13 Jan 2018

Why is health care so damn expensive?

 Never has there been more talk of innovation and yet more disappointment in the future than in the health care industry. AngelList shows almost a thousand startups just in the digital health space alone, and VCs invested $3.5 billion in digital health startups in just the first half of 2017 according to Rock Health’s industry analysis. There are dozens of health innovation conferences… Read More
13 Jan 2018

The secret to avoiding CES cynicism is never really going

 I’ve been going to CES for almost ten years now, and it amazes me that really, nothing has changed. The same people are saying the same things on the same stages, selling the same people the same junk with… well, slightly different numbers attached. But this year I had a great time and found some amazing companies — because I avoided at all costs actually stepping foot on… Read More
13 Jan 2018

‘Inexcusable’ false ballistic missile alert in Hawaii was caused by human error

 Hawaiian residents were briefly but intensely disturbed this morning by a state-wide alert via TV and phone warning of an incoming ballistic missile. It was, however, shortly afterwards confirmed to be a mistake caused by “human error.” Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz called the false alarm “inexcusable” and said to expect “tough and quick accountability and a… Read More
13 Jan 2018

‘Inexcusable’ false ballistic missile alert in Hawaii was caused by human error

 Hawaiian residents were briefly but intensely disturbed this morning by a state-wide alert via TV and phone warning of an incoming ballistic missile. It was, however, shortly afterwards confirmed to be a mistake caused by “human error.” Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz called the false alarm “inexcusable” and said to expect “tough and quick accountability and a… Read More
13 Jan 2018

US & Canada VCs favor late-stage giants over upstarts in Q4

 Startup investors in the U.S. and Canada have been putting a little less money to work across a lot fewer deals in recent months. After three quarters of rising investment at early through growth stage, VCs have cut back in the fourth quarter of 2017. We look at some of the key data points for the just-ended quarter and year, including early and late-stage funding, round counts, M&A and IPOs. Read More
13 Jan 2018

Irish startup SoapBox Labs is building speech recognition tech for kids

 Irish startup SoapBox Labs is on a mission to create what it calls “the world’s most accurate and accessible speech technology for children”, tech it plans to offer to third-party hardware and app developers. These span educational apps that support reading and language development, children’s voice-control for IoT devices in the home, smart toys, and AR/VR experiences. Read More
13 Jan 2018

Hulu announces April release date for The Handmaid’s Tale

 Hulu on Friday released the first images of the next season of The Handmaid’s Tale, announcing that the next season will be released in April. Unfortunately, they weren’t any more specific than that. Another lingering question is whether or not Hulu will continue on with its weekly release of episodes for Season 2. In the first season, Hulu released the first three episodes at… Read More
13 Jan 2018

CTRL+T podcast: Diversity and its discontents

 No one is down with how diversity is unfolding in Silicon Valley. Depending on how one looks at it, they’re going to have an issue with it. White men are crying foul, saying they’re being left out of these conversations and initiatives. However, actual marginalized people are, rightfully so, saying not enough is being done to diversify the industry and foster inclusion. If you… Read More
13 Jan 2018

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule returns from the International Space Station

 SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has returned from the International Space Station as planned, after spending around a month docked at the orbital facility. This Dragon spacecraft was previously flown on an ISS resupply mission, meaning it’s done the round trip successfully twice in its lifetime now. Dragon decoupled and departed from the space station around six hours ago, and finished… Read More
13 Jan 2018

Google Assistant had a good CES

 Celine Dion at Caesar’s, David Copperfield at the MGM Grand, Google at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company wallpapered the Vegas monorail and plastered the words “Hey Google” on every rentable screen in town. Take that, Donny and Marie.  That crazy booth in the Convention Center parking lot seemed like a terrible idea on Tuesday when the rains opened up and… Read More