EyeDetect is pitched as more efficient and accurate than a polygraph, but a WIRED investigation found that a reliable lie detector is still a fantasy.
Source: Wired
Forget flagships, the fight for sub-$400 dominance is heating up.
Source: CNET
Its Windows 10 replacement will apparently use the Chromium rendering engine.
Source: CNET
Wing, the drone delivery X project that “graduated” into full company status under the Alphabet umbrella this past July, is taking flight in Europe. Today, it announced that it will start a new pilot in Finland beginning in the spring of 2019 in Helsinki, delivering goods and packages of up to 1.5 kilograms (about 3.3 pounds) within a distance of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
Wing is launching a page now to take suggestions of what might be in most demand to deliver by drone.
This will be the first market for Wing in Europe, and its second extended pilot globally: Wing has run four separate trials covering some 55,000 journeys in Australia (and 60,000 overall), carrying things as diverse as medicine and coffee, across a range of environments. As with the Aussie trial, the Finnish service will be free until full commercial launch. It is otherwise run in as market-ready form as possible: people use an app, where they can select items and order their drones.
CEO James Ryan Burgess said in an interview that Wing — and Alphabet — see a clear opportunity to fill a gap when it comes to delivering goods, not just because of the environmental and safety impact of ground-vehicle-based services, but because of the economic angle.
“Today a recipient is charged a delivery fee, but so is the merchant,” he said — which is the typical business model for marketplaces like Amazon’s when it provides services like fulfillment. “Our aim is to provide a service at a cost lower for both. We think single numbers of dollars will be the likely amount an order will cost when it is commercially live.”
Today’s launch is notable because it’s a sign that Wing is slowly getting off the ground (so to speak) — , despite a bumpy start in the US. There, the project forged partnerships early on with key brands like Starbucks and Chipotle, but neither went the distance. The partnership with the coffee giant was put on ice, some allege because there were disagreements about who would own the customer. And while Wing did show off a demonstration with Chipotle in Virginia, it didn’t develop into anything more.
“We are still working in the US, but the regulatory environment is more complicated,” Burgess said. “The Federal Aviation Administration has a tough job to do.”
Finland, in contrast, holds some appeal for Wing.
“Finland is known as a country that is forward-looking, with smarter ways of doing things,” Burgess said, with a number of other advanced drone projects underway. It also happens to be well out of the airspace (and media space) of the UK, where Amazon has been working on trials of its Prime Air drone project.
Going ahead, Burgess declined to sat whether Wing will remain solely financed by Google/Alphabet, or if it might also seek outside investment. “This shows a lot of confidence in to drive forward,” he said of the graduation to subsidiary. “As a separate company we will have to show business viability. And we are excited about the future.”
Source: TechCrunch
Jeep’s compact SUV is the most adventurous in its segment.
Source: CNET
Lawyers behind a UK class-action style compensation litigation against Google for privacy violations have filed an appeal against a recent High Court ruling blocking the proceeding.
In October Mr Justice Warby ruled the case could not proceed on legal grounds, finding the claimants had not demonstrated a basis for bringing a compensation claim.
The case relates to the so called ‘Safari workaround’ Google used between 2011 and 2012 to override iPhone privacy settings and track users without consent.
The civil legal action — whose claimants refer to themselves as ‘Google You Owe Us’ — was filed last year by one named iPhone user, Richard Lloyd, the former director of consumer group, Which?, seeking to represent millions of UK users whose Safari settings the complaint alleges were similarly ignored by Google, via a representative legal action.
Lawyers for the claimants argued that sensitive personal data such as iPhone users’ political affiliation, sexual orientation, financial situation and more had been gathered by Google and used for targeted advertising without their consent.
Google You Owe Us proposed the sum of £750 per claimant for the company’s improper use of people’s data — which could result in a bill of up to £3BN (based on the suit’s intent to represent ~4.4 million UK iPhone users).
However UK law requires claimants demonstrate they suffered damage as a result of violation of the relevant data protection rules.
And in his October ruling Justice Warby found that the “bare facts pleaded in this case” were not “individualised” — hence he saw no case for damages.
He also ruled against the case proceeding on another legal point, related to defining a class for the case — finding “the essential requirements for a representative action are absent” because he said individuals in the group do not have the “same interest” in the claim.
Lodging its appeal today in the Court of Appeal, Google You Owe us described the High Court judgement as disappointing, and said it highlights the barriers that remain for consumers seeking to use collective actions as a route to redress in England and Wales.
In the US, meanwhile, Google settled with the FTC over a similar cookie tracking issue back in 2012 — agreeing to pay $22.5M in that instance.
Countering Justice Warby’s earlier suggestion that affected class members in the UK case did not care about their data being taken without permission, Google You Owe Us said, on the contrary, affected class members have continued to show their support for the case on Facebook — noting that more than 20,000 have signed up for case updates.
For the appeal, the legal team will argue that the High Court judgment was incorrect in stating the class had not suffered damage within the meaning of the UK’s Data Protection Act, and that the class had not all suffered in the same way as a result of the data breach.
Commenting in a statement, Lloyd said:
Google’s business model is based on using personal data to target adverts to consumers and they must ask permission before using this data. The court accepted that people did not give Google permission to use their data in this case, yet slammed the door shut on holding Google to account.
By appealing this decision, we want to give affected consumers the opportunity to get the compensation they are owed and show that collective actions offer a clear route to justice for data protection claims.
We’ve reached out to Google for comment.
Source: TechCrunch
Audi, the Germany luxury automaker under VW Group, said Tuesday it will invest 14 billion euros ($15.95 billion) over the next five years on future transportation technologies such as electric mobility, autonomous driving and digital services.
These investments, made through 2023, will include spending on property, factories and equipment as well as research and development. Audi’s total projected expenditure for the 5-year planning period will be 40 billion euros ($45.6 billion), the company announced Tuesday.
“This planning round bears a clear signature: We are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be much more focused in future. We are consistently prioritizing our resources for future-oriented products and services that are highly attractive and relevant to the market,” according to Bram Schot, temporary chairman of the Board of Management of Audi.
Audi’s investment announcement Tuesday continues the company’s previously stated plans to develop electric vehicles. Back in 2015, then Audi of America president Scott Keogh said that by 2025 at least one quarter of all Audi cars sold in the U.S. will have a plug.
The company unveiled in September its first all-electric SUV, the e-tron. By 2025, Audi says it will offer 20 electrified models (that includes hybrids). About 10 of those vehicles will have all-electric drive systems. The automaker is also investing in digital services such as “on demand” functions.
At the same time, Audi is pushing forward with the digitalization of its automobiles and plants, and is expanding its business model with new digital services such as “functions on demand.”
Source: TechCrunch
Mixcloud, the audio streaming platform that is popular for long-form content, such as radio shows and DJ sets, has launched a “fan-to-creator” subscription service in a bid to find new ways of monetizing and ensuring both artists and curators get paid.
Dubbed “Mixcloud Select,” the new feature lets listeners subscribe to a Select creator’s channel so they can directly support them, and contribute to the licensing cost of the music played in the shows. Subscribers get an enhanced listening experience that includes the ability to download shows to listen offline and view upfront track lists, making it feel a lot more like on-demand and less tied to the legacy of over-the-air radio.
Nico Perez, co-founder of Mixcloud, frames Mixcloud Select as a pioneering move toward building a “fair and sustainable ecosystem” that works for audio creators, artists and listeners. “We want to enable fans to get closer to the culture and communities they care about, while ensuring that everyone involved in the creative process is recognized and rewarded accordingly,” he says in a statement.
That’s very much inline with the conversation Perez and I had back in April when TechCrunch reported on Mixcloud’s first ever funding round (despite being founded ten years ago). At the time the Mixcloud founder hinted at a consumer-facing subscription service, as well as discussing the licensing groundwork the company had laid. It comes as no surprise therefore to see Select launch.
Mixcloud has previously announced direct licensing deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Merlin, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing, ICE (a joint initiative between PRS, GEMA, and STIM) and many others. Related to this, the company has a proprietary content ID system that claims to identify individual tracks and underlying rights holders.
Mixcloud Select initially goes live with 47 creators who have already used the Mixcloud platform to build listener communities, and covers a wide range of genres and scenes. Creators range from international DJs including Afrojack, Nicole Moudaber, Lefto and John Digweed to homegrown Mixcloud stars such as DJ Blighty and Low Light Mixes; independent radio stations Brooklyn Radio, Soho Radio and Red Light Radio; record labels Defected Records and Axtone Records; and curators Clash Magazine and Stamp the Wax.
Channel subscriptions start at ($/£/€) 2.99 per month, with the ability for creators to set a higher price. Subscriptions renew monthly and can be cancelled anytime.
Mixcloud also says it will collaborate with creators to roll out additional new features, such as offering exclusive content and direct messaging with subscribers. All creators can now register their interest in joining Select in the near future.“
Source: TechCrunch
For the fourth year in a year, the global venture firm Atomico has produced a “State of European Tech Report” and the again this year, there’s plenty for the firm — and Europe broadly — to crow about. According to the report, total investment in European startups reached $23 billion this year. That’s one-fourth the roughly $100 billion that’s expected to be plugged into U.S. startups by year end, but it’s a whole lot more than the $5 billion that was showered on European startups in 2013, just five short years ago.
That’s the good news — or some of it, anyway.
Working with data partners like Dealroom, Prequin, and about a dozen other companies, Atomico’s new report features a steady drumbeat of developments over which to cheer. Among them: in 2018, 17 more European companies became valued at a billion dollars or more by their investors. Three of the ten biggest venture-backed public listings came from Europe, including that of the streaming media company Spotify, whose shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in April. And startups across 10 European countries have raised more than a billion dollars since 2012, underscoring that while the U.K. remains the biggest tech hub on the continent, plenty of other countries are rising, including Germany, France, Sweden, and Spain.
As for Europe’s challenges, the uncertainty of Brexit is clearly at the top of mind for 5,000 founders, investors, and other professionals in the ecosystem who were surveyed for the report. Access to talent is overwhelmingly the top consideration when it comes to where to plant a company, and while Europe is home to some of the world’s best business and technical schools, it also relies heavily on friendly immigration policies. Meanwhile, Brexit threatens to end free movement from Europe. In fact, many respondents said that the ongoing uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote and exit process is impacting hiring, fundraising and office location decisions.
U.K.-based respondents said that already, they felt that it was harder to raise capital in 2018 compared with 12 months ago.
Another challenge for European companies to scale up are differing regulations in different countries around taxes and data privacy, among other things.
Yet an even bigger problem for Europe — as it here in the U.S. — is that the lip service being paid to diversity isn’t resulting in the numbers you might expect. Consider that in 2013, just 2 percent of female-founded tech companies in Europe closed funding rounds. In 2018, that percentage was . . . again just a measly 2 percent.
Other alarming numbers: Atomico found just one female CTO of the 175 venture-backed European tech companies that have raised a Series A or Series B in the past year. All-male founding teams received 93 percent of the capital invested, and all-male funding teams were responsible for funding the vast majority of deals.
Perhaps worst of all, fully 46 percent of women surveyed by Atomico said that they have experienced discrimination in the tech sector.
The research was released today at the Slush tech conference in Helsinki, Finland. It’s definitely worth poring over, too, though at 142 pages, you may want to grab some coffee first.
If you’re looking for more anecdotal information, you might also check out our sit-downs last week with investors Saul Klein of LocalGlobe, and four members of Accel’s London-based team, all of whom talked about the state of the European tech scene at our TechCrunch Berlin event.
Source: TechCrunch
Zopa, the U.K. peer-to-peer lending company that wants to become a bank, has been awarded a bank license by the U.K.’s financial regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The company wants to expand beyond P2P loans and investments to offer things liked savings accounts and credit cards.
Technically, however, this is only regulatory part one and Zopa’s bank licence comes “with restrictions,” meaning that it can’t launch fully just yet. Known as the ‘mobilisation’ phase of the license process, Zopa should eventually be granted a full licence once it meets various conditions set by the regulators.
In a statement, Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana says acquiring a banking licence is the starting point that will see the company become a “major force” in retail banking. “When we pioneered the peer-to-peer lending model globally in 2005, we did so by listening to customers and creating a better product for them. We will bring the same focus to our banking products – drawing on tech innovation, our values of fairness and transparency, and better customer service,” he adds.
Once launched, Zopa’s bank will sit alongside its existing business, creating what the fintech says will be the first hybrid peer-to-peer and digital bank offering. It will roll out a money management app, and various financial products.
When the bank-to-be announced the second part of a £60 million funding round last month, a spokesperson told me this will include FSCS-protected savings accounts and P2P investments (including Innovative Finance ISAs) for investors, and personal loans, car finance and credit cards for people looking to borrow.
Zopa also says it will steer clear of hidden fees and charges, and is placing a lot of emphasis on customer service, delivered via its app or over the phone.
However, whether or not any of the above will be enough to stand out from an increasingly crowded challenger bank space in the U.K. which includes Monzo, Starling, Tandem and many others, remains to be seen. With that said, a fintech nerd can never have enough new banking upstarts.
Source: TechCrunch