Microsoft considered acquiring, Slack, the in-work team productivity app, for about $4B. Then, CEO Satya Nadella and Bill Gates suggested Microsoft should drop the idea and invest the money into improving Skype instead, thus killed the Slack purchase idea. And now, Microsoft have created a nearly identical Slack competitor.
Continue reading Microsoft new Slack competitor: the Skype Teams is here
Steve Case is, among other things, the co-founder of America Online (#AOL), the company that democratized online access. He’s written a book called The Third Wave: An Entrepreneurs Vision of the Future.
Guy Kawasaki recommends that you read it to gain insights into the next curve of tech entrepreneurship. You can get it here.
In his book, Steve talks about the importance of the 4 P’s to help you being successful:
Continue reading Next Wave of Entrepreneurship with Guy Kawasaki and Steve Case
In short: the HTTP sucks. And there’s a new kid on the block, the IPFS protocol. It’s better and will soon replace the broken HTTP, making our internet faster and more reliable.
Many companies are developing and implementing payment systems that use fingerprints, eye scans, blood veins, and heartbeats as payment methods. These methods may well replace the traditional, and easily stolen, plastic credit cards that carry your personal information.
Currently, banks are issuing credit cards that have both the magnetic strip of information and a computer chip embedded in them with personal information; But, they are refusing to demand users input a PIN to access their credit. In their opinion, it is too much of an imposition to force consumers to both sign a receipt and type in a four-number code to ensure their personal information safety.
Biometric Security, is the idea of linking between a person’s unique physical signatures, such as heartbeat or iris prints, to their credit card information. Similar to Apple’s fingerprint scanning technology on the iPhone; The same technology could be used for payment systems.
Bionym has created a device known as Nymi, which has a heartbeat-monitoring armband that can link with a payment terminal to authorize a purchase. The Nymi armband does not even transmit biometric information; instead it confirms a person’s identity through the heartbeat, then encrypts the necessary credit information that can only be read by a payment terminal that reads heartbeats.
Bionym says the Nymi could replace many other items the average consumer carries, such as car keys. The information that can be stored in the Nymi and accessed only through the signature heartbeat is nearly endless.
“You can leave your phone and wallet at home, go for a run, pick up a coffee and snack and return home,” said Bionym president Andrew D’Souza to Mashable.com.
First seen on: http://www.businessinsider.com/
Would YOU use your own heart beat to replace your passwords?
You’ve recently heard about Ubitricity’s mobile charging device – which can diminish the problem of recharge time by allowing drivers to take power from retrofit lamppost anywhere, anytime. Now, Gogoro offer up another solution to accompany the launch of the first Smartscooter.
The Gogoro is a downsizing of Better Place attempt to create a battery swapping framework for electric cars, which folded due to poor sales.
Since scooters are simpler and smaller than cars, they require smaller and cheaper batteries; meaning Gogoro just might succeed where Better Place failed.
Read more about the Smart GOGORO on the website: http://www.gogoro.com/
Do you like this new electric Smartscooter? Will you buy/ride one?
As a response to my previously posted blog Google Glass Sucks and it’s Dead? Wait, what?! :
Google announced it was ending the Glass Explorer program yesterday (on the 15th) and handing over the reins to Nest’s Tony Fadell, it seemed to exit with more of a whimper than a scream. Let’s face it, from its earliest days, people loved to hate Glass.
In fact, from the moment Google announced Glass, people reacted harshly to the new technology. They simply hated the idea of nerds with computers on their faces who could take photos or videos surreptitiously. A new word, Glassholes, entered the popular lexicon to describe folks who wore Glass.
You can continue reading the full blog post on TechCrunch site.
But, does that mean Google Glass is really dead this time?
In its current form, Glass is undoubtedly dead, but there’s no reason to believe Google won’t relaunch it with a new version in the coming month — likely around its annual I/O developer conference.
Now, Glass is becoming its own business unit inside of Google, Tony Fadell will oversee the program, and sales to businesses, developers and schools will continue. Google is also encouraging developers to continue writing apps for the platform. Those are not signs that Google plans to cancel the platform. With Fadell in charge, I doubt Google will only focus on business use cases, as Fadell doesn’t do enterprise.
You can continue reading the full blog post on TechCrunch site.
Do you this the Glass will be re-born as a successful wearable or will die in to the night?
The Internet of Things, or IoT, will bring the web to many formerly unconnected home appliances, business devices, and even cities; e.g., smart parking meters, smart homes etc.
In new research from BI Intelligence, they discuss why established chip makers, IT-consulting firms, and networking equipment manufacturers are actually well positioned to take a major share of the IoT market, and fend off startups.
Here are some of the key findings from the BI Intelligence report:
You can find the full BI report here
Albert Einstein said:
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
Staying in the office or lab, and researching and trying to figure out the best approach for the best product – is a waste of time. Instead you need to bring your ideas to the real world, get feedback, iterate and continue develop.
To “get out of the building” means exactly that; Having a brief brainstorming in the office, quickly developing a basic prototype, and bringing it to the public, the target audience in short time. The sooner you get out of the building, the better. You then have valuable feedback, to continue iterating your product development and process building.
By staying “in the office” you have your thoughts only, which are not new, and are not the market’s opinion and thoughts of your solution and product.
Steve Blank mentioned this concept of “getting out of the building”, early on and many times since. Getting out of the building helps you understand and build the Minimal Viable Product (MVP).
Click here to read more about Getting out of the Building by Steve Blank. Another good resource is the dedicated blog in here
Startups and Entrepreneurs seeking for financing are rejected, about 99% of them. This reality is harsh to acknowledge, especially if you are on the side being rejected. Angels and Venture Capital companies are not your enemy, rather they can be your valuable friend.
Continue reading The Main Skill of Venture Capital is Saying NO
A basic tenet of running lean is validating a product or feature ideally without having to building it first. This makes complete sense when you look at every product or feature as it’s own customer factory.
Continue reading Customers Buy Anything – the Science of How