Author: azeeadmin

“Where we are at the beginning of this century is where Star Trek begins,” says Alan Stern, the NASA researcher who was one of the architects of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. 

In an age where science fiction is rapidly becoming a simple fact, Stern says moon mining, extra-terrestrial energy generation, and space tourism are just around the corner. As the colonization of space progresses, Stern says that moon mining will be one of the first applications of our burgeoning commercial space industry.

“Platinum is abundant on the moon and other rare earths that we have to strip mine on Earth,” Stern said on the Next Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. “It’s lying there waiting for us on the moon. It’s a tremendous opportunity to quit mining the Earth and instead take advantage of the tremendous resources that the solar system presents us.”

Mining may be one of the early commercial applications of the new space industry, but it’s certainly not the only one.

“We need to think of the next decade of space as the Roaring ’20s,” says Stern. “Access to space for humans is still rare but that’s going to change.”

The NASA scientist himself has already bought three tickets on Virgin Galactic to enjoy the marvels of space for the first time.

Indeed, space tourism has been a thing in the space industry for a while — albeit one that was haltingly adopted by the masses. It started in the 1990s when Helen Sharman was flown to the Russian space station. But Stern predicts that next year will launch the industry in earnest.

“Beginning next year we should see companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic start flying sub-orbital flights,” Stern says. “I hope to see sub-orbital tourism flying at least once a day by the early 2020s.”

And with new startups reducing the costs of space travel, the pace of launches for the space industry should increase exponentially, Stern says. “I want to see not a launch a week, not a launch a day, but a launch an hour. We ought to be able to use space to reduce travel times to 45 minutes anywhere in the world.”

Companies like Relativity Space, Vector and others are developing new launch technologies that could compete with the established giants like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and the leading space launch company of the moment, SpaceX.

Facebook has accused BlackBerry of stealing its voice-messaging technology in its instant messaging app.

In an 118-page complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco, Facebook claimed BlackBerry infringed on five other patents, including the tracking and analysis of GPS data, voice-messaging technology, and the ways in which the app displays graphics, video and audio.

In the complaint, Facebook claims that the infringements have “caused and will continue to cause damage” to the company’s Messenger and WhatsApp messaging apps.

Facebook hasn’t yet put a figure on possible damages, but the tone of the lawsuit itself rings hollow in retrospect of comments Facebook made when receiving its own lawsuit for such charges.

If this case sounds familiar, it’s because BlackBerry itself filed a similar lawsuit against Facebook in March.

Paul Grewal, Facebook’s deputy general counsel, claimed at the time that “BlackBerry’s suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business” as well as the abandonment of “its efforts to innovate, BlackBerry is now looking to tax the innovation of others.”

Neither Facebook or BlackBerry immediately responded to a request for comment.

The Justice Department has confirmed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has expressed a “growing concern” that social media giants may be “hurting competition” and “intentionally stifling” free speech and expression.

The comments come as Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey gave testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, as lawmakers investigate foreign influence campaigns on their platforms.

Social media companies have been under the spotlight in recent years after threat actors, believed to be working closely with the Russian and Iranian governments, used disinformation-spreading tactics to try to influence the outcome of the election.

“The Attorney General has convened a meeting with a number of state attorneys general this month to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms,” said Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley in an email.

It’s not clear exactly if the Justice Department is pushing for regulation or actively investigating the platforms for issues relating to competition — or antitrust. Social media companies aren’t covered under U.S. free speech laws — like the First Amendment — but have long said they support free speech and expression across their platforms, including for users in parts of the world where freedom of speech is more restrictive.

When reached, Facebook did not immediately have comment. Twitter declined to comment.

Goop, the lifestyle and e-commerce site startup up by Hollywood darling Gwyneth Paltrow, has settled a $125,000 lawsuit connected to false advertisements of a $66 vaginal Jade egg, which the company said balanced hormones, prevented uterine prolapse and more.

Scientists begged to differ. According to the lawsuit, filed with the Santa Clara County District Attorney, the “wellness empire sold a series of women’s health products whose advertised medical claims were not supported by competent and reliable science.”

“The health and money of Santa Clara County residents should never be put at risk by misleading advertising,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “We will vigilantly protect consumers against companies that promise health benefits without the support of good science…or any science.”

We’ve reached out to Goop for comment.

Among the false claims made by Goop were that the Jade and Rose Quartz egg-shaped stones were capable of balancing hormones, regulating menstrual cycles and increasing bladder control. None of those claims were substantiated.

The company is known for selling bizarre products with hefty products, including a $2,400 spirit-animal ring and 18k gold dumbells priced at $125,000.

The good news is, if you were among the buyers of the falsely advertised Jade Egg, Goop is now willing to refund the full purchase.

Actress-turned-entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow has raised $82 million in venture capital funding for Goop to date from NEA, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felix Capital and others.

Google has inducted a new class of startups into the Launchpad Studio accelerator it inaugurated last year; the first group was focused on gleaning new insights from medical data, and this one is about shaking up established financial markets and systems.

Some of the companies are well-known, established businesses — but this isn’t the usual type of accelerator that aims to take a fledgling business and bring it to market. Instead, Google supports the selected companies in the development of a project, generally involving applying machine learning to the space they operate in. They call Studio a “product acceleration program.” (There are regular accelerators under the Launchpad brand as well.)

This year the companies are all more or less in the financial space, offering banking, identity verification, and retail services in locales around the world. Here’s the list, with Google’s descriptions of each:

• Alchemy (USA), bridging blockchain and the real world

• Axinan (Singapore), providing smart insurance for the digital economy

• Aye Finance (India), transforming financing in India

• Celo (USA), increasing financial inclusion through a mobile-first cryptocurrency

• Frontier Car Group (Germany), investing in the transformation of used-car marketplaces

• Go-Jek (Indonesia), improving the welfare and livelihoods of informal sectors

• GuiaBolso (Brazil), improving the financial lives of Brazilians

• Inclusive (Ghana), verifying identities across Africa

• m.Paani (India), (em)powering local retailers and the next billion users in India

• Robinhood (USA), democratizing access to financial market

• Starling Bank (UK), improving financial health with a 100% mobile-only bank

As you can see it’s quite an international group. But different areas have different opportunities and talents. Inclusive, for instance, emerged in Africa from the difficulty there in finding and verifying identity documents. I talked with the company’s founder, Paul Damalie, earlier this year.

It’s easy to imagine what interesting patterns or helpful knowledge might emerge from a careful analysis of millions of data points tied to demographics, locations, financial situations, and so on.

Robinhood’s popular stock-trading platform is hardly in need of rescue by Google’s resident experts and mentors, but again the data it has access to is the interesting part. Why not collaborate with those experts to create new product ideas or studies?

Google provides cloud computing resources, access to its stable of tame ML researchers, and continuing support after the 4-month period is over.

Congrats to the startups selected for the program; we’ll keep our ears open for whatever products emerge from their work.

Drops, the game-based language learning app, has announced Native Hawaiian as the newest addition to the app’s thirty-language selection.

With just under 300 Native Hawaiian speakers worldwide according to the Endangered Language Project, this addition is the app’s second foray into digitizing niche and endangered languages for a new generation.

“Our native tongue is Hungarian,” Drops co-founder and CEO Daniel Farkas told TechCrunch. “And we’ve watched the rise and decline of many niche languages — including our own. We know how important language is in representing culture and connecting people, and understand the significance of bringing under served languages in particular, to light.”

The company was founded in 2015 by Farkas and CTO Mark Szulyovszky and focuses on using aesthetically appealing pictographic word games to help users immerse themselves in a new language — drop by drop, if you will. For Hawaiian, the language will cover over 2,000 words, including important cultural expressions such as the word for the native Hawaiian triggerfish and state symbol: Humuhumunukunukuapua’a.

This newest addition also follows a significant amount of growth for the company, including doubling its download numbers from two million to five million in the past six months and the addition of Prezi’s ex-Head of International, Drew Banks, as the company’s Chief Customer Officer earlier this year.

Banks’ appointment marks the end of a short retirement following his departure from Prezi in 2015.

What sets Drops apart from competitors like Duolingo, Banks told TechCrunch is a combination of the app’s fun and easy approach to designing games around these languages and the app’s focus on building vocab over complex grammar skills.

For some learners, this lack of emphasis on mechanics and grammar may ultimately be a draw back — especially for those looking to improve their written language skills and not just their reading comprehension. But for users looking to gain practical language skills, linguistics research has shown evidence that creating a robust vocabulary can give a learner comprehension of about 70 to 80 percent of the language.

By focusing on visually appealing games and vocab, Drops aims to lower the barrier preventing users from exploring a new language and, ultimately, accessing the social and economic benefits knowing that language may provide.

“We grew up understanding that being multilingual is critical for participating in the global economy,” Farkas said. “The world is growing more diverse every day, and the barriers that once made it hard to connect across cultures are shrinking.”

Every year, TechCrunch chooses an elite cohort of startups to compete in Startup Battlefield – TechCrunch’s premier global startup launch competition. This year’s selection was the most competitive in Startup Battlefield history and we’re excited for you to watch these innovative startups duke it out on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018. Companies are competing for a $100,000 equity free grand prize and the renowned Disrupt Cup.

These founders have made unprecedented advancements in their industries. From new age designer vibrators and anti-facial recognition protection software to ovulation prediction kits and cannabinoid producing bio-engineered yeast, our teams are breaking barriers across the board. With AI and deep machine learning on the docket, they are creating smart enterprise search functions, intelligent legal tech, and even advanced hormone tracking for women’s health and wellness.

Over the past two months, teams have been training hard with the Startup Battlefield and TechCrunch Editorial teams to strengthen their business case, enhance their product framing, and create a strong stage pitch. On Wednesday and Thursday, teams will have six minutes to pitch in front of a panel of esteemed judges and a live audience followed by an intensive Q&A session. On Friday, a select number of companies will be chosen to compete in the final Startup Battlefield round with a brand new set of judges, for the grand prize.

Startup Battlefield will kick off at 2:00pm PT with Startup Battlefield session moderator Anthony Ha. To learn more about Startup Battlefield, click here. You can also watch the TechCrunch Disrupt livestream here.

Wednesday

Session 1: Carma Car, Stealthy Labs, D-ID, PoLTE, McCarthy Finch

Session 2: Kegg Technologies, Forethought AI, Elevian, Nutrigene, Origami Labs**

Thursday

Session 3: CB Therapeutics, Lori Systems, KidSense.ai, Secure by Fibre, PopBase by Binary Bubbles

Session 4: Unbound, Hai by Crossing Minds, Mira, Kinta AI, Wingly, Vtru**

Friday

Finals: Check back on Thursday evening on TechCrunch.com to find out who will be competing in the final round for Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018.

**As a part of Startup Alley, companies are eligible for the Wild Card. These are the companies selected for Wild Card and can compete in Startup Battlefield. These teams only learned of their acceptance last night.

On the heels of the rape and murder of a Didi ride-hailing passenger in China, Uber has announced some new features to ensure safety for both the passenger and the driver. The first is what Uber calls Ride Check, which activates if the driver’s smartphone senses a possible crash. Ride Check will also activate if the GPS sensor in the driver’s phone notices there’s an abnormally long or unexpected stop during the trip.

“They can let us know through the app that all is well, or take other actions like using the emergency button or reporting the issue to Uber’s critical safety line,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a blog post today. “We expect to expand this technology to additional scenarios in the future.”

Additionally, Uber is no longer requiring drivers to fiddle with their phones at the beginning and end of the trip. Considering hands-free driving laws in numerous states, this probably should’ve come sooner. But hey, better late than never. Now, Uber drivers can just use their voices to accept trips and communicate with passengers if they’re trying to find them.”

Another concern among passengers is the fact that drivers have access to their pickup and dropoff locations after they’ve left the car. Now, Uber is starting to conceal specific pickup and dropoff addresses in the driver’s trip history. Moving forward, the driver app will only show the general area where the trip started and ended.

Other new features include two-step verification for your account, an insurance hub in the driver app and an expansion of Uber’s 911 integration pilot into additional cities.

“You can expect to see these features in your app over the coming months, and there’s more to come,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “That’s because when it comes to safety, our work is never done. Uber has a responsibility to help keep people safe, and it’s one we take seriously. We want you to have peace of mind every time you use Uber, and hope these features make it clear that we’ve got your back.”

I’m chatting with Khosrowshahi at Disrupt SF tomorrow, so be sure to tune in.

Bernie Sanders has never been one to mince words — and the past couple of weeks have found the independent senator from Vermont going toe to toe with some of the world’s largest and wealthiest companies. As promised, the 2016 presidential candidate introduced a bill aimed at ending what he’s deemed “corporate welfare.”

Along with Congress member Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Sanders has just introduced legislation titled Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (BEZOS). The senator held a press conference today in Washington, introducing the bill aimed at what he deemed “the great economic crisis in America today.”

“Despite low unemployment, we end up having tens of millions of Americans working at wages that are just so low that they can’t adequately take care of their family,” Sanders told the audience. “And today, we have the three wealthiest people in America who own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent.

The bill is designed to create a “100 percent tax on corporations with 500 or more employees equal to the amount of federal benefits received by their low-wage workers.”

As the name and much of Sanders’ recent rhetoric has suggested, he’s taking particular aim at Amazon head, Jeff Bezos.

“Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the wealthiest person on Earth, and since the beginning of this year, his wealth has increased by about $260 million every day,” Sanders’ office wrote in a release. “Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon workers rely on food stamps because their wages are so low.”

For its part, Amazon called Sanders’ earlier statements “inaccurate and misleading,” adding, “While Senator Sanders plays politics and makes misleading accusations, we are expending real money and effort upskilling people with our Career Choice program.”

We’ve reached out to Amazon for comment on the legislation.

Disrupt SF has descended upon the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, and we have one helluva show in store for you.

This morning we’ll hear from Cyan Bannister, Drew Houston, Anne Wojcicki, Ashton Kutcher and many more. In the afternoon, we’ll be joined by Sophia Amoruso as well as Lockheed Martin’s CTO Dr. Keoki Jackson. Plus, we’ll kick off this year’s Startup Battlefield, where some of the best and brightest new startups show off their wares to a panel of expert judges.

This is our biggest Disrupt yet, and as per usual, we’ll be bringing you all the action right here.

You can check out the full agenda here.

Enjoy!