about fractals or use Apple Pencils and apps to learn about symmetry.

“We believe Apple technology can help unleash every child’s creative genius,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement about the launch. “Working closely with teachers, we have built the Everyone Can Create curriculum to help bring creative expression and the arts into the classroom, and to help students stay engaged through creativity and ultimately be more successful.”

Apple has proven fairly successful with its prior curriculum, “Everyone Can Code,” which is now used by over 5,000 schools, community colleges and technical colleges worldwide. It also offers a large library of third-party education apps for teachers to tap into – there are nearly 200,000 on today’s App Store.

“Everyone Can Create” is now available in English on Apple Books, with other languages rolling out by the end of 2018. Apple Stores will also feature “Everyone Can Create” at its Apple Teacher Tuesday sessions.

Fist announced at Apple’s education event in Chicago, the company today launched its new “Everyone Can Create” curriculum on Apple Books. The curriculum joins Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” initiative by offering teachers a way to integrate drawing, music, filmmaking and photography into their classroom lesson plans.

Specifically, “Everyone Can Create” is designed to take advantage of Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad and Apple Pencil, also introduced at the company’s event this March in Chicago. Before its introduction, only Apple’s expensive iPad Pro model offered Pencil support. The new iPad, however, is just $299 for schools, like the prior 9.7-inch device. (Or it’s $329 for consumers.)

The curriculum itself was built by Apple in collaboration with teachers and educators, and works to alongside Apple’s built-in apps like GarageBand, iMovie, Clips, and others. It’s been in preview since the news of its arrival earlier this year, with educators in over 350 schools worldwide giving it a go. Now, it’s open to all, the company says.

Included in the curriculum are four project guides for drawing, music, video, and photos, each with a series of projects that build skills progressively. In total, there are 300 lesson plan ideas across media, projects, and subjects. Not all are focused on the creative arts, to be clear. For example, a math teacher can use the iPad camera’s burst mode to capture the arc of a basketball toss to measure its parabola, the company explains in its announcement. Students can also use the camera to learn about fractals or use Apple Pencils and apps to learn about symmetry.

“We believe Apple technology can help unleash every child’s creative genius,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement about the launch. “Working closely with teachers, we have built the Everyone Can Create curriculum to help bring creative expression and the arts into the classroom, and to help students stay engaged through creativity and ultimately be more successful.”

Apple has proven fairly successful with its prior curriculum, “Everyone Can Code,” which is now used by over 5,000 schools, community colleges and technical colleges worldwide. It also offers a large library of third-party education apps for teachers to tap into – there are nearly 200,000 on today’s App Store.

“Everyone Can Create” is now available in English on Apple Books, with other languages rolling out by the end of 2018. Apple Stores will also feature “Everyone Can Create” at its Apple Teacher Tuesday sessions.

Google just announced new features for Google Maps on Android and iOS. The update is rolling out this week and features a bunch of new features focused on commuting, music and getting more personal data from you.

While Google Maps is particularly useful for road trips and vacation, the app can also be useful for stressful commutes. Google is resurfacing some of those features with a new ‘Commute’ tab.

After setting up your home and work address, the app will help you know what to expect in the morning and the evening. If you drive to work, Google Maps now tells you how long it’s going to take and if there are any alternative routes. It works pretty much like Waze’s ETA screen and tells you if it’s going to be faster or slower in 30 minutes or an hour.

If you take the bus or train to work, Google Maps can help you find out when you should leave. The app takes into account the walk or drive to the station. Those public transit features compete directly with Citymapper and most likely relies on a lot of open data.

Talking about public transit, you’ll be able to see your bus or train on the map, slowly moving closer to you. The app also tells you how long you have to wait. This feature will be available in 80 regions around the world. In Sydney, the app tells you how full the next bus is going to be.

Unfortunately, this update comes with a privacy drawback. Until very recently, you could associate your home and work address with your Google account in Google Maps.

Now, you need to activate ‘web & app activity’, the infamous all-encompassing privacy destroyer — I used to store my home and work address and I can no longer change those addresses without enabling that. If you activate that setting, Google will collect your search history, your Chrome browsing history, your location, your credit card purchases and more.

And Google nudges you to activate that “feature” all the time. You need to turn on ‘web & app activity’ to use Google Assistant on an Android device for instance. It’s becoming quite clear that Google is monetizing its newest features with your data.

In other news, Google is also adding music controls in Google Maps. You’ll be able to control Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music. It looks like the company is taking advantage of taller screens to add a banner near the bottom of the screen with the current song and the ability to skip a song or pause the music.

There will be a new button on the right to open your music app as well. Spotify users on Android will also be able to browse the Spotify library from Google Maps directly.