Author: azeeadmin

Key Pixel team members Marc Levoy and Mario Queiroz are out at Google. The departures, first reported by The Information, have been confirmed on the pages of the former Distinguished Engineer and Pixel General Manager, respectively.

Both members were key players on Google’s smartphone hardware team before exiting earlier this year. Levoy was a key member of the Pixel imaging team, with an expertise in computational photography that helped make the smartphone’s camera among the best in class. Queiroz was the number two on the Pixel team.

The exits come as the software giant has struggled to distinguish itself in a crowded smartphone field. The products have been generally well-received (with the exception of the Pixel 4’s dismal battery life), but the Android-maker has thus far been unable to rob much market share from the likes of Samsung and Huawei.

The Information report sheds some additional light on disquiet among the Pixel leadership. Hardware head Rick Osterloh reportedly voiced some harsh criticism during an all-hands late last year. It certainly seems possible the company saw fit to shake things up a bit, though Google declined TechCrunch’s request for comment.

Breaking into the smartphone market has been a white whale for the company for some time. Google has explored the space through its Nexus partnerships, along with its short-lived Motorola Mobility acquisition (2012-2014). The Pixel is possibly the most successful of these projects, but Google’s struggles have coincided with an overall flattening of the market.

The company did find some success with last year’s budget Pixel 3A. The followup Pixel 4A was rumored for a late May launch, though the device has reportedly been delayed.

Key Pixel team members Marc Levoy and Mario Queiroz are out at Google. The departures, first reported by The Information, have been confirmed on the pages of the former Distinguished Engineer and Pixel General Manager, respectively.

Both members were key players on Google’s smartphone hardware team before exiting earlier this year. Levoy was a key member of the Pixel imaging team, with an expertise in computational photography that helped make the smartphone’s camera among the best in class. Queiroz was the number two on the Pixel team.

The exits come as the software giant has struggled to distinguish itself in a crowded smartphone field. The products have been generally well-received (with the exception of the Pixel 4’s dismal battery life), but the Android-maker has thus far been unable to rob much market share from the likes of Samsung and Huawei.

The Information report sheds some additional light on disquiet among the Pixel leadership. Hardware head Rick Osterloh reportedly voiced some harsh criticism during an all-hands late last year. It certainly seems possible the company saw fit to shake things up a bit, though Google declined TechCrunch’s request for comment.

Breaking into the smartphone market has been a white whale for the company for some time. Google has explored the space through its Nexus partnerships, along with its short-lived Motorola Mobility acquisition (2012-2014). The Pixel is possibly the most successful of these projects, but Google’s struggles have coincided with an overall flattening of the market.

The company did find some success with last year’s budget Pixel 3A. The followup Pixel 4A was rumored for a late May launch, though the device has reportedly been delayed.

Global trade watchers breathed a sigh of relief on January 15, 2020.

After two years of threats, tariffs and tweets, there was finally a truce in the trade war between the U.S. and China. The agreement signed by President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office didn’t resolve all trade tensions and maintained most of the $360 billion in tariffs the administration had put on Chinese goods. But for the first time in months, it looked like manufacturers, importers and shippers could start to put two difficult years behind them.

Then came COVID-19, at first a local disruption in Wuhan, China. Then it spread throughout Hubei province, causing havoc in a concentric circle that eventually engulfed the rest of China, where industrial production fell by more than 13.5% in the first two months of the year. When the virus spread everywhere, chaos ensued: Factories shuttered. Borders closed. Supply chains crumbled.

“It has had a cascading effect through the entire world’s economy,” says Anja Manuel, co-founder and managing partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Silicon Valley.

The crisis has caused a drastic contraction in global trade; the World Trade Organization estimates trade volumes will fall 13-20% in 2020. And spinning activity back up could be tricky: Even as China starts to get back online, the slowdown there could reduce worldwide exports by $50 billion this year. When factories do reopen, there’s no guarantee whether they will have parts available or empty warehouses, says Manuel, who also serves on the advisory board of Flexport, a shipping logistics startup. “Our supply chains are so tightly-knit and so just-in-time that throw a few wrenches in it like we’ve just done, and it’s going to be really hard to stand it back up again. The idea that we go back to normal the moment we lift restrictions is unlikely, fanciful, even.”

Getting to that new normal, though, is a job that a number of logistics startups are embracing. Already on the rise, companies like Flexport, Haven and Factiv see a global trade crisis as a setback, but also an opportunity to demonstrate the value of their digital platforms in a very much analog industry.

Information is king

As companies along the global supply chain reel from these fast-moving events, they are increasingly turning to firms that can offer them information — and the options that come with it.

“In moments of lots of volatility, you want to make sure the data you’re looking at is real,” says Sanne Manders, Flexport’s COO. “Where before you could get away with a weekly supply chain update, now you need accurate and timely data every minute. If you don’t, you’re not agile to make decisions.”

Editor’s note: Andreessen Horowitz’s Crypto Startup School brought together 45 participants from around the U.S. and overseas in a seven-week course to learn how to build crypto companies. Andreessen Horowitz is partnering with TechCrunch to release the online version of the course over the next few weeks. 

In week one of a16z’s Crypto Startup School, a16z general partner Chris Dixon discusses “Crypto Networks and Why They Matter,” giving an overview of the crypto space, the transformative implications of its technology, and the potential for crypto networks to lead a new wave of innovation. And in his talk on “Blockchain Primitives: Cryptography and Consensus,” Dan Boneh, a professor in applied cryptography and computer security at Stanford, provides an introduction to the cryptographic foundation of blockchains and how developers can use them to build new types of applications.

Dixon says that crypto is poised to become the next major computing platform. Like mobile phones and the web before it, crypto offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and developers to build new networks and applications, due to the decentralized blockchain technology that underpins it. He describes blockchains as a new type of computer — a virtual computer that runs on a network of physical computers, with encoded guarantees that it will continue to operate as designed. Just as the rise of mobile phones enabled an explosion of innovation on top of that new computing platform, crypto presents an opportunity for the next such “idea maze,” he says. “Our feeling is this is an incredibly rich design space.”

The architecture of crypto enables new possibilities, Dixon says, starting with digital currency but expanding to general computing and community owned and operated networks. In combination with the digital primitive of tokens, which align incentives among network creators and users, this sets the stage for exponential innovation over the next decade that should echo previous eras of tech growth. “When a lot of really smart people who know computer science start thinking about computer science problems and have an economic incentive to do so, those computers tend to get a lot better.”

In the second presentation in week one, Dan Boneh explains the layers of crypto, including the consensus layer, and how Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper proposed a system that enables an unlimited number of participants to contribute to a blockchain without authorization and still come to verifiable consensus. He also talks about cryptographic primitives, how mining works, how blocks are added to the blockchain, public and private keys, and zero-knowledge proofs. These unique features provide a fertile ground for open-source developers.

The application layer, Boneh says, is where a lot of the excitement is, with a “thriving ecosystem” of applications running on the blockchain in the area of decentralized finance (DeFi). While technical, Boneh’s presentation is accessible to those who don’t have a background in cryptography or consensus mechanisms.

Jessica Jackley, co-founder of non-profit microlending platform Kiva, has become a general partner at SparkLabs Global Ventures. Jackley was previously a venture partner at the firm, which focuses on seed-stage investments in the United States, Asia and Europe.

Jackley is also the chief impact officer at Aspiration, an online financial services firm that lets customers open bank accounts that give them a “sustainability score” based on the environmental impact of the companies they spend money at, and invest in fossil fuel free funds.

In an email, Jackley told TechCrunch that she joined SparkLabs Global Ventures because “I was interested in joining a truly global fund; SparkLabs really does have a far-reaching presence, while maintaining a strong U.S. focus, too.” (The firm is part of a SparkLabs Group, a network of startup accelerators and funds).

Her experience in social issues and finance will carry over to her investments, which will focus on fintech and sustainability-related startups.

Jackley said she is “intentionally casting a broad net,” though is eager to look at investments in Asia because recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is happening more quickly there. In terms of fintech, she anticipates that there will be more demand for digital platforms and virtual payment options after COVID-19, and financial services for underbanked populations.

Jackley added that she is also interested in online education, partly because of her experiences as a parent while sheltering in place during the pandemic.

“Of course biotech is more interesting to me now, but as a parent of four, trying to homeschool while working full time at home has made me quickly develop a deep love/hate relationship with several ed-tech platforms,” she said.

“I’m betting other parents reading this right now are nodding along (or punching a wall!)—so I’m eager to see how tech in that space adapts. It’ll be fascinating to see who comes up with new insights during this season, whether established companies or first-time entrepreneurs, or others in-between. Hoping for better, simpler solutions.”

In a statement, SparkLabs Global Ventures co-founder and general partner Bernard Moon said, “Getting to know Jessica over the past few years has been inspiring. Her passion for entrepreneurship, innovation and how it can positively impact people’s lives is the driver that led us to give her a leadership role with SparkLabs Global Ventures, especially as we enter a post-COVID-19 world.”

Eugene Kaspersky made a name for himself in cybersecurity as CEO of Kaspersky Labs, but the Russian security expert has a new passion project: he’s funding an online accelerator that aims to support entrepreneurs who are building travel and tourism startups.

Businesses that apply must have a focus on Russia, though the accelerator is open to startups based anywhere. There are four categories of focus: travel tech, infrastructure, social impact and sustainability. Kaspersky isn’t taking equity in selected teams, which means founders who get into the program will benefit from free support.

Ten startups will be selected for a two-week online bootcamp, with a virtual demo day planned for June 25. The deadline for applications is May 29, 2020.

We spoke to Kaspersky about setting up the program and why he’s so keen to support a sector that’s being hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TechCrunch: What is Kaspersky Exploring Russia? Explain the key details of how the program will work and what sort of support will be offered to selected entrepreneurs/startups?

Eugene Kaspersky: The program is a tourism accelerator targeting young travel startups. We decided to help the tourism industry as an industry that has been hit so severely by the pandemic. I think now is the time to… turn life’s lemons into lemonade by using this self-isolation period for personal development and improvement of business projects. We’ll be accepting applications from different industry streams — tech startups, projects that make extreme and leisure tourism more accessible, business projects that are socially significant in the travel and tourism fields and projects that have a positive impact on sustainable development. We’ll choose the 10 most interesting and promising projects to enter the online educational program with lectures, one-to-one coaching sessions and presentations from industry experts. At the end of the program, we‘ll chose three finalists on the demo day, where all 10 participants will be able to pitch their startups to the jury.

You’ve made your name in cybersecurity. Some people may wonder why you’re investing your own resource in travel/tourism startups when many types of businesses are facing huge challenges as a result of the pandemic — so what’s your personal interest in the sector? And what made you choose an accelerator as your way to help?